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.