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.