###§§†=~.. ..~=†§§###
###§§†=~.. ..~=†§§###
###§§†=~.. ..~=†§§###
##§††==~.. ..~==††§##
###§§†=~.. ..~=†§§###
###§§†=~.. ......============================...... ..~=†§§###
###§§†=~.. ..= 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..... .~. ..~=†§§###
##§§==~... ......============================...... ...~==§§##
###§§†=~.. ..~=†§§###
###§§†=~.. ..~=†§§###
###§§†=~.. ..~=†§§###
#§§§†==~.. ..~==†§§§#
###§§†=~.. ..~=†§§###