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.