,.«†$¤#### ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ,,,...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...,,, ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ,.† THE SPIRE «†, ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «†.««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †«. ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †.« BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .†« ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES. IT WAS .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .«† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «.† LIKED A MUSHROOM. «†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «†. WE LOVED IT DEARLY. †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †«.««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †.« IT PREDATED US BY MANY YEARS, .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .†« AND WE DID NOT KNOW ITS ORIGINAL .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .«† BUILDERS. THEY HAD USED ITS «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «.† HOLLOW BODY FOR MANY STRANGE «†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «†. PURPOSES - A WOMBLIKE PLACE OF †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †«. GESTATION, A STORAGE OF STRAGE †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †.« FLUIDS, A TEMPLE TO SOME KIND OF .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .†« ARCANE DEITY. .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «.† WE WERE GRATEFUL FOR ITS «†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «†. PRESENCE, AND HONORED IT THE †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †«. ONLY WAY WE KNEW HOW: BY †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ,.« BREAKING IN. .«, ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ,,,...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...,,, ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ,,,...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...,,, ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ,«† THIS PLACE WE CALLED OUR CITY: .†« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .†« WAVY AND FRACTURED, WITH EACH †.« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †.« COURTYARD ON A DIFFERENT HEIGHT, †«. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †«. ROADS BECOMING ROOFS BECOMING «†. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «†. DRAINS. AND SOME PLACES, LIKE «.† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «.† THE SPIRE, NOBODY HAD ACCESSED .«† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .«† FOR MANY YEARS. ONCE ITS WALLS .†« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .†« ARE JUST TOO HIGH, AND THE †.« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †.« INTERNAL ROUTES TO LABYRINTHINE, †«. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †«. A PLACE AMONG OTHERS IS EASILY «†. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «†. OVERLOOKED. .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .«†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««.†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .†« SO, BASICALLY, THAT SUMMER THE †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †.« FOUR OF US SNUCK AND CLIMBED AND «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †«. CRAWLED FOR WEEKS, SEARCHING FOR «†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «†. A SECLUDED PLACE TO DO DRUGS AND «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «.† PLAY MUSIC ON OUR HANDHELDS. .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .«† INSTEAD WE FOUND VAST LUNGS .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .†« DRAINED OF THEIR CATALYST †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †.« SLUDGE, AND A BIRDS-EYE VIEW TO †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †«. MAKE SENSE OF OUR ROAMINGS FOR «†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «†. YEARS TO COME. «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «.†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««.«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .«† A CENTRAL SPINE, A STAIRCASE .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .†« AROUND IT, THE SEVEN TOROIDAL †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †.« LUNGS STACKED OUTSIDE, AND THE †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †«. CONTROL ROOM ON TOP. THE SOCKETS «†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «†. FOR ITS EYES. THE SMALLER SPIRES «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «.† FOR RADIATING CONSCIOUSNESS .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ,«† INVITATIONS. .†, ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ,,,...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...,,, ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ,,,...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...,,, ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ,.† IN TWENTY FOURTEEN, THE TOWER IS †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «†. TOPPLED AND EATEN BY MACHINES. †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †«. AFTER A WHILE, SOMETHING NEW IS .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †.« CONJURED IN ITS PLACE. IT'S A .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .†« TINY MAW AT FIRST, SHORTER THAN «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .«† US, AND WE LET IT BE. OUR «†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «.† JOURNEYS STILL END AT ITS FEET. †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «†.««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †«. BUT THEN WE ARE BETRAYED. THE .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †.« NEW TOWER EATS US. OTHERS ARE .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .†« SUCKED INSIDE. NEW BUILDINGS ARE «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .«† MANIFESTED OVERNIGHT, ONLY TO «†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «.† DISAPPEAR IN THE EVENING FOG. †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «†. FOR A WHILE ITS SOME KIND OF †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †«. TIMESHARE SCAM. GOONS ARE PLACED .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### †.« OUTSIDE, AND WE GET BEATEN UP A .«† ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### .†« FEW TIMES, AND STOP GOING. «.† ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### .«†«««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†. ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### «.† IIRC IT'S CURRENTLY OWNED BY †«. ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### «†. SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †.« ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### †«. IT TO HOLD ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT .†« ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ,.« CARS..... .«, ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ,,,...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...,,, ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ####¤$†«.,
,,.«†$¤### ###¤$†«.,,
,.«†$¤#### ####¤$†«.,