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.