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.