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.