#@§%%†~,¨¨ ¨¨,~†%%§@#
@§%%†~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~†%%§@
§%%†~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~†%%§
%%†~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,~†%%
%†~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~†%
†~,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~†
~,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨,† 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..... ,~¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,
~,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~
†~,¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~†
%†~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~†%
%%†~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,~†%%
§%%†~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~†%%§