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.