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§$=~-..... .....-~=$§
$=~-...... ......-~=$
=~-....... .......-~=
~-........ ........-~
=~-....... 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 .......-~=
$=~-...... Reached, And Over Time, The Seedling ......-~=$
§$=~-..... Became A Sludge. .....-~=$§
£§$=~-.... ....-~=$§£
#£§$=~-... And Elves Came As Miners, And The ...-~=$§£#
##£§$=~-.. Sludge Was Bottled. ..-~=$§£##
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##£§$=~-.. ######################################## ..-~=$§£##
#£§$=~-... # # ...-~=$§£#
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§$=~-..... # # # # .....-~=$§
$=~-...... # # #¶¶£$£$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$£$£¶¶# # # ......-~=$
=~-....... ¶ # # # # ¶ .......-~=
~-........ ¶ # # 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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##£§$=~-.. ..-~=$§£##
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