Half-Life Integral
The Surface
The train we were on was still heading up the shaft by the large elevator the tracks were on. It would be awhile before we reached the top.
"How did all this happen?" I asked.
"I have no idea. When I left my office I had to transport this sample we collected to the test chamber. On my way back everything went black and stuff started going nuts. My hazard suit was keeping me alive but I needed to find a way out of here. I went back to look for you, but you weren't there." Gina explained as best she could.
"These Hazard Suits are pretty amazing. I'll have to thank the person who made them." I said.
"You're welcome."
"You designed these?" I asked amazed.
"Yes. I came up with the design but didn't single handedly build them. It's the reason I'm the holographic guide in the Hazard Course." None of that made much sense but I accepted it.
The train reached the top. It proceeded along this old looking tunnel that was rather small compared to the other ones. Then we spotted a sign above us that signaled the exit tunnel. However no sooner did we clear that tunnel did a large explosion occur in front of us. A giant hole was created in front and the train's auto brake couldn't keep us from falling.
"Hurry out the back!" Gina called diving out the back of the train. I did the same just as the train fell down the pit. A few seconds later we heard a large explosion below.
"That was sure close." I said breathing hard.
Gina walked over to the pit and examined it.
"What, you think the aliens did it? Or maybe the train was faulty?" I asked.
"This wasn't an accident. These markings are too precise to be an accident. Somebody wanted this track to be destroyed." She told me.
"Who would do that?"
"I have no idea."
We walked back through the tunnels and came across the maintenance door.
"This service elevator might be able to take us further up." I told Gina.
After collected all the supplies in the room we could we headed up the cramped elevator. I managed to get a few more magazines for my pistol while Gina found a few more rounds for her shotgun.
Once we reached the top we both got out and looked around. We were in some kind of storage warehouse, a deserted one at that.
Making our way through the maze of large crates we saw a scientist fall to the ground nearby. We rushed over to him to see if he was alive.
"Are you alright?" I asked him.
"Hurry. They've taken the surface. Be carefu..." was he could say before he died.
"You think he means the aliens?" I asked Gina.
"Probably. But look at this wound." She said. I looked down and there were three well placed dots on his chest resembling gunshots.
"It looks like he was shot."
"Correct. And too my knowledge these alien creature don't have the knowledge to operate firearms. Somebody, a human, did this to him." Gina explained.
"This is getting freaky. Let's just find a way out of this place." I suggested to my female companion.
"Good plan. I'll lead." She said. The main door was partially open just enough for a person to fit through. We both arrived on the surface of the base.
"Just great." I heard Gina mutter.
"Huh?"
"There isn't any exit here. We have to go further. Maybe if we can find a vehicle we can leave." She said walking to another warehouse by the looks of it. Then all of a sudden the warehouse was hit by a rocket.
We both fell from the impact and looked behind us. We didn't see anything.
"What did that?" I asked.
"I have no idea. At least that explosion opened the door for us." She said looking on the bright side.
Once inside we found yet another elevator, well it was a heavy lift for vehicles and such.
"Guess we have to head down huh?" I asked Gina knowing the answer.
"Yes."
We got on and it started itself. Which I was amazed by.
"Gray, I'm sorry you have to go through all this. Had I known this would happen today I'd have canceled your work for the day." Gina apologized.
"Gina, don't treat me like a special case. I think each and every living human being in this place is saying the exact same thing. We have to worry about saving our asses instead of being sorry for them." I told her. It felt like BS to me but Gina seemed to understand.
"You're right."
The lift reached the bottom and we were met by several security guards holding guns to us.
"Lower your weapons. Dr. Cross it is good to see you alive." A scientist said approaching Gina.
"Who is this?" he asked looking at me.
"This is Gray, he's my intern."
"Well I'm glad to see you alive as well. Nobody should have to go through this ordeal alone. Come we've set up a small area hiding from them." The scientist said leading us through a series of security doors.
Inside was a set of ammunition and a spare shotgun I was allowed to take. I used the HEV Chargers on the wall to raise my suits power to 100 percent. I was in perfect condition.
"Well now Dr. Peters. Could you please explain what is going on?" Gina asked sitting down on a metal crate. I did the same.
"Well a few hours ago several people on the science team met with the Administrator and it seems the military is coming to rescue us." Dr. Peters began.
"Great. We don't have to worry anymore." I said sounding happy.
"However, that is not the truth. The military landed here about an hour ago and they have been occupying ever area of the base they can find, and what's worse is they have taken a habit of killing a number of us." He explained further.
"Killing us? They kill scientists and security guards?" I asked amazed not believing it.
"I'm afraid so. It appears that when they were sent to contain the disaster that they are ordered to kill everyone in the base so information about these projects gets out. We hid down here so they can't get to us." Dr. Peters said finishing his explanation.
"Well there must be a way around the military. We need to get out of here." I suggested.
"There is a large door down here that we have been unable to open, because the door has no power to it. If you two could somehow work your way back up to the surface to Area 7 you might be able to recalibrate the power nodes and restore power to the area. We only ask you two because your hazard suits would keep you alive longer than any of us. Then again you could choose to ignore us, it is up to you." Peters finished.
"Well Gina, what should we do?" I asked.
"I sure don't want to stay down here, but I don't want to face a military death squad up there. Options are very limited right now I'm afraid." She said sounding hopeless.
"Well I agree with that but our Hazard Suits should keep us alive enough up there. Maybe there is a back way so we can avoid the majority of the military." I pondered.
"Actually there is. I found this service lift that will take you to a warehouse on the far side of Area 7. It'll be some hike over to the power nodes but the military might not expect it." A security guard spoke up.
"Well Gina it's up to you." I told her.
"Alright, we might as well. It's better than staying down here forever." She said as the guard showed us to the elevator.
Up we went until we reached a similar warehouse like before. We saw these two grunts in the military by the looks of it guarding the wide open door. We listened to them. Our HEV suits picked up radio conversation.
"Guard duty sucks! I'd rather be with an infantry squad wrecking some havoc down there."
"Tell me about it. But why the hell are we here anyway? A bunch of scientists and security guards don't seem much like a terrorist organization to me."
"No shit man, but what about those rumors of aliens attacking us? I heard Goose Squad was busted up pretty bad."
"Yeah, I heard Corporal Shepard was the only guy still alive from that squad, but we haven't seen him."
Gina and I now decided on what to do next.
"We could just fire at them; it would take them by surprise." I suggested.
"But we have to get them quickly otherwise they may warn others and we'd be swarmed." She told me getting her shotgun ready.
We both rushed out firing like crazy at them. The two grunts were totally surprised and had no time to even pull the trigger once.
Staring down at their corpses the situation hit me. Not only were aliens from some other world attacking us but now our own species is out to see us dead.
"Here, we can use their weapons." Gina said tossing me one of their MP5s as she took the other. My Heads Up Display told me that this weapon used the same ammunition the handgun I had did.
"It seems if we head further along in this direction we'll reach the power nodes soon." Gina told me pointing to a small hill in the distance.
We tread carefully to avoid detection while jumping over objects and crawling through tight areas. Eventually we reached another warehouse and we heard the military was in there.
"We'd better be careful." Gina said checking her weapon. I did the same. Then we leaned over and both shot at the soldier in the gas mask who died before he knew what hit him.
"Recon! Hostiles!" we heard over our radios.
Running in separate directions we fired like mad at the grunts below us. We were hit a number of times but our suits kept us living and breathing.
I made my way down a set of stairs as we were above them and surprised the remaining two firing and killing one and wounding the other. Gina sent a rain of bullets at the wounded one killing him.
"How you holding up Doctor?" I asked.
"My HUD tells me I'm at 87 health and have 14 percent suit power. I'll make it. How about you?"
"I've got 65 health and 34 percent power. I should be fine if I keep my suit power up." I told her. She followed me down as we shared the ammo from the dead grunts.
"We should almost be there. Hurry." She said. We ran through the only open door which was in the direction we were going. We arrived at the power nodes on top of the hill. It was a large antenna with several computers around it.
"Okay, cover me while I activate the nodes. Keep me safe Gray." Gina said running to a computer preparing to activate the nodes. I readied my MP5 and prepared for the worst. Grunts came from the warehouse we were just in. I guess that squad must have sent for backup.
I took aim and fired at them not stopping until they were dead or I had to reload. Bullets were flying everywhere. My suit power was getting low and my health had dropped below 50 now.
"Hold on Gray I'm almost there!" Gina yelled over the gunfire.
I still fired and then ran out of ammo. Switching to my pistol I fired what little ammo for that I had since I used most of it for the MP5. I had killed about 5 grunts and 3 more were still left. One dropped as I ran out of ammo for my pistol. Now with just a shotgun I was in trouble.
"It's done!" Gina said as the nodes powered up. She took aim and killed the remaining grunts.
"How are you holding up?" She asked bending over me. I was on my knees, my suit was damaged and blood was dripping through it. I was breathing heavily, my health at a mere 42 and no suit power to protect me.
"I'd better get you back to the bunker or at least to a wall mounted medkit." She said preparing to grab me and help me back when the nodes began to spark and overload.
In one large explosion I was falling now. I didn't know what had happened but I just blacked out after I felt myself hit the ground below.
The Surface
The train we were on was still heading up the shaft by the large elevator the tracks were on. It would be awhile before we reached the top.
"How did all this happen?" I asked.
"I have no idea. When I left my office I had to transport this sample we collected to the test chamber. On my way back everything went black and stuff started going nuts. My hazard suit was keeping me alive but I needed to find a way out of here. I went back to look for you, but you weren't there." Gina explained as best she could.
"These Hazard Suits are pretty amazing. I'll have to thank the person who made them." I said.
"You're welcome."
"You designed these?" I asked amazed.
"Yes. I came up with the design but didn't single handedly build them. It's the reason I'm the holographic guide in the Hazard Course." None of that made much sense but I accepted it.
The train reached the top. It proceeded along this old looking tunnel that was rather small compared to the other ones. Then we spotted a sign above us that signaled the exit tunnel. However no sooner did we clear that tunnel did a large explosion occur in front of us. A giant hole was created in front and the train's auto brake couldn't keep us from falling.
"Hurry out the back!" Gina called diving out the back of the train. I did the same just as the train fell down the pit. A few seconds later we heard a large explosion below.
"That was sure close." I said breathing hard.
Gina walked over to the pit and examined it.
"What, you think the aliens did it? Or maybe the train was faulty?" I asked.
"This wasn't an accident. These markings are too precise to be an accident. Somebody wanted this track to be destroyed." She told me.
"Who would do that?"
"I have no idea."
We walked back through the tunnels and came across the maintenance door.
"This service elevator might be able to take us further up." I told Gina.
After collected all the supplies in the room we could we headed up the cramped elevator. I managed to get a few more magazines for my pistol while Gina found a few more rounds for her shotgun.
Once we reached the top we both got out and looked around. We were in some kind of storage warehouse, a deserted one at that.
Making our way through the maze of large crates we saw a scientist fall to the ground nearby. We rushed over to him to see if he was alive.
"Are you alright?" I asked him.
"Hurry. They've taken the surface. Be carefu..." was he could say before he died.
"You think he means the aliens?" I asked Gina.
"Probably. But look at this wound." She said. I looked down and there were three well placed dots on his chest resembling gunshots.
"It looks like he was shot."
"Correct. And too my knowledge these alien creature don't have the knowledge to operate firearms. Somebody, a human, did this to him." Gina explained.
"This is getting freaky. Let's just find a way out of this place." I suggested to my female companion.
"Good plan. I'll lead." She said. The main door was partially open just enough for a person to fit through. We both arrived on the surface of the base.
"Just great." I heard Gina mutter.
"Huh?"
"There isn't any exit here. We have to go further. Maybe if we can find a vehicle we can leave." She said walking to another warehouse by the looks of it. Then all of a sudden the warehouse was hit by a rocket.
We both fell from the impact and looked behind us. We didn't see anything.
"What did that?" I asked.
"I have no idea. At least that explosion opened the door for us." She said looking on the bright side.
Once inside we found yet another elevator, well it was a heavy lift for vehicles and such.
"Guess we have to head down huh?" I asked Gina knowing the answer.
"Yes."
We got on and it started itself. Which I was amazed by.
"Gray, I'm sorry you have to go through all this. Had I known this would happen today I'd have canceled your work for the day." Gina apologized.
"Gina, don't treat me like a special case. I think each and every living human being in this place is saying the exact same thing. We have to worry about saving our asses instead of being sorry for them." I told her. It felt like BS to me but Gina seemed to understand.
"You're right."
The lift reached the bottom and we were met by several security guards holding guns to us.
"Lower your weapons. Dr. Cross it is good to see you alive." A scientist said approaching Gina.
"Who is this?" he asked looking at me.
"This is Gray, he's my intern."
"Well I'm glad to see you alive as well. Nobody should have to go through this ordeal alone. Come we've set up a small area hiding from them." The scientist said leading us through a series of security doors.
Inside was a set of ammunition and a spare shotgun I was allowed to take. I used the HEV Chargers on the wall to raise my suits power to 100 percent. I was in perfect condition.
"Well now Dr. Peters. Could you please explain what is going on?" Gina asked sitting down on a metal crate. I did the same.
"Well a few hours ago several people on the science team met with the Administrator and it seems the military is coming to rescue us." Dr. Peters began.
"Great. We don't have to worry anymore." I said sounding happy.
"However, that is not the truth. The military landed here about an hour ago and they have been occupying ever area of the base they can find, and what's worse is they have taken a habit of killing a number of us." He explained further.
"Killing us? They kill scientists and security guards?" I asked amazed not believing it.
"I'm afraid so. It appears that when they were sent to contain the disaster that they are ordered to kill everyone in the base so information about these projects gets out. We hid down here so they can't get to us." Dr. Peters said finishing his explanation.
"Well there must be a way around the military. We need to get out of here." I suggested.
"There is a large door down here that we have been unable to open, because the door has no power to it. If you two could somehow work your way back up to the surface to Area 7 you might be able to recalibrate the power nodes and restore power to the area. We only ask you two because your hazard suits would keep you alive longer than any of us. Then again you could choose to ignore us, it is up to you." Peters finished.
"Well Gina, what should we do?" I asked.
"I sure don't want to stay down here, but I don't want to face a military death squad up there. Options are very limited right now I'm afraid." She said sounding hopeless.
"Well I agree with that but our Hazard Suits should keep us alive enough up there. Maybe there is a back way so we can avoid the majority of the military." I pondered.
"Actually there is. I found this service lift that will take you to a warehouse on the far side of Area 7. It'll be some hike over to the power nodes but the military might not expect it." A security guard spoke up.
"Well Gina it's up to you." I told her.
"Alright, we might as well. It's better than staying down here forever." She said as the guard showed us to the elevator.
Up we went until we reached a similar warehouse like before. We saw these two grunts in the military by the looks of it guarding the wide open door. We listened to them. Our HEV suits picked up radio conversation.
"Guard duty sucks! I'd rather be with an infantry squad wrecking some havoc down there."
"Tell me about it. But why the hell are we here anyway? A bunch of scientists and security guards don't seem much like a terrorist organization to me."
"No shit man, but what about those rumors of aliens attacking us? I heard Goose Squad was busted up pretty bad."
"Yeah, I heard Corporal Shepard was the only guy still alive from that squad, but we haven't seen him."
Gina and I now decided on what to do next.
"We could just fire at them; it would take them by surprise." I suggested.
"But we have to get them quickly otherwise they may warn others and we'd be swarmed." She told me getting her shotgun ready.
We both rushed out firing like crazy at them. The two grunts were totally surprised and had no time to even pull the trigger once.
Staring down at their corpses the situation hit me. Not only were aliens from some other world attacking us but now our own species is out to see us dead.
"Here, we can use their weapons." Gina said tossing me one of their MP5s as she took the other. My Heads Up Display told me that this weapon used the same ammunition the handgun I had did.
"It seems if we head further along in this direction we'll reach the power nodes soon." Gina told me pointing to a small hill in the distance.
We tread carefully to avoid detection while jumping over objects and crawling through tight areas. Eventually we reached another warehouse and we heard the military was in there.
"We'd better be careful." Gina said checking her weapon. I did the same. Then we leaned over and both shot at the soldier in the gas mask who died before he knew what hit him.
"Recon! Hostiles!" we heard over our radios.
Running in separate directions we fired like mad at the grunts below us. We were hit a number of times but our suits kept us living and breathing.
I made my way down a set of stairs as we were above them and surprised the remaining two firing and killing one and wounding the other. Gina sent a rain of bullets at the wounded one killing him.
"How you holding up Doctor?" I asked.
"My HUD tells me I'm at 87 health and have 14 percent suit power. I'll make it. How about you?"
"I've got 65 health and 34 percent power. I should be fine if I keep my suit power up." I told her. She followed me down as we shared the ammo from the dead grunts.
"We should almost be there. Hurry." She said. We ran through the only open door which was in the direction we were going. We arrived at the power nodes on top of the hill. It was a large antenna with several computers around it.
"Okay, cover me while I activate the nodes. Keep me safe Gray." Gina said running to a computer preparing to activate the nodes. I readied my MP5 and prepared for the worst. Grunts came from the warehouse we were just in. I guess that squad must have sent for backup.
I took aim and fired at them not stopping until they were dead or I had to reload. Bullets were flying everywhere. My suit power was getting low and my health had dropped below 50 now.
"Hold on Gray I'm almost there!" Gina yelled over the gunfire.
I still fired and then ran out of ammo. Switching to my pistol I fired what little ammo for that I had since I used most of it for the MP5. I had killed about 5 grunts and 3 more were still left. One dropped as I ran out of ammo for my pistol. Now with just a shotgun I was in trouble.
"It's done!" Gina said as the nodes powered up. She took aim and killed the remaining grunts.
"How are you holding up?" She asked bending over me. I was on my knees, my suit was damaged and blood was dripping through it. I was breathing heavily, my health at a mere 42 and no suit power to protect me.
"I'd better get you back to the bunker or at least to a wall mounted medkit." She said preparing to grab me and help me back when the nodes began to spark and overload.
In one large explosion I was falling now. I didn't know what had happened but I just blacked out after I felt myself hit the ground below.