#£§&%~:¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:~%&§£#
£§&%~:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:~%&§£
§&%~:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:~%&§
&%~:¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨:~%&
%~:¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨:~%
~:¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨:~
:¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨:† 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..... :~¨ ¨:~%&§£###
##£§&%~:¨¨ ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ¨¨:~%&§£##
#£§&%~:¨¨¨ ¨¨¨:~%&§£#
£§&%~:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:~%&§£
§&%~:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:~%&§
&%~:¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨:~%&
%~:¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨:~%