@@£@$†/«~¨ ¨~«/†$@£@@
££@@$†/«~¨ ¨~«/†$@@££
#@£@$†/«~¨ ¨~«/†$@£@#
@£$//«~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~«//$£@
@$/~¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨~/$@
£££@$†/«~¨ GRAY SKIES, SWIRLING WITH SOOT. STONY ¨~«/†$@£££
#@£@$†/«~¨ GROUND WITH NO HINTS OF VEGETATION. ¨~«/†$@£@#
@@£@$†/«~¨ ¨~«/†$@£@@
#@£@$†/«~¨ BELOW THE SURFACE ARE THE MINES, ¨~«/†$@£@#
#@£@$†/«~¨ SPIRALING DOWN INTO THE CRUST. SMALL ¨~«/†$@£@#
@@$†«~~¨¨¨ COMPARED TO THE CAVERNS THEY EVENTUALLY ¨¨¨~~«†$@@
@@£@$†/«~¨ REACH AND JOIN WITH. THE TEMPERATURE IS ¨~«/†$@£@@
@@@††/~¨¨¨ 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. ¨¨¨¨~«†@@@
@@††/~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~/††@@
@@††«¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨«††@@
@$$$/«¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨«/$$$@
@£$/««¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨««/$£@
@@††//~¨¨¨ ¨¨¨~//††@@