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.