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.