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.