V opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Panam's face, she was looking down at him with concern. He felt her squeezing his hand.
"V… Are you ok? How do you feel?" She asked.
V thought about it. He felt pretty good, surprisingly good. "Actually… Pretty fuckin' good. Great even."
She smiled now and leaned in for a kiss. "Ortega said that the procedure went even better than he expected. We should be able to leave here by tomorrow morning. We finally caught a fucking break V!"
Shit, actual good luck. He wasn't used to this.
She turned around and spoke towards the door. "He is awake."
Mitch and Ortega came into the room.
Mitch spoke first. "How ya doin'?"
"Feelin' great. Better'n I have in a long time." V answered.
Mitch put his hand on V's shoulder. "Glad to hear it buddy."
Ortega spoke now "The procedure was a complete success; your body was more accepting of the implants that I would have expected. You have at least three years now, possibly five or six. Congratulations V, you have a second chance."
V smiled to himself. Third chance, but fuck it, who's countin.'
Oretega spoke again. "Now that you are feeling better, would you like to finally meet my wife? I have told her about you, your situation. She is doing well today and is excited to meet you."
V nodded "Sure. Love to meet 'er"
Ortega smiled. "Wonderful. We should go now though. She is awake, but needs to rest soon. She has been having more bad days than good lately." He brought out the wheelchair. "Your anesthesia is still wearing off, please use this. You do not want to fall."
Panam helped him into the wheelchair.
"Follow me" Ortega said ."She is just through here just down the hallway here, through this door."
Ortega pointed at a door, different from the others. This one looked to be made of thick metal. As Ortega approached the door, it slid open. Beyond it was another thick steel door.
Ortega motioned for Panam and V to come into the chamber. "Please step inside. This is an airlock, and a sterilization chamber."
Panam followed him into the airlock, and the outer door closed. A bluish-white light flashed over them all, and then the inner door opened. He investigated the room., but he couldn't see anything.
Ortega flipped on the light.
V looked around, for a bed, chair, anything. He didn't see any furniture other than a metal desk in the center of the room and a large, Ortega sized chair. Looked like a computer was at the desk. As he continued looking around the room, V saw a series of large grey boxes behind the desk. He read the letters on them - 'STORMTECH.' He saw the Mikoshi boxes that they had brought with them as well, the boxes were open and tech and cables from them were strewn around on the floor.
V was still looking for any hint of a person when he saw it, in the corner of the room. There was a floor to ceiling tube, filled with a greenish liquid, illuminated by a yellowish light. The fuck was this… The tube looked empty. He studied it, looking for anything. He and Panam must have seen what was in it at the same time.
"Fuck..., no way!" They said together.
Suspended in the fluid was what looked like a human brain, hooked up to a series of tubes, cables, and wires. Some of the cables ran out of the vat, over to the computer.
Ortega spoke, He sounded proud. "V, Panam, please meet Isabella, my wife."
V and Panam looked at each other, and then back to the vat, and then back to each other.
Ortega continued now "V, she would like to speak with you. Would you mind"?
Why the fuck not, he thought. This was almost tame compared to what he'd been doin.' He nodded. "'Course." Panam wheeled him over to the vat.
"Please, connect this cable to your personal link." Ortega sat at the computer, reached down, and handed V one of the cables connected to the vat. V connected it to his personal link.
"Uh…hello?" He spoke.
Ortega laughed. "You don't need to speak out loud. Think hard about what you want to say, and she will understand."
"Uhhh, ok… sure." He didn't really know what to think. Then he heard a feminine voice in his head.
"Hello V. Sebastian told me that you and your family brought the neural interfaces we needed. Thanks to you, he and I will be able to be truly together now. I am sorry, communicating like this is very hard for me, I must go. But I wanted to thank you personally."
"No problem" He tried to think it as hard as he could. No response.
Ortega smiled, got up from the computer, unplugged the cable from V, and briefly plugged in into his own link. He turned to V again. "She understands what you mean, but she is getting weaker. We can only exchange a sentence or two each day."
Seeing the confusion on V's face, Ortega spoke again. "Twenty years ago, we were attacked by Raffen. Isabelle was hit directly by a round from one of their cannons. Her body was badly damaged. I hurried her back here, but even with my skills and cybernetic implants, I could not save her body. Desperate, I had to cut her apart. I managed to preserve her brain, but it was damaged in the attack."
Panam spoke up "I am not sure if that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard, or the scariest."
Ortega continued. "For twenty years, I have been growing brain tissue here and splicing it into her brain. However, the process is not perfect, her brain is damaged slightly each time. Now, there is nothing more I can do for her. Because of the damage, each surgery is more difficult than the last, more and more precision is required. This is why I've been installing progressively more advanced cybernetics in myself. I need a more permanent solution."
Ortega gestured at the large grey box now. "This is why I needed those neural interfaces. If I can move her into Labyrinth, she will be able to survive. I will be able to survive."
No fuckin' way!" V yelled at Ortega. "Is that what she wants? To be trapped forever, alone in some prison, so you can live?"
Ortega shook his head. "I have been conditioning her for years. Labyrinth, unlike Mikoshi, can be a paradise. And she will not be alone. I will be joining her."
V looked at Panam. "Yeah, still not sure if this is the sweetest thing I have heard or the worst."
Ortega looked down as himself "This body is too far gone. Even with our link, I cannot suppress the cyber-psychosis forever. My implants are too numerous, too advanced, even for two minds to support. The technology you have brought will finally allow us to be together. After you have left this place, my men will transfer her consciousness, along with mine. I've trained them well, they will be able to maintain this facility, but as it originally was, a ripper clinic for nomads."
"That is..." Panam looked at V. "I guess that is sweet."
Ortega looked at V. "You should rest. You can leave in the morning; you should get back to your life. Enjoy the time you have together. I can have your meal sent to your room."
They left through the airlock and went back to his quarters. Panam wheeled him into his room.
"Can you stand up?" She asked.
"Yeah… Think so. Yeah, I'm good." He stood up headed towards the bed, and immediately fell over. She caught him.
"Don't worry V" She said with a smile "I am here for you. Just like I said."
"Thanks. Panam. I don't deserve you."
She helped him onto the bed. Then she asked "V, do you mind if I go and help Mitch with the Basilisk? Ortega has fixed it, but Mitch needs some help with the new tech. Should not take more than a few hours."
"Yeah, go for it, I gotta sleep. I'm fuckin' beat."
She smiled, gave him a kiss, and then left the room.
He watched her leave, and then fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Didn't know how long he was gonked out.
He woke up to the sound of the door to the room opening, he saw Panam enter the room. She walked over to his bed. "V, are you awake? How are you doing?" She was whispering.
"Preem" He whispered back. "Why are we whisperin'?"
She smiled. "It is high moon. I do not want to wake anyone up. It took Mitch and I a lot longer than we thought sorting out the new tech in that basilisk. It is fucking nice though, Carol will love it."
She laid down next to him in the bed. "V. We have five, maybe six years. Can you believe we pulled this off?"
He smiled "Never doubted you for a second."
She laughed. "Always the sweet talker." She looked over at him, smiling "It does work though. How are you feeling? Do you think you are strong enough for some celebration? I have an impulse."
V thought about it for a few seconds. "Maybe…" He started, then looked over at her. "Ah, fuck it., I'll risk it. I'm feelin' pretty fuckin' good."
She undressed, climbed on top of him, and kissed him firmly. "V, I love you."
He felt a warm sensation spreading in his chest. "I love you too. I almost can't believe it. Believe this is happenin'"
"Believe it" She said, laughing, and kissed him again. They celebrated passionately.
Afterwards, they laid on the bed, nude, for a long time, not saying anything, just enjoying the sensation of being together.
He looked over at her. "What are we gonn'a do now? I got time. Almost forgot what it was like, to not be dyin'"
She frowned. "We still need to get you straightened out. For real this time. I want you with me for more than just five or six years V."
"Yeah… 'course." That warm sensation again. Fuck, he really loved her.
She turned away from him, pulled him close against her back. "V, come here. Stay close to me."
He laid up against her, feeling her skin on his, he was content. She relaxed as she fell asleep.
Fuckin' preem he thought. Wonder what Johnny'd say about this? Or Jackie? He started to drift off as well.
Then he saw it the wall, just beyond her. Another card. Fuck, this was getting' old.
The Hanged Man.
"The Hanged Man is the card of sacrifice. It says that a price must be paid in order to achieve enlightenment. The Hanged Man's forsakenness opens the path for rebirth into a new life, though this path is wrought with pain suspended in time and ultimately ends in death."