........^«                                          «^........
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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  †^« $§†«^.....
......^«†§ †^« COURTYARD ON A DIFFERENT HEIGHT, †«^ §†«^......
.......^«† †«^  ROADS BECOMING  ROOFS BECOMING  «†^ †«^.......
........^« «†^  DRAINS. AND  SOME  PLACES, LIKE «^† «^........
.........^ «^†  THE SPIRE, NOBODY  HAD ACCESSED ^«† ^.........
.......... ^«† FOR MANY YEARS.  ONCE  ITS WALLS ^†« ..........
.......... ^†«  ARE  JUST  TOO HIGH,  AND  THE  †^« ..........
.......... †^« INTERNAL ROUTES TO LABYRINTHINE, †«^ ..........
.......... †«^  A PLACE AMONG OTHERS IS EASILY  «†^ ..........
.......... Ǡ^            OVERLOOKED.           ^Ǡ ..........
.........^ ^«†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««^†« ^.........
........^« ^†« SO, BASICALLY,  THAT  SUMMER THE †^« «^........
.......^«† †^« FOUR OF US SNUCK AND CLIMBED AND «^† †«^.......
......^«†§ †«^ CRAWLED FOR WEEKS, SEARCHING FOR «†^ §†«^......
.....^«†§$ «†^ 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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