.:~†%&@###                                          ###@&%†~:.
.:~†%&@###                                          ###@&%†~:.
.::~~~†&##                                          ##&†~~~::.
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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.       :~. ###@&%†~:.
.:~†%&@### ...:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::... ###@&%†~:.
.:~†%%&&@#                                          #@&&%%†~:.
.:~†%&@###                                          ###@&%†~:.
.:~†%&@### ...:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::... ###@&%†~:.
..:~~†%@## .~†  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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.:~†%&@@@#                                          #@@@&%†~:.
.:~†%&@@@@                                          @@@@&%†~:.
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