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.