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.