,,-~†*@&##                                          ##&@*†~-,,
,,,-~†*@&#                                          #&@*†~-,,,
,,-~†*@&##                                          ##&@*†~-,,
,-~†*@&###                                          ###&@*†~-,
,,-~†*@&##                                          ##&@*†~-,,
,,,-~†*@&# ,,,---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---,,, #&@*†~-,,,
,,-~†*@&## ,-†            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.....            -~, ##&@*†~-,,
,-~†*@&### ,,,---††††††††††††††††††††††††††††---,,, ###&@*†~-,
,,-~†*@&##                                          ##&@*†~-,,
,,,-~†*@&#                                          #&@*†~-,,,
,,-~†*@&##                                          ##&@*†~-,,
,-~†*@&###                                          ###&@*†~-,
,,-~†*@&##                                          ##&@*†~-,,