.-«†$§¤¤¤@ @¤¤¤§$†«-.
...-††$$¤@ @¤$$††-...
.-«†$§¤@@@ @@@¤§$†«-.
.....«†§@@ @@§†«.....
.-«†$§@@## ##@@§$†«-.
.-«†$§¤@@# ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... #@@¤§$†«-.
.-«†$§¤@@# .-† THE SPIRE «†. #@@¤§$†«-.
...--«†$$¤ «†-««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««†«- ¤$$†«--...
......««$¤ †«- ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A †-« ¤$««......
....-†§¤@@ †-« 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 -†« @@§†«.....
.-«†$§§¤¤@ .-« CARS..... -«. @¤¤§§$†«-.
....-««$¤¤ ...---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---... ¤¤$««-....
.....--†$¤ ¤$†--.....
.....-††$¤ ¤$††-.....
.-«†$§¤@@# #@@¤§$†«-.
...-«$$$§@ @§$$$«-...
....««†§¤@ @¤§†««....