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#£$;.,,,,, ground with no hints of vegetation. ,,,,,.;$£#
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#§$;»»»»., below the surface are the mines, ,.»»»»;$§#
###§£$;»., spiraling down into the crust. small ,.»;$£§###
###§£$;»., compared to the caverns they eventually ,.»;$£§###
###§£$;»., reach and join with. the temperature is ,.»;$£§###
§£$»»»..., higher down here, and the view is not ,...»»»$£§
#§£;;.,,,, 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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#§§££$;»., # # # the cargo ship is filled, # # # ,.»;$££§§#
§§$$;».,,, £ # # prepared for launch, # # £ ,,,.»;$$§§
###§£$;»., $ # # ignition sequence started # # $ ,.»;$£§###
§§$»...,,, ; § # hours ago. elves in the # § ; ,,,...»$§§
###§£$;»., ; $ § passenger cabin, not yet § $ ; ,.»;$£§###
####§£$»., » ; § seated. but something is § ; » ,.»$£§####
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###§£$;»., . . $ green around their mouths. $ . . ,.»;$£§###
###§£$;»., . . ; the sludge has been sampled, ; . . ,.»;$£§###
###§£$;»., . . » entertained, and then » . . ,.»;$£§###
§$»».,,,,, . . . finally binged on. . . . ,,,,,.»»$§
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###§£$;»., , , , 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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