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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. .^. @£¤*^~....
...~^*¤£@# ......^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^...... #@£¤*^~...
..~^*¤£@## ##@£¤*^~..
...~^*¤£@# ......^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^...... #@£¤*^~...
....~^*¤£@ ..^ 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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