##@&%†~-.. ..-~†%&@##
###@&%†~-. .-~†%&@###
##@&%†~-.. ..-~†%&@##
#@&%†~-... ...-~†%&@#
@&%†~-.... ....-~†%&@
&%†~-..... ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... .....-~†%&
%†~-...... .-† 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..... -~. ......-~†%
†~-....... ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... .......-~†
~-........ ........-~
-......... .........-
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........