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.