,,,,,:-†^% %^†-:,,,,,
,,,,:-†^%¤ ¤%^†-:,,,,
,,,:-†^%¤@ @¤%^†-:,,,
,,:-†^%¤@# #@¤%^†-:,,
,:-†^%¤@## ##@¤%^†-:,
,,:-†^%¤@# ,,,:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::,,, #@¤%^†-:,,
,,,:-†^%¤@ ,:† 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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