##@##$†«.. ..«†$##@##
####£$†«.. ..«†$£####
##@#£$†«.. ..«†$£#@##
#@##£$†«.. ..«†$£##@#
#$$†...... ......†$$#
@@##£$†«.. ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ..«†$£##@@
#@##£$†«.. ..† The Spire «†. ..«†$£##@#
#£$«...... «†.««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«. ......«$£#
#$«....... †«. Once Upon A Time, There Was A †.« .......«$#
#£$†««.... †.« Benevolent Spire, Towering Well .†« ....««†$£#
####£$†«.. .†« Above Our Tallest Trees. It Was .«† ..«†$£####
#@##£$†«.. .«† Clad In White Scales, And Shaped «.† ..«†$£##@#
####£$†«.. «.† Liked A Mushroom. «†. ..«†$£####
####£$†«.. «†. We Loved It Dearly. †«. ..«†$£####
##£††«««.. †«.««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†.« ..«««††£##
####£$†«.. †.« It Predated Us By Many Years, .†« ..«†$£####
###$$««... .†« And We Did Not Know Its Original .«† ...««$$###
#$†....... .«† Builders. They Had Used Its «.† .......†$#
#@##£$†«.. «.† Hollow Body For Many Strange «†. ..«†$£##@#
#$†....... «†. Purposes - A Womblike Place Of †«. .......†$#
#@##£$†«.. †«. Gestation, A Storage Of Strage †.« ..«†$£##@#
@#£$«..... †.« Fluids, A Temple To Some Kind Of .†« .....«$£#@
#£££†..... .†« 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. «.† ....««$$##
#£££$††«.. .«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†. ..«††$£££#
@###£$†«.. «.† Iirc It'S Currently Owned By †«. ..«†$£###@
#@##£$†«.. «†. Some Energy drink Baron Who Uses †.« ..«†$£##@#
#£$††««... †«. It To Hold All His Fourty Eight .†« ...««††$£#
@@##£$†«.. ..« Cars..... .«. ..«†$£##@@
@#$«...... ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ......«$#@
#£†....... .......†£#
###$«..... .....«$###
#££†«..... .....«†££#
#@##£$†«.. ..«†$£##@#
@###£$†«.. ..«†$£###@