...,~†$¤£@                                          @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£                                          £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤                                          ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£                                          £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@                                          @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## .,†            THE  SPIRE            ~†. ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# ~†,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†~, #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ †~, ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A    †,~ @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ †,~ BENEVOLENT SPIRE, TOWERING WELL  ,†~ £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ ,†~ ABOVE OUR TALLEST TREES.  IT WAS ,~† ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ ,~† CLAD IN WHITE SCALES, AND SHAPED ~,† £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ ~,†        LIKED  A  MUSHROOM.       ~†, @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# ~†,      WE  LOVED  IT  DEARLY.      †~, #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## †~,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†,~ ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# †,~ IT  PREDATED US  BY MANY YEARS,  ,†~ #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ ,†~ AND WE DID NOT KNOW ITS ORIGINAL ,~† @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ ,~† BUILDERS.  THEY  HAD  USED  ITS  ~,† £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ ~,†  HOLLOW BODY  FOR MANY  STRANGE  ~†, ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ ~†,  PURPOSES  - A WOMBLIKE PLACE OF †~, £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ †~,  GESTATION, A STORAGE OF STRAGE  †,~ @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# †,~ FLUIDS, A TEMPLE TO SOME KIND OF ,†~ #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## ,†~   ARCANE    DEITY.               ,~† ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# ,~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,† #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ ~,†  WE  WERE  GRATEFUL  FOR   ITS   ~†, @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ ~†,  PRESENCE,  AND HONORED  IT  THE †~, £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ †~,   ONLY  WAY  WE  KNEW  HOW:  BY  †,~ ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ .,~       BREAKING        IN.        ,~. £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@##                                          ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ .~†  THIS PLACE WE CALLED OUR  CITY: ,†~ @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ ,†~ WAVY  AND FRACTURED, WITH  EACH  †,~ £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ †,~ COURTYARD ON A DIFFERENT HEIGHT, †~, ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ †~,  ROADS BECOMING  ROOFS  BECOMING ~†, £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ ~†, DRAINS.  AND  SOME PLACES, LIKE  ~,† @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# ~,†  THE SPIRE, NOBODY  HAD ACCESSED ,~† #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## ,~† FOR MANY YEARS. ONCE  ITS  WALLS ,†~ ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# ,†~  ARE  JUST  TOO  HIGH,  AND  THE †,~ #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ †,~ INTERNAL ROUTES TO LABYRINTHINE, †~, @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ †~,  A PLACE  AMONG OTHERS IS EASILY ~†, £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ ~†,           OVERLOOKED.            ,~† ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ ,~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,†~ £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ ,†~ SO, BASICALLY, THAT  SUMMER THE  †,~ @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# †,~ FOUR OF US SNUCK AND CLIMBED AND ~,† #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## †~, CRAWLED FOR WEEKS, SEARCHING FOR ~†, ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# ~†, A SECLUDED PLACE TO DO DRUGS AND ~,† #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ ~,† PLAY MUSIC  ON  OUR HANDHELDS.   ,~† @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ ,~†  INSTEAD  WE  FOUND  VAST LUNGS  ,†~ £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ ,†~   DRAINED  OF  THEIR  CATALYST   †,~ ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ †,~ SLUDGE, AND A  BIRDS-EYE VIEW TO †~, £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ †~,  MAKE SENSE OF OUR  ROAMINGS FOR ~†, @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# ~†,         YEARS  TO   COME.        ~,† #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## ~,†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,~† ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# ,~†  A  CENTRAL  SPINE, A STAIRCASE  ,†~ #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ ,†~  AROUND IT,  THE SEVEN TOROIDAL  †,~ @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ †,~ LUNGS STACKED OUTSIDE,  AND THE  †~, £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ †~, CONTROL ROOM ON TOP. THE SOCKETS ~†, ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ ~†, FOR ITS EYES. THE SMALLER SPIRES ~,† £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ ~,†  FOR  RADIATING  CONSCIOUSNESS   ,~† @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# .~†           INVITATIONS.           ,†. #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@#                                          #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ .,† IN TWENTY FOURTEEN, THE TOWER IS †~, £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ ~†, TOPPLED  AND EATEN BY MACHINES.  †,~ ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ †~, AFTER A WHILE, SOMETHING  NEW IS ,†~ £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ †,~ CONJURED  IN ITS  PLACE. IT'S  A ,~† @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# ,†~ TINY  MAW AT FIRST, SHORTER THAN ~,† #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## ,~†  US,  AND WE  LET  IT  BE.  OUR  ~†, ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# ~,† JOURNEYS STILL END AT  ITS FEET. †~, #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ ~†,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†,~ @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ †~, BUT  THEN WE  ARE  BETRAYED. THE ,†~ £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ †,~ NEW TOWER  EATS US.  OTHERS  ARE ,~† ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ ,†~ SUCKED INSIDE. NEW BUILDINGS ARE ~,† £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ ,~† MANIFESTED OVERNIGHT,  ONLY  TO  ~†, @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# ~,†  DISAPPEAR  IN THE  EVENING FOG. †~, #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## ~†,  FOR  A  WHILE ITS SOME KIND  OF †,~ ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# †~, TIMESHARE SCAM. GOONS ARE PLACED ,†~ #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@ †,~  OUTSIDE, AND WE GET BEATEN UP A ,~† @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£ ,†~  FEW  TIMES,  AND  STOP  GOING.  ~,† £¤$†~,....
.....,~†$¤ ,~†~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~†, ¤$†~,.....
....,~†$¤£ ~,†  IIRC IT'S  CURRENTLY  OWNED  BY †~, £¤$†~,....
...,~†$¤£@ ~†, SOME ENERGY DRINK BARON WHO USES †,~ @£¤$†~,...
..,~†$¤£@# †~, IT TO HOLD  ALL HIS FOURTY EIGHT ,†~ #@£¤$†~,..
.,~†$¤£@## .,~             CARS.....            ,~. ##@£¤$†~,.
..,~†$¤£@# ...,,,††††††††††††††††††††††††††††,,,... #@£¤$†~,..
...,~†$¤£@                                          @£¤$†~,...
....,~†$¤£                                          £¤$†~,....
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....,~†$¤£                                          £¤$†~,....
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