.^«†%%§#@#                                          #@#§%%†«^.
.....^††%§                                          §%††^.....
..^^††%%##                                          ##%%††^^..
.^«†%%§@##                                          ##@§%%†«^.
.^«†%%§#@#                                          #@#§%%†«^.
.^«†%%§#@# ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... #@#§%%†«^.
.^«†%%§#@# .^†            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.....            ^«. @##§%%†«^.
......^†%§ ...^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^... §%†^......
....^^«†%#                                          #%†«^^....
.^«†%%§###                                          ###§%%†«^.
.^«†%%§#@@                                          @@#§%%†«^.
...^^†%%%§                                          §%%%†^^...
.^«†%%§###                                          ###§%%†«^.