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