The table was covered in empty wine glasses and dirty plates. Eli Vance, Isaac Kliener and Gordon Freeman sat around a small table holding their full stomachs. Gordon leans his chair back so he can have a better view of the kitchen connected to the dinning room.

"That was very good beef, Mrs. Vance."

In the other room, Azian Vance, Eli Vance's wife, walks into the dinning room and smiles at Gordon.

"Well I'm glad you liked it. It's very hard to cook good beef in Austria."

Dr. Kliener softly chuckles. "Eli, I am glad that your lovely wife could join us here."

Eli Vance laughs. "I had no choice. She forced me to bring her."

Out of nowhere, a plastic spatula flew out of the kitchen door and softly bounced off of Eli's shoulder. He laughs at the assault from his wife. Azian moves out of the kitchen to give Eli a dirty look. He raises his hand in defeat.

"Eli," Dr. Kliener pipes up, "where is Alyx, though?"

"Oh, she is at home with the sitter." Eli looks up at his beautiful wife. "It was time for us to have a few days to ourselves. A four year old isn't quite the quietest thing in the world. Say, honey, could you give us a few moments alone."

Azian nods and grasps Eli's shoulder affectionately for a second before exiting the kitchen.

"Ok, Gordon," Eli spoke, "I would like to offer you a job."

Gordon sits up strait in his seat, listening intently.

"Dr. Kliener and I were hired to build an advanced teleporter capable of sending human being from one point to another."

"No more sending pencils from one room to another." Dr. Kliener added playfully.

"Hopefully, this technology will make us able to send humans to other worlds." Eli continues, "Our employer has asked to round up more able hands, and Dr. Kliener has told me that you are the right man for the job."

Gordon nods his head vigorously. "Yes, I'm your man, Dr. Vance."

Eli smiles, "I believe you are. Well, what do you say Gordon? Are you in?"

Gordon doesn't even think.

"Yes, sir. I accept."

"Good. We leave for New Mexico in two weeks. In the mean time, I would like to see what you got. We'll be testing your knowledge at the institution. I will fill you in on the information as we go."

----

"So you do remember me." Alyx says in an interested tone.

"What?" Gordon asks, puzzled.

"You actually heard about me when I was little."

Gordon cocks his head to the side playfully.

"Yes, I did hear your name."

Alyx looked satisfied and somewhat proud that Gordon had known of her twenty years ago. Gordon just sat there confused.

"Anyways . . ."

---

The helicopter bumped into more turbulence, making Gordon jump, almost losing the file lying in his lap. After making sure the turbulence was over, Gordon looked back at the small stack of papers on his lap. On the papers were various pictures and descriptions of a secret facility named "Black Mesa." Outside of the chopper were stretches of desert spanning as far as the eye can see in every direction.

"Now, Gordon," Eli spoke up after sitting silently on the helicopter," This facility does not exist. You are not allowed to speak of this place to anyone."

Gordon raises an eyebrow in a sarcastic fashion. Eli had repeated this to him many times before. Now, Gordon knew that he was doing it to annoy him. Eli realizes that Gordon was catching on to his little joke and smiles. Gordon chuckles.

"Oh, before I forget," Eli, adds, "happy birthday Gordon."

Gordon looks up at his friend. "Thank you, Eli."

"Sorry, I had no time to pick a present for you."

"That's okay."

"No, no. I'll get you something. It might take a while, seeing that Black Mesa doesn't have a gift shop." Gordon chuckles.

Eli peers out the helicopter view port. He gives out a long sigh.

"We're here."

Gordon looks out the window and spies a mass of stone mountains forming from the desert. Somewhere, nestled within the cliffs, is Black Mesa.

----

The Helicopter landed through a narrow cliff down towards a landing pad. The door to the copter slides open, revealing five security guards and a bakers dozen scientists. Eli Vance exited the vehicle and began greeting his fellow scientists. Gordon slowly stepped out feeling like a stranger in a strange land. He looked around seeing that the chopper had landed in a huge stone dome with a big crack in the ceiling. Through the midsection of the dome, a small railway hung from the wall carrying a transport to its destination. The transport disappeared in a hole in the cave wall.

Gordon was then greeted by many handshakes, while Eli explained the names and occupations of each scientist. They all slowly moved towards two large metal doors which heavily opened to reveal a "greeting center". Inside was a big metal desk with a security guard positioned behind it. Before the group of scientist could move forward, a lone security guard marched up to Eli and held out his hand.

"Sorry sir, no fruit cakes in this facility." the guard said with a big smile.

Eli laughed and shook the guards outstretched hand. "Hello, Barney. Did you miss me."

"Oh, every minute you were gone.'

Eli's laugh grows. "Barney," Eli says bringing his hand on Gordon's shoulder, "this is Dr. Gordon Freeman, our new cart pusher. Gordon, this is Barney Calhoun, one of the security members on the floor you'll be working on. " Gordon just smiles at the young guard. "The kid must just be twenty years old", Gordon thought.

Barney examines the newcomer.

"Well, Dr. Freeman, it is an honor to meet you. Eli, welcome back. I have to run or chief is going to have another fit." Barney turns to walk down a corridor towards the next security station, but turns back to Gordon.

"Hey, if you have any freetime here, we'll go get a beer!"

"Okay. I'll hold you to that!", Gordon replies, smiling. The group moved forward down a hall. Dr. Kliener suddenly appeared from behind a door to greet the newcomer.

"Glad you could join us, Freeman.", he said, shaking the young man's hand.

"Glad I could be part of the team."

"Um, Izzy," Eli called out, "Why don't you take Gordon to his locker. I have to say hello to someone."

"Alright Eli." Both Gordan and Kliener moved farther down the hall. Before turning the corner, Gordon could hear laughter. He turned to see what was going on. Eli was kneeling on the ground when a little girl appeared from nowhere and tackled the older man. Both of their laughs filled the hall.

"Who's that?", Gordon asked Dr. Kliener.

Dr. Kliener smiled at the sight of the little girl. "That is Eli's daughter, Alyx."

"Huh,", Gordon mused, "she's cute."

----