&@††~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~††@&
@&@††~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~††@&@
#@&@††~,¨¨ ¨¨,~††@&@#
##@&@††~,¨ ¨,~††@&@##
#@&@††~,¨¨ ¨¨,~††@&@#
@&@††~,¨¨¨ 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. ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨,~†
††~,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,~††
@††~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,~††@
&@††~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~††@&
@&@††~,¨¨¨ ¨¨¨,~††@&@
#@&@††~,¨¨ ¨¨,~††@&@#