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.