/~,.......                                          .......,~/
$/~,......                                          ......,~/$
£$/~,.....                                          .....,~/$£
§£$/~,....                                          ....,~/$£§
@§£$/~,...                                          ...,~/$£§@
#@§£$/~,.. gray  skies,  swirling with soot.  stony ..,~/$£§@#
##@§£$/~,. ground  with  no  hints  of  vegetation. .,~/$£§@##
###@§£$/~,                                          ,~/$£§@###
##@§£$/~,. below   the   surface  are  the   mines, .,~/$£§@##
#@§£$/~,.. spiraling  down  into  the  crust. small ..,~/$£§@#
@§£$/~,... compared  to the caverns they eventually ...,~/$£§@
§£$/~,.... reach and join with. the temperature  is ....,~/$£§
£$/~,..... higher  down  here, and  the view is not .....,~/$£
$/~,...... as  monochrome:  a  green light  beckons ......,~/$
/~,.......               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, / , , .......,~/
$/~,...... , , ~     entertained, and then    ~ , , ......,~/$
£$/~,..... , , ,      finally binged on.      , , , .....,~/$£
§£$/~,.... . . .                              . . . ....,~/$£§
@§£$/~,... . . . the engines are burning hot, . . . ...,~/$£§@
#@§£$/~,..         and the ship accelerates         ..,~/$£§@#
##@§£$/~,.           away. the elves have           .,~/$£§@##
###@§£$/~,       strapped themselves in, and        ,~/$£§@###
##@§£$/~,.        are lying completely still,       .,~/$£§@##
#@§£$/~,..              like corpses.               ..,~/$£§@#
@§£$/~,...                                          ...,~/$£§@
§£$/~,....                                          ....,~/$£§
£$/~,.....                                          .....,~/$£
$/~,......                                          ......,~/$
/~,.......                                          .......,~/