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.