Marcus 582: Book Three of Cyborgs: Mankind Redefined Read Online Free PDF Page A

work?”
     
    Rachel sighed and pointed back down the hall to the lab. “Cy…borg rest…or…a…tion.”
     
    “Wow. Impressive. Are you an engineer or scientist?”
     
    Rachel shook her head. When he stooped to pick up his electronics, she knelt down to help. “I am…a lab…tech.”
     
    “I thought you looked a little young. Plus, you’re dressed way too cute to be a scientist.”
     
    Rachel smiled at the compliment, but didn’t respond.
     
    “So are you a student? Is that why you’re working as a lab grunt?”
     
    “No. Just…poor,” Rachel chuckled—or tried to—no sound came out. It was flattering to think she still looked young enough to be in school. She put a hand to her throat when she felt the buzzing vibration in her chords.
     
    His sympathetic smile was like a hug. She put a hand to her chest. “I…am…Ra…chel.”
     
    “I’m Nathan,” he said, shuffling the load in his arms. “I’d pat my chest if my arms weren’t full.”
     
    Rachel snorted. It was odd to be laughing every other sentence. Nathan was a funny guy.
     
    “It was nice running into you…well mostly nice. At least we met. Now I’d better get back to work. Where should I meet you later?”
     
    Rachel smiled. “Scan…ner? 5…ish?”
     
    Nathan nodded. “Sure. Perfect timing. See you then.”
     
    She watched Nathan walk away and then turned in the same direction to go back to the lab.
     
    Meeting Nathan for coffee would at least cover the lie she’d told to Marcus.
     
    Now all she had to do was find a better way to make money and a fairy godmother to undo her past.
     
    “Ha…ha…ha...” she murmured as she trudged back.
     

Chapter 3
     
    Still in shock that some guy had actually been waiting for Rachel at the scanners, Marcus followed them to a coffee shop four blocks from the Norton building. He hesitated about going inside because he didn’t want to risk Rachel catching him. Through the door, he frowned when he saw her laughing at something the geeky guy had said.
     
    To be fair, her date’s gaze hadn’t left Rachel’s face the whole time she was talking, unlike his which after this morning had been on her legs the whole time he’d followed discreetly behind her. His growing physical obsession with her was probably because he hadn’t had sex since he’d left the Cyber Husband program. It didn’t bode well for his chances of rectifying his celibate state when the only woman he wanted was now on a date and smiling at another man.
     
    Maybe Rachel hadn’t been lying. The geeky guy did look young enough to have been a college friend of hers. Yet there was something not quite right about him…and not just the fact he was making Rachel smile at nearly everything he said.
     
    Marcus felt his cybernetically boosted mind scramble as it tried to find the real reasons for the churning in his gut. Maybe it was him and not the guy. He was no longer sure. Concern for Rachel had made his processor spin madly all day.
     
    Ordering himself to enter a calmer state, Marcus focused on his competition more closely. What was bothering him? Maybe he needed to make a list.
     
    First, geeky guys didn’t normally have weightlifting pecs pushing against their shirts.
     
    Second, muscle guys didn’t usually carry enough technology on their person to conduct a military level maneuver. His old team hadn’t taken half the geeky guy’s electronics when they went to bust King’s wife out of the UCN work camp. Still…having technology didn’t necessarily mean the man was not to be trusted. Sometimes Eric carried that much equipment when he wasn’t working.
     
    There was just no getting around the inevitable. To make a real determination of the situation, he needed to get closer and see if he could figure what the guy was really trying to get from Rachel.
     
    A large group of what appeared to be genuine students was headed his way. Marcus took a lightweight jacket and knit hat out of his backpack. He pulled