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.