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.