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.