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.