Disclaimer: Half Life belongs to Valve Software. All rights reserved.

            All around Gordon the sound of machinery could be heard; gears shifting, rods moving into place, it was kind of like a musical parade of modern technology. And as a finale, the door ahead opened. The room beyond was the main entrance for the Anomalous Materials lab. On the opposite wall was the logo of the Black Mesa Research Facility superimposed on a map of the Earth. The left side of the room was lined with monitors, some displaying views from different cameras, others lined with announcements. On the right hand was a map of the floor along with the corridor that led further into the lab.

            And in the center of the room was the main desk, behind it the security guard on duty and one of Gordon's science team colleagues. Both of them had worried expressions. Straightening out his lab coat, Gordon walked up to the desk. The guard glanced up from his operations manual.

"Hey Mr. Freeman; I had a bunch of messages for you but we had a systems crash about…" he turned and looked at the computer screen. "…twenty minutes ago and I'm still trying to find my files. One of those days I guess." They both sighed.

"That's a bit of an understatement." Gordon added.

"They were having some problems down in the test chamber too," the guard continued, "but I think that's all straightened out. They wanted me to make sure you headed down there as soon as you got into your hazard suit."

Gordon nodded. "Thanks a lot." The guard tossed his hand up in response as he had already resumed his tangoing with the facility's computer. Gordon turned and headed towards the lab.

            In another part of the country, a man sat at his desk. He was dressed in a spotless pinstripe suit with a black tie. His shoes were polished to a bright sheen and his hair was arranged in an expensive cut; everything about the man just oozed suave and sophistication. And the room itself was no eye sore either. The walls were made out of smooth granite, the swirling black and white patterns on it polished to a high gloss. The floors were made out of solid marble that was perfectly tiled into many diamond shapes. A single solid oak door led into the room. An antique clock hung on the wall, ticking away the seconds as perfectly as it had when first crafted.

            The desk area also added it own charm. It was dark cherry red, its legs engraved with an intricate design. To the left of the desk was a combination fax machine and shredder, the paper tray to it full and the simple waste basket underneath empty. Now the top of the desk was a different story. While normally covered with only a blotter, pen holder, and note taker (and the occasional coffee cup ring), now it was littered with several piles of folders. But even then, those piles were organized neatly. The chair that the man was sitting in was of a matching splendor as well; the same kind of expensive wood, its own intricate design, and with a seat made of velvet.

            The man took a deep breath and took a new folder from the top of his "In" pile and opened it up. The file inside was small and contained only the usual amount of information; a picture of the man, a brief medical readout and his background. His file read:

SUBJECT: Gordon Freeman. Male, Age 27

EDUCATION: Ph.D., MIT, Theoretical Physics

POSITION: Research Associate

ASSIGNMENT: Anomalous Materials Laboratory

CLEARANCE: Level 3

ADMINISTRATIVE SPONSOR: Classified

DISASTER RESPONSE PRIORITY: Discretionary

            The door slid into its recess and Gordon stepped through. On the other side was the locker room for the top side staff of the Anomalous Materials Laboratory. It was also the storage area for the lab's Hazard Suits. Inside was one of Gordon's colleagues, Doctor Steve Bond. As always, he was complaining about the facility's dress code. Gordon ignored the man and walked on past to the HEV storage. Bond however, didn't leave him alone.

"You're late again today Johnny."

Gordon rolled his eyes.

"Could you please stop comparing me to a fourty year old actor?"

"Not until you shave off that goatee."

            Gordon decided not to dignify that with a response; the goatee was something that he took pride in having.

            Dismissing Bond with a wave of his hand, Gordon walked on past him to the rear left side of the locker room. A console stood on a raised platform with three toggles that controlled the HEV storage units. Two of the three suits were missing; leading Gordon to conclude that Dr. Cross and Dr. Green has already stopped by and gotten theirs. The only suit left was the default orange color suit that occupied the center unit. Gordon grimaced. He hated it color, hoping that he could've gotten the silver colored suit.

            But as Gordon's grandmother had been fond of saying, "if wishes were horses, beggars would ride." Gordon hit the corresponding switch on the console and the glass containment rose into the ceiling and allowed him to get the suit. Stepping away from the console, Gordon ambled down a few steps to his left and walked up to the HEV suit.

            The suit was a result of two decades of research. An orange colored metal alloy covered most of the suit, separated only by black rubber appropriately placed in areas where flexibility was needed. The interior of the suit was a soft compound that insulated the body within against temperature extremes and absorbed sweat to aid in the body's natural cooling process. The thing that caught ones eye however was the inverted y encapsulated by a circle. But between the outer skin and the interior insulation was the true heart of the HEV Mk. IV; a complex design of microcircuitry that operated all of the advanced features of the suit.

            However hanging on its storage rack, the HEV suit didn't look like much of anything.

            Picking the piece of equipment up and slinging it over his shoulders, Gordon walked out of the storage area and over to the bathroom stalls. He wasn't into voyeurism and wanted a good measure of privacy while he stripped off half his clothing to put the suit on. Unfortunately for Gordon, both stalls were occupied, thus leaving him up to his own imagination to find a place to change.

            Gordon chose his rather cramped locker.

            There wasn't much in the closet; a spare lab coat, a coffee mug, Gordon's diploma, and a picture of his two month old nephew. There was just enough room inside for Gordon to put the HEV suit on. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. Stripping off all his clothes down to his boxers, socks, and undershirt, Gordon stood ready to put the suit on. Taking a deep breath, he carefully slid both legs into the suit and his arms into the sleeves. After that the suit's automated system kicked in, sealing up the split in the back seamlessly. Gordon heard the computer come online with a ding.

"Welcome to the HEV mach four, protective system; for use in hazardous environment conditions."

            The computer's automated voice had a distinct feminine tone and began to prattle off the various functions of the suit as they came online. The voice was a little too chirpy for Gordon's tastes; he preferred a clean, level tone void of emotion. But what really grated his nerves was the Heads Up Display (HUD) that appeared at the bottom of his vision. No matter where he looked or if his eyes were closed, the orange HUD just hung there with two displays on the lower left corner; one for his overall physical status which had a rather fat cross next to a numerical readout with a hundred being the highest (and his current) number and a picture of a body for the suit's armor charge percentage.

            Gordon noticed that his suit had a ten percent charge. He shrugged it off, believing that it was probably leftover from the last time it was used. Flexing his gloved hands a few times, Gordon opened the door of his locker and stepped out.

"Look in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"

            Gordon's response to Bond's joke was to flip the elderly scientist off. Bond huffed.

"Well aren't we in a good mood this morning?" Bond sarcastically commented before walking out. Gordon waited a moment before leaving the locker room as well. As he walked down the corridor, he passed by the break room. Inside he could hear Bond talking with someone else.

"I was joking around but NO, Freeman had to show me his middle finger."

"Well he was supposed to be in the test chamber half an hour ago."

"Be that as it may, what he did was absolutely uncalled for."

"I guess you're right."

            Outside, Gordon was mentally smacking himself.

'That was real mature of me'

            He decided to apologize to Bond sometime later that day after he had performed the experiment. Gordon mentally smacked himself again. He was going to be in some deep trouble if he didn't haul it down to the test chamber. The computer bank lined corridor became a blur as Gordon broke into a run. Dozens of his coworkers were working like ants to get everything ready for the experiment. Some were just as late as Gordon, cursing themselves and hurriedly finishing their assignments. Some were performing last minute calibrations and tests on their equipment. And for the rest, they were either in a managerial position or nervous monitoring the numerous readouts.

            The security guard at the first checkpoint between Gordon and the test chamber was standing right by the retinal scanner, waiting for the scientist to arrive. When he heard Gordon's booted feet tromping down the hallway, he turned around and began to unlock the door. Gordon arrived just in time to hear the computer verify the guard's retinal pattern with a beep.

"Go right on through sir. Looks like you're in the barrel today."

            Gordon nodded in appreciation and continued running on through. The twin doors ahead of him slid into their recesses with a hiss and allowed him to pass. The room ahead branched to the left and right with both ends meeting up at the elevator door to form a circle. The walls had cycling advertisement pictures that depicted various aspects and areas of the Black Mesa Research Facility. Embedded within the ceiling was the facility wide VOX system that just happened to come to life.

"Doctor Freeman, to Anomalous Materials test lab immediately," its monotone voice said.

            Gordon sighed as he came to a halt near the elevator doors. He must really be in trouble if they had paged him over the VOX. The automatic sensors detected Gordon's presence and opened for him. The elevator sat just inside; it wasn't too much to look at, just a simple open sided construction with a standard hydraulics and pulley system to lift it up and down. Gordon stepped in and pressed the control pad to start the elevator into a descent. The machine jerked slightly in response before beginning to move.

            The trip ended a few moments later with another slight jerk. The doors ahead parted way and Gordon began to calmly walk down the corridor. A few of his colleagues were there chatting about mindless things. When they saw Gordon they paused and nodded in courteous acknowledgement of his presence. Gordon nodded back and they returned to their discussion. Gordon ignored them afterwards and passed through another set of doors. The next hallway was empty and the only sound heard was the steady humming of the laser banks that lined the walls and the computers that controlled them. The hallway turned into the liquid nitrogen coolant storage containers.

            After that it was a straight path (more or less) to the test chamber control room. Inside the project leaders, Doctors Douglas Wood, Robin Walker, and Aaron Stackpole stood waiting for Gordon. When the HEV clad scientist arrived, they collectively sighed in relief.

"Ah, Gordon, here you are. We just sent the sample down to the test chamber." Dr. Walker started.

"We've boosted the anti-mass spectrometer one-hundred-five percent. Bit of a gamble, but we need the extra resolution." Dr. Stackpole continued. Dr. Wood, the project leader, was the next to speak.

"The administrator is very concerned that we get a conclusive analysis of today's sample. I gather they went to some length to get it."

            It was Dr. Stackpole who finished Gordon's briefing.

"They're waiting for you Gordon… in the test chamber."

"Gee, did you have to make it sound so dramatic?" Gordon asked with a slight grin. Dr. Stackpole was about to answer when Dr. Wood did it for him.

"Oh you know him Dr. Freeman; he always has to make everything sound like that."

Stackpole rolled his eyes and began to look very interested at a nearby computer panel. Wood turned around and cleared Gordon for further entry. The retinal scanner did its job and opened the next door for Gordon. He nodded at his colleagues and walked on through into the ion chambers. The room itself had no lights. Instead, illumination was provided by the three ion reactors that sat on the right side of the room. At the other end of the room was the final elevator Gordon had to use and the computers that controlled the ion reaction rate.

Standing by the computers were Dr. Steve Miller and Dr. Eli Vance. Eli was one of the first scientists Gordon had met when he came to Black Mesa and was now one of his good friends. The African American noticed Gordon walking down the hall and came to meet.

"Well Gordon, you certainly took your time getting here. Steve and I were betting whether or not you'd forgotten to set your alarm."

"I did actually. I spent the whole night reviewing the operation procedures that before I had noticed, it was quarter after one."

            Eli made a fist and swiftly brought it through the air with a reluctant grin on his face.

"Damn, now I owe Steve fifty bucks."

            Gordon and Eli began to laugh out loud. It was little things like this that kept scientists like them sane when work kept them underground and in the labs almost all of the day. But Eli had a few other things to look forward to, like a wife who worked as a shipping clerk in the facility and a daughter at home.

            The jovial mood was interrupted by an explosion. Eli's head twisted around to face the source of the explosion and saw smoke coming from the computer banks.

"Quick! It's about to go critical!" Miller cried out from within the black billows.

            Eli ran over while Gordon turned around and headed back for the control room. The door was still unlocked so it slid open to reveal the project command staff working furiously at the computer controls. Dr. Walker looked up at Gordon.

"What the hell happened Freeman?"

            Gordon smashed a nearby fire extinguisher case and grabbed the object within while explaining.

"The ion reactors control computer's caught on fire."

            Gordon ran back to other room while prepping the fire extinguisher. Eli and Miller were working furiously to keep the reactors from exploding and taking out everything in a twenty foot radius. Eli was coughing up a storm when Gordon stopped by with the extinguisher nozzle pointed at the computer. Gordon pressed the lever and the white foam blasted onto the fire. Miller got out of the way just in time to avoid getting blasted by the froth. Thankfully most of the smoke was caused by burning plastic, the actual fire itself being relatively small.

            With the smoke rapidly dissipating, Eli walked over and began checking the various readouts that were left.

"Well, is everything working?" Miler asked between coughing fits. Eli let out a heavy sigh and wiped his forehead.

"We're damn lucky. The reaction rate is still within optimal range still." The scientist turned around and looked at Gordon.

"Thanks for your help. You better get on down to the test chamber; Steve and I will take care of things up here."

            Gordon nodded, set the extinguisher on the floor, and turned around. Clouds of doubt filled his mind about the experiment. A lot of strange things were happening today. First there was the maintenance on the computer core and the facility's hydro plant, then the topside communications were turned off, and finally now this. As he called up the elevator, Gordon just hoped that it would all be worth it when the day was over.

            As Gordon stepped onto the elevator and descended to the lowest section of the lab, Eli looked at Miller.

"What the hell is going on with our equipment?"

"It wasn't meant to do this in the first place!"

"You think we should put the experiment on hold until we can address our problems with the administrator?"

"And go face-to-face with his blue suit wearing lackey? That man gives me the creeps."

            Eli turned back to the computer bank.

"Good point."

            The door leading to the test chamber's air lock opened and Gordon stepped through. The large steel doors were firmly locked and two more of Gordon's fellow scientists stood inside.

"I'm afraid we'll be deviating a bit from standard analysis procedures today Gordon." The younger of the two said.

"Yes, but with good reason. This is a rare opportunity for us; this is the purest sample we've seen yet." The older one continued.

"And, potentially, the most unstable."

"Now, now, if you follow standard insertion procedures, everything will be fine."

"I don't know how you can say that. Although I admit that the possibility of a resonance cascade scenario is extremely unlikely, I remain uncomfortable with-"

"Gordon doesn't need to hear all this; he's a highly trained professional. We've assured the administrator that nothing will go wrong."

            The younger scientist sighed in defeat with a glance skyward as if asking for forgiveness.

"Ah… yes, you're right. Gordon, we have complete confidence in you."

            His aged counterpart nodded and turned around towards his retinal scanner.

"Well, go ahead, let's let him in now."

            Both men walked towards their scanner and halted in front of it.

"On the count of three," the older man said.

"One… two… three."

            They leaned in and activated their respective scanner. The machines beeped in perfect synchrony, scanned the retinal patterns, and cleared Gordon for entry into the test chamber. Taking a deep breath, Gordon walked through into the cavernous area. A split second after he crossed the border, the doors clanged shut behind him, the sound echoing throughout the room.

            The chamber was massive, to say the least. It was constructed in an octagonal shape, centered around the massive anti-mass spectrometer that extended further than Gordon could see and below the floor to another room where Doctors Cross and Green were currently working with Dr. Keller. To Gordon's left was a small view port that allowed the staff in the control room to look in and underneath that was the sample elevator. Opposite of Gordon, on the other side of the spectrometer, was a ramp that connected to a raised platform. The platform ran around a quarter of the room's perimeter with a single keyboard and monitor at its end. Between the ramp and the platform's end was a ladder that rose to a steel platform that had the spectrometer's main controls. Several pipes in pairs of two occupied a few parts of the chamber, the necessary coolant being pumped through them.

            The anti-mass spectrometer wasn't any less impressive than the chamber that housed it. The part Gordon could see had three clamps at the construct's bottom. Directly in line with the sample elevator was the spectrometer's analysis port. In the center of the bottom half of the spectrometer was a pit about five feet deep. Most of that room was taken up by a single receiver, known as the focal stage as that's where the all of the power was centered. The top half was divided into two parts, the primary emitter that was vertically aligned with the focal stage and a trio of secondary emitters that revolved around the primary one.

            And the entire thing, spectrometer and chamber, was colored a dull orange.

            The overhead speakers screeched to life as Dr. Walker fired up the system.

"Testing… testing," he coughed a few times into the microphone, "everything seems to be in order."

            Walker was pushed aside as Stackpole took command of the mike.

"Alright Gordon, your suit should keep you comfortable through all this. The specimen will be delivered to you in a few moments. If you be so good as to climb up and start the rotors, we can bring the anti-mass spectrometer to eighty percent and hold it there until the carrier arrives."

            Gordon started walking around to the other end of the chamber, the spectrometer's three foot high safety blocks preventing him from accidentally walking into the focal stage. He ascended the ramp and began to climb the ladder, vocally grunting on the way up.

'Damn, this is hard. I hate climbing things.'

            Despite his grievance, the climb wasn't hard at all. Nonetheless, he was glad when he could step off and onto the main controls platform. At the other end was the controls themselves so he walked the two yards. To his left was a monitor that was currently running a diagnostic program. To its right were a keyboard and the activation switch. The safety glass had been raised, permitting Gordon to flip the switch. He placed a hand on it.

"Here we go."

            He flipped it.

            The massive rotors embedded within the primary emitter started turning, slowly gaining speed. The monitor to the keyboard's left was taken out of its diagnostics mode and into the test program. After a moment, the switch beeped and the safety glass automatically closed.

"Very good, we'll take it from here," Stackpole said over the intercom.

            Inside the control room, things had quieted down quickly from the fire and everyone was doing their job. Walker had taken a seat at a control panel where there was another microphone. His fingers danced all over his keyboard, keeping his end of the line up. Lines of commands scrolled down his screen as he switched on various functions of the anti-mass spectrometer. He spoke into the mike so as to keep Gordon informed of what was happened in the control room.

"Power to stage one emitter in three… two… one…"

            At his cue, a brilliant beam shot forth from the primary emitter and into the focal stage. A light hum filled the air.

"I'm seeing predictable phase arrays," Walked continued to say.

            The three secondary emitters started revolving around the primary emitter, energy crackling around them.

"Stage two emitters activating… now."

            Three more beams shot down to the focal point, further adding to the dazzling display of electromagnetic and theoretical science. Gordon couldn't help but squint. The light was a bit too much for him to handle. Stackpole came back on.

"Gordon, we can not predict how long the system can operate at this level (nor how long the readings will take), please, work as quickly as you can."

            Gordon willingly diverted his eyes from the beams and to the keyboard in front of him. He started monitoring programs and constantly added certain important readings to a log. The data was almost too much for him to handle but he managed to get it all in. Unexpectedly, Walker's voice sounded over the speakers once again.

"Uh, it's probably not a problem… probably but I'm showing a small discrepancy in… well, no. It's well within acceptable bounds again, sustaining sequence."

            Gordon glanced at his logs. Nothing out of the ordinary showed up. It was most likely an operations error that wasn't displayed to him.

"I've just been informed that the sample is ready Gordon. It should be coming up to you any moment now. Look to the delivery system for your specimen."

            The scientist looked down at where the elevator was but all he could see were dancing butterflies caused by the light reflecting in his glasses.

'That does it.' Gordon took his glasses off and let his suit absorb them. He wouldn't need them for the next upcoming part anyways. He only required them to read. Now he could make out the blinking red lights around the safety cage that prevented people from falling down the elevator. Quickly climbing down the ladder, he touched bottom just when the sample rose into position.

            The specimen itself was a pale yellow crystal, held in place by a pair of padded arms that projected from the carrier. The carrier was simple in construction and moved around on four rollers. Gordon walked up to the rock and looked at it with a dubious expression.

'Where the hell did they dig this thing up?'

            It was a good question that deserved a good answer but Gordon wasn't permitted to know it. So he shrugged and walked behind the carrier, grasping it by the handle. Stackpole's voice came on again.

"Standard insertion for a non-standard specimen. Go ahead Gordon, shlomp the carrier into the analysis port.

            With no other choice, all doubt cast aside (and his job riding on him doing so regardless), Gordon pushed the sample into the path of the beam.

            May 22, 2004, 9:21 A.M. A date and time that would forever be etched into the annals of history. For it was the day of the Resonance Cascade. When the four beams of tremendous power touched the sample, a near instantaneous reaction occurred. The crystal began to vibrate at a frequency undetectable by human hearing. With such a pure crystal, there was nothing to prevent an uncontrollable release of its stored energy. It was the combination of those two things, the vibration and energy release, everything in the Black Mesa Research Facility went straight to Hell.

            The formerly yellow beams turned a sickly green and backfired into their emitters and the lights in the room dimmed. The room began to shake and large burst of energy broke out from the specimen. Gordon threw up his hands in reflex and backed away from the sample.

"What the fuck?"

"Gordon! Get away from the beams!" Stackpole yelled over the microphone.

            Large lasers began firing from the focal stage at random intervals into the chamber, utterly incinerating anything it touched. The control room was engulfed in chaos as well, the three man team desperately trying to bring everything back under control. Walker's panicked eyes flittered across his keyboard, trying anything that he could think of. But there was nothing that could be done.

"Shutting down… attempting shutdown…" He started hyperventilating as bold red errors displayed on his screen.

"It's not… it's not, it's not shutting down, it's not-"

            Those were the last words he would ever speak as one of the lasers that had been destroying the test chamber flew through the view port. The entire command team screamed in horror as the computers inside exploded, shrapnel ripping through their bodies.

            Inside the test chamber, Gordon could do nothing but watch and listen in horror. But something else then happened, like his entire mind cleared of all the chaotic thoughts and focused on one simple thing. The activation switch! If he could reach it before the anti-mass spectrometer went critical and exploded, it would cut off the entire flow of power to the device and bring everything back under control!

            Gordon leapt into action, his feet pounding on the metal floor as he ran towards the ladder. Another burst of energy was released from the specimen, and this time mysterious green clouds began to form at random throughout the test chamber. As soon as Gordon jumped off ladder onto the upper platform, one of the clouds formed directly in front of him. Gordon's jaw dropped opened as some… thing appeared, fell to the bottom of the chamber, and disappeared in another cloud.

"What in God's name are those things?"

            But he forced his mind to concentrate at the matter at hand. He ran to the master controls and glanced at the screen. Indecipherable garbage filled the screen and was quickly replaced by even more of the junk. Gordon looked down at the activation switch. The emergency glass hadn't reacted to the standard security protocols and was still locked over the switch.

            A sound akin to a vacuum was heard down at the focal point and a plethora of green beams shot out from the sample. There was no time left. Gordon raised his right fist to shatter the glass.

            One of the beams collided with him.

            Gordon felt someone had grabbed a hold of his guts and wrenched them inside-out. He found himself in a dark abyss, the only sound his heavy breathing.

'Am I… dead,' he wondered. The sensation of someone starting to violently jerk him once more served to dismiss that.

BEWSHZ

            Gordon looked around and found himself back inside the test chamber. Another burst of energy was released from the sample. There was only one more thing he could think of to stop it all. He ran forward back the carrier and placed his hands on the thing, preparing to yank it from the analysis port.

            Fate had other ideas.

BEWSHZ

            Gordon found himself in a distinctly alien world. The soil (if it could be called that) had a puke green tint. The plant life (again, if it could be called that) was like nothing to be found on Earth. A strange transparent being that resembled a jellyfish floated through the air without a care in the world. But in front of Gordon were two creatures that each had an eye on the side of its torso, numerous tentacles surrounding a circular mouth full of teeth, a tail with a hook at the end, and two legs that they were surprisingly able to balance themselves on. Gordon stared at them in surprise. They did the same to him.

BEWSHZ

            He was now in some other place with only a single source of light with unknown origins. But it did well to illuminate four more aliens of a completely different kind. They were bipedal and stood roughly five feet tall. Two arms stuck out of their torso in the same position as a human's. Their head was also in the same area. But that is were the similarities between the two species ended. A third arm, half the length of the other two, stuck out from its chest and the hands were tipped not in five fingers, but in three claws. The skin had a leathery texture and instead of two eyes, there was a single large eye centered in the head surrounded by five other eyes. They stood in a hunched over position as well.

            The light faded as Gordon felt the jerking feeling begin to rise once more within him.

"What in God's name have I done?"

            I stayed up until midnight to write this on the same day that I say the events take place. I made it with only seconds to spare.