SUBJECT NAME:
FREEMAN, GORDON
AGE: 27
OCCUPATION :
BRIDGE CREW OPERATOR FOR SPECIAL GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY NERV
EDUCATION:
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DOCTORATES IN THEORETICAL PHYSICS
EVENING
DORM APARTMENT
Gordon awoke to the sound of a telephone ring.
". . . . ."
He grumbled and struggled to get up as his body screamed to go back to sleep. Tired was an understatement. He had no idea what the HEV suit injected him with, but it kept him going no matter what.
He gathered his strength to get up and answer the phone. He held the receiver to his head and spoke in a rather groggy voice.
" . . . ? ."
. . .
"Is this Dr. Freeman?"
The voice on the line was a mature-sounding female, with a calm attitude about them.
". . .?"
"This is Dr. Akagi, I would like to meet with you tomorrow afternoon at around 3 pm. I wanted to go over your duties as HazMat specialist and Bridge crew Operator."
So this was the superior Maya was talking about. He checked the time to see he had been asleep for four hours.
". . . ?"
He asked, hoping she hadn't been calling him over and over.
"No, I just called you this once, I'm guessing you were asleep. If that's the case, tomorrow at 3 pm, meet me at the Primary Command Center for your orientation. Get some rest, you'll need your energy for this."
And with that, the line went dead as she hung up. Gordon simply stared at the receiver as he pondered what his role would entail. He did deal with HazMat work in Black Mesa, But not with any bridge crew.
He looked around for the papers he had with him earlier and found them on the table nearby.
". . . ?"
He said, looking through the papers to find his duties as a Bridge operator. Shifting through the papers he found a leaflet about his job.
Your Duties will include aiding and assisting The Evangelion Units via the Command Center. You will be under the authority of Commander Gendo Ikari, Captain Misato Katsuragi, and Project-E Director Ritsuko Akagi.
" . . . ?"
He thought to himself, wondering what an Evangelion Unit is. Is it like the HECU Marines? Are they going to prepare for war with aliens?
Gordon wasn't sure, yet he found his mind drifting towards everything he had gone through in his world.
Alyx.
Eli.
Barney.
Mossmen.
Kleiner.
Breen…
He now wonders if someone on this planet sold them out too. A greedy old man wanting to play god…
Gordon didn't want to think about it for too long, his head already hurts from falling over.
". . ."
He mumbled, shuffling over to his bed to get some actual sleep.
He earned it.
MORNING
DORM APARTMENT
Gordon awoke with a yawn and sat up in his bed.
He didn't sleep very well, in fact all he could dream of was Eli's dead body hanging from the arms of the Advisor.
He saw on his alarm clock it was 4 AM, and he went to sleep at around 6 PM yesterday.
He was still tired.
Walking around the dorm room, he saw that he didn't even have a coffee maker, instead, there was an electric kettle and instant coffee.
" . . . . ."
He thought, remembering how he managed to mess up making that last time. So he decided to get dressed in his new uniform and head to the cafeteria for some breakfast and coffee.
His mind was too fogged up with the past few days rushing through his mind. As he was gathering his stuff to leave the studio room, he realized that Alyx looked up to him, a lot.
And now that he disappeared…
What would she think of him? Would she be okay without him?
He set those thoughts aside and left the apartment, making sure he had the keys and papers that he needed.
[Break]
DORMITORY SECTOR
Walking down the long halls, he noticed that even though it was early morning, a lot of people were up and about. This place must've been very busy at all times.
As he made his way to the cafeteria, he couldn't help but have a sense of Deja Vu, feeling the same feeling he felt when he first started working at Black Mesa.
A grand and very expensive facility, with tons of busy workers, going about their daily duties. Some of them talked to one another, some of them wrote on clipboards, and some were working on the halls themselves.
This was a far cry from what his world was like. With the exception of the White Forest bunker, he had never seen this many people in a place after the incident.
He found himself standing in a large room with escalators all about. Looking on his map, he tried to see which one he would take to get there.
He picked the one that would lead him directly to the cafeteria.
". . . ."
He muttered, noting the maze-like structure of this facility.
CAFETERIA
He finally made it to the cafeteria with minimal detours and distractions. He found the cafeteria to be more like a food court, with restaurants from across the globe in here.
He made his way to what appeared to be a Starbucks and ordered a simple coffee with cream and sugar.
". . ."
He said, smelling the aroma of fresh coffee. The man could inject coffee into his blood and would run perfectly fine.
It was a solid good week without him drinking coffee and this was certainly a good moment for drinking some.
He picked a spot at a booth to sit down and read his Benefactor's notes on this world. Looking over the pages he can tell that NERV is a response to a man-made disaster 15 years ago. His ultimate goal as far as he knows is to assist in the "defense of mankind" and from what Maya told him, it was against some sort of large creature.
God's in his heaven…
All's right with the world?
"Do you mind if I join you, Dr Freeman?"
Came a familiar voice he only heard once. Looking up he saw a blonde woman with green eyes, a lab coat, and a cup of coffee.
". . . ?"
He asked, reading her ID card on her chest.
"The one and only."
He nodded and allowed her to sit down with him at the booth. She sat her coffee and tablet down, scooting into the seat.
"So, you will be working under me and Captain Katsuragi while you are on the bridge, and under me while working on the HazMat team. Your suit is very impressive. I must say, you are the only one here trained to use it so we made sure to purchase one when we hired you."
She pulled up a photo of the standard HEV suit but with the logo on the chest changed to NERV.
"We bought a few from MIT just in case we offer training on them."
Ritsuko sipped a bit on her coffee and pulled out a packet of cigarettes.
"Do you mind if I smoke? I haven't had one yet today."
Gordon shook his head and she lit the end of the cigarettes, taking a drag from the tobacco product.
" . . . ?"
Gordon asked, hoping it was not above his clearance.
"We have no idea. These creatures could come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but we can't predict what they look like. But all we know is that it could come any time now."
Gordon nodded, understanding a small bit, but hesitant to ask how they know.
". . . ?"
. . .
"I don't think I've heard of a Black Mesa Research Facility before. Did they die out or something during the Impact Wars?"
She said, giving a small nodule or relief to Gordon, knowing that Black Mesa didn't cause this disaster.
". . ."
He said trying to change the topic, and shifting it back to the training.
"Oh that, We can begin sooner if you'd like, My schedule is open today and Captain Katsuragi is doing some errands outside HQ."
Ritsuko offered, to which he nodded yes to.
"Alright, Just follow me and we can begin your orientation."
PRIMARY COMMAND CENTER
Gordon stared in awe at the sheer technological wonder that is the PCC. A full color holographic map, A large scale monitor, Three autonomous Supercomputers to rival those of the Combine and Black Mesa. It was a nerd's wonderland here!
"This is the Bridge, most of your duties will be here when the Evangelion Units are in action. Your workstation is here."
She points to a built-in computer desk and shows him around it.
"Here is your assigned Terminal. We haven't got the name tag changed yet, but the last guy apparently got hit by a car and is in a coma…"
Ritsuko said, slightly cringing a bit at the last part.
Aoba, Shigeru
". . . . ."
Poor lad.
He sat down at the terminal and logged on with the keycard reader.
"Your main duty here is to coordinate with the other Bridge crew or Bridge Bunnies as Maya calls it. Let's get started on your training shall we?"
5 HOURS LATER
SAME ROOM
"That should cover most of the operations here, essentially follow the directions of your superiors, giving MAGI readouts and relaying orders to the MAGI and the rest of HQ. If you have any queries to ask the MAGI, I'll allow you this once."
Gordon thought about it for a good moment before entering:
Possibility of an Invasion of Interdimensional Alien Empire
. . .
MAGI: CONDITIONAL
"Seems like you got a result. If you want you can print it out and see the results yourself."
She said, offering a small smile. Gordon printed out the result and took it. He gave it a quick look over and spoke.
". . ."
Ritsuko's eyes narrowed as she was handed the paper. She read over the paper with more and more curiosity.
"Strange. I think this concludes our orientation…"
She began to walk away when an alarm began to blare throughout HQ.
"An unidentified object has just made landfall! I repeat, an unidentified object has just made landfall!"
. . .
"It's here…"
To be continued.