^»†*$§£###                                          ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£##                                          ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£###                                          ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£##                                          ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£###                                          ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## gray  skies, swirling with  soot.  stony ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### ground  with  no  hints  of  vegetation. ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£##                                          ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### below  the   surface   are   the  mines, ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## spiraling  down  into  the  crust. small ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### compared to  the caverns they eventually ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## reach and join with.  the temperature is ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### higher  down here,  and  the view is not ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## as  monochrome:  a  green  light beckons ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£###                from below.               ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£##                                          ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### long ago, there was a  lifeform here. in ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## the  center of  the planetoid, something ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### dormant,  waiting  for a collision  with ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## another   body.   but   no   planet  was ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### reached,  and  over  time,  the seedling ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£##             became a sludge.             ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£###                                          ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## and  elves  came  as   miners,  and  the ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£###           sludge was bottled.            ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£##                                          ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### ######################################## ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## #                                      # ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### # ######§#§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§#§###### # ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## # #                                  # # ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### # # #££§*§********************§*§££# # # ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## £ # #                              # # £ ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£### £ # #   the cargo ship is filled,  # # £ ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£## $ # £      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.              ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£###                                          ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£##                                          ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£###                                          ###£§$*†»^
.^»†*$§£##                                          ##£§$*†»^.
^»†*$§£###                                          ###£§$*†»^