¤$*†«:,,,, ,,,,:«†*$¤
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#@£¤$*†«:, ,:«†*$¤£@#
@£¤$*†«:,, ,,:«†*$¤£@
£¤$*†«:,,, ,,,:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::,,, ,,,:«†*$¤£
¤$*†«:,,,, ,:† THE SPIRE «†, ,,,,:«†*$¤
$*†«:,,,,, «†:««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«: ,,,,,:«†*$
*†«:,,,,,, †«: 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 †:« ,,,,,,:«†*
$*†«:,,,,, †«: TIMESHARE SCAM. GOONS ARE PLACED :†« ,,,,,:«†*$
¤$*†«:,,,, †:« OUTSIDE, AND WE GET BEATEN UP A :«† ,,,,:«†*$¤
£¤$*†«:,,, :†« FEW TIMES, AND STOP GOING. «:† ,,,:«†*$¤£
@£¤$*†«:,, :«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†: ,,:«†*$¤£@
#@£¤$*†«:, «:† IIRC IT'S CURRENTLY OWNED BY †«: ,:«†*$¤£@#
@£¤$*†«:,, «†: SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †:« ,,:«†*$¤£@
£¤$*†«:,,, †«: IT TO HOLD ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT :†« ,,,:«†*$¤£
¤$*†«:,,,, ,:« CARS..... :«, ,,,,:«†*$¤
$*†«:,,,,, ,,,:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::,,, ,,,,,:«†*$
*†«:,,,,,, ,,,,,,:«†*
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