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.