####£†*«:¨ ¨:«*†£####
#£££***«:¨ ¨:«***£££#
#††««:¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨:««††#
##£*:¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨:*£##
##£†«¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨«†£##
#££*:¨¨¨¨¨ ######################################## ¨¨¨¨¨:*££#
####£†*«:¨ # 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. ¨:«*†£####
####£†*«:¨ ¨:«*†£####
#£*«¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨«*£#
####£†*«:¨ ¨:«*†£####
####£†*«:¨ ¨:«*†£####
#††*«¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨«*††#