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.