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.