¨¨¨¨¨¨§§¨¨ §¨¨§¨§§§¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨§¨§¨§ §¨§§¨¨§§¨¨
¨¨¨¨§§¨§¨§ §¨¨§¨§¨§¨¨
¨¨¨§¨§¨§¨§ §¨§§¨§¨§¨¨
¨¨§§¨§¨§¨§ §¨¨§¨§¨§¨¨
¨§¨§¨§¨§¨§ ¨¨¨,,,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,,,¨¨¨ §¨§§¨§¨§¨¨
§§¨§¨§¨§¨§ ¨,; 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..... ,~¨ §¨¨§¨§¨§¨§
¨§¨§¨§¨§¨§ ¨¨¨,,,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;,,,¨¨¨ §¨§§¨§¨§¨§
¨§¨§¨§¨§¨§ §¨¨§¨§¨§¨§
¨§¨§¨§¨§¨§ §¨§§¨§¨§¨§
¨§¨§¨§¨§¨§ §¨¨§¨§¨§¨§
¨§¨§¨§¨§¨§ §¨§§¨§¨§¨§
¨§¨§¨§¨§¨§ §¨¨§¨§¨§¨§