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.