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.