@£†-~..... .....~-†£@
£†-~...... ......~-†£
†-~....... .......~-†
-~........ ........~-
†-~....... .......~-†
£†-~...... 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. ....~-†£@#
##@£†-~... ...~-†£@##
###@£†-~.. ..~-†£@###
####@£†-~. .~-†£@####
###@£†-~.. ..~-†£@###
##@£†-~... ...~-†£@##