....^~†*$¤                                          ¤$*†~^....
...^~†*$¤@                                          @¤$*†~^...
..^~†*$¤@#                                          #@¤$*†~^..
.^~†*$¤@##                                          ##@¤$*†~^.
..^~†*$¤@#                                          #@¤$*†~^..
...^~†*$¤@ ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... @¤$*†~^...
....^~†*$¤ .^†            The  Spire            ~†. ¤$*†~^....
.....^~†*$ ~†^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~^ $*†~^.....
....^~†*$¤ †~^ 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.....             ^~. ¤$*†~^....
.....^~†*$ ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... $*†~^.....
....^~†*$¤                                          ¤$*†~^....
...^~†*$¤@                                          @¤$*†~^...
..^~†*$¤@#                                          #@¤$*†~^..
.^~†*$¤@##                                          ##@¤$*†~^.
..^~†*$¤@#                                          #@¤$*†~^..