,~«\%£¤@@# #@@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@# #@@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@# #@@¤£%\«~,
,,,,,«%£¤¤ ¤¤£%«,,,,,
,~«\%£¤¤@@ @@¤¤£%\«~,
,,,,,,«%¤@ gray skies, swirling with soot. stony @¤%«,,,,,,
,~«\£¤@@## ground with no hints of vegetation. ##@@¤£\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@# #@@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@@ below the surface are the mines, @@@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@# spiraling down into the crust. small #@@¤£%\«~,
,,,,,«\\%¤ compared to the caverns they eventually ¤%\\«,,,,,
,~«\%£¤@@# reach and join with. the temperature is #@@¤£%\«~,
,,,,,«%%¤¤ higher down here, and the view is not ¤¤%%«,,,,,
,~«\%£¤@## as monochrome: a green light beckons ##@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@# from below. #@@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£@@## ##@@£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@@ long ago, there was a lifeform here. in @@@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@# the center of the planetoid, something #@@¤£%\«~,
,,,,,~\%¤@ dormant, waiting for a collision with @¤%\~,,,,,
,,,,««%¤@@ another body. but no planet was @@¤%««,,,,
,~«\%%£¤¤¤ reached, and over time, the seedling ¤¤¤£%%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@## became a sludge. ##@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@@ @@@¤£%\«~,
,~\%£¤@@## and elves came as miners, and the ##@@¤£%\~,
,~«\%£££@@ sludge was bottled. @@£££%\«~,
,~«\\\\%£¤ ¤£%\\\\«~,
,,~~«%£££@ ######################################## @£££%«~~,,
,~«\%£¤@@@ # # @@@¤£%\«~,
,,,~\%££@@ # #@#@@@¤@¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤@¤@@@#@# # @@££%\~,,,
,«\%£¤@@## # @ @ # ##@@¤£%\«,
,~«\%£¤@@# @ @ @@@¤%¤%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%¤%¤@@@ @ @ #@@¤£%\«~,
,,,,,,~\%¤ @ @ @ @ @ @ ¤%\~,,,,,,
,,,,,,~\£@ @ @ @ the cargo ship is filled, @ @ @ @£\~,,,,,,
,~««««%¤¤¤ £ @ @ prepared for launch, @ @ £ ¤¤¤%««««~,
,~«\%¤@@## % @ @ ignition sequence started @ @ % ##@@¤%\«~,
,,~««\%%¤@ \ ¤ @ hours ago. elves in the @ ¤ \ @¤%%\««~,,
,~«\%£¤@@# \ % ¤ passenger cabin, not yet ¤ % \ #@@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£££¤@ « \ ¤ seated. but something is ¤ \ « @¤£££%\«~,
,,,««««%£@ « « £ wrong. there is something £ « « @£%««««,,,
,~«\%£¤@@# ~ ~ % green around their mouths. % ~ ~ #@@¤£%\«~,
,,,,«««%¤¤ ~ ~ \ the sludge has been sampled, \ ~ ~ ¤¤%«««,,,,
,~«\%££¤@@ ~ ~ « entertained, and then « ~ ~ @@¤££%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@# ~ ~ ~ finally binged on. ~ ~ ~ #@@¤£%\«~,
,,,,«\\%%¤ , , , , , , ¤%%\\«,,,,
,,,,,~\\£¤ , , , the engines are burning hot, , , , ¤£\\~,,,,,
,,,~\\%¤¤@ and the ship accelerates @¤¤%\\~,,,
,~«\%£¤@@# away. the elves have #@@¤£%\«~,
,,,~~«\%¤@ strapped themselves in, and @¤%\«~~,,,
,,,,~«%£@@ are lying completely still, @@£%«~,,,,
,,~««%%££@ like corpses. @££%%««~,,
,,,««\%¤@@ @@¤%\««,,,
,~««\%££¤@ @¤££%\««~,
,,,,,«%£@@ @@£%«,,,,,
,~«\%£¤@@@ @@@¤£%\«~,
,~«\%£¤@@# #@@¤£%\«~,