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.