..^«†%¤¤¶@                                          @¶¤¤%†«^..
.^«†%¤¤¶@#                                          #@¶¤¤%†«^.
..^«†%¤¤¶@                                          @¶¤¤%†«^..
...^«†%¤¤¶                                          ¶¤¤%†«^...
....^«†%¤¤                                          ¤¤%†«^....
...^«†%¤¤¶ ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... ¶¤¤%†«^...
..^«†%¤¤¶@ .^†            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.....            ^«. @¶¤¤%†«^..
...^«†%¤¤¶ ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... ¶¤¤%†«^...
....^«†%¤¤                                          ¤¤%†«^....
...^«†%¤¤¶                                          ¶¤¤%†«^...
..^«†%¤¤¶@                                          @¶¤¤%†«^..
.^«†%¤¤¶@#                                          #@¶¤¤%†«^.
..^«†%¤¤¶@                                          @¶¤¤%†«^..