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.