,,,,†**%¶¶                                          ¶¶%**†,,,,
,,~†*%%@¶#                                          #¶@%%*†~,,
,,~†*%@¶##                                          ##¶@%*†~,,
,,,,,†**@@                                          @@**†,,,,,
,,~†††%%@@                                          @@%%†††~,,
,,~†*%@¶## ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, ##¶@%*†~,,
,,,,,,,†*@ ,,†            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.....             ,~, @@*†††,,,,
,,~†*%@¶## ,,,,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,,,, ##¶@%*†~,,
,,~†*%@¶##                                          ##¶@%*†~,,
,,,,,,††%¶                                          ¶%††,,,,,,
,,~†*%@¶##                                          ##¶@%*†~,,
,,~†*%@¶##                                          ##¶@%*†~,,
,,~†*%¶###                                          ###¶%*†~,,