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.