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##@£^:«:¨¨ 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. ¨:«:^£@###
##@£^:«:¨¨ ¨¨:«:^£@##
###@£^:«:¨ ######################################## ¨:«:^£@###
##@£^:«:¨¨ # # ¨¨:«:^£@##
###@£^:«:¨ # ######@#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@#@###### # ¨:«:^£@###
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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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