"The Right man in the wrong place..."
Those words seemed so very old now, yet in an odd way they had barely left the cold thin lips of the mysterious stranger. That had always been the way though, ever since he'd first shown up back at Black Mesa. There was something about the way he spoke, something intangible yet so unsettling about how he curled his vowels and strained at syllables as if the language he spoke was known, yet not mastered, much like the knowledgeable but decrepit government translators he'd met at Mesa. Gordon did his best to look away from the suit , but he saw in his periphery an odd, quasi-contrived smirk. It was evident that his inability to meet the man's gaze was causing him mild bemusement, or just maybe something much darker.
Then again, of course it should. Gordon looked around further, if only to get away from that icy gaze. He and his counterpart were both stood in pure blackness, the idea of ignoring him was ridiculous. After all, who else would he talk to? The stranger was a singularity at that moment in time, and Gordon, reluctant as he was after all the woes that had befallen him at the hands of this man, knew that he must deal with him if he was to ever leave the void that was his prison, like it or not. There was darkness all around, what seemed like an endless void of absolute nothingness. He smiled drily as he realised what had been bothering him, other than the pale man's mocking gaze. If it was totally dark, then why could he see both himself and the stranger perfectly clearly? Keeping his face fixed, Gordon turned back, meeting the others stare properly for the first time.
What seemed like an eternity passed, the pair stood motionless, total silence around them as they locked eyes. The stranger finally brushed his lapels and cleared his throat, as was his habit before speaking, finally looking away, perhaps more in charity than defeat. In reflection, Gordon was to realise later, that the only thing he really knew about him was that single mannerism, that most would find disconcerting, even infuriating, but was for some reason, almost reassuring, perhaps because it was his only real human trait...