§§,,,§,§,§ §,§§§,,§,,
,§,,§§,§,§ §,,§§,§§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ §,§,§,,§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ §,§,§,§§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ §,§,§,,§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, §,§,§,§§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ ,^† 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..... ^~, §,§,§,,§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ ,,,^^^††††††††††††††††††††††††††††^^^,,, §,§,§,§§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ §,§,§,,§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ §,§,§,§§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ §,§,§,,§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ §,§,§,§§,§
,§,§,§,§,§ §,§,§,,§,§