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.