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.