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.