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£@††††/~,¨ 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. ¨¨¨¨,,,/@£
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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, ¨¨,,~~/†&@
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