Rick Watson awoke in his hotel room with a massive headache. He had not slept very well since that cyborg mistress had put him up to all of those . . . activities.

I never thought a whip could bring so much pleasure—and pain.

He got up and was about to use the restroom when a rapping noise interrupted his hangover. He opened the door to find Dr. Ash with a worried look.

“I hate to bother you at such an early hour, but could I have a moment of your time?” Dr. Ash said.

“Sure, come in,” Rick said.

“Nozomi has gone missing for more than twenty hours. She’s never out of touch for that long.”

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

“From what I’ve seen, she can take care of herself.”

“Indeed, but I have a bad feeling about her situation. I account for all of her nutrition cartridges. That means she doesn’t have a spare. She could be injured, or worse . . .” Dr. Ash trailed off.

“What’s worse than being injured?”

“Being captured!”

“I don’t think that happened. Who would want to capture Nozomi?”

“Someone that wishes to study her—wait, I think I know where she is.”

“Where?”

“She’s with a Dr. Sylvester, otherwise known as Doc Chop.”

“Who the hell is that?”

“Someone that Nozomi was brokering a deal with. We were supposed to be trading cyborg technology secrets, but he has double-crossed Nozomi,” Dr. Ash explained. “I’m needed here, but could you check on Nozomi?”

“Consider it done, but where should I look?”

“His last known location is near the abandoned train station. Near Sakura Park, he has a lab nearby and out of sight.”

“Sure thing.”

Dr. Ash thanked Rick, then left him to his thoughts.