The man in the HEV suit placed the magazines into a compartment on his suit. He then eyed the pistol that Ben had dropped, and looked at him. Ben guessed this was Freeman's way of telling him to pick up his pistol. He did. He couldn't place his finger on it, but for some reason he felt obligated to obey this man. As his body slowly re-energized, he stared at Freeman. He knew he had seen him somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. That's when it hit him.
"You're from Anomalous Materials aren't you?" said Ben. Freeman shook his head as to say "Yes". "That would explain the suit." Suddenly, Ben realized what had happened, but he could never have guessed it would be this catastrophic. "It's because of a Resonance Cascade isn't it? All of this, I mean," Freeman nodded again.
His body revitalized, Ben stood back up. He grasped his pistol from the icy floor and pointed it at the floor, ready to raise it if to fire. He looked up to Freeman, who was now about to head back to the stairs from which Ben had just come.
"Wait!" Ben blurted. Freeman turned to look at him. After a short silence Ben asked: "This thing is happening throughout the whole facility, right?" Freeman nodded. Ben's thoughts went immediately to his family. Were they safe? Surely they were. Maybe they didn't know this was happening. If this thing really was throughout the whole facility, then he needed to get them out. A Resonance Cascade could not be contained. They would need to leave. And he was going to see it that they got out of that deathtrap unscathed. Heading in the opposite direction as Freeman, Ben took careful steps down the long hallway. This would be a long, challenging journey.