*^-^...... ......^-^*
^-^....... .......^-^
-^........ ........^-
^-^....... .......^-^
*^-^...... ......^-^*
£*^-^..... 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. ...^-^*£@¶
#¶@£*^-^.. ..^-^*£@¶#
##¶@£*^-^. .^-^*£@¶##
#¶@£*^-^.. ..^-^*£@¶#
¶@£*^-^... ...^-^*£@¶
@£*^-^.... ....^-^*£@