........,~                                          ~,........
.......,~†                                          †~,.......
......,~†^                                          ^†~,......
.....,~†^§                                          §^†~,.....
....,~†^§@                                          @§^†~,....
...,~†^§@¶ 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.              ..........
..........                                          ..........
.........,                                          ,.........
........,~                                          ~,........
.......,~†                                          †~,.......
......,~†^                                          ^†~,......