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.