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.