,#,,,,#,,# ,#,###,,,,
,##,,,##,# ####,,#,,,
,#,#,,#,## ,,,,#,##,,
,####,###, #,,,###,#,
,#,,,##,,# ,#,,#,,###
###,,#,#,# ,,,...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...,,, ,##,##,#,,
#,,#,##### ,.† 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..... .~, ##,,#,#,##
##,#,,#,,# ,,,...††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...,,, ,,#,#####,
#,###,##,# #,###,,,,#
,##,,##,## ,##,,#,,,#
##,#,#,##, ,#,#,##,,#
,,######,# ######,#,#
#,#,,,,,## ,,,,,,####