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.