The IV had hurt less than Soma had expected, but this hurt more. Lingormr hadn't given her a full dose of ketamine, which made sense. They'd agreed to keep her conscious for the duration of the operation, after all. Still, as fuzzy as her head had felt at the start, the drug had only taken the edge off the pain: enough to keep her still on the bed, fists bunching the sheets so tightly her knuckles ached, and nothing more.

If Lingormr had heard the muffled noises that occasionally forced their way up her throat, he didn't give any indication of it, which she appreciated. For her part, she only clutched the sheets as tightly as her drugged mind would permit and tried to ignore the smell of blood and burning flesh. It was stupid, she thought, that it would bother a trained soldier like this, but the mobile suit cockpit had always filtered the scent from the air. Here there was too much of it to ignore, and all of it was hers.

She didn't know how much time passed before Lingormr spoke again, his voice sounding strangely tinny and distant to her ear. It was difficult to make out what he'd said, but she could guess.

"Did..." she began, then had to pause as a small wave of nausea swept over her. "Did you...get it?"