....^~*†£@                                          @£†*~^....
...^~*†£@@                                          @@£†*~^...
..^~*†£@@#                                          #@@£†*~^..
.^~*†£@@##                                          ##@@£†*~^.
..^~*†£@@#                                          #@@£†*~^..
...^~*†£@@ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& @@£†*~^...
....^~*†£@ & autonomous railmakers will notice    & @£†*~^....
.....^~*†£ & wildlife in their path and stop,     & £†*~^.....
......^~*† &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& †*~^......
.......^~* sound  a   horn,  nudge   the  animal  a *~^.......
........^~ little,  but  ultimately  wait  it  out. ~^........
.........^ although  they  will  log video, no call ^.........
........^~ will   be    made   for    any   outside ~^........
.......^~*      assistance. this is very good.      *~^.......
......^~*†                                          †*~^......
.....^~*†£  the railmakers are siemens-manufactured £†*~^.....
....^~*†£@ brick-like  things. fields of  gray  and @£†*~^....
...^~*†£@@     teal, floodlights, thrumming and     @@£†*~^...
..^~*†£@@# hissing. trilling  to  each other,  like #@@£†*~^..
.^~*†£@@## language.   and  here,  three  of  them, ##@@£†*~^.
..^~*†£@@# slowly  making  their  way  through  the #@@£†*~^..
...^~*†£@@               dense forest.              @@£†*~^...
....^~*†£@                                          @£†*~^....
.....^~*†£ i'm coming  up on  them from  behind and £†*~^.....
......^~*† to  the left, hidden  behind  the  thick †*~^......
.......^~* foliage.  their  light  finds  the  gaps *~^.......
........^~     between the leaves, casting rays     ~^........
.........^ through  the wet air,  playing  over  my ^.........
........^~ face and  arms, and my weapon. i quickly ~^........
.......^~* overtake them, crouch in the ditch  made *~^.......
......^~*† by the preprocessor,  and  watch. one of †*~^......
.....^~*†£ them  is   already  a  bit   behind  the £†*~^.....
....^~*†£@ others.    it   will   be   my   target. @£†*~^....
...^~*†£@@                                          @@£†*~^...
..^~*†£@@# just as the  light of the leading two is #@@£†*~^..
.^~*†£@@## dimming, i deploy the rabbits,  throwing ##@@£†*~^.
..^~*†£@@# them  in  the  path  of   my  prey.  the #@@£†*~^..
...^~*†£@@ creatures are  yet alive, but  maimed so @@£†*~^...
....^~*†£@ as  to be  unable to  move -  they  will @£†*~^....
.....^~*†£ stay  in  the  path  of  the  railmaker, £†*~^.....
......^~*† forcing it to pause,  further separating †*~^......
.......^~*         it from its two friends.         *~^.......
........^~                                          ~^........
.........^                                          ^.........
........^~ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& ~^........
.......^~* & another thing about the machines:    & *~^.......
......^~*† & there's flesh inside them. &&&&&&&&&&& †*~^......
.....^~*†£ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& not meat, £†*~^.....
....^~*†£@ but  something  like a liver, that  will @£†*~^....
...^~*†£@@  keep the railmakers internal chemistry  @@£†*~^...
..^~*†£@@# well away  from their  various exhausts. #@@£†*~^..
.^~*†£@@##                                          ##@@£†*~^.
..^~*†£@@# a liver that, as  long as you manage  to #@@£†*~^..
...^~*†£@@ keep  it  alive,  can  clean  the  creek @@£†*~^...
....^~*†£@ water  enough  for it to  be  drinkable. @£†*~^....
.....^~*†£                                          £†*~^.....
......^~*†          which is why i'm here.          †*~^......
.......^~*                                          *~^.......
........^~                                          ~^........
.........^                                          ^.........
........^~                                          ~^........
.......^~*                                          *~^.......