-~........ ........~-
~......... .........~
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
~......... 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. .....~-†§*
£*§†-~.... ....~-†§*£
¶£*§†-~... ...~-†§*£¶
#¶£*§†-~.. ..~-†§*£¶#
##¶£*§†-~. .~-†§*£¶##
#¶£*§†-~.. ..~-†§*£¶#