(Author's Note): You gotta know about Half Life to know who this guy is. This guy is a very mysterious character. I request that you at least understand the way that he talks. It'll be much easier to read this if you have heard the weird way that he talks. Look up "The G-Man Monologues" on YouTube. Anyway, enjoy this weird chapter. I'm not even sure about it myself.
After Doug finished his conversation with Amelia, he found that he was more impatient than ever. He just had to hold out for maybe another day or two. He tried to watch a movie on the couch, but he was too restless. He ended up pacing around the apartment, rearranging things in his room and munching on snacks in the kitchen. Why couldn't she just come home tonight?
He was walking back to the living room when he saw a man standing in the middle of the room that made him halt in his tracks. The man looked….unsettling. He was tall and slim with black hair that was peppered gray. His face was long, gaunt, and completely emotionless. And his eyes were an odd shade of turquoise. There was something about those eyes set in such a face that made Doug want to cower away. The man was wearing a blue suit and carrying a briefcase. He straightened his red tie before he spoke.
"Hello, Mr. Rattmann." The man's voice was deep, and his speech seemed choppy and uneven. "I do not wish to startle you in your new home, but I have been meaning to pay you a visit…eventually."
Doug just blinked. He could have sworn that he'd taken his medication each time that he'd needed to. Maybe he'd missed a dose.
"I assure you that I am not one of your delusions, Mr. Rattmann," the man said. "I know what you've been through. I…..apologize for not helping you out of your predicament in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. But let's admit that you didn't need much help, did you? You are a particularly resourceful man, after all." The man paused to see if Doug had anything to say before he continued. "I know that you haven't even heard of Dr. Gordon Freeman, but he plays a very important part in your life. He was employed at Black Mesa a long time ago just as you were once employed at the rivaling company a long time ago. Both of you have had to work a great deal to escape your employed facilities while they were going through rather….catastrophic changes. But he has been in stasis for a much longer time than you were. And he will be indirectly responsible for bringing you back together with someone that is even more important to you."
"Why are you telling me this?" Doug asked. "And who is he bringing to me? Actually, who the hell are you?"
The man didn't respond right away. He stared at Doug for a moment, raising an eyebrow slightly.
"I tell you this, Mr. Rattmann, because one day I might need your services and resourcefulness to aid Dr. Freeman in his mission," the man said. "I cannot tell you when or how. Just that I might pluck you out of your comfy home one day. And you do not need to know who you will be seeing again soon. All good things come to those who wait…..as they say…I know everything about what happened during your extended period in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center, and you have greatly impressed me with how you handled the situation. No good deed should go unrewarded in some way or another. This is why I am here now. I come to you with an offer. I will carry out one favor that you wish. Any favor but only the one. So….what will you have of me, Mr. Rattmann? What can I do for you at the present time?"
Doug thought for a minute. He still was unsure that this guy wasn't just a hallucination. But how could wishing for something harm anything?
"I want Amelia and her friends to come home safely," Doug said. "I want to be able to embrace her again."
The man laughed but with little humor. "Mr. Rattmann, you do not understand the extent of my power to grant you any favor that you desire," he said. "Of course, I am not surprised in the least by what you have decided, but what about that idea that crossed your mind before? About your age? You aren't as old as you might think….At least not physically. Surely you remember crawling into that stasis pod after you were shot in the leg. You thought you would bleed out."
"How could you possibly know about that?" Doug asked. He feared this man more and more with every word that passed through his thin lips.
"You fell unconscious in the stasis pod, but you were able to knock the lid closed before you blacked out. You were only twenty-eight years old, were you not?"
Doug nodded.
"You awoke only a year before Chell was called back to duty. Then three more years passed….and here we are now. You only feel older because of the trials you have been put through and you have tried so hard to keep your mind from…..Let's say from de-hinging." That humorless chuckle again. "That is another aspect of your life that I thought you would have asked to change. But Amelia has made you feel real love for the first time in your life so it isn't surprising that you would want to keep her safe." He paused. "As a bonus for your efforts and determination, I will also make you feel and look your age again. There's no need for you to feel troubled about that age difference any longer. Thirty-two isn't much older than twenty-five….right?" He laughed louder this time but it was a harsh sound. "Love is only a release of chemicals in the brain, Mr. Rattmann. Do not forget that."
A very bright light suddenly erupted from behind him briefly. When it vanished, so did the man. Doug felt so confused. But did his face also feel a bit tighter? Maybe even fresher? He hurried to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. His face didn't have those aged wrinkles anymore. Actually, he felt a lot less aged on the inside, too. All those years of crouching around and straining his leg muscles seemed to have vanished. He felt like he could run a marathon. As he looked into the mirror, though, he noticed that he still had anisocoria with his eyes. He sighed.
"Maybe I should've asked for him to fix my eyes, too."
