.......... ..........
.......... ..........
,......... .........,
~,........ ........,~
:~,....... .......,~:
§:~,...... 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. ......,~:§
%§:~,..... .....,~:§%
¤%§:~,.... ....,~:§%¤
#¤%§:~,... ...,~:§%¤#
##¤%§:~,.. ..,~:§%¤##
###¤%§:~,. .,~:§%¤###