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.