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££££*~~~¨¨ gray skies, swirling with soot. stony ¨¨~~~*££££
#@††*»»»~¨ ground with no hints of vegetation. ¨~»»»*††@#
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##£@£†*»~¨ 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. ¨¨¨~~*†£££
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###£@£*»~¨ £ # # 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. ¨~»*†£@£##
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