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.