..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
.......... 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.               ~.........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........