,^»†††¤¤¤§ §¤¤¤†††»^,
,,,^††¤§§§ §§§¤††^,,,
,^»†%¤§#@# #@#§¤%†»^,
,^»†%¤¤§§# #§§¤¤%†»^,
,^»†%¤§@## ##@§¤%†»^,
,,,,,,»†¤§ 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. §%%††»,,,,
,^»†%%%¤§§ §§¤%%%†»^,
,,,^^»††¤§ §¤††»^^,,,
,^^»»%%%§§ §§%%%»»^^,
,^»†%¤§#@# #@#§¤%†»^,
,^»†%¤§#@# #@#§¤%†»^,