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.