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.