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.