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.