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