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.