§§¨¨§§§§¨¨ §¨§¨¨¨¨§¨§
¨¨§¨§¨¨¨§¨ §§§§¨¨¨§§§
§¨§§§§¨¨§§ ¨¨¨¨§¨¨§¨¨
§§§¨¨¨§¨§¨ §¨¨¨§§¨§§¨
§¨¨§¨¨§§§§ §§¨¨§¨§§¨§
¨§¨§§¨§¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,¨¨¨ §¨§¨§§§¨§§
§§§§¨§§§¨¨ ¨,† 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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