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.