..~†$£#@@#                                          #@@#£$†~..
...~†$£#@@                                          @@#£$†~...
....~†$£#@                                          @#£$†~....
.....~†$£#                                          #£$†~.....
......~†$£                                          £$†~......
.......~†$ ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... $†~.......
........~† ..†            THE  SPIRE            ~†. †~........
.........~ ~†.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~. ~.........
.......... †~. ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †.~ ..........
.........~ †.~ BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING  WELL .†~ ~.........
........~† .†~ ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES. IT  WAS .~† †~........
.......~†$ .~† 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.....             .~. †~........
.........~ ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ~.........
..........                                          ..........
.........~                                          ~.........
........~†                                          †~........
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