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.