With a silent order, I urged Snout forward—but he veered away, charging toward Hazel instead. No, Snout! I thought. Toward the roof! He ignored me. That was the problem with a machine that obeyed your thoughts. Instead of doing what you said, it did what you wanted.

“The Predator !” Hazel shouted at me as I heaved toward the irrigation tower. “Stop the Predator !”

“I’m trying!” I yelled back. “I can’t!”
“Why not?”
“’Cause this stupid thing brought me to you instead.”
“Why?” Then she looked at my face again and said, “Aw, that’s sweet.”
I flushed. “Oh, shut up.