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.