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.