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.