.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
~......... 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. ..........
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