###¶&%†~,.                                          .,~†%&¶###
##¶&%%†~,.                                          .,~†%%&¶##
&&%†,.....                                          .....,†%&&
¶&%†,.....                                          .....,†%&¶
###&%%†~,.                                          .,~†%%&###
#¶%%~..... ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... .....~%%¶#
¶%%~~~~,.. .,†            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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