#&†^^^~,,, ,,,~^^^†&#
###&£†^«~, ,~«^†£&###
###&£†^«~, ,~«^†£&###
###&£†^«~, ,~«^†£&###
###&£†^«~, ,~«^†£&###
##&&£†^«~, 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. ,~«^†£&###
##£††«~~,, ,,~~«††£##
&£££††^«~, ,~«^††£££&
&†«,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,«†&
&††«~,,,,, ,,,,,~«††&
###&£†^«~, ,~«^†£&###