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.