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.