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.