.......,~/ /~,.......
........,~ ~,........
.......,~/ /~,.......
......,~/^ ^/~,......
.....,~/^¤ ¤^/~,.....
....,~/^¤§ ...,,,////////////////////////////,,,... §¤^/~,....
...,~/^¤§# .,/ 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..... ,~. /~,.......
......,~/^ ...,,,////////////////////////////,,,... ^/~,......
.....,~/^¤ ¤^/~,.....
....,~/^¤§ §¤^/~,....
...,~/^¤§# #§¤^/~,...
..,~/^¤§## ##§¤^/~,..
.,~/^¤§### ###§¤^/~,.