.§§.§..... §..§.§§..§
.§§..§.... .§...§§§..
.§§§..§... ..§..§.§§.
.§.§§..§.. §..§...§§§
...§§§..§. §§..§..§.§
§..§.§§..§ ...~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^~~~... §§§..§....
.§...§§§.. .~^ 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..... ~~. §.........
.......... ...~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^~~~... .§........
.......... ..§.......
.......... ...§......
.......... §...§.....
.......... §§...§....
.......... §§§...§...