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.