......§..§ §.......§.
§§§§§..... ..§§§§§...
.§§§..§§§. ...§§§..§.
..§....§.. §§..§.....
§...§§...§ §.....§§§§
..§....§.. ...:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::... ..§§§..§§§
....§§.... .:† 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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