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.