,^»†^$£###                                          ###£$^†»^,
,^»†^$£###                                          ###£$^†»^,
,^»†^^^$£#                                          #£$^^^†»^,
,,,,,,,»^£                                          £^»,,,,,,,
,,,,,^††$#                                          #$††^,,,,,
,,,,^^»^$£ ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, £$^»^^,,,,
,^»†^$£### ,^†            THE  SPIRE            »†, ###£$^†»^,
,^»†^$£### »†^»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»†»^ ###£$^†»^,
,,,,,»»^$£ †»^ ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †^» £$^»»,,,,,
,^»†^$$$£# †^»  BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL ^†» #£$$$^†»^,
,^»†^$£### ^†» ABOVE OUR TALLEST  TREES. IT WAS ^»† ###£$^†»^,
,^»†^$£### ^»† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED »^† ###£$^†»^,
,,,,,^»†$£ »^†       LIKED  A   MUSHROOM.       »†^ £$†»^,,,,,
,,,,,»††^£ »†^      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  †»^ £^^^†††»^,
,^»†^$£### »†^ SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †^» ###£$^†»^,
,^»†^$£### †»^ IT TO HOLD  ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT ^†» ###£$^†»^,
,,,»»†^$£# ,^»             CARS.....            ^», #£$^†»»,,,
,,,,»»^£££ ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, £££^»»,,,,
,^»†$£####                                          ####£$†»^,
,,,^»†††^£                                          £^†††»^,,,
,,,,^»»†^£                                          £^†»»^,,,,
,^†^$£####                                          ####£$^†^,
,^»†^$£###                                          ###£$^†»^,