=~........ ........~=
*=~....... .......~=*
@*=~...... ......~=*@
¤@*=~..... .....~=*@¤
#¤@*=~.... ....~=*@¤#
##¤@*=~... ......============================...... ...~=*@¤##
###¤@*=~.. ..= 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..... .~. ..........
.......... ......============================...... ..........
.......... ..........
~......... .........~
=~........ ........~=
*=~....... .......~=*
@*=~...... ......~=*@