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.