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.