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.