-=Chapter Nineteen: The First Epiphany=-

Palace of Nations, 5:04 PM

The soldiers burst into the luxurious office, startling the oblivious Dr. Breen sitting at his mahogany desk. "Wh-what is the meaning of this?"

Not offering a reply, one of the soldiers started speaking into his radio. "We've found him, sir. I don't think he knew we were here."

"What's going on?" Dr. Breen demanded again, his eyes slowly revealing the fear that was slithering through his mind.

The apparent leader of the squad turned to Dr. Breen, holstering his rifle. "Sir, this is the day you've been waiting for ever since the Advisors appointed you."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Today, we overthrow the Advisors."

"But..." Dr. Breen stuttered. "The Advisors are the entire reason I was appointed! I have no reason to want their capitulation."

"But they promised you they would help the human race," the soldier insisted. "Can't you see all they've done so far is harm it?"

"They told me they would be brutal," Dr. Breen added, "they told me it was necessary to the conformation of the human race to the Universal Union. They said they wouldn't tolerate injustice, and they haven't."

"But ever since the uprising, what have they done to help?"

"Men, I'm certain you've been doing everything you can to help us, even if my species are ignorant of this matter."

"It's not about the human race misunderstanding, sir! It's about the Advisors losing sight of their promise to you!"

"So what are you doing to help me?" Dr. Breen asked quietly.

"We're gonna find a way to end this insurrection... but in a way the human race can understand. Our leader understands now that we think differently to the human race, and therefore we have to change the way we go about our purpose of uniting the universe."

"How do you propose you do that?" Dr. Breen inquired, standing up slowly. It was obvious that he was interested now.

"We're going to try and sign a treaty with the human Resistance."

Dr. Breen nodded slowly. "Do you think it'll work?"

"We believe so, sir. But we expect there will be a considerable amount of bloodshed, particularly from the Combine soldiers who still remain loyal to the Advisors and our orthodox procedure of universal unity: brutal suppression. Those who cannot accept change will have to be removed."

"And how many do you estimate will continue to follow these orthodox ways?"

"Worst case scenario: half the Transhuman Arm of the Global Overwatch."

"That's a hell of a lot of soldiers."

"If it means we can end this uprising peacefully, our leader believes it is worth it."

"This... leader," Dr. Breen began. "He's caught my interest now. When can I meet with him?"

The soldier smiled. "I was talking to him just before, sir. He should be here in a few minutes."

White Forest, 5:13 PM

Magnusson walked into the Command Centre, his eyes glistening in sheer anger at the ridiculous proposal Freeman had made a few minutes ago. There he was, sitting with their prisoner, unrestrained and engaging in what appeared to be casual conversation of all things!

The Gman was standing beside the two, his face displaying the familiar nothing Magnusson had become accustomed to expect from him. Undoubtedly inside that head of his a billion things were being consciously processed and organized, perhaps related to the two unlikely people talking to each other before him, or maybe it was entirely unconnected to the matter at hand.

A matter that he was about to address.

"Right, I'm here. Now can you please explain to me what is happening?" Magnusson demanded, looking at the Combine general, "specifically relating to why our prisoner is not incarcerated!"

Gordon stood up, clearing his throat. "I already told you what this was about."

"I seem to recall you forgetting to confirm your sanity also." Magnusson snapped back snidely.

"In this case, I admit that I am also confused, Dr. Freeman," the Gman agreed. "Surely this man is our enemy?"

Gordon looked at the Gman. "OK then, to start off I'd like to ask you a question: Why are the Combine our enemies?"

"Oh, dear lord, he's been brainwashed..." Magnusson muttered, in such a way that it was difficult to discern whether he was being sarcastic or not.

The Gman, being the ridiculously calm and patient being that he was, answered Gordon's question seriously. "The Combine Empire can be analogised to a malignant cancer, in the sense that it grows at a startling rate, devours all opposition it comes across and causes negative consequences to those affected by it."

The Swedish general made no reaction to this answer, he merely sat and listened. Perhaps because the man who had blown up his home for the past few years was standing right behind him.

"So what are these 'negative consequences'?" Gordon inquired.

"The Combine are textbook in their approach to invasion," the Gman continued, "their modus operandi is to invade with a force vast enough to quell any initial resistance they may be met with and set up their own governing body as soon as physically and politically possible. After that, it is merely a long struggle to keep the inhabitants suppressed and prevent insurrection."

"And so those are the negative consequences," Gordon nodded. "Right. So how are we any different from them?"

The Gman frowned. "Whatever do you mean?"

"We do the exact same thing!"

"Well, yes, but..." the Gman paused. "Hmm. I can see the logic you have behind your ostensibly irrational decision now."

"Thank you," Gordon smiled.

"But that does not mean I accept your allegations," the Gman continued. "Regardless of their similarities to the human race, they are malevolent in their motivation and intent."

"Why do you say that?" the Swedish general asked calmly, looking up at the Gman. "What evidence do you have to support such a claim?"

The Gman looked down at him. "Obviously the fact that you suppress the welfare of the species you take control of to the absolute minimum for subsistence. Instead of leaving them to live identically to the way they were before the capitulation of their governments, you force them into urban centres such as City 17 that barely sustain their daily requirements."

"Fissionist, you didn't give any evidence as to why we are malevolent in that explanation." The Swedish general replied coolly.

The Gman frowned. "I most certainly did. What other reason would a species reduce the wellbeing of another than malicious intent?"

"You yourself gave an alternative, Gman." Gordon reminded him. "You said that after they have gained political control of the planet, it is just a struggle to suppress insurrection. Perhaps they did all this to us to be strategic."

"Strategising does not exempt malevolence."

"So what evidence do you have that we were doing all this because we are evil?" the Swedish general asked again.

The Gman paused. "Hmm. Perhaps you did not suppress their wellbeing out of malicious motivation, but surely you cannot claim the reasonless executions you partook in each day were derived from a strategic basis."

Gordon laughed. "You do realise I also asked him these exact questions, don't you?"

"And you were satisfied with his answer?" the Gman inquired incredulously, raising a curious eyebrow. Freeman was no idiot and consequently it would be difficult to con him into believing a lie. Was this general telling the truth?

"Yes, I was."

"Pray tell, what was it?"

"They were done for a reason."

"Which would be...?"

"The Combine are harsh, Gman, you know that. The general explicitly told me that nobody in the Overwatch can tolerate any sort of insubordination. Even still, the minor offences were only punished by beatings. I asked him about the people I saw being killed on my way through the Resistance railway, and he asked me what they were doing down there in the first place."

The Gman smiled. Intelligent response.

His smile was enough for Gordon to continue, "the Combine aren't evil, Gman. They're just obsessive with their enforcement of justice."

"If that is the case, why are you now befriending him, and more importantly vice versa?"

"Because, Gman," Gordon answered, "we both misunderstood each other."

"How so?"

"I thought the Combine were either trying to destroy or enslave us. The general here thought we knew their true intentions and we were opposed to them. Now I understand what he and the Combine are trying to do, and he understands that nobody knew that and that was why we were fighting them."

"And what are they trying to do?"

"Isn't it obvious from their name?" Gordon asked in genuine surprise, "universal union!"

"Unification of all the nations of the universe?" the Gman asked somewhat disbelievingly.

"Exactly."

"And they have decided the best way to go about that is to invade and massacre the inhabitants of the universe?"

The Swedish general laughed, quite literally laughed at the Gman. "Fissionist, please tell me you are being ignorant intentionally?"
"I am doing no such thing." The Gman answered strongly. "I demand you explain to me what you are suggesting."

"What other options did we have to unify the universe under our banner?"

"Call a senate to announce your proposal, obviously!"

"And how many times has that worked?"

"Nobody has ever tried it before, according to my knowledge."

"Do you know why not?" the general asked. "Because everyone, including the Prime Advisors, knew announcing such a thing would be fruitless. People would object, people would defy our ideas. People will fight about anything, especially the thought of universal union. So we decided the only way to unite the universe was to take action forcibly and take over every single nation ourselves and be relentless concerning insurrection and crime."

"The Combine has been invading planets for centuries," the Gman argued. "Surely you were not present when they began this endeavour?"

"Of course not. But it is impossible not to know about our goals. Everything in our society reminds us that we have made an oath to unite the universe through whatever means necessary. We have annual festivals celebrating what the Prime Advisors set out to do all those centuries ago."

"So you strive to attain a universal union... through universal conquest?"
"Harmony through subjugation." The general added. "I remember being told those exact words twenty one years ago, on our Capital just before we left for this planet."

"But would not this universal union fall apart? After all, surely other nations feel contempt for your invasion of their planets?"

The general clasped his hands together. "Fissionist, the reason Dr. Freeman called you here today is because I explained what our plan is and how we go about it."

"And?"

"He began the uprising before we could complete our procedure."

"What is that procedure?"

The general leaned back in his chair. "After conquering a planet, we suppress the inhabitants until all injustice and crime is removed. After that has been achieved, we combine with them."

"How do you do that?"

"We transpose our way of life, our culture, our technology, into their community. After we have insinuated our government and quenched all opposition, we introduce the benefits. Apart from your faction, Fissionists, we are the most advanced race in the universe. After however long it takes to subdue a nation, we welcome them into the Universal Union and inaugurate their nation as a part of our society."

The general looked around at the three people standing in the room. "Am I correct," he began once more, "that the five Phyx I required were sent to this planet from Trysik are present at this base?"

"You are indeed," Gordon nodded. "Why?"

The general chuckled. "Because we have completed the process I just described to you on their planet. Trysik is a fully-operational society under the banner of the Universal Union. Ask them if I speak the truth."

Gordon looked over at Magnusson and nodded. "Call them here."

Magnusson, usually the most pompous and objective of the people at White Forest, nodded slowly. "Alright, Freeman, but I'm still not entirely sure of all this."

"You will be," Gordon replied as Magnusson left.

—

"It is as the Combine scum says," the Phyx sneered simultaneously. "They have imposed their society on our nation."

The general sighed. "See this hostility? This is what the human Resistance has been like to us this past year."
"But now you know we're not really like that." Gordon reminded him.

"Because you have the intellectual capacity to understand our goals," the general muttered.

The Phyx's eyes thinned in unison, their dull black eyes flashing in suppressed anger. "Such confident words for one so decorated in the hierarchy of slime that is your military, general." They hissed.

"Can we possibly settle for a civilised discussion?" the Gman interrupted, raising his hands defensively. "I understand you are not on the best of terms, but can you put these evidently petty differences behind you?"

The Phyx leaned backwards, closing their eyes. "The general may not have caused us any personal grief, but he is an accomplice to the disgusting plan to unite the universe under their banner."

"You see what I mean?" the general demanded, looking at Gordon and the Gman. "This is why proposing universal union was out of the question! There will always be people who refuse to accept our ideas for unity!"

"Perhaps you are going about it the wrong way?" the Gman suggested.

"Fissionist, we are what you could call a pacifistically-militant nation. We despise violence and conflict while we understand it is the only definite way to attain true peace."

"The whole concept is a farce!" the Phyx snarled. "Pacifism through violence? What sort of contradictory drivel is this?"

The Gman listened to the vivid argument, considering everything they were saying. Violence and conflict are the only definite way to attain true peace... that is incorrect. There is another way... no matter how much I abhor it, that is undeniable.

"General, there is another way to attain true peace."

"Really?" the general looked up at the Gman. "What is it?"

The Gman paused. "Universal euthanasia."

"What?" the general demanded. "What kind of craziness is that?"

"Technically speaking, if you were to painlessly destroy every single species in the universe other than yourself... you could have true peace."

Or defence of the universe... now I understand the logic behind my doppelganger's proposition. That doesn't mean it is morally justified.

"Enough." The Gman decided finally. "Phyx, please accept my apologies. I understand the logic behind the general's goals... but I cannot say I agree with the moral ramifications."

"What does that mean?" the Phyx asked.

"It means that, logically and statistically, the theory of universal union is possible. However, that does not mean it is right to force them to subject to the banner of a single nation."

The general looked up at him. "Are you saying everything the Combine Empire is striving for is... morally wrong?"

"Yes."

"From whose perspective, Fissionist?"

The Gman fell silent. The general was right, from whose doctrine of morality was he judging them?

What is immorality...?

Such is founded on the principles of right and wrong, of which there is no universal standard!

His doppelganger was right. Morality was relative, indefinite, differing between the societies of the universe.

"Everyone is right." The Gman finally spoke up, looking at everyone in the room. "And everyone is wrong. What is certain is that everything is relative based on perspective. The Combine believe in an authoritarian society. The nations of Earth believed in liberal societies. Both are right and both are wrong in each other's eyes."

"So what are you saying?" Gordon asked quietly.

"That universal union, or at least in the form you describe, general... is impossible."

"But you just said...!" the general insisted.

"I know what I just said." The Gman interrupted calmly. "But I was wrong. There is no way to unite each and every individual under one ideology, whether it be social, political or whatever. The only way to accomplish true universal union is through mental conditioning."

Everyone was silent. "So everything my people are striving for... is in vain?" the general whispered.

"The way I see it, it appears so." The Gman nodded.

Silence.

"If you will not be needing us, we will be leaving." The Phyx announced, turning around simultaneously and heading for the door.

Nobody made a move to stop them. Everyone just sat there, thinking about what the Gman had said.

"Surely... there must be some way?" the general practically pleaded. "All my life I have been taught that it is possible... that universal union is a reality... but now, I am not so sure."

"That can't be right." Gordon decided rather loudly. "Surely it can't be true."

Think, Freeman, think!

Suddenly, he sat up, almost violently. "Wait!"

"What is it?" the general asked cautiously.

"The Siberian general... he actually did help me!"

"How?"

"He told me... he said that the Combine has saved us... that we had merged with the greater good and become part of the striving for perfection... he said that before the Combine, the human race was fighting with itself, waring against each other, and when they came all that ended... why?"

"Why what?" the general asked. "I have to admit I do not understand you, Dr. Freeman."

"Why did we stop fighting? Because the Combine posed a greater threat than anything we had ever encountered among ourselves!"

The Gman's eyes widened. "You mean...?"

"The entire human race has been united as one... to fight against the Combine."

"But how can that be applied to the prospect of universal union?" the general asked. "For if everyone is united, then who will be there to pose a threat?"

"No no, general, think about it backwards. The human race united when the Combine posed a threat to us. But what if there was a way to not create unity through the presence of a greater threat, but through the absence of any threat at all?"

"How can we do that?"

Gordon shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Finally, he closed his eyes. "Gman, I disagree with you. Universal union is a reality."

"How?"

"I cannot speak for everyone, but I can imagine that most other species in the universe also share the human view that peace is good."

"So... what?"

"So if the Combine were to announce a universal senate, like you suggested in the first place, then surely we could convince most nations to combine with the Universal Union under one banner of peace."

"But the Phyx clearly demonstrated not all nations appreciate the nature of the Combine," the Gman answered. "They despise how they force them to conform to their society."

"Then we simply remove that part of the equation."
"What do you mean?" the general demanded.

"Do you know about the United Nations, general?"

"According to the information I have on the topic, they were a coalition of around two hundred or so human nations... ah!"

"There, you see? The Universal Union does not need to conquer the universe to unite it under one banner, but rather found a universal organisation uniting all nations under a separate banner, one that enforces no foreign cultivation."

"I see what you mean...!" the general nodded. "Yes, that could work! But... there is no way to convince the Universal Union of this..."
"Why not?"

"I received news from the Phyx personally... that the Resistance rocket destroyed our Capital, along with the Prime Advisors, the only ones with true political authority in our society."

Gordon's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Unless the Phyx were lying, which I highly doubt. Besides, they would have no reason to lie about something negative like that."

"Perhaps they were exaggerating?"

"No, Dr. Freeman," the Gman shook his head sadly. "The dark energy you instructed me to retrieve from the Citadel Dark Energy Reactor in our council chambers last year... it would be impossible for such a potent amount not to destroy over half the planet, including the Prime Advisors."

Gordon bowed his head slowly. "And that's exactly what I wanted."

The general and the Gman watched him in silence, wondering what he was going to do. But he didn't do anything, he just sat there with his eyes jammed shut. "The only way we could end all this fighting... and I destroyed it."

All to save Alyx and Barney... that would ultimately be for nothing... everything I've done has simply made things WORSE!

Gordon stood up suddenly, clenching his fists. "I'm so useless!" he growled, kicking the casing of a nearby computer console, leaving it resounding with a metallic clang and a shallow dent. "I wrecked any way of ending this fucking mess, all because of my retarded little time-travel idea so that I could save Alyx and Barney, who would just end up getting blown to shit by that bomb anyway!"

Exclaiming in utter fury at himself, Gordon strode angrily over to the metal blast door leading outside and wrenched it open manually, slamming it shut after he had gone through.

The Gman made to follow him, but stopped himself. Then he sat down. "Let him be," he told the general. "He will figure this out for himself."

"What do you think he's going to do?"

The Gman smiled. "He's a smart man, general. If I was worried he'd kill himself, I'd have taken the 9mm from him."

The exact moment the Gman had finished speaking, there was a muffled gunshot from outside.