........^- -^........
.........^ ^.........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ...^^^////////////////////////////^^^... ..........
.......... .^/ 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..... ^-. #£$/-^....
...^-/$£#@ ...^^^////////////////////////////^^^... @#£$/-^...
..^-/$£#@# #@#£$/-^..
.^-/$£#@## ##@#£$/-^.
..^-/$£#@# #@#£$/-^..
...^-/$£#@ @#£$/-^...
....^-/$£# #£$/-^....