#@@&$†/»,, ,,»/†$&@@#
##@&$†/»,, ,,»/†$&@##
##@&$†/»,, ,,»/†$&@##
@&††»,,,,, ,,,,,»††&@
&&††»,,,,, ,,,,,»††&&
&†/»,,,,,, 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. ,,»/†$&@@#
&††/,,,,,, ,,,,,,/††&
##@@&†/»,, ,,»/†&@@##
#@@&$†/»,, ,,»/†$&@@#
@&$†»,,,,, ,,,,,»†$&@
@&&&$†/»,, ,,»/†$&&&@