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.