¨¨¨¨^~;*$§ §$*;~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~;*$§@ @§$*;~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~;*$§@# #@§$*;~^¨¨
¨^~;*$§@## ##@§$*;~^¨
¨¨^~;*$§@# #@§$*;~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~;*$§@ gray skies, swirling with soot. stony @§$*;~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~;*$§ ground with no hints of vegetation. §$*;~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~;*$ $*;~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~;* below the surface are the mines, *;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~; spiraling down into the crust. small ;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ compared to the caverns they eventually ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ reach and join with. the temperature is ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ higher down here, and the view is not ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ as monochrome: a green light beckons ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ from below. ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~; ;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~;* long ago, there was a lifeform here. in *;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~;*$ 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. ^ ^ ^ §$*;~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~;*$ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ $*;~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~;* ¨ ¨ ¨ the engines are burning hot, ¨ ¨ ¨ *;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~; and the ship accelerates ;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ away. the elves have ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ strapped themselves in, and ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ are lying completely still, ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ like corpses. ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~; ;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~;* *;~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~;*$ $*;~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~;*$§ §$*;~^¨¨¨¨