The flight was tedious. I was surrounded by black-clad operators but I remembered Adams' orders. I occasionally glanced at the operator next to me, who simply stared silently outside. I sat back. They had told me so little that I had no idea how long this was going to take.

When we finally landed, the others quickly jumped out of the chopper. As I stood up I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I looked up to see Adams staring at me.

"Remember, get in, get the drive, get out."

I nodded. Adams released his grip and I stepped into the desert sand.

We'd landed in what looked like a small loading area. Under normal circumstances I guess this might have been used for bringing in supplies. Right now it was full of crates. Some were wood and covered in tarp, others were military green. What seemed more peculiar was the bodies present. I recognized their uniforms—marines. Their bodies were scattered around the field, sprawled out. Some of them looked like they had bullet wounds.

The clearest path in was a cargo elevator, sheltered in a small opening of the structure. So that's where I went. I rode the elevator down into the facility. Inside, I found more crates, and more bodies. As I made my way to Breen's office, I noticed there seemed to be more bodies as I went further in, but they became more… varied.

Many of them were marines, often wearing gas masks. More specifically, I realized they were HECU. But some of them were not. After seeing a variety of marine corpses, I finally found one that stood out—a man in a lab coat, face down.

Out of curiosity, I bent down and rolled him over. A very clear bullet wound was in his forehead, but he didn't seem to have any weapons. His I.D. card labelled him as a "quantum theorist." That's when it hit me—this guy was a civilian, a scientist. What could he have done that warranted orders that "all personnel are to be considered hostile."

Unless… no, it couldn't be.

This was a cover-up job. That explained the secrecy, why they were keeping me in the dark on so many things.

It was shocking, but at that moment I just wanted to get out of there. There was only one way out—find the drive, and bring it back. I was feeling less enthusiastic about it by now, but I knew it had to be recovered.

I couldn't help wondering what was on the drive that made it such a big deal. I could only assume, since this was a lab, that it was some piece of information the government wanted to keep secret but didn't want lost in the cover-up. Perhaps it was plans for a weapon? Experimental aircraft? Creating a supersoldier? Who knows?

The most direct route was through an air vent that was just big enough for me to crouch into. I turned on my night vision and carefully stepped forward. Partway through the vent, I found a small grate which overlooked a hallway, occupied by a small group of marines. One of whom was sitting in front of a radio. They all looked uneasy.

"We're going to die in here, aren't we?" One of them asked.

"Not quite," the radio operator said. "FINALLY, some good news. We have backup incoming. A special forces team is arriving to evacuate us."

"Really? Oh man, that is a relief."

"You mean we might actually get out of here? I thought they'd forgotten about us."

"They said to hold out at our current position until they arrive."

"I think we can do that."

When reached the end of the vent, I easily located Breen's office, I found it to be unlocked. I stepped inside, and quickly noticed the drive. I grabbed it immediately, and I was about to leave when I noticed an open letter on his desk. As best as I can remember it went something like this:

Dr. Wallace Breen

Everything has been taken care of. The Resonance Cascade will go as planned. Do not worry. You will be far away from Black Mesa when it happens.

Please instruct your staff to insert the crystal into the mass spectrometer. Emphasize the importance of these results, but do not give cause for suspicion. Insert it into their schedule if you must.

We appreciate your co-operation, Dr. Breen. You will be rewarded for your services.

So Breen had sold out his employees to save himself. He knew the Resonance Cascade would happen and kept his employees in the dark, knowing that the government would try to cover it up. What kind of leader was he?