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.