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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 †«^ £&%%†««...
.^«†$&£@## †«^ CONTROL ROOM ON TOP. THE SOCKETS «†^ ##@£&$†«^.
.^«†%$&£## «†^ FOR ITS EYES. THE SMALLER SPIRES «^† ##£&$%†«^.
.^«†%%%$££ «^†  FOR  RADIATING  CONSCIOUSNESS   ^«† ££$%%%†«^.
.^«†%$&£@# .«†           INVITATIONS.           ^†. #@£&$%†«^.
......^«%& ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... &%«^......
.^«†%$&£@#                                          #@£&$%†«^.
.^«†%$&£££ ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... £££&$%†«^.
....^««%&& .^† 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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