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.