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.