We go through a series of smaller caverns, and she notes the fading paint on some of the floors and points to a series of hospital rooms.
“This all looks old and creepy now, but when I first joined the team, this was all state of the art.” She grins to herself. “When your Uncle Edison lost his leg, this is where he recovered.”
My dads have said there’s a funny story about him not wanting to go to physical therapy, but they left out the part aboutthe fucking cave.
We stop by the place Hedy calls the meditation room, and it’s a small cave with a pond. There’s a tiny aperture at the top of the cave that lets in light, and the way it bounces around the space is beautiful. Ethereal. And because the water is filtered through several feet of rock and loam, it’s perfectly clear. While it looks like a shallow pond, Hedy assures us that it is quite deep.
“No swimming, but you are welcome to come back and meditate at the water’s edge as often as you’d like.”
It’s an oddly delicate space in the middle of these dense rock caverns, and I make a note to come back here on my own.
Outside the meditation room is a weird optical illusion that makes it look like we’ve reached the end of the cave system, but then Hedy disappears. We follow and discover a hidden staircase cut into the stone. It leads to another series of caverns—the tallest of which houses a surgical theater. And the kind of advanced tech I’ve only read about in sci-fi novels.
As Maverick and I take in the space, Uncle Anders joins us from what looks to be a washroom.
“Is Hedy showing you the ropes?”
Maverick and I share another look. “Yes,” I answer.
“Feeling a little overwhelmed?”
“A lot overwhelmed,” Maverick says. “And you? Are those your real eyes?”
Anders laughs, a surprisingly country sound in the middle of all this technology.
“Yes, I am one hundred percent human.”
“Unfortunately,” Hedy jokes, sending him the middle finger.
“Whatever, you love me.”
She wraps an arm around his waist. “You’re okay.”
“So, what’s next?” he asks. “Taking them to the dungeon?”
“Yes, but I haven’t yet called it the dungeon.”
Maverick lifts his chin. “That’s where you keep the prisoners?”
Anders goes serious, and…gotta say. Not my favorite look on him.
“Yes.”
“Hedy mentioned that we kill them,” Maverick says. “How do we do it? Who kills them?”
Anders shoots me a look, and I immediately know the answer.
“Silas,” I say.
“Yes, mostly.” He lifts a shoulder. “There are days when I need a challenge. Edison sometimes needs to blow off steam. And we are debating whether or not to bring Hopper down here.”
I clench my jaw. Just based on his association with the Mafia, I understand that Uncle Hopper has theabilityto kill people. But Anders is acting like they allneedto kill.
Especially Silas.
“How are we doing?” Hedy asks, looking between Maverick and me.
“Integrating,” I say.
