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.