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.