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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. †«, ¨¨¨¨¨,†%
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#&$$«¨¨¨¨¨ †,« It Predated Us By Many Years, ,†« ¨¨¨¨¨«$$
&&&%†««¨¨¨ ,†« And We Did Not Know Its Original ,«† ¨¨¨««†%&&&
#&$«¨¨¨¨¨¨ ,«† Builders. They Had Used Its «,† ¨¨¨¨¨¨«$
###&%$†«,¨ «,† Hollow Body For Many Strange «†, ¨,«†$%##
####&$†«,¨ «†, Purposes - A Womblike Place Of †«, ¨,«†$###
###&%$†«,¨ †«, Gestation, A Storage Of Strage †,« ¨,«†$%##
###&%$†«,¨ †,« Fluids, A Temple To Some Kind Of ,†« ¨,«†$%##
###&%$†«,¨ ,†« Arcane Deity. ,«† ¨,«†$%##
###&%$†«,¨ ,«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««,† ¨,«†$%##
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##%†«,,¨¨¨ «†, Presence, And Honored It The †«, ¨¨¨,,«†%##
&%†«,¨¨¨¨¨ †«, Only Way We Knew How: By †,« ¨¨¨¨¨,«†%&
###&%$†«,¨ ¨,« Breaking In. ,«¨ ¨,«†$%##
###&%$†«,¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨,«†$%##
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###&%$†«,¨ ¨«† This Place We Called Our City: ,†« ¨,«†$%##
###&%$†«,¨ ,†« Wavy And Fractured, With Each †,« ¨,«†$%##
###&%$†«,¨ †,« Courtyard On A Different Height, †«, ¨,«†$%##
##%%%$†«,¨ †«, Roads Becoming Roofs Becoming «†, ¨,«†$%%%##
###&%$†«,¨ «†, Drains. And Some Places, Like «,† ¨,«†$%##
####%$†«,¨ «,† The Spire, Nobody Had Accessed ,«† ¨,«†$%####
###&%$†«,¨ ,«† For Many Years. Once Its Walls ,†« ¨,«†$%##
##&$$$†«,¨ ,†« Are Just Too High, And The †,« ¨,«†$$$#
##&&%$†«,¨ †,« Internal Routes To Labyrinthine, †«, ¨,«†$%&#
#%†,¨¨¨¨¨¨ †«, 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 †«, ¨,«†††%%%#
&&$«,¨¨¨¨¨ †«, Make Sense Of Our Roamings For «†, ¨¨¨¨¨,«$&&
###&%$†«,¨ «†, Years To Come. «,† ¨,«†$%##
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###&%$†«,¨ ,†« Around It, The Seven Toroidal †,« ¨,«†$%##
###&%$†«,¨ †,« Lungs Stacked Outside, And The †«, ¨,«†$%##
##%$««¨¨¨¨ †«, Control Room On Top. The Sockets «†, ¨¨¨¨««$%##
###&%$†«,¨ «†, For Its Eyes. The Smaller Spires «,† ¨,«†$%##
&$«¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ «,† For Radiating Consciousness ,«† ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨«$&
###&%$†«,¨ ¨«† Invitations. ,†¨ ¨,«†$%##
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####%$†«,¨ ¨,† In Twenty fourteen, The Tower Is †«, ¨,«†$%####
&%%$†††«,¨ «†, Toppled And Eaten By Machines. †,« ¨,«†††$%%&
&%††«¨¨¨¨¨ †«, 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 ,†« ¨¨¨¨¨,†%
#%$$««¨¨¨¨ †,« New Tower Eats Us. Others Are ,«† ¨¨¨¨««$$%#
###&%$†«,¨ ,†« Sucked Inside. New Buildings Are «,† ¨,«†$%##
####&$†«,¨ ,«† Manifested Overnight, Only To «†, ¨,«†$###
###&%$†«,¨ «,† Disappear In The Evening Fog. †«, ¨,«†$%##
###&%$†«,¨ «†, For A While Its Some Kind Of †,« ¨,«†$%##
&&$«,¨¨¨¨¨ †«, Timeshare Scam. Goons Are Placed ,†« ¨¨¨¨¨,«$&&
&$$«¨¨¨¨¨¨ †,« Outside, And We Get Beaten Up A ,«† ¨¨¨¨¨¨«$$&
&&&&%$†«,¨ ,†« Few Times, And Stop Going. «,† ¨,«†$%&&&&
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###&%$†«,¨ «†, Some Energy drink Baron Who Uses †,« ¨,«†$%##
#&$««««,¨¨ †«, It To Hold All His Fourty Eight ,†« ¨¨,««««$
###&%$†«,¨ ¨,« Cars..... ,«¨ ¨,«†$%##
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