@#§£†;~-.. ..-~;†£§#@
#@#§£†;~-. .-~;†£§#@#
@#§£†;~-.. ..-~;†£§#@
#§£†;~-... ...-~;†£§#
§£†;~-.... ....-~;†£§
£†;~-..... 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. .....-~;†£
†;~-...... ......-~;†
;~-....... .......-~;
~-........ ........-~
-......... .........-
.......... ..........