*~-....... .......-~*
~-........ ........-~
-......... .........-
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ...---****************************---... ..........
.......... .-* 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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