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.