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.