.......~~/ /~~.......
........~~ ~~........
.........~ ~.........
.......... ..........
.........~ ~.........
........~~ ...~~~////////////////////////////~~~... ~~........
.......~~/ .~/ 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..... ~~. #&$=/~~...
....~~/=$& ...~~~////////////////////////////~~~... &$=/~~....
.....~~/=$ $=/~~.....
......~~/= =/~~......
.......~~/ /~~.......
........~~ ~~........
.........~ ~.........