,:~†*$@£##                                          ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@£##                                          ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@£##                                          ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@£##                                          ##£@$*†~:,
,,::~~*$£#                                          #£$*~~::,,
,:~†*$@£## ,,,:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::,,, ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@£## ,:†            THE  SPIRE            ~†, ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@£## ~†:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~: ##£@$*†~:,
,,,,,,:†$@ †~: ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †:~ @$†:,,,,,,
,:†*$@£### †:~  BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL :†~ ###£@$*†:,
,:~†**$$@@ :†~ ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES. IT WAS  :~† @@$$**†~:,
,:~†*$@£## :~† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED ~:† ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@£## ~:†        LIKED  A  MUSHROOM.       ~†: ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@£## ~†:      WE  LOVED  IT  DEARLY.      †~: ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$$@@£ †~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†:~ £@@$$*†~:,
,,,,:†††*@ †:~ 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.....             :~, #@*†~::,,,
,,,::~†*$@ ,,,:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::,,, @$*†~::,,,
,:~†*$@@@@                                          @@@@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@£##                                          ##£@$*†~:,
,:~†*$@###                                          ###@$*†~:,
,,,,,:~*@#                                          #@*~:,,,,,
,:~~††††$£                                          £$††††~~:,