We stepped down a hall, and then up to a vending machine,crudely labeled "LION HART'S VENDING MASHEEN! DRINK IT OR PERISHES. proparty of duh combine.". Gee, Lionheart and the Combine sure are experts on the English language. Judy placed a small coin into the slot, and the machine opened up before I could begin shaking my head at her. We stepped in, it was one of those hidden laboratories, with devices scattered across the place. I spotted a cactus on a plate, with a console and button attached to it. Out of curiosity, I pressed the button, and the cactus vanished in a flash, and I noticed it reappear on another plate next to the first.
Hearing a familiar voice, my ears twitched as I turned around, spotting an elderly raccoon in a lab coat- my old friend, Dr. Kliener, an old friend from Black Mesa. He was warmly smiling at me, and I spotted Finnick at his side. Kliener began walking to a closed garage door, mentioning how long it's been, yada yada yah, before mentioning he had a surprise for me. He pulled a lever, the door rose, and from the darkness- a headcrab jumped out at me! "Lamar!" Kliener exclaimed, before he picked up the headcrab. "You naughty little thing- OH!" Lamar had jumped into the vents without warning, leaving a very frustrated Kliener.
I looked back into the now opened garage, spotting something I can liken to a timeworn friend- the H.E.V. suit, though it was a newer model. As I put on the suit, I overheard Finnick bitching about Lamar, calling it a "headhumper" before Kliener began to speak to me. "Nick, I learned from the Resonance Cascade, and built a new, 98.999% safe teleporter." Kliener calmly spoke. Finnick shuddered, and mentioned a teleportation gone wrong, involving a mental patient, and corrected Kliener with a 40% success chance. Judy stepped up, and mentioned that we're going to meet her father.
Kliener, Judy, and Finnick led me to an open garage door, with a large scale version of the teleporter to my right, and a raised platform to my left. "Judy! Jude the dude!" something from the center of the room exclaimed. I glanced over, it was a smiling adult male rabbit. Behind him lay the other side of the teleporter. The rabbit on the other side took a look at me, and a great grin enveloped his face. "Wilde, great to see you again! And my buddy, you didn't age one second since the incident!" Judy's jaw dropped, seeing her father Stu had already known me, and mentioning how I stayed 24 years old for so long. Stu was yet another scientist at Black Mesa, whom I'd succeeded to save from both the Marines and aliens.
Kliener cascaded a ladder, and was standing at a console. He motioned for me to get onto the teleportation platform. I obliged, and a second after I was on, he pulled a switch. Nothing happened. Kliener than realized what went wrong- the device was unplugged! Crazy, right? He pulled the switch down, and I plugged the machine in. We repeated the process, and the teleportation platform began rising. A great glowing energy surrounded me, and I felt a strange tingle come from the points of my ears, to the tip of my tail, and before I knew it, I teleported to- the middle of nowhere. A desert wasteland. I was teleported again, into the middle of another nowhere, full of water. A silhouette dashed my way before I teleported again, in a fancy office- Lionheart's office, at the top of the Citadel, overlooking the city. He noticed me, and let out a snarl, before speaking through grit teeth. "You… Wilde! You're not supposed to be here… I thought you DIED in Xen! Are you coming to- "Lionheart was cut off short. I teleported once more, outside Kliener's building, looking into a window. They were worried sick about me. I knocked on the window, and they turned around, relieved to see me. They motioned to a side where I was supposed to go, and I jumped over a crate and barrel or two to get there.
