,,,«^%£§¶#                                          #¶§£%^«,,,
,,,,«^%£§¶                                          ¶§£%^«,,,,
,,,,,«^%£§                                          §£%^«,,,,,
,,,,«^%£§¶                                          ¶§£%^«,,,,
,,,«^%£§¶#                                          #¶§£%^«,,,
,,«^%£§¶## 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.              ¶§£%^«,,,,
,,,,,«^%£§                                          §£%^«,,,,,
,,,,«^%£§¶                                          ¶§£%^«,,,,
,,,«^%£§¶#                                          #¶§£%^«,,,
,,«^%£§¶##                                          ##¶§£%^«,,
,,,«^%£§¶#                                          #¶§£%^«,,,