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.