¨¨¨¨:~†%¤&                                          &¤%†~:¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨:~†%¤                                          ¤%†~:¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨:~†%                                          %†~:¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨:~†%¤                                          ¤%†~:¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨:~†%¤&                                          &¤%†~:¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨:~†%¤&# ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ #&¤%†~:¨¨¨
¨¨:~†%¤&## ¨:†            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.....             :~¨ ##&¤%†~:¨¨
¨:~†%¤&### ¨¨¨:::††††††††††††††††††††††††††††:::¨¨¨ ###&¤%†~:¨
¨¨:~†%¤&##                                          ##&¤%†~:¨¨
¨¨¨:~†%¤&#                                          #&¤%†~:¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨:~†%¤&                                          &¤%†~:¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨:~†%¤                                          ¤%†~:¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨:~†%                                          %†~:¨¨¨¨¨¨