###@$††-,. .,-††$@###
#$††,..... .....,††$#
###@$††-,. .,-††$@###
###@$††-,. .,-††$@###
#@$$$††-,. .,-††$$$@#
###@$††-,. GRAY SKIES, SWIRLING WITH SOOT. STONY .,-††$@###
###@$††-,. GROUND WITH NO HINTS OF VEGETATION. .,-††$@###
#@†††-,... ...,-†††@#
##@$$††-,. BELOW THE SURFACE ARE THE MINES, .,-††$$@##
###@$††-,. SPIRALING DOWN INTO THE CRUST. SMALL .,-††$@###
#@$††-,... COMPARED TO THE CAVERNS THEY EVENTUALLY ...,-††$@#
@$†††††-,. REACH AND JOIN WITH. THE TEMPERATURE IS .,-†††††$@
@@$†,..... HIGHER DOWN HERE, AND THE VIEW IS NOT .....,†$@@
#@$††-,,.. AS MONOCHROME: A GREEN LIGHT BECKONS ..,,-††$@#
###@$††-,. FROM BELOW. .,-††$@###
####@††-,. .,-††@####
###@$††-,. LONG AGO, THERE WAS A LIFEFORM HERE. IN .,-††$@###
###@$††-,. THE CENTER OF THE PLANETOID, SOMETHING .,-††$@###
###@$††-,. DORMANT, WAITING FOR A COLLISION WITH .,-††$@###
###@$††-,. ANOTHER BODY. BUT NO PLANET WAS .,-††$@###
#$$$††,... REACHED, AND OVER TIME, THE SEEDLING ...,††$$$#
#$†-...... BECAME A SLUDGE. ......-†$#
###@$††-,. .,-††$@###
###@$††-,. AND ELVES CAME AS MINERS, AND THE .,-††$@###
##@@$††-,. SLUDGE WAS BOTTLED. .,-††$@@##
@$†,...... ......,†$@
###@$††-,. ######################################## .,-††$@###
@@††,..... # # .....,††@@
#@@@$††-,. # ######@#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@#@###### # .,-††$@@@#
###@$††-,. # # # # .,-††$@###
#$†--..... # # ###@†@††††††††††††††††††††@†@### # # .....--†$#
###@$††-,. # # # # # # .,-††$@###
###@$††-,. # # # THE CARGO SHIP IS FILLED, # # # .,-††$@###
###@$††-,. $ # # 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. .,-††$@###
@$†,...... ......,†$@
###@$††-,. .,-††$@###
####@††-,. .,-††@####
#@@††-.... ....-††@@#
###@$††-,. .,-††$@###