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###£§^;~,¨ gray skies, swirling with soot. stony ¨,~;^§£###
¤^^~~¨¨¨¨¨ 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. ¨,~~~;^§¤#
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##£¤§^;~,¨ 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. ¨¨¨¨¨~;;§£
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¤^~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ 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 ¤ ; ~ ¨,~;^§¤£##
###¤§^;~,¨ ~ ~ § wrong. there is something § ~ ~ ¨,~;^§¤###
¤¤^~,¨¨¨¨¨ , , ^ 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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