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.