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.