"V! wake up. V!" He heard Panam yelling at him and opened his eyes.

"Are you ok? I could not wake you up." She was looking down at him, concern on her face.

He looked at her, then at the ceiling. Whatever was up there was gone now. He sat up.

"Yeah... fine. Feelin' fine now. Just... tired."

She smiled at him. "Good, cannot have you checking out yet V." She gestured to the door. "Everyone else is waiting. We should go."

V nodded. "Yeah, gotta' be careful though. Watch our backs."

Panam was looking up and down the hallway outside the mess hall. "I do not like this either."

V followed her into the mess hall, and stopped, shocked. This wasn't like any mess hall he'd seen. There was a huge table in the middle, looked like it was made of real wood. Wooden shelving and furniture around the room too, with little pictures, trophies on them. The walls were flat black, and the lighting was dim. Shit, it looked like one of Night City's fanciest restaurants. He felt his mouth open in amazement.

Ortega was looking at him, smiling. "Impressed?"

V nodded "How's this possible?"

Ortega laughed. "I told you, I can synthesize any organic substance. Wood is no exception. Please, sit down."

V looked at Panam, and they both sat at the table. Mitch, Dakota and the others were already seated. One of the Maelstrom men was there as well, and one woman. She was bald, her head was covered in scars.

V looked around the room, at the trophies, the pictures. His eyes stopped on one of the pictures. No fuckin' way. That picture... was that... No. Couldn't be.

Ortega spoke again. "It looks like you have identified our mutual connection."

"How..." V started. The man in the picture was Victor. Well young Vic, but sure as shit that was him.

"I trained him. I still talk to him occasionally. He is the one that told me about your situation. I reached out to Mitch and set this meeting up. I had to meet you; I had heard so much. And I knew you had the stolen Mikoshi technology, and that you needed my help."

Panam was looking at the pictures too, then spoke. "You trained him... as ripper?"

Ortega smiled at Panam. "No, as a boxer. I was a boxer too, once. Have you never heard of Sebastian Ortega, 2018 Heavyweight Champ of Night City?"

Fuck, V thought. That was why the name sounded familiar. "No shit..."

"It is true. Vic's a good person and those are very rare in Night City." Ortega smiled to himself. Then he looked around the room. "Shall we eat? The food is ready."

The other Maelstrom man, and another woman came into the mess hall, she had scars similar to the woman already seated. They were pushing a cart that had bowls of porridge on it, and several plates with metal covers.

Fuck, V thought to himself, this isn't what he was expectin' down here. Those scars though, what's up with that?

The two servers worked their way around the table, serving up the meal. Mitch, Dakota, Panam, V, and the two other nomads had porridge. Everyone else got one of the covered plates. Once everyone was served, the other Maelstrom man and his wife sat down.

Ortega removed the cover from his dish and looked at the plate. On it there was a huge steak, and mashed potatoes. "Perfect." Ortega looked around the room again. "Are you sure I can't convince you? We have developed the perfect way to cook a steak. One of our side projects."

V thought about what it was made of and shook his head. He was still thinking about that room with the wraiths. "Nah... thanks."

"Suite yourself". Ortega said. "Let's eat". Then he stopped and said, "Almost forgot", stood up, and hurried out of the room. He returned a few minutes later, carrying a bottle and shot glasses. "We are celebrating. I have been saving this. Can I convince you to join me for a drink? I promise, I did not make this here."

V looked to Mitch, Dakota, Panam. No one spoke.

Mitch broke the silence. "Fuck it. I'll take some".

"Yeah. Same. I could use a drink" said Dakota.

"Excellent." Ortega said. He walked around the table, pouring them each a shot. After he was done, he returned to his seat and picked up his glass. "To life!" he said and paused for everyone else to raise their glasses. "To life!" they all repeated.

V was trying to figure out this guy's fuckin' deal, lookin' for an angle. There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone started to eat.

Then Ortega spoke up. "What is dinner without some conversation? Would you like to hear how I ended up in this situation?"

Silence again, then Mitch spoke up "Sure. I like a good story".

"Let's hear it." Dakota said.

Ortega nodded. "Very well. My wife and I spent close to thirty years in the desert. We both became skilled rippers, there was nothing we couldn't do. Word got around and we started getting big clients. I had progressively advanced cybernetics installed into myself to be able to perform the procedures my clients requested."

Ortega paused, ate some his steak, and continued.

"Eventually, I started to suffer from the early stages of cyber-psychosis. I was getting worse, losing days of time. That is how I first got in contact with Stormtech. They were doing biological research, trying to find a cure for cyber-psychosis. They told me they had a procedure they could do, but I had to keep it secret. Of course, I took them up on their deal, I was desperate. I would have done anything." He looked at V. "I told you we were not that different."

Ortega reached for a stick of butter, sliced off a chunk, and put it in a tiny metal cup. He lifted the cup with one hand, and a torch appeared from his other hand. His face turned serious, and he used the torch to melt the butter, and then poured it on his mashed potatoes. "Perfect". Ortega said, looking impressed with himself.

V realized he had stopped eating He looked around, everyone was staring at Ortega.

Oretega looked back at the room "Sorry, the butter must heated to precisely thirty-two Celcius, or it will scorch." Ortega then took a huge bite of potatoes, swallowed it, smiled to himself, and continued. "Cyber-psychosis happens when the mind rejects the body. The mind can only handle so many cybernetic implants without breaking. Stormtech saw a lot of profit in finding a cure for this condition. They theorized that replacing enough cybernetic implants with flesh can reverse cyber-psychosis."

"Fuck me..." V, Panam and Mitch all said at the same time.

"Did it work?" Panam asked.

Ortega shook his head. "Sadly, it did not. The mind could not deal with the trauma of removing limbs and re-attaching them after it had already started to break from cyber-psychosis. The first test subjects survived but went insane. After some refinement, the subjects did survive for quite some time. Eventually, Stormtech's scientists studied the subjects who survived the longest; their genes, blood type, anything. They figured out those the that lived the longest had a strong connection to someone."

"What do you mean, connection?" Dakota asked.

Ortega took another bite of his potatoes, smiled, and continued "I went to their secret lab, and they interviewed my wife and I, as well as performed neurological testing. After everything, they told us their plan, and their theory. They said they had built a machine. With it, they theorized that they could take part of one person's consciousness, their essence, and put it in another person's head."

V was thinking this was sounded pretty familiar now. "Isn't this what Arasaka was doin'?" he said.

Ortega shook his head. "No, this was different. With Arasaka, the donor consciousness would overwrite the recipient. The donor became a kind of parasite, a tapeworm. Stormtech's procedure, however, would amplify the recipient's connection back to their humanity."

"Holy shit" Panam dropped her spoon, it clattered into her bowl.

Ortega didn't seem to notice. "The two minds must have a strong, nearly impossible to find bond. They were interested in me, because of my wife, our connection. After so many years in the desert together, we had tested better than anyone so far. They said we had a real shot. But this procedure had never been done, and there were risks. It was untested, dangerous. The donor would lose part of themselves forever to save the recipient. The donation had to be made truly willingly, or the recipient and the host would die. Stormtech also had crude neural interfaces, the procedure was extraordinarily painful, especially for the donor, who was having part of themselves removed."

"But it worked." V said. "Had to right. I mean here you are, after all this time, talkin' us, blowin' our minds."

"It did work." Ortega nodded. "Better than they expected, I was saved. They did not need to remove my implants. Additionally, I could support more powerful, advanced cybernetics. Unfortunately, there were consequences they did not expect. The connection was bidirectional. Part of her mind, her essence, was in me, but part of my mind, my essence was in her. We were forever linked together that day. If one of us dies, the other will follow shortly after. I will never forgive myself for making her pay this price. She has always said she would do it again, even knowing the result".

They all sat around the table in silence for a long time, processing everything. Then Mitch spoke up "Wait a minute, I thought you said you were dyin'. Sounds like she saved your ass."

"She did, for a time. But remember, if one of us dies, we will both perish. That time is coming, unless I can do something to save her. She is dying. We were attacked by wraiths, twenty years ago. She was gravely injured. I have been keeping her alive with medications, Stormtech's experimental cybernetics, anything. Despite all this, she cannot leave this facility, she cannot survive outside it. I have granted us extra time, but the end is coming. I only have months left at this rate".

"Shitty club to be in." V said.

Ortega smiled at his men. "Stormtech attempted the procedure used on me hundreds of times over the next decade or so. They managed to save two other cyberpsychos."

The two Maelstrom men nodded.

Oretga gestured to the women. "Their wives made the same sacrifice mine did. This is the reason for their scars."

V spoke up. "Why do you need the Mikoshi tech? Why do you need to interface with her brain again? Are you gonna' Soulkill your wife? Keep her as an engram? To save yourself?"

Oretega looked upset. "Of course not."

"Why then." V asked. "Why Mikoshi? You got shit that make's 'saka look like a buck a slice stand here."

"As I said earlier, Arasaka's neural interface technology is unmatched. They can access the mind without damaging the host's body. However, they could never preserve an intact human mind. It is beyond their capabilities. They are using the wrong technology to even attempt it."

Fuck, All those people in Mikoshi. "What about that secure your soul program?" V asked.

"Worse than dead, all of them. They will never be the same, if they ever even return from Mikoshi. Mikoshi though, is not unique. Most corporations have something similar, Stormtech is no exception. Stormtech's system though, is one of a kind. This is because it is not based in silicon."

Mitch spoke now. "Ok, I'll bite. What the fuck is it? Not that I understand halfa what you are talkin' about."

"Stormtech's solution is called Labyrinth, it is based on synthetic human brain tissue. It can change, adapt, grow, exactly like a real human brain. But they do not have the means to interface cleanly with existing neural systems. Additionally, there is no guarantee the mind survives the trip. It is extremely disorienting. The mind must be conditioned over time to be able to exist in Stormtech's system. If the mind is not sufficiently prepared, Labyrinth will be terrible for the mind, far worse than Mikoshi. Imagine being trapped forever, with no concept of time, your raw emotions all you know. Primal waves of terror, confusion, despair washing over you for what feels like centuries, millenia, until your mind shatters. This is a fate far worse than death or than even Soulkiller."

"Shit". V muttered to himself. This was fuckin' insane. He got off easy with Johnny.

"Fuck me…" Panam looked at V. "Are you fucking hearing this? Sounds crazy"

He laughed. "Crazier' than a rockstar stuck in your head?"

She laughed back at him "Actually… yes. It does sound crazier than that."

"I assure you; it is very real." Ortega spoke up "I have contacts at Stormtech, I have been conducting research here, on their behalf. Without the Araska neural interface technology the transfer will work about fifty percent of the time. The extreme physical shock of the procedure often breaks the subject's mind. We also do not spend much time conditioning the minds of our subjects. It takes months of preparation for a mind to survive in Labyrinth. Even the successful transfers are terminated, after we have learned what we need. We are primarily trying to refine our own neural interface."

"How do you get people to volunteer for this" Panam said, astonished.

"We volunteer them. As I said, my men and I have advanced cybernetics. We are nearly unstoppable in combat. We raid the surrounding Wraith camps in the night, bring them back here. They fear us, with good reason. Occasionally they will send a squad to attack me, but they cannot breach this facility."

V looked to Mitch, Panam, Dakota. No one said anything.

Ortega was finishing his steak. He looked at V. "V, you must eat, you will need your strength." Ortega looked around the table, noticed everyone had stopped eating. "Please, eat. You will be here for some time."

V nudged Panam.

"What's up V?" She asked. She looked like she was still processing everything.

"I don't like this." he whispered to her.

She shrugged and whispered back "It sounds like we just saved his life, and his wife's. Plus, he has those implants for you. We need his help; I do not think we have a choice. And he knows Vic. That has to count for something."

"Guess you're right…" He whispered again.

"Get used to it". She smiled at him. "And maybe we finally caught a break. We sure could use one."

V took another bit of his porridge. At least it wasn't made outt'a fuckin' wraiths. His vision dimmed, flickered again, Fuck. Now is not the time for this shit.

Then he saw another image, this time on the table. It was massive, took up the entire table. Another tarot card. The Tower.

"The Tower is an omen of radical change, chaos and destruction. The lightning striking The Tower signifies a return to the old order that lies buried under the ruins, and a new order that will rise from it. It is a symbol of tragedy, apocalypse, and self-destruction."

He looked at Panam, she was finishing her porridge. She looked up and smiled at him.