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.