//------------------------------// // Section Two: Teleport // Story: Half Life 2: Episode X // by Kapwnage //------------------------------// The laboratory was cold. A small shiver made it's way up Gordon's back at the sound of humming radiating from equipment. "Gordon! Gordon Freeman! It really is you isn't it? It's been a long time, how have you been?" Dr. Issac Kleiner smiled. "Last I seen you, it was in black mesa- blowing up." He was an old scientist, and a good friend. Gordon simply smiled and nodded, shaking his hand politely. "The Combine have been on my ass all day!" A man's voice complained as he walked through the secret door. He spotted Gordon and grinned. "Hey Gordon! It's me, Barney, from Black Mesa!" He walked over to Gordon to also shake his hand. "Remember that beer I owed ya?" Again, all Gordon could do was silently laugh and nod. "We just finished the final piece for our teleport! With the assistance of Alyx of course." Issac chuckled. Alyx blushed and pulled her hair back out of her face. "It was nothing, doctor." "Your talents surpass your loveliness." "Gordon, we need to get you out of those civies." Barney insisted. "Ah, yes!" Issac pointed towards a thin garage door next to boxes and lockers. "Barney, would you do the honors?" "Yep." He laughed. "Here Gordon." Pressing the button, a large glass tube came into view housed in a single room. A round, fleshy, tan object slightly fitted around; until pouncing onto Barney's head. Freaking out, Barney flailed his arms around until grabbing hold of the Headcrab and yanking it off. The small creature smacked onto the ground. Headcrabs are parasitic lifeforms roughly two feet long. They have rounded bodies with four legs for movement; two long clawed legs at the front, and two stubby legs at the back. Their pair of large frontal claws are for attacking prey, and as additional support when standing still. Under the headcrab's body is a large rounded mouth surrounded by pointed rigid flesh with sharp claw-like beaks. To attack, they jump on prey and dig into it's skull, taking control of it's nervous system and attacking other things with the mutated prey. "I thought you got rid of that pest?!" Barney flared. The headcrab scurried back on it's legs and looked around at Gordon and Kleiner. It proceeded and jumped onto nearby lockers that held Kleiner's books and lab equipment. It paused again to stare at the people surrounding it. Gordon noticed it had no teeth nor was planning to pounce, so he stayed put and studied it's plans. "Barney!" Alyx grinned. "You're not an animal person!" Barney simply responded with a disgusted yack. "Don't worry, Gordon." KIeiner smiled. "She's debeaked and completely harmless! The worst she might do is-" He shuddered a bit, looking for a word, "Couple, with you're head; fruitlessly." He patted his head, signaling the creature. "Here my pet, hop up!" The creature looked as if it was making a choice and jumped up in Kleiner's arms, snuggling in his warm lab coat. Gordon, having enough of this nonsense, walked over to the glass tube and inspected his suit. The HEV Suit, or Hazardous Environment suit, often called the "hazard suit" for sake of convenience, is a full-body hazardous materials suit developed at the Black Mesa Research Facility, designed for Black Mesa scientists to protect them from radiation, energy discharges, and blunt-force trauma during the handling of hazardous materials and to protect them from the effects of traveling to Xen as part of Survey Teams. The symbol on the HEV suit is the lower case Greek letter Lambda, λ. This symbol is used by scientists to denote the decay constant of radioactive elements (related to the half-life of an element). The HEV has a built-in flashlight, Geiger counter, morphine administrator, a radio, tracking devices, and a heads-up display (HUD) which tracks health status and weapon ammunition usage, as well as including a weapons management system. The suit contains an on-board computer system that constantly monitors the user's health and vital signs, and reacts to any changes in the user's condition with activations in the aforementioned apparatus, and a soothing female-computer voice. Additionally, the suit has an electrically hardened armor system that can be charged by power modules. While charged, the suit provides greater protection from injury as the charge absorbs more than two-thirds of any damage or trauma experienced by the wearer, with the exception of fall damage, which is absorbed directly into body-integrity, and oxygen deprivation, caused by swimming without surfacing for long periods of time. He removed his old, ragged clothes and put on the suit. It was an awkward feeling when he hasn't gotten into it in a long time. It felt warm all around his body while the insides were made of thick rubber. "It's good to see it fits you like a glove! Or the glove parts, at least." Issac smiled. He looked around his clustered desk and found a clipboard to read. "Ah, the Mark V Hazard Environments suit has a-" He was silenced by the loud crash of the city bells. The metallic hum buzzed in the air and caught everyone's attention. "C'mon, Doc! We don't have time for this." Said Barney. "Right," Issac said, "We'll get you sent to Eli's lab right away." Kleiner walked up to a picture in the corner of the laboratory. He grabbed it and turned it slightly, and a metal, hidden eye scanner slowly lifted out of the beam that held up the building. With a slight "ting!" a large, cemented hidden door budged, and then proceeded to open. Upon entering the room; tons of equipment and computers were spewed haphazardly across the rectangular room. The windows were boarded over with thick plywood, letting in no light. The only lights in the room was a small florescent factory lamp suspended from the ceiling. It was quite stuffy and hot in the room from machinery ventilation. Dust filled Gordon's nose, causing him to sneeze violently. His feet clattered against the ceramic tile flooring, contrasting with the loud hum of computers. A large machine was neatly nestled in the far end of the room. It radiated a soft blue light along with another loud hum as the electricity powered it up. Issac stepped on a small, square platform. It lifted him up in the air to another heightened platform in which held multiple computers and screens. With a small buzz, followed by a spark of a computer, Eli's head popped up. Eli was also an old friend of Gordons. They had done many experiments together back in Black Mesa such as the Xen Project. He was an old black man. His white beard contrasted on his face very clearly and had patches of dirt and oil from constant work. He stood on only one leg, the other suspended by a false limb. "Alright Alyx, you first." Issac said. Alyx stepped into the teleporter and breathed heavily. She was terrified of a malfunction or a glitch in the system. "Gordon, we'll give you the honors." He pointed towards a switch. The teleporter started to spin and glow with magnificent light. Alyx, very frightened, became unwary though couldn't escape now. "Uh, o-k Uh, ah. Ah!" With a low boom, and another flash, she vanished in midair. "Did it work?" Barney asked. "Take a look for yourself!" Issac grinned, Both Gordon and Barney stared at the blue screen on the computer. It flashed white, then turned to static. Suddenly, A group of people were seen along with Alyx and Eli. "Hey Doc!" She grinned. Another teleporter identical to the one in the lab was still glowing behind her. "Well Gordon, looks like that M.I.T graduate really pays for itself. Throwin' that switch 'n all." Barney joked sarcastically. "Alright, Barney. You're turn." Issac grinned. "Gee, thanks." "Ok Gordon, step in." Gordon slowly walked into the machine. It lifted off the ground and began to spin. He felt very lightheaded. "Teleporting in three........two.......one...... Teleport commencing now-" |=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=| 1 Minute Before "C'mon Twilight!" Rainbow Dash pleaded. "No, Dash." "Please?" She puffed out her lip and widened her eyes to make her begging more efficient. "No! I said no, and no means no!" "Please please please please please!" "No no no no no!" "But- but- I need to get to the Wonderbolts concert and I have no money! Please Twilight, you gotta teleport me!" "No!" Twilight growled and walked back into the library, but she was stopped by Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. "Oh, hey! Whats up everypony?" "We want you to get outta the house, silly!" Pinkie smiled widely. "I must catch up on studies! I'm way to busy today." She frowned. "Please, please, please, please!?" Dash yelled, tackling Twilight. Very annoyed and slightly angry at all of the interruptions on her reading, she quickly congregated all her magic to teleport Dash. With a flash of light from Twilight's horn, Ponyville dissipated before them and they popped back up in a room full of strange creatures. Hl2:X COMIC