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.