#¤%†~..... .....~†%¤#
@#¤%†~.... ....~†%¤#@
#@#¤%†~... ...~†%¤#@#
##@#¤%†~.. ..~†%¤#@##
#@#¤%†~... ...~†%¤#@#
@#¤%†~.... ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ....~†%¤#@
#¤%†~..... ..† 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..... .~. ...~†%¤#@#
##@#¤%†~.. ......††††††††††††††††††††††††††††...... ..~†%¤#@##
#@#¤%†~... ...~†%¤#@#
@#¤%†~.... ....~†%¤#@
#¤%†~..... .....~†%¤#
¤%†~...... ......~†%¤
%†~....... .......~†%