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.