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.