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.