Chapter 1-Downfall
All the while along the long wintry road of the night that seeks to consume the uneventful happenings that had once preyed on me night and day, happenings that were of such inconsequence that they merely appeared as an attempt to add dramatization to permit me to survive, the thoughts that plagued me as well as the rest of the world that now lay bonded to the shackle of enslavement on the Combine's "mercy". I thought back to the day at which our "mutual friend", or so anyone who had the supposed privilege to know about him would call, the G-Man had decided to relay the demonic crystal that had brought the end to the one's lucky enough not to know oppression of this magnitude. Our pitiful cries like those of children racing to the finish line had brought forth the desire to surpass at the cost of lives and aspirations. That was the price for us to pay, wasn't it, a price that would teach us humility unto the mysteries that we had ached to discover and unbind from the universe and glue to tasteless and everlasting curiosity that we thrive on, Or maybe it wasn't a cosmic act to bring upon us a reward for our sins. Maybe it was just an accident. Either way it set forth an event so catastrophic that the events will resonate throughout all of the future's history. I can remember escaping Black Mesa. I, unlike Freeman, had been subtle in my escape. I had slowly used my wits rather than non-existent guns. I remembered my first taste of blood, a thin mask being pierced by my scalpel then draining from existence leaving me with arms that left me in desire for the training that Freeman had gotten. Luckily enough I had manage to sneak through the chaos and walked through the desert finally arriving at a small settlement where I lived undisturbed until the event which had robbed me of my innocence brought forth unwanted attention.