Ortega smiled at V and Panam and continued. "So... back to the deal? Do you accept? I have the implants here, but only I am skilled enough to install them for you. I can install them this evening. You will want to rest, and eat first, the procedure is invasive, and you will need to stay here for a day or two to recover. I have a research complex under the warehouse, food, supplies, sleeping quarters. You will be comfortable. I can also repair your Militech Basilisk."
Panam looked at him. "You cool with it V? I will call camp, tell them we will not be back. We can stay here until you are ready to leave."
He nodded. "Sure... Let's do it." He could hardly believe this was happening. Shit, it was unreal.
Ortega nodded. "Perfect. Can I trouble you to help me carry this equipment below ground? If the wraiths come back, I don't want it to be damaged."
"Sure thing" Mitch said.
They all hopped up, grabbed the boxes off the hover sled, and headed to the stairwell. The hatch slid into place above them, and V heard what must have been the table and chairs slide back into the floor. Hope this guy's legit, he thought. But he had a strange feeling. Secret underground base? Somethin' wasn't right. This guy was hidin' somethin' all right. Better be careful.
"Please put the equipment in that room". Ortega pointed to one of the rooms, off to the left.
The door slid open. All the other doors were closed. V headed in, just behind Panam, and looked around. The room was unremarkable, white walls, white ceiling, bright lights, empty except for some shelving units. It was perfectly clean, no dust anywhere. Impressive, especially in the middle of the badlands. They set the boxes on the shelves, made a few more trips back upstairs for the rest of the boxes, headed back to the central hallway, and formed a single file line.
Ortega was in the lead, he looked back. "It's nearly midday. You all must be hungry. V, you especially must eat, you will need your strength."
He was hungry. Fuck, time for more porridge. Hope they could at least warm it up. He continued down the hall, just behind Panam. They were trying to investigate the other rooms, but they were all closed off. One room ahead on their left was open, an orangish flickering light was coming from it. As they passed the room, V looked in. Fuck, he almost threw up. He saw Panam's knees go weak and grabbed her to steady her. Fuck. He heard Mitch and Dakota gag.
Inside the room were the two men with the maelstrom tattoos. Out of each of their fingers, tiny metal rods appeared. They were methodically stripping the implants from the wraith's bodies and throwing the chrome into a large furnace. Fuck... V thought ...meltin' em down. Brutal. Also, in the room, opposite the furnace, was a large white bin, on it was the word 'Stormtech'. Under the bin, some sort of machine was grinding up the stripped bodies. He could hear the sickening crunch of bones snapping.
He looked back at the pile of bodies and stopped for second to study them. Not all the bodies had bullet holes. The only marks on some of them were small, bloody holes on their skulls, and one large hole in the back of the head. What the fuck was goin' on here?
On the opposite side of the machine, was a conveyer belt, also perfectly clean. On the conveyer belt were large white cubes. At the end of the belt was what looked like a large freezer. A robotic arm was stacking the cubes into the freezer. Fuck. Was this about to be them? Cubed up in some fuckin' mad scientist's lab?
Ortega saw them looking. "Sorry if this disgusts you, but it is the only way. That is a Stormtech protein reprocessor. Feed it organic matter, and it outputs those cubes. I can transform them into nearly any organic material. Human limbs, organs, tissue. I use them to synthesize my food as well. Wraiths are the only renewable resource out here. I can synthesize anything you would like to eat. Would you like a steak?"
Fuck. What was that people used to say about not knowin' how the sausage was made? Eatin' wraiths. This guy was somethin' Now that fuckin' porridge didn't seem so bad.
"No... thank you" Panam said.
"Yeah...Porridge for me." he said.
"Same" Mitch, Dakota, and the other two nomads said at the same time.
Mitch headed over to the stairs "I'll get the chow."
"Suit yourself." Ortega said. When you return, your rooms are down the hall, there. Several doors opened, thirty or so feet down the hallway. "Our mess hall is there." Another door opened, just past their quarters. "Please rest a bit, prepare your meals, and meet me in three hours. It's been a long time since I've had dinner guests. I have alcohol here too, we should celebrate. Don't worry, it wasn't synthesized here, its imported from Night City."
V headed into one of the rooms with Panam and sat on the bed, she sat next to him. He didn't say anything to her, he was still processing what he'd seen.
Finally, she spoke "I did not think things like that existed."
He "People do... do what they gotta do to survive..." he said finally.
"I hope we do not end up in his freezer." She looked worried.
"He coulda' zeroed us in the warehouse, if he wanted." He was looking around the room now. This room was spotless as well.
"Yes, you are right. Still, something is strange around here" She was looking around too.
"Yeah. We might need to delta." Just then his vision darkened, and he felt himself almost fall sideways.
"V... You ok? Panam grabbed his shoulders.
"Yeah... just gotta lay down. Gotta rest" He was getting' woozy.
"I will keep watch. You rest." She said and gave him a kiss. She got up off the bed, headed to the bathroom, and started washing the dust from her hands and face.
He laid there, looking at the ceiling, his head spinnin'. What a fuckin' day. And it was just half over. Just as he was closing his eyes, something flickered directly above him, on the pristine white ceiling. What was fuck... he opened his eyes. He recognized what it was right away. Fuck... hadn't seen these since NC. Shit, was he losin' his mind? He focused again on the ceiling. It was a Tarot card. Same as the ones he'd seen in NC. He remembered this one, knew most of them from Misty. The Wheel of Fortune. He remembered what Misty had said about this:
"The Wheel of Fortune means that change is coming. One's destiny could turn out for the better or the worse, yet it also bears the promise of new possibilities. The Wheel reminds us that nobody remains at the top forever, but also that not every situation is hopeless.. "