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.