-^........ ........^-
^......... .........^
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.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... ..........
.......... .^† 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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^......... .........^
-^........ ........^-
†-^....... .......^-†
^†-^...... ......^-†^