,,,,,-===& &===-,,,,,
,,,,††%%%£ £%%%††,,,,
,,,,-==%£@ @£%==-,,,,
,,-†††††%£ £%†††††-,,
,,-†=%&££@ @££&%=†-,,
,,-†=%&£@# 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. @££&%=†-,,
,,-†=%&£@# #@£&%=†-,,
,,-†=%&£@# #@£&%=†-,,
,,-†=%&£## ##£&%=†-,,
,,-†=%&&&& &&&&%=†-,,
,,,,,-†==& &==†-,,,,,