It was such an odd sensation, knowing that the pieces were falling apart, unlatching, each one, but with the work came the undeniable pain. The first was ignorable, an electrical shock to the brain not unlike what would force a limb to jerk. The second was worse, the loss of a sense, his hearing gave out, temporarily, and then his vision in rapid succession, moving across the brain, the shocks targeting the areas they were attached to, each one driving a shock deep. Then came the pain, undeniable, and sharp, everything on fire, and he felt his hand slack, and then tighten. Hard. He hoped he didn't break Ghost's hand, but at this moment, his brain was trying to shut down, he needed it to be finished, he needed to end this, soon.

But he couldn't speak, even as parts of his brain came aware, more aware than they'd been in years, he couldn't speak. He could feel the rush of blood, the silent and neutered nanites flickering to awareness. Each one starting their work in his bloodstream, the nullification, the pulses slowly dying, but it still hurt, more than it had before his skin had hardened and he'd been pulled into a restless, memory-filled sleep to grow a new body.

"Gh--" was all he could manage, teeth grit, hand tightening, a harsh breath of pain, fire.