,,~\^£¤### ###¤£^\~,,
,,~\^£¤### ###¤£^\~,,
,,,,,,\^^¤ ¤^^\,,,,,,
,,~\^£¤### ###¤£^\~,,
,,\^£¤#### ####¤£^\,,
,,~\^£¤### 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. ¤¤££^~,,,,
,,~\^£¤### ###¤£^\~,,
,,~\^^££## ##££^^\~,,
,,~\^£¤### ###¤£^\~,,
,,,,,~^^£# #£^^~,,,,,
,,\^£¤#### ####¤£^\,,