Distorted

Chapter 3

The third chapter of Distorted, thank you for taking the time to read this.

As before enjoy.

The G-man walked briskly down the lifeless, steel grey corridors. As he passed by rows of steel doors he slowly adjusted his tie while trying to think about what to say to their latest avatar. Suddenly he stopped at one of the countless doors and stared intently at the door. The doors had no visible locks or handles, they were completely blank. However after a few seconds of the G-mans stare the door slid open allowing the G-man to pass through. The G-man strolled into the room and said to the lone man in the room, 'Tell me, what do you know of Earth and the Combine?'

Xds573 considered the answer to the question and decided on a blunt reply, 'A lot.'

'A rather true answer, but not the one I was hoping for. Do you know why Earth is the target of the Combine might?'

'Because they wish to expand their empire using teleport technology.'

'But if Earth has been housing such stiff resistance then why doesn't the Combine just destroy it and go some where else?' The G-man smiled a little, as if he thought that that wouldn't be such a bad idea.

'Because the teleport devices only have limited range. If the Combine wish to invade the planets in this region of the universe then they must conquer Earth first, it's the only planet their teleports can reach. As soon as they have set up the new portals on Earth they'll move onto the other planets past Earth.'

'Nicely explained. Now do you have any idea why me and my superiors want to keep Earth Combine free?'

Xds573's looked thoughtful for a moment and then replied. 'Although you or your superiors have never told me I suspect that your home world is one of the ones which would be at danger if the Combine expanded from Earth.'

The G-man looked slightly surprised for a second and then recover himself, 'Yes, very good,' he muttered, look as though he was talking to himself. 'Now, what is your name?' inquired the G-man, smile slightly as he talked.

'I'm identified by a serial number. Xds573,' said Xds573, his voice losing his humanity as he slipped into a uniform mood.

'But what would you do if the Combine asked for your identification?'

'Then my name is Mark Hilt,' replied "Mark Hilt", his voice suddenly sounding soft and human.

'Good. Do you want to try that in a little test?' asked the G-man, his mouth twisting the words, making them sound sarcastic and probing. Like everything was a test.

Before "Mark" could answer the G-man left the room, the door sliding shut behind him.

Mark looked around the Combine train station, taking in every thing slowly, the depressed looking citizens making their way towards the Combine inspection, were the white masked overlords would decide their fate. It was a dangerous place; about a third of the people who passed through the gates would be taken away to the various camps and duties, being forced to retake and rebuild Nova Prospect, and then once their work was done they would become the first inmates in the prison.

As Mark approached the gates he looked around for a place to plant his distraction, if he got caught at the train terminal it would jeopardise his trip to Earth. If he was put on the Combine "red" list it would be impossible for him to walk down a single street with out being spotted by a scanner, which would route local Civil Protection squads onto him. Hardly ideal working conditions.

Mark soon saw his chance: A Combine Officer was watching citizens march slowly into the line, to be processed by the Civil Protection units at the gate way. As Mark Hilt walked behind the Officer he pulled a small little glass cylinder filled with a dark powder from his pocket. After checking that no one was looking he gently put the cylinder into the Officer's side holster, right next to the Officer's standard Combine Issue Pistol. After making sure the cylinder was safely inside the holster Mark moved quickly towards the processing gate, hoping that the Combine would let him through. When his turn came Mark walked through the rusted steel gate, a branch way that led to the different train stations.

'You there!' droned the Officer closest to Mark, 'Board the express to Nova Prospect, Comply,' ordered the Civil Protection Officer, as he walked slowly towards Mark.

Great. A complication. Rather than being let through into the main city, Mark was going to be sent to slowly die in the ruins of the high security prison. After a monuments thought Mark Hilt decided not to comply. Instead he reached inside his pocket and pressed down on a small radio control set. Across the room the small glass cylinder beeped once and then sparked, igniting the black powder within the cylinder. Although the resulting explosion was barley enough to blow through the Officer's leg padding, the cylinder was strategically placed inside the Officer's holster and when it blew it ignited the gunpowder inside the Officers firearm and reserve ammunition, sending over thirty rounds bursting away from the Officers severely tattered leg.

The Officer who was menacing Mark (and the train station at large) turned around in response to the flurry of flame, bullets and dark blood that erupted from the unfortunate Officer's leg. As soon as the Civil Protection Officer had his back turned Mark retrieved his stun baton from its pouch and struck the Officer's neck viciously from behind, breaking the Civil Protection Officer's neck with blunt force, and a little electricity. As soon as the Officer hit the ground Mark opened the dead Combine's weapon holster, dropping the baton in favour for the Standard Issue Pistol. Before the Combine noticed their fallen comrade Mark Hilt was already at the doors which lead to the holding cells and command post, slipping through while everybody's eyes were on the recent explosion.

The corridor was badly maintained and with bad lighting, a typical Combine facility. Although Mark had avoided a one way ticket to Nova Prospect the train station was covered in cameras. If the video was reviewed carefully they might see Mark planting the small bomb, although he was sure they didn't get any footage of him killing the Civil Protection Officer, all of the cameras had been pointing at source of the explosion when Mark had broken his neck. But regardless of what the camera's did or didn't see Mark would have to delete his face form the records, permanently.

The Civil Protection Officer stood looking at the screens, trying to pinpoint what caused the death of two Civil Protection Officers. He was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door, he quickly stood up and went to the door, uncovering the little peep hatch. He peered through the hatch and saw the grew barrel of-

-Mark pulled the trigger on the pistol, resulting in the pistol kicking upwards and a small mass of metal being place inside the Civil Protection Officer's head. Moving quickly, Mark placed the room's power board in his sights, peering through the hatch to get a good shot. After two well placed shots the power board was destroyed, shutting off the cameras and the Combine computers in the control room. The Civil Protection Officers inside the control room had drawn their weapons, forcing Mark to step quickly away from the door as it buckled from the Combine returning fire. After a few seconds the fire ceased and Mark heard the footsteps of a Civil Protection Officer making his way towards the door. Before the Officer could turn the handle, Mark ran towards the door and flung his weight towards it, the door burst open and knocked the surprised Combine Officer off his feet. Mark skidded in and fired rapidly at the nearest Officer, and after three rounds Mark heard the sound of the Officer's life support and radio systems shutting down, an annoying beep. Mark clambered over one of the room's desks and ducked behind, as the desk suddenly shuddered underneath the fire of the two remaining Officer's. Mark lifted his pistol above the desk and fired blindly in the direction of the gunfire and after a long volley of rounds Mark was rewarded with the sound of the Officer "shutting down". With the last Civil Protection Officer still firing at the desk, Mark positioned himself so that his legs were pressed against the desk, and then he kicked out as hard as he could, sending the desk sliding across the room and into the Civil Protection Officer, causing the Officer to fall off balance and drop his pistol. Mark carefully put the Officer's head between his sights and pulled the trigger, only to hear the clicking sound of an empty magazine. The Civil Protection Officer pulled out his stun baton and advanced towards Mark, swinging out his baton as soon as he was in range. Mark rolled away form the outstretched baton, causing the Officer to over swing and lose his balance. Mark quickly leapt towards the Officer and reached towards the one of the Officer's pouches, and pulled out the pin on the hand grenade that rested in the pouch. As soon as it started beeping Mark kicked the Officer as hard as he could in the chest, sending the Civil Protection Officer stumbling backwards. Mark sprinted towards the door and ran through it, slamming the door shut behind him. After a few seconds Mark heard the grenade going off, the sound of the explosion rattling Mark and the rest of the station. Mark peered through the door and saw that the grenade did its job, all of the Combine Officers and computers were destroyed, erasing Mark Hilt from the Combine's bad books. With out much time to celebrate Mark ran into the store room, a dark and dingy room filled with crates. Mark picked up one of the crates and hurled it at a window, breaking the window and giving Mark an exit. Within a few seconds Mark was out of the store room and into the streets of the rundown city.

The image slowly faded form Mark's eyes and was replaced by the ugly black simulator room. The G-man walked in, move past the elaborate sensor's and computers.

'Very well done "Mark",' said the G-man, his eyes alight with bright intelligence.

'What did the computers say about my performance?' asked Mark, Xds573, although he knew what the answer would be.

'According to the computer the Combine didn't manage to put you onto their alert list and you destroyed all evidence of you ever being at that station. I'd say that's a pass,' muttered the G-man.

Mark allowed himself a few seconds triumph, another test he'd passed.

'Now I want to do a few variations of that test soon, so why don't you go preparer of that.'

Mark nodded, even though he didn't really have any say in the matter. Mark slowly made his way towards his room and once inside his bleak home he laid down and his space efficient bed and fell instantly to sleep.