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.