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.