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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. -~. ......-~*%
*~-....... ...---****************************---... .......-~*
%*~-...... ......-~*%
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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. ~-* ......-~*%
£%*~-..... ~-*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-~* .....-~*%£
#£%*~-.... -~* 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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