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.