###&¤†:~,. .,~:†¤&###
#&¤†:~,... ...,~:†¤&#
###&¤†:~,. .,~:†¤&###
####&¤†:~, ,~:†¤&####
###&¤†:~,. .,~:†¤&###
###&¤†:~,. 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. .....,~†&&
###&¤†:~,. .,~:†¤&###
###&¤†:~,. .,~:†¤&###
##&¤¤†:~,. .,~:†¤¤&##
###&¤†:~,. .,~:†¤&###
&¤:,,,.... ....,,,:¤&