This bed is soft. I should probably lie here forever, wherever here is, but there’s a beeping sound. The beeping doesn’t stop. Why is there a beeping sound?

I fumble at unfamiliar furniture until my hand finds a shape it knows and makes the noise to stop. A message telling me to read something flashes across my whole world, so I start learning who I am as I stumble into the shower. I see the still-dark sky through the window, which seems wrong for some reason. I wrap up my reading and recall my weird talk with Chad last night just as my schedule pops a notice that I’m supposed to be talking to Lin in fifteen minutes. I reach out with invisible hands to grab clothes while my physical hands work a toothbrush across my teeth. I catch a glimpse of my naked self in the mirror and realize that Andrea’s workout routine has really improved my physique over the last several months. I debate whether I should even put a shirt on or not. Maybe she could “catch” me right out of the shower. No. Even with an improved body, I probably look better dressed.

I’ve still got a minute or two before Lin’s video call, so I shoot off an email to Robert Maxwell telling him about the changes to the contracts for Keeya and Lucie. I tell him to triple-check all the other existing contracts for everyone else on the Butler Institute payroll. I can’t handle any more surprises.

I glance at my overlay’s clock again. It’s time.

No message from Lin yet.

Weird, my index entry for her tells me she’s always very punctual.

I check yesterday’s mail. The last message from her confirmed that we’re supposed to talk this morning, so I just need to wait for her link. I look through the rest of my email since I have time. Sheryl’s message gushes about how well the press event yesterday went. She already has the site updated with new pictures and video. Mrs. Hastings’ message is her standard perfunctory status report: everything is fine back home and all the younger sibs are doing great.

Five minutes past the meeting time, still nothing from Lin. Did she sleep in? I don’t think that’s like her. Something must have come up.

I pack up my room. I know the guides would handle it for me if I didn’t, but I don’t mind the effort and it’s better than pacing the room.

Ten minutes over.

I read back over last night’s talk with Chad again. Why was he acting so strangely? Wait a minute. Stumbling, slurred speech, shouting? He was drunk!. It seems like that’s something I should have spotted, but I’m only coming to it now. My stupid broken brain. Putting disparate info together like observing different behaviors and connecting them to a cause is clearly getting harder for me. Maybe I can automate some of it with my index, like the way I hooked in facial recognition. I’m well on my way to a fully integrated robot brain. I’ll ask around and see if I’m right and he’d been drinking a lot last night before I put in a ton of effort though.

Fifteen minutes past Lin’s call time. Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to me after all. Am I way more invested in this relationship than she is? I thought she really liked me.

No. Don’t think like that. Things happen. She’s probably got a good reason for standing me up.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I start thinking about breakfast. I don’t see anything planned as a group this morning. I just need to be down at the docks by nine, so there’s still plenty of time to find something to eat. Akara said yesterday that one of the hotel restaurants does a good French breakfast. Maybe I’ll hit that. I just need to be down at the docks by nine, so there’s still plenty of time.

I’m about to open the door to head downstairs when the soft ding from the tablet tells me an email just arrived. I run back to the desk. It’s Lin’s video call link! I open it up and she appears in front of me.

I’m a little confused when I see her. On the one hand, she looks great. The gauntness she once had is completely gone now. Her face has filled out with smoothly rounded cheeks. She’s leaning over her desk wearing a tight athletic tank top that reveals some very significant curves that get me even more excited to see her. On the other hand, she’s a bit of a mess. She’s always so perfectly put together for these calls, but now her short hair is soaking wet and untamed, and she’s not wearing a hat or a headwrap like she usually does. I’m turned on by the look.

“Noah!” she exclaims breathlessly as she sits down. “I thought I’d missed you!”

“You almost did,” I reply. “What happened to you? Are you OK?”

“No!” she cries. “Yang Song tortured me!”

“What happened?” I respond, horrified. “What did she do?”

I’ll kill her. I don’t care that she’s a commando super-soldier bodyguard or whatever.

“She yelled at me!” Lin cries out. “She made me run so far! I thought I was going to die. She made me go for kilometers. Three of them!”

I laugh, relieved. I didn’t really want another murder on my conscience.

“That’s not torture, gorgeous. That’s just exercise.”

Her face twists in an angry pout.

“It was torture,” she insists, “Definitely torture. She decided yesterday that I was getting fat, so now she’s making me go exercise with her in the mornings. I only have a couple of minutes while she thinks I’m in the shower.”

I laugh again. “Let me tell you about what Andrea has been doing to me when we have more time. And for the record, you look spectacular. Don’t let her or anyone else tell you otherwise.”

“You are sweet.” Her pout turns into a smile. “Is this how exercise always is? I’ve never had to do this since I was little. It hurts so much.”

“I absolutely understand, but it gets better after a while, I promise. Make sure you stretch really well and drink a lot of water today though, or you’ll be even more sore tomorrow.”

“That’s what Yang Song said.” she says, her voice an accusation. “Are you working with her? Are you trying to torture me, too?”

“Never, I promise.”

“I’ve got to go, I need to shower now or she’ll get suspicious. I’m so sorry we didn’t get to talk.”

“We just did,” I reassure her. “Now go before you get in trouble.”

She gets a mischievous look in her eye and steps back from her desk, leaving the camera on. She peels off her tight top, revealing an even tighter sports bra underneath. She’s wearing athletic leggings that hug her curves. Her belly is still mostly flat, but her hips have widened quite a bit and her chest has definitely grown. Her exposed skin glistens with sweat. I don’t know what Yang Song could be thinking, she looks like the ideal of beauty to me.

“Do you like what you see?” she teases.

“You know I do.”

“You want more?” her eyes flash with a look of pure naughtiness. My heart skips a beat.

“Yes! Please!”

She turns her back to me as she peels the sports bra off. She twirls it over her head, her bare back facing my way. I hear her laugh and see her start to turn as the bra comes flying at the camera, covering it and giving me nothing but a black window.

“Come see me soon, Noah. I’ve got more to show you.”

The video session closes. I scream in frustration.