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.