#@#&&=†«,¨ ¨,«†=&@#
&==«,,,,¨¨ ¨¨,,,,«==&
#@#&&=†«,¨ ¨,«†=&@#
#&†,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,†
@@#&&=†«,¨ ¨,«†=&@@
#@#&&=†«,¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨,«†=&@#
###&&=†«,¨ ¨,† 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..... ,«¨ ¨¨¨¨,«††&&
#&&&&=†«,¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨,«†=&&&
#@#&&=†«,¨ ¨,«†=&@#
##@#&=†«,¨ ¨,«†=@##
@@#&&=†«,¨ ¨,«†=&@@
&&&==†«¨¨¨ ¨¨¨«†==&&&
###&&=†«,¨ ¨,«†=&##