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.