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.