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.