....^»†%%#                                          #%%†»^....
.....^»†%%                                          %%†»^.....
......^»†%                                          %†»^......
.....^»†%%                                          %%†»^.....
....^»†%%#                                          #%%†»^....
...^»†%%## ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... ##%%†»^...
..^»†%%### .^†            THE  SPIRE            »†. ###%%†»^..
.^»†%%#### »†^»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†»^ ####%%†»^.
^»†%%##### †»^ ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †^» #####%%†»^
.^»†%%#### †^»  BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL ^†» ####%%†»^.
..^»†%%### ^†» ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES. IT WAS  ^»† ###%%†»^..
...^»†%%## ^»† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED »^† ##%%†»^...
....^»†%%# »^†      LIKED   A   MUSHROOM.       »†^ #%%†»^....
.....^»†%% »†^      WE  LOVED  IT  DEARLY.      †»^ %%†»^.....
......^»†% †»^»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†^» %†»^......
.....^»†%% †^» IT PREDATED  US  BY  MANY YEARS, ^†» %%†»^.....
....^»†%%# ^†» AND WE DID NOT KNOW ITS ORIGINAL ^»† #%%†»^....
...^»†%%## ^»†  BUILDERS. THEY  HAD  USED  ITS  »^† ##%%†»^...
..^»†%%### »^†  HOLLOW BODY  FOR  MANY  STRANGE »†^ ###%%†»^..
.^»†%%#### »†^  PURPOSES - A WOMBLIKE  PLACE OF †»^ ####%%†»^.
^»†%%##### †»^ GESTATION,  A STORAGE OF STRAGE  †^» #####%%†»^
.^»†%%#### †^» FLUIDS, A TEMPLE TO SOME KIND OF ^†» ####%%†»^.
..^»†%%### ^†»   ARCANE    DEITY.               ^»† ###%%†»^..
...^»†%%## ^»†»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»^† ##%%†»^...
....^»†%%# »^†  WE   WERE  GRATEFUL  FOR   ITS  »†^ #%%†»^....
.....^»†%% »†^  PRESENCE,  AND HONORED  IT  THE †»^ %%†»^.....
......^»†% †»^  ONLY  WAY  WE  KNEW  HOW:   BY  †^» %†»^......
.....^»†%% .^»        BREAKING        IN.       ^». %%†»^.....
....^»†%%# ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... #%%†»^....
...^»†%%##                                          ##%%†»^...
..^»†%%###                                          ###%%†»^..
.^»†%%#### ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... ####%%†»^.
^»†%%##### .»† THIS PLACE WE CALLED OUR  CITY:  ^†» #####%%†»^
.^»†%%#### ^†» WAVY AND FRACTURED,  WITH  EACH  †^» ####%%†»^.
..^»†%%### †^» COURTYARD ON A DIFFERENT HEIGHT, †»^ ###%%†»^..
...^»†%%## †»^  ROADS  BECOMING  ROOFS BECOMING »†^ ##%%†»^...
....^»†%%# »†^  DRAINS. AND  SOME PLACES,  LIKE »^† #%%†»^....
.....^»†%% »^†  THE SPIRE, NOBODY  HAD ACCESSED ^»† %%†»^.....
......^»†% ^»†  FOR MANY YEARS. ONCE ITS  WALLS ^†» %†»^......
.....^»†%% ^†»  ARE  JUST  TOO  HIGH,  AND  THE †^» %%†»^.....
....^»†%%# †^» INTERNAL ROUTES TO LABYRINTHINE, †»^ #%%†»^....
...^»†%%## †»^ A PLACE AMONG OTHERS  IS EASILY  »†^ ##%%†»^...
..^»†%%### »†^            OVERLOOKED.           ^»† ###%%†»^..
.^»†%%#### ^»†»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»^†» ####%%†»^.
^»†%%##### ^†» SO, BASICALLY,  THAT  SUMMER THE †^» #####%%†»^
.^»†%%#### †^» FOUR OF US SNUCK AND CLIMBED AND »^† ####%%†»^.
..^»†%%### †»^ CRAWLED FOR WEEKS, SEARCHING FOR »†^ ###%%†»^..
...^»†%%## »†^ A SECLUDED PLACE TO DO DRUGS AND »^† ##%%†»^...
....^»†%%# »^† PLAY MUSIC  ON  OUR  HANDHELDS.  ^»† #%%†»^....
.....^»†%% ^»†  INSTEAD  WE  FOUND  VAST  LUNGS ^†» %%†»^.....
......^»†% ^†»  DRAINED   OF   THEIR  CATALYST  †^» %†»^......
.....^»†%% †^» SLUDGE, AND A BIRDS-EYE  VIEW TO †»^ %%†»^.....
....^»†%%# †»^  MAKE SENSE OF  OUR ROAMINGS FOR »†^ #%%†»^....
...^»†%%## »†^        YEARS   TO   COME.        »^† ##%%†»^...
..^»†%%### »^†»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»^»† ###%%†»^..
.^»†%%#### ^»†  A CENTRAL SPINE,  A  STAIRCASE  ^†» ####%%†»^.
^»†%%##### ^†»  AROUND  IT, THE SEVEN  TOROIDAL †^» #####%%†»^
.^»†%%#### †^» LUNGS STACKED  OUTSIDE,  AND THE †»^ ####%%†»^.
..^»†%%### †»^ CONTROL ROOM ON TOP. THE SOCKETS »†^ ###%%†»^..
...^»†%%## »†^ FOR ITS EYES. THE SMALLER SPIRES »^† ##%%†»^...
....^»†%%# »^†  FOR  RADIATING   CONSCIOUSNESS  ^»† #%%†»^....
.....^»†%% .»†           INVITATIONS.           ^†. %%†»^.....
......^»†% ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... %†»^......
.....^»†%%                                          %%†»^.....
....^»†%%# ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... #%%†»^....
...^»†%%## .^† IN TWENTY FOURTEEN, THE TOWER IS †»^ ##%%†»^...
..^»†%%### »†^  TOPPLED AND EATEN BY MACHINES.  †^» ###%%†»^..
.^»†%%#### †»^ AFTER  A WHILE, SOMETHING NEW IS ^†» ####%%†»^.
^»†%%##### †^» CONJURED IN  ITS  PLACE. IT'S  A ^»† #####%%†»^
.^»†%%#### ^†»  TINY MAW AT FIRST, SHORTER THAN »^† ####%%†»^.
..^»†%%### ^»†  US,  AND WE  LET  IT  BE.  OUR  »†^ ###%%†»^..
...^»†%%## »^† JOURNEYS STILL END AT ITS  FEET. †»^ ##%%†»^...
....^»†%%# »†^»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†^» #%%†»^....
.....^»†%% †»^  BUT  THEN WE ARE  BETRAYED. THE ^†» %%†»^.....
......^»†% †^»  NEW TOWER  EATS US.  OTHERS ARE ^»† %†»^......
.....^»†%% ^†» SUCKED INSIDE. NEW BUILDINGS ARE »^† %%†»^.....
....^»†%%# ^»†  MANIFESTED OVERNIGHT, ONLY  TO  »†^ #%%†»^....
...^»†%%## »^† DISAPPEAR IN  THE  EVENING FOG.  †»^ ##%%†»^...
..^»†%%### »†^  FOR A WHILE ITS SOME  KIND  OF  †^» ###%%†»^..
.^»†%%#### †»^ TIMESHARE SCAM. GOONS ARE PLACED ^†» ####%%†»^.
^»†%%##### †^» OUTSIDE, AND WE  GET BEATEN UP A ^»† #####%%†»^
.^»†%%#### ^†»  FEW  TIMES,  AND  STOP  GOING.  »^† ####%%†»^.
..^»†%%### ^»†»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†^ ###%%†»^..
...^»†%%## »^†  IIRC IT'S  CURRENTLY  OWNED  BY †»^ ##%%†»^...
....^»†%%# »†^ SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †^» #%%†»^....
.....^»†%% †»^ IT  TO HOLD ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT ^†» %%†»^.....
......^»†% .^»            CARS.....             ^». %†»^......
.....^»†%% ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... %%†»^.....
....^»†%%#                                          #%%†»^....
...^»†%%##                                          ##%%†»^...
..^»†%%###                                          ###%%†»^..
.^»†%%####                                          ####%%†»^.
^»†%%#####                                          #####%%†»^