He regained consciousness in a chair. The room was cold, wherever he was, and he was completely blind.
“I can’t see!” he cried.
“A mercy gesture.” Aslog’s voice buzzed, over the sound of shuffling feet and muffled screams. He tried not to hear them, but then a loud, mushy noise surrounded him as air rushed into his depressurized ear canals, causing them to ring. He was now deaf as well. He cried out incoherently, though he couldn’t hear it. Something pressed against the back of his head.
“You are being fused into the relay.” The Commander’s voice rang out in his own mind, too loudly to be a product of his imagination. The pressure now dug sharply into the base of his scalp. He tried to break his restraints, but the sharp steel only injured his wrists.
“The anesthesia should be taking effect now.” Aslog said. The sharp pain intensified—a knife-stab into the spinal cord. He felt his throat spasm.
“Hm… resistance to painkillers. A sign of compatability. You’re lucky, Mr. Bennet.”

The process began.