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.