##£^^~,... ...,~^^£##
###¤£^/~,. .,~/^£¤###
¤¤^~~,.... ....,~~^¤¤
####£^/~,. .,~/^£####
##££^//~,. .,~//^££##
#¤¤¤£^/~,. 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. .......~^¤
###¤£^/~,. .,~/^£¤###
###¤£^/~,. .,~/^£¤###
#¤^^~,.... ....,~^^¤#
¤£££/~.... ....~/£££¤
###¤£^/~,. .,~/^£¤###