Chapter Text
The first thing that registered was the light, harsh against his eyelids.
Then came sensation.
The sensation of being cold – so the light was definitely not the sun, so no he hadn’t fallen asleep outside with his hood back.
The sensation of the tissues of his nose and throat burning as if he’d inhaled something caustic recently.
The sensation of an unyielding surface beneath him. Stone? No, it was too smooth, too uniformly flat.
Sound filtered in next, warped and wrong as if he was hearing things from under water.
“…He’s to be kept apart from the others…”
“Yes, Chen Wenjin and the others will be put in unit B. There’s to be no interaction between him and anyone else from the archaeological team unless its cleared by headquarters.”
Thoughts slid away like wriggling eels when he tried to grasp them.
Motor skills were even less cooperative.
He tried to open his eyes, focusing on the discomfort of the light to remind his nervous system where his eyes were.
“I think he’s coming to.”
“But I already gave him the maximum recommended dosage.”
“His blood burns through whatever we put into his system very quickly. Dose him again.”
There was a sharp pain in his neck.
Sound faded.
Sensations grew fuzzier, and then nonexistent.
The brightness on his eyelids dimmed and then went black.