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&&£;»,,,.. 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. .....,;^&#
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#@#&£^;»,. ######################################## .,»;^£&#@#
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#@#&£^;»,. # @ @ 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. .,»;^£#@##
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