,,,-«†=£¤#                                          #¤£=†«-,,,
,,,,-«†=£¤                                          ¤£=†«-,,,,
,,,,,-«†=£                                          £=†«-,,,,,
,,,,,,-«†=                                          =†«-,,,,,,
,,,,,,,-«†                                          †«-,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,-« ,,,---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---,,, «-,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,- ,-†            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 «†- «-,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,- Ǡ-           OVERLOOKED.            -Ǡ -,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,, -«†««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««««-†« ,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,- -†« 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.....             -«, #¤£=†«-,,,
,,-«†=£¤## ,,,---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---,,, ##¤£=†«-,,
,-«†=£¤###                                          ###¤£=†«-,
,,-«†=£¤##                                          ##¤£=†«-,,
,,,-«†=£¤#                                          #¤£=†«-,,,
,,,,-«†=£¤                                          ¤£=†«-,,,,
,,,,,-«†=£                                          £=†«-,,,,,