.......... #.........
########## ..########
########## ...#######
#########. ##..######
########.. #....#####
#######... ...,,,////////////////////////////,,,... ..##..####
######..## .,/ 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. ,/. ##########
########## ...,,,////////////////////////////,,,... ##########
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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. ~,/ ##########
########## ,~/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/, ##########
########## ~,/ Iirc It'S Currently Owned By /~, ##########
########## ~/, Some Energy drink Baron Who Uses /,~ ##########
########## /~, It To Hold All His Fourty Eight ,/~ ##########
########## .,~ Cars..... ,~. ##########
########## ...,,,////////////////////////////,,,... ##########
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