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