:~^....... .......^~:
~^........ ........^~
^......... .........^
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
.......... 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. ..........
.......... ..........
.......... ..........
^......... .........^
~^........ ........^~
:~^....... .......^~: