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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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