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.