“Another dwarf is missing. I heard it on the news.” Lights flashed across Jasmine’s face.
“How many does that make?”
“Mercury News said more than forty dwarves have disappeared since the year began. Now they’re saying the rash of runaways began earlier, but only a few ran last year. They think they’re running away, because no one can find them. If they were in the city, their chips would have set off a sensor somewhere. No one has any idea where they could go.”
“I hope they’re safe too. Unscrupulous traffickers abuse runaways.” Clay tapped his forehead. “They reprogram the chips, and the hapless biot cannot disobey them.”
“Mercury News says the new case is different. They’re calling it the Zodiac case because of a sign left at the scene. A psychologist claimed the missing dwarf was psychotic.”
“Nonsense, I refuse to believe a voodoo doctor. The guy probably has never lived with a biot. Dwarves are extremely stable. Have you ever known a crazy dwarf?”
Jasmine watched the level-way’s signs pass by. The lights twinkled on the sparkles in her hair. “Nope.”
They were not going far. He followed the eastbound level-way through Under Nodlon, and turned north onto California Parkway following a ground car. Shifting to fly, the engine purred. He juiced the flyer, and they rose into the low flight lane. After a few blocks Babel Tower was in sight. Within minutes, they were home.