**;-^..... .....^-;**
*;-^...... ......^-;*
;-^....... .......^-;
*;-^...... ......^-;*
**;-^..... .....^-;**
@**;-^.... ...^^^;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;^^^... ....^-;**@
@@**;-^... .^; 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..... ^-. .......^-;
*;-^...... ...^^^;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;^^^... ......^-;*
**;-^..... .....^-;**
@**;-^.... ....^-;**@
@@**;-^... ...^-;**@@
@@@**;-^.. ..^-;**@@@
#@@@**;-^. .^-;**@@@#