Slaves of Love — Stephen B. Pearl

  Race is a private eye, ex-cop in the year 2105. As a left over from an undercover mission he must struggle to control Ralph, an artificial personality implanted in Race so that he could infiltrate the crime syndicates. Ralph is a sociopath, immune to the anti-violence conditioning everyone receives at the age of ten. The Race personality retains control of his body until Astra, Race's secret fantasy, is slipped protoerotoskillen, a drug that turns her into a love-slave. To save Astra, Race releases the Ralph personality so that he can force Todd, Astra's handler, to tell him how to counter the drug. Race also forces Todd to give evidence against the crime syndicate to the police. Lois, a dirty cop breaks Todd out of police custody and takes him to Percival, the local crime boss. Percival becomes aware of Ralph's existence and decides to increase Race's stress level so that the Ralph personality can take control. With the precision of a chess master Percival uses protoerotoskillen and venusfly, a drug that induces a nearly irresistible lust, to manipulate Race's family and friends towards their destruction. Will Race realise his loved ones are under attack in time to save them? Is Astra's love real or drug induced, and will it be enough to hold Race's sanity together? What does Ralph think of this situation, and can a sociopath learn to love? Most importantly, how can a man who can't hit back defend what he holds dear?