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As the movie came to a close, Gordon watched his entire torment on the silver screen. He looked to his friends, Bubby, Coomer, and Tommy, as well as Tommy's father, Mr. Coolatta. He wanted a break, to go home, his mind eternally screaming. Soon, Mr. Coolatta stood, "Well, that was a great, movie, but I believe it's time for us t-" then his vision went black. He opened his eyes, blood dripping from his face, gunfire ringing in the air, "Wh-What?!" He said, looking around, "Coomer? Tommy! Bubby!" His vision was blurred, and he didn't know what happened or where he was. Every thought made his brain feel like it was filled with holes, each word slipping out, like water in a strainer. Every image in front of him wasn't processing, completely forgetting the details every time he blinked. Soon, a voice called out in a whisper, "Who's there?"The city of City 17 was a place where the boundaries between reality and the surreal had blurred beyond recognition. Ever since the Combine had taken control, the once-thriving metropolis had been transformed into a nightmarish dystopia. The looming Citadel, an imposing structure that pierced the sky, cast a shadow over the entire city. Alyx walked through the shadows, hiding from combines. It was a quiet evening, or at least as quiet as an evening could be in a city overrun by alien forces. Alyx was on routine scouting, scouring the derelict buildings of City 17 for any signs of Combine activity. She moved stealthily, her footsteps masked by the broken glass and debris that littered the streets. As she crept through the ruins, her eyes caught something unusual; a flicker of movement in the corner of her vision. She froze, her hand instinctively reaching for her trusty makeshift weapon, a modified handgun, "Who's there?" Alyx whispered, her voice barely audible. From the shadows, she spotted a figure, hunched and trembling. It was a man wearing an HEV radiation suit. His suit was tattered, and his skin was pale, almost sickly...but what caught Alyx's attention were the strange movements he made, fist constantly clenched, almost like a gorilla, "Easy there," she said, cautiously approaching the stranger. "I'm not with the Combine. What's your name?" the man tried his best to look at her, "Gordon, my name is...Free bird. I-I'm looking for...f-for..." He was disoriented, "Whoa, easy, man. Let's sit down for a second," she said, grabbing him and trying to lower him down before he dropped like a sack of potatoes, "B-Benrey...Mr.Coolatta?" Alyx looked around, "Shit..." she cursed under her breath. This man was too heavy to carry, mostly because he was wearing the HEV suit. Once on, they don't come off, at least that's what she heard. She grabbed a hip flask filled with water, "Here, drink this," the man grabbed it, "What is this...? Alcohol?" Alyx shook her head, "It's water, clean water," and he quickly drank it. After a few moments, he came to his senses, "Thank you...who are you?" Alyx smiled, "Alyx Vance," Gordon nodded, "Gordon Freeman," Alyx smiled at him, "Nice to meet you. Look, I can tell you've been through hell and back...I can help find what you're looking for, but we gotta get moving." She helped him up, "How can I trust you?" Alyx shrugged, "How can I trust you?" Gordon sighed, "Alright...you uh...got a weapon I can use...?" Alyx shook her head, "I don't trust you enough to give you a gun yet..." and he nodded, "I...completely understand that. Let's go." They quickly got themselves moving, "Tell me about yourself Alyx," Alyx thought, "Well, uh...before the Combine takeover, I was just a resident of City 17. My father, Eli Vance, was a prominent scientist where you work, if I remember your name correctly," she said, "Wait, you know who I am?" Alyx scoffed, "Of course, I do. You're dunce that caused the resonance cascade, now let me finish," she said harshly," "My father was a close friend of Dr. Kleiner, as well as Dr. Francis. We were part of the resistance, working in secret to push back against the Combine forces and find a way to free humanity from their control." As they walked through the dark, desolate streets, Gordon listened intently. The city seemed to stretch endlessly before them, filled with the echoes of death and agony. Alyx continued, "My father and I were determined to find a way to shut down the Citadel, the heart of the Combine's power here. We've made some progress, but..." Gordon became curious, "But what?" Alyx sighed, "We can't find my father. He went out on a supply run and just...never came back," Gordon frowned a little, "Sorry to hear about that," Then Alyx shrugged, "Nothing we can do but wait. What about you?" Gordon sighed, "Not like you'd believe me, but...where do I begin...?"As they continued, Alyx recounted Gordon's story, "So...the test on the...machine thing failed...because three people were inside, and so you guys tried to escape, killed every scientist inside...and Benrey, the security guard, turns out to be an unfathomable monster-demon-thing, and it all started because...?" Gordon spoke with a straight face, "My fly was down," Alyx was quiet, "You're right, I don't believe you, you're either nuts or messing with me," he sighed, "You know, once we find my boys, you'll believe me, even if just a small bit," Alyx sighed, "Alright, so you're just nuts," soon, a voice called out, "Mr. Freeman?" An older-looking man stood there, 36 at most. He had autumn brown hair, a blue shirt, a black tie, and a white lab coat, along with white pants and a propeller hat, "Tommy! What happened to the others?" Tommy looked a little upset, "I- uh- I don't know Mr. Freeman! I was with you- uh- you guys in the theater, then when the movie ended, I was here!" Gordon sighed, "Of course, right, why would anyone know anything?" then he looked to Alyx, "Alyx, this is Tommy. Tommy, this is Alyx. She's joining us, or well, we're joining her," Alyx gave a slightly humored look, "Oh, hi! I know you!" then he held out a soda, "You want a soda?" Alyx just looked baffled, "Where...where did he pull that from...?" trying to distract Gordon from Tommy's knowledge of her, but Gordon just seemed confused, "You know Tommy?" Alyx immediately became defensive, "W-Well, uh, we-" Tommy spoke, "We used to-" before Alyx quickly interjected, "ALRIGHT, LET'S CONTINUE!" leaving Gordon and Tommy confused and forced to continue on, "So, you guys are part of the science team?" Tommy smiled, "Mr- Mr. Freeman calls it the uh- the uh- the neo-science team!" Alyx gave a confused smile, "Ok?" Gordon sighed, "Yeah, I was missing my hand and extremely light-headed when I called it that," Alyx looked at him, "Then how do you still have your ha- right, right, Mr. Coolatta," Alyx said, somewhat sarcastic. Gordon shook his head, "You still don't believe me..." Alyx sighed, "Yeah, because 'Coolatta' is from Dunkin' Donuts!" Gordon sighed, "Yeah, makes sense," and then Tommy, "Coolatta is my last name!" Soon they came across an area with rails, on the other side of the tracks was a door. Gunfire was heard, "Shit, get down and get quiet," Alyx said, hiding quickly. Gordon hid too, but Tommy stood in place before getting dragged down by Gordon, "Mr. Freeman, what's-" Tommy had a hand put on his mouth. The sound of combines going past. Alyx looked scared, pulling out her gun. Soon, they were gone, allowing Alyx to exhale from holding her breath, "Were you holding your breath?" Gordon asked, "Yeah, didn't realize I was," She stood, looking around, aiming to be safe, then someone came out, "Drop the gun!" There was a voice, "Hey, do you have PSN?" Alyx cocked her gun, "I said drop it!" Gordon looked at the person she was talking to, seeing an unwelcomed, familiar face, "SHOOT HIM, SHOOT HIM, SHOOT HIM!" and Alyx looked at Gordon, "Wait, what?!" the man she was aiming at ran off, not saying a word, Gordon looked panicked, holding his head, "FUCK!" he shouted, freaking out, "Why didn't you SHOOT him?!" Alyx was now slightly panicked, "I didn't know who he is!" then Tommy spoke, "Was that Benrey? I like Benrey!" Gordon huffed in frustration, "No you don't! He tried to kill us! Why is he HERE?! We killed him!" Alyx sighed, "Ok, look, there's nothing we can do right now. He's gone, so the most we can do is move forward," Gordon sighed, "Yeah, you're right...you're..." he seemed exhausted. As they crossed the tracks, Alyx got to the door, "It's locked, hang on," she pulled out her multi-tool, manipulating the electricity to the door, "Look Mr. Freeman, she's she's changing the electrolytes!" this caused Alyx to stop and start laughing, along with Gordon laughing himself, "Yeah, the electrolytes," Alyx said, laughing quietly still as she finished unlocking the door, "There, be quiet as we go in," then Tommy spoke, "As- As Quiet as- quieter than a mouse...on carpet," Alyx smiled slightly, "How old is this guy?" Gordon shook his head, "36, acts like he's way younger," Tommy was too distracted to hear, "Do you think my dad is here, Mr. Freeman?" Gordon sighed, "I don't know, buddy," they soon found another face, "Now, to find Go-" he turned around to see the group, and Alyx aimed her gun, "Who are you?" the man had a cheery smile that quickly changed to fear as he threw his hand up, "Hello Gordo- Watch out!" he said, and Gordon pushed Alyx's gun down, "Dr. Coomer! You're alive!" Coomer smiled, the AI taking over his speech for a moment, "Hello, Gor- Gordon! Good to see you alive! And who is your new friend?" Gordon was about to introduce Alyx, but she spoke instead, "Alyx Vance, you?" Coomer smiled, "I am Dr. Coomer! It's a pleasure to- Hello Gordon- meet you!" Alyx gave a weird look, "He just does that," Gordon said, "Any idea what happened?" Coomer thought, "Hmm...unfortunately I don't have the slightest clue, Dr. Freeman. I remember Mr. Coolatta was speaking, then I woke up here with Bubby! We split up to find you!" Gordon nodded, "Which way did he go?" he asked, "I...think he went left?" Alyx sighed, "Think?" Coomer nodded, "I turned around when he left and started walking down the hall," Alyx sighed, "Alright, let's go," she said, annoyed, "Who would have thought that me helping someone would lead to me babysitting people twice or three times my age?" Gordon felt slightly bad for Alyx. She was already doing so much, her helping despite dealing with other things, "Thank you for helping us, Alyx, really," Alyx nodded, "Don't mention it..." was all she said. She didn't seem too happy about the situation they were in. She heard something up ahead, "Get down, get quiet," and they hid, Tommy listening this time, "He- ...He- hel-...Hello Gor- He-" Coomer sputtered out, "Coomer, shhhhh!" Gordon whispered, "Mr. Freeman, we gotta be quiet!" Tommy said out loud, "Will you all shut up?!" Alyx whisper-yelled, then they were shot at by Combine soldiers, "Shit!" She yelled out and began shooting at the combine, "Open fire!" Coomer shouted, and he and Tommy began shooting. Gordon felt useless, not having a gun, until he saw one of the combine had snuck behind Alyx, "Alyx!" He shouted, rushing over and punching the combine in the...face? Alyx spun around and shot, "Thanks, take its gun!" and so Gordon did, shooting at the ones there were left. With the immediate threat neutralized, they caught their breath. Gordon held the stolen Combine weapon in his hand, a sense of relief washing over him, "Fine shooting, Gordon!" Coomer said. Alyx looked at him with a slight smile, "Not bad, Freeman, not bad at all," Gordon couldn't help but grin, "Well, I've had my fair share of experience with hostile situations." He remembered the whole story of Black Masa vividly, but he tried to ignore them, as the more he remembered, the more the panic in his chest rose. Alyx turned to Coomer and Tommy, "You two did great back there. We'll need all the firepower we can get," Coomer beamed with pride, "Thank you, Miss Vance!" then he turned to Gordon, "Gordon! Since you put a Playcoin in the Playcoin Bank, you have earned 100 Playcoins in interest!" Alyx looked confused, "What...?" Gordon shrugged, "I don't know what the Playcoins are, but they do really cool stuff," Alyx pulled a smile, "Yeah, like when you fought the giant Benrey in another dimension," Then Coomer spoke, "Ah, yes! The Benrey fight! Sunkist was there!" then Tommy looked worried, "Oh no! Sunkist! She wasn't in the theater with us!" Alyx looked curious, "Coomer, what was the fight about?" Coomer spoke with cheer, but his emotions didn't replicate it, "Well if I remember correctly, Dr. Freeman had a bit of a...wardrobe malfunction, which angered one of Benrey's friends, so he followed Gordon to protect him, but then he didn't have his passport, so-" Alyx stopped him, "Skip to the actual fight, will you?" Coomer nodded, "Well, we were in a strange dimension! We had to destroy our passports, then I believe I sent Dr. Freeman back in time to destroy his passport!" Alyx stopped him again, "Ok, I heard enough," then she looked at Gordon, "How are you alive, Gordon?" Gordon laughed a little, "Oh, so now you believe me!" Alyx sighed, "Not really, but I believe some of it, especially since both of you have the same story," then she continued, "We don't have time to waste, c'mon," and they moved forward. As they did, Coomer spoke, "Look Gordon and Alyx, ropes! We can use these to traverse large pit- HELP ME GORDON!" Coomer was dragged into the air by a barnacle, and Alyx was too shocked by the absurdity of Coomer walking directly into danger, but Gordon began shooting until Coomer was down again, "Fine shooting, Dr. Freeman!" then continued on like nothing happened as Gordon shot at the remaining barnacles in the room, "What was that about?!" Gordon sighed, "Coomer is kinda...weird...he'll do that anytime those barnacles are around," Alyx sighed, "Another thing to worry about," she said, "But he has a point. We can use those...what did you call them?" Gordon then shrugged, "Barnacles," Alyx nodded, "Right, we can use the barnacles to our advantage. We just have to time killing them," Gordon thought for a moment, "That actually makes a lot of sense," Alyx then began up some stairs into a warehouse, "Ah, hello~!" Alyx saw it, a blue gnome, "NO!" She began unloading her gun into it, as the other scientists just watched, until Alex tossed and shot it out the window, "FUCK YES SIR! I love the pa-" it said, before being out of sight. They were quiet for a moment, and then Gordon spoke, "Are you ok...?" Tommy seemed confused, "M-Mr. Freeman! The gnome was talking!" then Coomer, "Don't be ridiculous, Tommy, gnomes can't talk!" Alyx shook her head, "As ridiculous as it sounds, it was talking, I- he- look, just let me explain," she said, "Look, there are two gnomes, a red one and a blue one," she said, "The red one, although kinda an ass, is my little buddy, the blue one is absolutely disgusting and I'm always this close to blowing my brains out around him," she said. They looked at her like she was crazy, but then Gordon spoke, "Guys, after everything we've been through, are two talking gnomes really that crazy?" silence, then Coomer answered, "Don't be ridiculous, Gordon, gnomes can't talk!" He began walking off, "Yeah, Mr. Freebird, gnomes can't talk!" and Tommy followed. Alyx laughed, "Didn't you say you were Freebird when you were disoriented?" Gordon nodded, mentally drained, "Yeah, don't know why he knows that, but whatever..." they continued with the other two, "So, we have two things to shoot if we see them, blue gnome and Benrey," Gordon said. The sky started to fade to night, stars shining like bright lights in the darkness. Alyx stopped the group to set up camp, "Let's stop here for now, alright?" and soon they had a fire built. They sat around the warm, flicking light. Alyx watched the smoke rising, giving a sigh, "So, who wants to be on watch duty for two hours at a time with me?" Gordon quickly spoke, "It would be safest if I did it, considering that Coomer and Tommy are a bit...chaotic," Alyx shrugged, "Works for me," she then pulled her gun out, "Go to sleep, I'll wake you up in two hours."As the sun rose, Alyx rubbed her eyes, exhausted from the night before. She walked out to where the others were, as she had slept a bit away from them, and saw Gordon was awake, "Kept your eyes open?" he nodded, tiredly, "Barely," then he stood, "We should probably wake those two up," and so she gently shook the two other men, "Wake up guys," as they woke up, Tommy spoke, "Did anyone find Sunkist?" He asked, Alyx shook her head, "No, sorry buddy...I did see a cat last night, though," as they got themselves ready, Alyx moved ahead, scouting the area. She found the exits unlocked, and a familiar cavern inside, "Uh, guys?" Gordon walked over, "How the-?!" it was Black Masa, "Look, Gordon! We made our way black into Back Masa!" Alyx looked over, "What...?" Gordon sighed, and then they saw someone looking into the canyon, the one where the helicopter heap was, "How did I get here?" he said, "Bubby!" Gordon called out, and he turned around. He was a tall, balding man, with a scar on top of his head, and glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. He had a blue turtle neck sweater underneath his lab coat, "Gordon! You're actually alive!" he said, as if he wasn't expecting Gordon to be. Alyx didn't aim this time, "Is that all of you guys?" Gordon nodded, "Yeah! Thanks, Alyx, really," Alyx nodded, just staring into the canyon, "Why are we here...?" Gordon looked at Alyx, "Have you been here before?" Alyx stayed quiet, "No." She pushed herself forward, then looked to the other side. There were two people, one male and one female. The female was missing her left arm and right leg, while the man was missing his right arm. Gordon recognized the male as...himself? The male notice them and pointed them out to the female, "Alyx, look," could be faintly heard. The female looked over, obviously delirious before becoming very quickly panicked, "OH FUCK!" she shouted. Alyx recognized the woman as herself, "OH FUCK!" Alyx shouted, then a yellow light engulfed her and the science team. Before Alyx felt her consciousness slip away from her, she heard the other woman shout, "That's how it happened!"Alyx opened her eyes, inside a building. Bubby, Coomer, and Tommy were gone, but Gordon was there, "Gordon?" she called out, no answer, "Gordon! Wake up!" she called again, crawling to him, shaking him, "Gordon!" He woke, "Wha- What? Huh? Alyx?" He looked at her, then looked around, "What happened? Why are we...?" Alyx was a bit frightened, "I don't know, Gordon. Look, I'm not supposed to be here!" Gordon sat up, "What do you mean?" Alyx couldn't explain, "I- look- we- I'm- Just- UGH!" she seemed stressed out, by what Gordon did not know. He soon stood, "Alyx," but Alyx kept panicking, "I have to find my dad! I- we- I'm supposed to-" Gordon put a hand on her shoulder, "Alyx, look at me," Alyx looked at the man, his face stern, but kind, "You are ok. Everything will be ok. We'll figure this out, I promise," Alyx took a breath, then sighed, "Thank you, Gordon..." then she stood. She was dressed in a lab coat and an orange shirt underneath. She looked like a normal Black Masa staff member. Gordon recognized his clothes as what he wore before putting on a hazard suit. As soon as Gordon stood, Alyx walked forward, making Gordon start to follow, "So, what even happened here?" but before he answered, an unwelcomed voice answered, "Hey," Gordon turned around, trying to grab his gun, but it wasn't there, Alyx had the same issue, "You supposed to be here?" Benrey asked. Gordon was about to speak, but Alyx caught onto something, "Yeah, my name is Alyx Vance. Dr. Freeman and I are on our way to do a crucial test, so if you excuse us-" Benrey stopped them, "Alright, I'm gonna need to see your passports," Gordon somewhat caught on, "My passport? Why do we need a- Why do we need a passport? You mean, like, a company ID?" Benrey then walked to the other guard on the other wall, "He doesn't have his passport," He whispered, "Yeah, he's telling me that you're not allowed in here," he said, and Gordon recognized the words, the same ones Benrey said when they first met, "I don't...I don't have a passport," it unnerved him a bit, "I have my- my Black Masa ID-" Benrey interrupted him, "Look- Look at how upset he's getting- look at his fists, they're balled! He wants to beat you up so bad," Alyx laughed a little out of nervousness, "He's clenching," she said, "I'm gonna have to protect you from him," Benrey said, and Alyx got more nervous, "Oh, no, it's fine! I- Uh- We have to go, right Mr- Dr. Freeman?" Benrey continued, "I'm gonna have to fo- hang on, I have to- I have to soothe him," then a sound and colors came from him, balls from his mouth, "I- What was that...?" Alyx was a little humored, "That's just how we calm each other down, that's the Black Masa Sweet Voice™," he said, doing a weird crouch at Gorden before standing again with a swift motion. Alyx gave a nod, "So you blow balls in his- nope, not finishing that...Look, we gotta go, they're rushing us in for the test," Benrey spoke, "No, I'll follow you just in case-" Alyx got nervous again, "Nope! We- Uh- We gotta go-" then she dragged Gordon away. Once they were away, Gordon spoke, "What was that about?!" Alyx then explained, "Look, remember how I said my dad worked for Black Masa?" he nodded, "Yeah, well, I did too. I was a researcher," Gordon looked a little surprised, "How come I never met you?" Alyx looked in desperation, "I don't know, but what I do know is that my dad and another scientist were doing a test. We thought it killed my dad, but it sent him to the future," Gordon listened closely, "When I had the opportunity to save him, I took it, but I didn't have a way back, so..." she sighed, "I never grew up in City 17, I grew up here...I ended up in City 17 before the Resonance Cascade...now I'll probably never find my father cause he's god knows where in City 17," Gordon felt sorry for her, "Alyx, I'm sorry," Alyx sighed, "That's beside the point...Dr. Francis, the one who sent me into the future, warned me about something...if I ever end up in a situation where I'm here in a time that already happened before I got sent to City 17 I need to play along...this is after, but you've been here before," Gordon processed her words, "So...what does that mean? Do we have to play along? Do it all again?" Alyx sighed, "Yeah...we...we could screw something up if we don't...we're stuck in a Time Loop..." As they continued, Benrey found them, "Hey. What are you doing?" Now knowing their situation, Gordon played the part, "The test, we have to go, are you just gonna follow us?" Benrey nodded, "Yeah, you don't have your passport," Alyx sighed, "of course," They were on their way again. Soon, another found them, "Ms. Vance!" it was a familiar face to Alyx, "Dr. Francis! Uh- Hey!" she spoke, "Did it work? Did you find your father?" Alyx's smile became tense, "Uh, well, uh- Yeah! I did! But, uh, he, uh, wanted...to...stay...?" Francis was quiet for a minute before sighing, "You lost him..." Alyx sighed, "Yeah...you might need to come with us though..." she gave a weird look, "Why...?" Alyx's smile became more tense, "Ashlyn, this is Dr. Gordon Freeman, and uh, he...I may have caused an accident with him...?" Dr. Francis's eyes went wide, "Oh boy, ok, I get it now. Okay...look, I haven't sent you into the future yet, so let me do that so you don't cease to exist. I'll meet you in...where are you going?" Gordon spoke, "Just meet us in the staff cafeteria," Ashlyn nodded, then ran off. Soon Benrey spoke, "What accident?" Alyx quickly looked at him, "Oh! UH- well-" then Gordon spoke, "Her car broke down. I had to pick up Alyx, so we're kinda running late," he then rushed off, Alyx and Benrey followed suit. Soon, they found Bubby, "Sir- Sir, excuse me, sir! You can't be down here, you don't have a hazard suit" he said, "I have my- I have my ID," Bubby quickly let it go, "Oh, alright," then walked off, "See what happens when you have your ID and your passport?" he asked, "Do they not have their passports?" Bubby asked, running back, "No, we don't have our passports," Alyx said, Bubby then spoke, like it was common knowledge, "Where's your passport?!" then Alyx spoke, a bit frustrated, "This isn't even in policy! what are you on about?!" they bickered for a bit before Gordon said, "Look, let's just go," and they eventually got going again, leaving Bubby behind. Soon, they found Tommy, "Hi!" they stopped, "Uh, hello?" Gordon said, trying to pretend he didn't recognize him, "I'm Tommy!" Alyx smiled, "Uh, hi Tommy," she said, "Hi Alyx! I thought you were busy?" Alyx quickly thought, "Oh, yeah, I- Uh- I came back-" then noticed they were by the cafeteria, "Having lunch?" he nodded, "Uhuh! I drink soda for lunch!" they noticed Benrey was gone, but Alyx didn't comment on it, "Oh, uh, ok...?" they went into the dining area, "Where's Dr. Francis...?" Alyx mumbled, "Grab a soda, it'll help you see faster!" he said, holding a soda out to Alyx, "Uh...ok...?" Alyx said as she took it, "Alyx!" Ashlyn called out, smiling, "Considering you're still here, I can see the test was a success!" Alyx sighed, "Good to have you, Ash," they got to the lockers, Dr. Coomer rummaging through his before turning, "Ah, hello Gordon! Another day another dollar!" Gordon, "Yup! That's what we always say at-at Black Masa!" then he turned to Alyx, "Hello! You are Miss Vance, right?" she nodded, "Yup. Dr. Coomer?" he nodded, then shook her hand, "That's me! A pleasure to meet you!" Then he took them to where they could get suited up, "We have two left, so hurry up!" Alyx and Gordon got suited, a sound playing, "A bit snug..." Alyx said, "It auto fits, give it a second," Gordon said, and soon it became a perfect fit, "Ok, that's better." They soon found their way to the testing area, "Thank god Benrey is go-" Alyx said as the doors opened, "What the fuck?!" she shouted, Benrey in the chamber. Gordon started laughing for a good moment, "Why are you here?!" Alyx continues, "Without your hazard suit?!" Benrey just shrugged, "I'm- I'm not human," then continued forward. As Gordon and Alyx stepped in, Alyx continued, "You're gonna die if you stay in here, dude! Leave!" but Benrey didn't, "I know what you're doing, you're trying to trick me to leave so- so you can, uh, take stuff!" Alyx sighed, "Just focus on the test," Gordon said, climbing up a ladder, "Alright," Alyx climbed the ladder as well, all be it a bit clumsy, falling a few times, "The fuck is these ladders?" and Gordon laughed a little. As they started the test, two others came in, and Alyx only noticed when Benrey shouted out, "TOMMY!" Tommy waved at Benrey, "Hi!" Alyx's eyes widened as she saw Tommy, Benrey, and Coomer in the chamber, then even more so as Gordon said, "Is it supposed to be smoking," in a knowing tone, smiling slightly, as Alyx panicked, a bit humoring to him as he knew what was happening, he braced himself, "WHAT?!" Alyx shouted, looking up at the smoke, then, it blew, knocking Alyx out.Alyx felt someone shake her, "Alyx," she heard, but she couldn't wake up, "Alyx!" she finally opened her eyes, "What...?" she called out. Gordon and the other scientist sat around her, "Ah, you're finally awake! You were trying to test the chamber!" Dr. Coomer said, "Skyrim...?" Alyx mumbled, "What?" Gordon said, a bit confused as to how she knew what Skyrim was, that didn't exist in this game, after all. Soon, Alyx shot up, making Gordon jolt, Alyx looked around, "What happened?" Gordon soon held a hand to her, now standing, "Resonance Cascade, remember?" Alyx nodded, grabbing Gordon's hand while rubbing her head, "Oh, yeah...right..." soon, Gordon looked at Bubby, "Who are you?" he asked, remembering that he hadn't met Bubby properly at this time, "I, uh, hit my head," he said, somewhat truthfully, "No, just tell me your name," Bubby became nervous, "Uh- I- Bubby?" Gordon began to speak again, but Alyx stopped him, "Give him a break, Gordon, the man probably did hit his head," as she helped Tommy up. Soon Coomer spoke, "I'm just wondering why we're back here!" Alyx and Gordon looked at Coomer, "Huh?" Gordon said, "Well, last I remember, we were in that building that led to where that helicopter heap was! Now we're here!" Gordon looked at Alyx, then at Coomer, "You remember that?!" then Tommy spoke, "What are you talking about, Dr. Coomer? We were in the testing chamber!" Bubby just rubbed his head, "I honestly don't remember anything," Coomer just seemed confused, "The testing chamber? But..." he looked down the hall before saying, "Look Gordon! We made our way black into Back Masa!" Alyx sighed, "Good to have you back, Dr. Coomer," then she walked forward, "What even happened?" Bubby said, "I- Look, all I know is there were 5 subjects, one sample," Gordon said, a little stressed out, the thought of having to go through everything again finally processing. Alyx went forward before finding a head crab zombie and shooting it down, "Watch out, zombies ahead," soon, Coomer managed to find a barnacle, "Look, Alyx! Ropes! We can use these to traverse large pits!" Alyx shot it down, "Nope." As they continued through the facility, Gordon couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The time loop they seemed to be caught in was perplexing, but Alyx's knowledge of everything was even more perplexing. As he thought to himself, Alyx and Coomer were talking about oobleck, "Oobleck is an inexpensive, non-toxic example of a non-Newtonian fluid and is a suspension of starch in water, sometimes called "oobleck", "ooze", or "magic mud" The name "oobleck" is derived from the Dr. Seuss book- Hello Alyx!" Alyx laughed a little, "Well that's true, but it has to be 3/4 parts water and 1/4 parts starch. You can make a similar recipe with lotion, but it's equal parts lotion and starch." They began to notice subtle changes in the facility's layout and equipment. The Black Mesa they were now in was a distorted version of the one they remembered. It was as if they had stepped into an alternate dimension, and the lines between different timelines were blurred. Alyx couldn't help but feel a sense of unease, a feeling that they were trespassing in a place they didn't belong. She was on high alert, not knowing what else was in store for them. Alyx's combat skills, along with Gordon's familiarity with Black Mesa, proved to be valuable, as Alyx almost fell down an elevator shaft, but Gordon yanked her away, "Whoah! Thanks for the save," Gordon sighed, "You need to be careful, kid," Alyx then spun to him, "Kid? I'm 22!" he rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and I'm pushing 30, you're a kid to me," Alyx huffed, "Well then, I guess that means I don't need to have a weapon? Too young to use a gun!" as they bickered, the others watched them, including Benrey, who had joined the group a few minutes ago without Gordon or Alyx noticing. "I'm not a k-" she said, taking notice of Benrey, "Uhhhh," Benrey just waved, "You have your passport?" Alyx sighed, "No. No I do not," then continued forward, soon finding the lockers again, "Oh, hey," as she looked around, she saw her name on a locker, "Hey! My old locker!" she said, opening it, "Look, Benrey, my passport, here," she said, showing it to him. As Alyx showed Benrey her old locker and passport, he couldn't help but look intrigued. He leaned in, examining the locker contents with a sly grin. "Nice passport," he remarked with a hint of mischief, "but you know, I could get you one that's...a bit more...'extraterrestrial' if you catch my drift," Alyx raised an eyebrow, clearly not understanding what Benrey was getting at. "What do you mean?" Before Benrey could clarify, Gordon chimed in, "Ignore him, Alyx. He's just being his usual cryptic self. We need to focus on getting out of here," then went to his locker, pointing out his passport, "Benry, here, passport," he said, looking at the picture of Joshua, sighing. He missed his son. Then left, leading the others away, knowing it didn't matter if Benrey saw his passport.As they left, they passed another guard, "Hi Alyx," the guard said, "Hey Barney," then Benrey spoke, "They don't have their passports," Barney was just confused, "What? They don't?" Alyx sighed, "WHEN THE HELL WAS THIS POLICY?!" Alex shouted, ready to rip out her head, "Yesterday," Barney said, shrugging, "Great...of course they tell us jackshit...also, hide somewhere, hell's about to break loose, "Alright," then they parted ways, "You know him?" Alyx nodded, "Yeah, just a friend," Gordon nodded, "Well, with the science team, be prepared for a lot of bloodshed and a lot of lost friends," Alyx sighed, "Of course," soon they found a room, chairs and tables spazzing around, some phasing through the floor or walls, "Watch out! Haunted chairs!" Dr. Coomer said, "Oh hey, it's kinda glitchy in here," Benrey added while Alyx looked at the mess, "What...?" but Gordon only shut the door. After a few minutes, he opened the door, and everything was normal. Gordon continued as if nothing happened, "Oh, it's normal," Benrey said, and Alyx felt like her mind was melting, "Wha-Wha-What...?" as they went on, they eventually stopped, "We should rest," Gordon said, "We're just going to ignore what happened there?" Alyx asked, "Yes," then Gordon looked around, "Alright, Alyx, looks like there's a closet over there. It would be a little weird to make you sleep with a bunch of men, so..." Alyx sighed, "Thank you, that might be for the best," and to the closet she went. As Wayne took off his headset, he felt a headache come to him, "Why is Alyx there...?" he asked himself, but there was no answer to come, not now at least. The sun had set, so he turned off his stream and went to bed, despite Alyx's presence causing him unease..
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Wayne put the headset back on, starting another stream, Tommy stirred awake, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Good morning, Mr. Freeman, you sleep weirdly," he mumbled, still half in a dream. Gordon sighed, "Morning, Tommy. Wake up the others while I get Alyx." Gordon made his way to the closet, where he heard some shuffling and muffled curses. He opened the door to find Alyx standing there, looking at him nervously. "Uh, good morning, Gordon!" she said with a sheepish smile. Gordon raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure what had transpired behind that closet door. "Need a minute...?" he asked, feeling the awkward tension in the air. Alyx nodded, and he closed the door, leaving her to finish whatever morning rituals she had started. Returning to the main room, Gordon found the science team members already awake and engaged in discussion. "Hey, guys, we're waiting on Alyx," Gordon informed them. He couldn't help but wonder what had put Alyx in such a flustered state, but he decided not to pry for now. Soon enough, Alyx emerged from the closet, now looking composed, "Alright, I'm ready," she said with determination, her earlier nervous behavior seemingly a distant memory. Gordon noticed the quick shift in her demeanor but chose not to press the issue at the moment. He had learned over time that their adventures that questioning people usually led to the science team shooting them dead upon sight. Alyx, now walking beside Gordon, tried to engage in conversation. "So... I'm guessing we're not even a quarter of the way to the end of this?" she asked, her tone filled with curiosity and maybe a hint of anxiety. Gordon sighed and adjusted the headset on his head, the subtle weight reminding him that this was just a game, not reality, "Not even close," he replied. Alyx sighed, "Of course..." and they went down the hall. Benrey was oddly quiet before saying, "Why do you crouch in your sleep?" he seemed genuinely weirded out, "I do?" Gordon said, and Alyx gave a confused and humored look, "You crouch in your sleep?" Gordon got slightly defensive, "I-I-I don't know?! Why does it matter?" he was slightly embarrassed, "I'm just messing with you, Freeman, relax," Tommy shrugged, "Mr. Freeman always crouches in his sleep," Gordon looked at Tommy, "What?" Dr. Coomer was still trying to process what was happening, despite having been with them the entire trip, "Why are we in the past?" he asked, and Alyx sighed, "I guess we never explained that to him, hang on," and he dragged Coomer off, leaving Benrey, Tommy, Bubby, and Gordon amongst themselves, "So..." Benrey started, "How many bit-beasts you have?" Tommy gasped, "Bit-beasts?! Like- Like Bayblade?!" Benry smiled, "Yeah, I got, like, five Bayblades," Gordon sighed, "Bayblades, huh? I didn't have the chance to get into that when I was younger," Gordon said, reminiscing about his own childhood, "But I've had my fair share of collectibles and hobbies, for sure," Tommy's eyes lit up with excitement. "You had collectibles too, Mr. Freeman? What were they?" Gordon smiled, enjoying the opportunity to bond with the other again, "I used to collect little things, mostly Pokemon, little figures...anything that was popular. I think I still have some of my stuff at home," he said, smiling slightly, "I gave most of it to Joshua, though," then Benrey spoke, "Sounds kinda shit," Gordon sighed, the moment ruined, "You know what's funny? In the future, Pokemon was still massive amongst kids," Alyx said, returning from her explanation to Coomer, greeting Gordon with a somewhat cryptic statement, "Hello, Gordon! My mental state has declined greatly!" Gordon shook his head, "What was even left of it?" Coomer thought, "Good point!" then Alyx walked down to the next hall, "So...who's Joshua?" Gordon smiled slightly, "My son. He's 7," Alyx nodded, "Cute. You'll have to show me a picture of him," Gordon smiled, "Y'know, if I remember and we find my locker again, I will." He noticed Alyx still seemed slightly stand-offish to him. Her questions seemed slightly condescending or suspicious of him, like she didn't trust him. He was too smart for her, compared to the others. She thought of the other scientist as more book-smart compared to Gordon, but oblivious. Gordon was smart in the sense that he noticed things more than the others. It scared Alyx somewhat. She was hiding something, she didn't want him or the others to know, "You good, Alyx?" Alyx looked at him, and at that moment, her guard went back up, "Yeah, sure," she said, dismissively. This worried Gordon, she was warming up to them a little bit, and then it seemed like all that progress just...disappeared...Benrey walked in the back of the group, smiling, knowing something that Gordon or Alyx didn't seem to get. Gordon looked at him, "What's with the smile?" he asked, "What smile?" Gordon sighed, "Nevermi-" Gordon managed to walk right into a barnacle, "Look, Gordon! Ropes! We can use these to traverse over large pits!" Alyx spun around quickly, "Duck!" she shouted, aiming, and Gordon did, feeling the air move as bullets shot past him and killed the attacker, before dropping him onto the floor, making him groan in pain. Alyx ran over, genuinely worried for him, "Are you alright?!" she asked, and he sat up, rubbing his head, "I hit my head pretty hard..." he pulled his hand to his face, looking at it, seeing crimson red on it, causing him to scream out, "Calm down!" Alyx said, before looking at the science team, "I need a cloth, preferably not white!" and he was given a little rag from Tommy, "Here! I use this to- to- to hold sodas when they're- uh- they're too cold!" and Alyx used it to stop the bleeding, "Looks like it's just a gash. You'll be alright," he sighed, "Thanks Alyx," Gordon held the rag to his head, allowing Alyx to step back, "You think you're good to keep going?" She asked, Gordon nodded, getting up, "Yeah, I'll be alright..." and they continued to the next room, where two mixers were, stiring two vats of green ooze, "What-" Alyx said, already done with the day, "How is this safe?!" Gordon said, "Don't- Don't worry, Mr. Freeman! This is all built to CODE!! It'll be okay," Alyx sighed, "Alright, walk around the edges carefully, guys," Tommy spoke again, "Right, very carefully, slower than molasses drips off a spoon," Tommy said, smiling, "We could also use the platforms over there...?" he said, pointing to the very obvious moving platforms, "Oh, um, of course," and they walked, easily passing this obstacle, "I knew that," she said, "No you didn't," Bubby said. He seemed slightly stand-offish to Alyx and Gordon, Benrey already filling his head with ideas. Alyx seemed a little on edge, jolting when Coomer put a hand on her shoulder, "Alyx, are you-" Alyx spun around and backhanded him, immediately regretting her decision, "Oh, god! Dr. Coomer, are you alright?!" Coomer held a hand to his nose, "I'm alright!" Alyx kept apologizing profusely, but Coomer stopped her, "Alyx, it's really alright! I'm the one who spooked you!" Alyx sighed, still feeling bad, "Sorry," Bubby felt slightly bad for Alyx, seeing how genuine she was, as did Gordon, but Tommy spoke before Gordon could say much, "Look! A soda machine!" Gordon shot it open, "Alright, let's grab as much as we-" he had forgotten what the science team did with soda machines. They started drinking all of the sodas, Alyx, initially caught off guard, couldn't help but burst into laughter, her amusement triggered by the science team's behavior. Her laughter was infectious, and soon, Gordon, too, found himself laughing, unable to contain his amusement. "We need that!" he managed to say through fits of laughter. Dr. Coomer spoke, "Gordon, I'm full!" Alyx, still giggling, seized the opportunity, grabbing a root beer and playfully announcing, "I call the root beer at the next machine!" The laughter brought a much-needed moment to the group. Alyx, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, managed to say, "Christ almighty..." They continued their journey and soon came across an elevator. Gordon, in a tired tone, instructed, "Alright, everyone-" The elevator soon shot down the elevator shaft, killing 3 scientists inside, "You just killed those men again, Dr. Freeman!" Coomer said, and Gordon sighed, "Alright guys, careful going down..." This made Alyx nervous, "Going down?!" but the others were already going down. Alyx descended clumsily before slipping and almost falling, but Gordon caught her and pulled her up, "You alright, kid?" Alyx huffed, "Now you're doing it on purpose," Gordon smiled, "Maybe," they found themselves in a dimly lit corridor at the bottom, the walls adorned with peculiar, glowing crystals of various shapes and sizes. Alyx's curiosity got the better of her, and she approached one of the crystals, examining it closely, "What's all this?" she wondered aloud, gently reaching out to touch one of the softly pulsating crystals. Gordon, a bit eager to explore and understand their surroundings, joined her, "These crystals weren't here before..." he mused, his curiosity piqued. The rest of the team, while not as engrossed in the crystals, still gathered around to take a look. Bubby squinted at the crystals and then at Gordon. "Think you can figure out what they're for?" Gordon gave it his best shot, attempting to understand the crystals' properties and their possible function. Alyx stood nearby, watching but still hesitant to get too close. While their camaraderie was growing, she was not ready to fully embrace it just yet. Gordon looked over to Alyx, "You ever see these in city 17?" he asked, "No, never...not ones like these," Alyx said, letting her guard down for a moment to relax. Tommy, on the other hand, looked nervous. "I hope Sunkist is okay," he said with a shaky voice, his childlike innocence showing through his worry. The moment of anxiety shifted the atmosphere, and Dr. Coomer tried to ease Tommy's concerns. "Don't worry, young Tommy, we'll find Sunkist. Gordon is quite resourceful!" but Gordon showed curiosity, still playing the part "Sunkist?" Gordon asked, "Is that your sister or something?" Alyx gave Gordon a weird look, "No, I'm an orphan, but I have a dog!" Alyx smiled, "And her name is Sunkist?" he nodded, "Uhuh! I made her! She's immortal," Alyx nodded, "Alright, immortal dog, weird..." Alyx and Gordon continued to examine the glowing crystals until she heard a crunch. They looked at Benrey, who was eating one of the crystals, "It's pop rocks," he said, crackling coming from his mouth. Soon, Coomer took a bite, "That they are!" then Gordon, "I...are you serious?!" Alyx looked at all of them like they were deranged, before eating one of the crystals, "I'm bout to start fighting people," she said, humored again and annoyed, "I thought these were actually dangerous, Jesus..." As the echoes of their laughter filled the corridor, Tommy's nerves gradually began to ease, seeing that this group could find moments of joy even in the strangest of circumstances. However, despite the laughter, Alyx remained somewhat guarded, still wrestling with the unease that had gripped her earlier. She looked around at the peculiar surroundings, her curiosity mixed with wariness. The entire place had an air of unpredictability that kept her on edge. Bubby, having devoured a considerable number of the crystals, suddenly hopped up and down, declaring, "I feel more powerful!" as he struck an exaggerated pose. Tommy laughed at the spectacle, a smile finally breaking through his nervous demeanor. Their unique personalities and quirks were beginning to form a peculiar, yet oddly harmonious, blend that was familiar to Gordon. He managed to gather some extra crystals, storing them in a small container. "Who knows? These pop rock crystals might come in handy later," he mused, trying to make some practical use of their odd discovery. As the team continued to explore the corridor, Alyx found herself drawn to the mystery of this place, despite her initial reservations. The strange world, filled with bizarre and wondrous phenomena, had a pull that even her wariness couldn't resist. Soon, they found a group of scientists, some of them looking like Dr. Coomer, "Survivors!" Alyx shouted, "Wait," Gordon said, and within milliseconds the science team shot them down. For some reason, Alyx was physically unphased, "What the fuck," was all she said, Gordon sighed, "Yup," Coomer spun to look at them, "Those were my Clones, Gordon and Alyx!" Gordon nodded, somewhat detached, "Yup...thank you, Coomer." They soon found themselves in a room with more waste, "Ok, THIS is too much," Alyx said again, "Yup! And it's all built to code. The U.S. lets us do this. This is all to regulation. Everything," Alyx just became more frustrated as the more Gordon's story lined up with what was happening, they had to parkour their way out of the room, hopping from one platform to another, "You know, Dr. Freeman, if you have any struggles with the puzzles along the way, utilizing Playcoins and the Super Player Feature can help guide you and player 2!" Gordon looked over "Player 2?" Coomer thought, "Yes? I don't know, I'm just rambling, Gordon," Gordon was very confused now, "Who's player 2?" but no answer came to him except for Benrey, "I am," Gordon sighed, "No you aren't," soon Bubby joined in, "Let the man be player 2 if he wants to be," Gordon could only shake his head. They soon found an area where they could rest, "I can't wait until we're out of here...What are you gonna do when we're out, Freeman? Y'know, in the future?" Gordon thought, "I wanna be a JustInTv streamer...at least I think I do...I mostly want to go home and sleep," Alyx smiled, "What about you, Bubby?" Bubby shrugged, "I don't know. I was born here," Alyx gave a perplexed look, "What?" Bubby gave a neutral expression, as if unphased by Alyx's reaction, "I was made in a tube," Alyx looked even more confused as Gordon spoke, "They make test tube babies here?!" his acting getting better, "I came from the surface, from my Mummy and Daddy," added Dr. Coomer. Gordon pressed, "We do test tube babies down here?" then Bubby spoke, "This place is oooooooold Gordon," Gordon gestured as he spoke, "It's older than me, that's for sure. I'm younger than all three of you....except for Tommy, Tommy's, like, five," Bubby spoke again, smiling a little, "We love our little Tommy," Gordon smiled a little too, "We love Tommy," The others continued as Alyx noticed Benrey flirting with another guard, "Dude, what-" Benrey looked over, then gave her a wink, "You are 10 years older than me, what the hell?!" Benrey laughed maniacally, "Bro!" Gordon tapped her shoulder, "He flirts with people to annoy them, including me," Alyx sighed, "Thanks for telling me beforehand," she said, sarcasm in her voice. Soon she stood, sighing, "Let's just go..." she then looked at Benrey, "Stop doing that to him, c'mon..." and she left the room. "Gordon, I have never heard of Alyx before until she was with you yesterday. Where did she come from?" Bubby asked. Gordon thought for a moment, then Coomer spoke"Most people don't know Alyx 'cause she was from the Time-Travel Experimentation and Development Department!" Tommy smiled, "I heard they- they- they know a lot because of, uh, time wizards!" Gordon continued, despite Tommy's sentence being so jumbled he couldn't understand, "Yeah...there isn't much I can say, mostly because it's not my story to tell...but basically-" Coomer spoke, "She was in the future! And so we're w- Nevermind, I can't say that," Gordon smiled, "Good catch. The only person who actually has some memory of Alyx is me, Coomer, Tommy, and another scientist...I wonder what happened to her," Tommy smiled, "I like Alyx! She's really nice, and fun! I worked in the department next to hers, and we- uh- we would go and- and- play uh Nintendo!" Alyx heard them, listening from the other room. She felt somewhat bad about treating them like how she had been treating them. Soon a skeleton approached her, missing its right arm and left leg, but walking like both were still there, "What the-" its bony hand turned to flesh, covering her mouth, "Shhh," the skeleton sounded like like a tired woman. It soon handed her something, then left, as if nothing happened. She followed it, but it had disappeared without a trace, "What...?" she looked at what was given to her. It was a piece of paper. She opened the paper, reading its contents, "Keeps your eyes and ears aware, the gnome is around somewhere," Alyx looked back in the room where the others were, then at the paper, "My buddy?" she then heard a voice, "Ha he!" Alyx looked around, "Buddy?!" she then heard it again, "You have failed the challenge!" she began running, "Gnome!""She plays on PS4," Benrey said, Gordon looked at him, squinting slightly, "What?" Benrey continued, "Yeah, she's- uh- one of my friends. We play on Playstation all the time," Gordon looked confused, "No you don't?" then he heard Alyx scream, he looked at where the sound came from, "Shit, she's in trouble!" and off he went, the others following, "Alyx!" Gordon screamed out, but received no answer, "Alyx! Say something!" he heard talking in the next room over, "I'm so glad you're ok!" he walked to the voice, seeing Alyx holding a red garden gnome. He thought she went crazy for a moment until he remembered what Alyx said before he was black in Back Masa- I mean back in Black Masa, "Are you good?" Alyx looked over, "Oh, yeah!" Benrey smiled, "You going mad? Me too," Alyx sighed, "C'mon, dude, say hi," silence, then they heard a, "Surboro Tomorrow," come from it, "Huh, it talks," Bubby said, "Don't be ridiculous, gno- I've already said that, haven't I?" Coomer said, "The gnome talks! That's so cool!" Tommy beamed with excitement. Alyx smiled, "Meet my gnome buddy, Chompski," she said, then, she looked around, finding a baby carrier. She put it on, then put the gnome in it, "There we go," the gnome spoke, "I am a leatle baby, I don't want to be a baby," it said, "Too bad," then Alyx beamed, "Wait, you guys have to see this! Gnome, sing that song we both like!" it was silent for a second, as if thinking, before singing, "Triplets born, the throne awaits, a seer warns of a deadly fate, give up your children, separate, bide your time, lie in wait!" then Alyx joined in, showing her true nerdiness, "Sonic Underground! Sonic Underground! They made a vow, their mother will be found!" Gordon couldn't help but laugh at the goofiness unfolding, not knowing Alyx could be capable of this amount of nerdiness. She took notice and quickly regained her composure, clearing her throat, "Anyway, we found my friend, can we go now?" as the Gnome spoke over her, "The children grow, learn what's right! Leaders of the freedom fight!" Benrey then tried to steal the gnome, only to have a pistol immediately to his head, "Don't. You. Touch. Him." Benrey slowly backed up. Soon, she began walking, making the group follow, "Let's go, c'mon," Gordon smiled, following, "It seems Alyx is a mega nerd, Gordon!" Coomer says, "I am but a gome!" the gnome said, "Shit, I forgot how exhausting it is to have you with me..." the gnome laughed, "Ha he!" Gordon couldn't help but find it endearing how Alyx cared for the gnome, finally seeing her when her guard was completely down. Alyx started to realize that despite their quirks and eccentricities, these people genuinely cared about each other and had a sense of friendship that she had been missing in the future when she was there. She felt a bit of peace now. Gordon, despite his social awkwardness, had shown her the empathy and understanding that she kind of needed. The science team, with their peculiar personalities, brought a unique charm that was hard to resist. She soon remembered her main mission, to find her father, "Now, we have to be careful, it looks like our laser network has been compromised," Gordon watched as Benrey walked over and sat in the lasers, then began screaming, "What are you doing?!" then he walked back out, "What kind of helmet is that?! Are you o- why am I asking that? Why do I care?" Alyx said, contemplating her words, "Eughhh..." Benrey spurted out, holding his head, "Are you ok, man? Is anyone a medica-" Soon, the Black Masa Sweet Voice™ came from him again, "Oh god, he's spewing blue and purple-" Then Gordon spoke, "I don't know what that is..." Tommy became somewhat excited, "I can read this!" soon, all attention was on him, "When it's L-...purple...like the evening, of a spring evening, then it means he's okay," Alyx sighed, "Thank you, Tommy, that was very-" Suddenly, Bubby shouted out, "Last one to the elevator is a rotten egg!" then they all started running, "What?! Why are we racing?!" Gordon zoomed past her, giving her a taunting look, "Oh you're going down Freeman!" she bolted after him, soon passing him, before slowing down from being tired, allowing him to pass, "Haha!" he called out, beating Alyx, "You punk!" she shouted at him before giving him a punch in the shoulder, "You're a jerk!" She said, and Gordon laughed. Soon, they began forward again, Gordon smiling slightly. Alyx seemed to be warming up to the others, "My TV méter is low!" Alyx sighed, "There are no TV's around here!" then the gnome laughed, "Ha he!" then a familiar voice spoke, "Oh, hello there~!" Alyx immediately looked nauseous, "OH GOD, not him!" she said, "Not this guy again! Don't talk about- uh- anything weird," the gnome added, "Where is he?" Gordon said, now as uncomfortable as Alyx, as were the others, "I feel like I should cover Tommy's ears," Bubby said, but Tommy was already doing it, "There's the gnome!" Dr. Coomer shouted, pointing, and soon the science team, or at least the ones that weren't Benrey or Tommy, began firing at the gnome, "The only thing that stopped the gnome was a trash compactor!" Alyx said. Soon she threw it down the hall and ran, and the others followed, except for Benrey. Benrey approached the blue gnome, "Hey," the gnome was quiet for a minute before saying, "Hello~!" Benry picked him up, "What's up with you and Alyx?" he asked, and the gnome replied quickly, "She has the wrong gnome! She needs to ditch that red bastard and get in with the blue~!" Benrey then had an idea, "I think I know how to fix that."They continued forward, "I swear to go I'm going to rip out my eyeballs next time I see him..." then Bubby spoke, "I'm gonna rip off my ears..." Tommy just seemed disturbed, "I don't know how to feel..." he said. Gordon gave him a pat on the back, "Me too, Tommy..." soon, they heard a voice approaching, "HELLO THERE~!" Alyx spun around to see Benrey sprinting full force at her, holding the blue gnome before shoving her down and running off, "What the-" then she felt her heart stop as she heard a, "You can use me as a toilet, if you so please," Alyx looked at the baby harness on her chest, seeing that her gnome had been replaced by the blue gnome, "EW!" she then grabbed the gnome and threw him out of the harness, then looked around, "Chompski?!" Gordon looked at where Benrey was running, seeing the red gnome in his gasp, "Benrey!" he shouted, chasing after Benrey, Alyx started to follow, "BENREY WHEN I GET YOU-" soon, Benrey threw the gnome into a trash can and began rolling him down the hall, "aHhHhH!" the gnome screamed in the can. Soon, Alyx tackled Benrey and Gordon grabbed the can, "What is your problem, man?!" Gordon was holding the gnome as Benrey shrugged, "I was helping the blue guy," Alyx was now more angry, "Your face is about to help me with my anger!" she said, balling up a fist, but Gordon stopped her, "It wont do anything to him, we should go and get away from...that thing..." he said, looking at the blue gnome, "Ew," The red gnome said, and Alyx got off Benrey, "Fine..." Tommy soon grabbed the blue gnome and threw it down the hall before running away, "Let's get out of here, please!" he said, and the others followed. They continued forward, obviously very uncomfortable with what just happened while Benrey gave a grin. Alyx sighed, ready to just sleep again, "I think we're getting close to sleep time..." Gordon smiled, "Yeah, I feel you, I'm exhausted too," but Alyx continued forward, not seeing a place where she could hide away from the science teams sight, "W-We still have daylight to burn!" Bubby interjected, "We literally can't see the sun," Alyx insisted, "March forward men!" she said, pushing onward. Gordon noticed her reluctance, "Alyx, we're all tired, let's stop," Alyx turned to him, "I said let's keep going," she said, somewhat threateningly, and then disappeared around the corner. Gordon sighed, "Sorry guys, she's not going to stop..." Bubby spoke, "Just let her go, I'm tired," Dr.Coomer followed Alyx, "And stay anywhere near that blue gnome? No thanks!" he said, and Bubby quickly changed his mind, "Nevermind, you're right-" and they continued forward. Gordon put a hand on Alyx's shoulder, "Alyx?" she looked at him, "Yeah?" Gordon managed to slow her down a little, "Are you alright? Anytime you start warming up to us you immediately put your guard back up..." she sighed, "I'm fine..." Gordon sighed, "When you're ready, you can tell me..." she became defensive again, "I said I'm fine, Gordon!" she said, pushing herself away, "Let's just find somewhere to rest..." she said. Soon they found a room that looked safe, a lab attached nearby, "I'm sleeping in the lab," she said, rushing off, "Alyx-" but she slammed the door before Gordon could say more. Gordon sighed, "Good night guys..." he said as the others lay down. He took off the headset. looking around. He started compiling notes after first meeting Alyx. He turned off the headset and wrote something on a Google doc, "Alyx too aware. Investigate?" then turned off his stream. He sighed before getting a call from a friend on Discord, "Oh, Baulpp, what's up?" his friend replied, "Hey, I was watching the stream earlier. What's up with Alyx being there?" Gordon felt a lump in his throat, "Wait, you guys didn't do that? I thought you guys did that?!" Baulpp denied it, "No? Me and Holly were trying to figure it out. Maybe it was Scorpy? Wouldn't put it past him with how much he's been messing around behind the scenes..." Wayne sighed, "Ask him and Gir about it...I gotta sleep..." Baulpp nodded, "Alright, cya man," and he ended the call. Wayne stood and sat on his bed, thinking through everything. This entire thing was so weird...he couldn't do anything right now but lay on his bed and sleep.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He awoke and started up his stream, yawning, "Morning guys, ready for more Half-Life VR?" he asked, then was interrupted by a discord call from Baaulp, "Oh, hang on," he answered to call, "Hey! Baaulp! What's up?" he asked, "Hey, I asked Scorpy and Gir last night, and, uh...we don't even have a model for Alyx downloaded, not the Half-Life Alyx one," now Wayne was concerned, "Is there maybe a random in the server or something?" but Baaulp denied, "No, no one in the server list. Honestly, it's making things super interesting, I say we keep going with things," he thought for a moment, "Yeah, and it's not like Alyx is ruining the AI or anything. Anyway, I'm live right now, I gotta get on the server," then Baaulp nodded, his headset jostling a little, "Alright, I'll get the others ready," then he ended the call. Wayne grabbed his headset and put it on, turning on the game."Hey, Mr. Freeman!" Tommy called out, "Hey Tommy..." he saw the others were up and about already, looming above him, along with a skeleton like last...actually...it's 2 skeletons? One was intact, about his height, but the other was missing its left leg and right arm, walking and standing as if the limbs were still there, "What the fuck!" he said, somewhat panicked, "What's wrong Mr. Freeman?" Tommy asked, "You guys don't see the skeletons?!" then Coomer spoke, "What Skeletons? There's nothing there, Dr- Hello Gor-!" he said, cutting off, "Of course, right, you don't see them! Of course!" Soon, Alyx came from the lab, still closed off, before panicking, "The hell?!" she saw the skeletons, then pointed at the one missing limbs, "You again?!" then it put its finger to its mouth as it used the Black Masa Sweet Voice™, red to blue, "Red- Red to blue, means- I know you!" Tommy said, "You can see them?!" Alyx and Gordon asked in sync, "I- huh?" Tommy replied cluelessly, "Of course," Alyx said, then Gordon shot the skeletons, "Alright, let's get going," he said, "Fine shooting Al- Gordon!" Alyx sighed nervously, "I'm just glad it's not PTSD or something," Gordon said, half-jokingly, "I'm surprised you don't have PTSD," Alyx said with a laugh, then a com went off, "GORDON FREEMAN, YOU ARE WANTED FOR PASSPORT INSPECTION," then the scientist started panic, "You don't have your passport Gordon!" then it spoke again, "ALYX VANCE, YOU ARE WANTED FOR PASSPORT INSPECTION," Alyx flipped the ceiling the bird, "That's not even POLICY!" she shouted, walking away from the group. Gordon noticed Benrey was gone, "Guys, where's Benrey?" he asked, "Alyx shot him after he tried to bother her in her sleep!" Coomer said, "That sounds about right," he said, following Alyx, soon walking beside her, "Thank god he's gone though..." Gordon laughed a little, "Don't get too excited," Alyx groaned, "Oh, I know he's gonna come back, I'm just happy for the small bit of peace we're having..." she looked done with all of this, "Gordon! Gordon! Gordon!" Alyx's Gnome shouted, "Was wondering when you were gonna talk again," Alyx said, "You usually don't shut up," she added, "What's up, Gnome," Gordon said, and the gnome was quiet for a moment, "No one likes you, except for me! Ha He!" he said, and Alyx sighed, "Not again, Chompski," she said, "No gaslighting," then it spoke again, "Gaslight, gatekeep, girl boss!" and Alyx sighed, "And no Gen Z memes, please...we're in the present, not the future..." she said, "Alyx, I'm going to girl boss my way to the elevator!" Coomer said, making Alyx start to laugh, and Gordon just looked confused, Wayne trying to stifle his laughter through his speech, "What?" he said, Alyx sighed, "Stupid future stuff from 2020," she said, "You've gone that far?!" Gordon said, slightly amazed "Yeah, I was really into science before everything..." she then sighed, "Sorry for being so snarky this entire time...I just..." Gordon interrupted her, "You don't have to tell me, I get it..." they soon found a barricade, and Gordon began breaking it down, but soon let the science team do it as Coomer began punching it with his bare hands and Bubby with his crowbar, "Where did you get the crowbar?!" Alyx shouted, trying to help them, "Yeah let's get it! bust it down!" Gordon said, continuing his aid again, "I'm BUSTIN' through!" Bubby said, continued, then Coomer shouted, "Gordon look out! Aliens!" then they began attacking, cornering a group of head crabs. Before Alyx could attack, Coomer punched them, "Fine shooting Alyx!" he shouted, "There was no shooting! It was-" then he punched Gordon, "GAH-" Gordon shouted, keeling over, "That hurts worse than last time..." he said, "As I said before, I just get excited!" then Tommy was confused, "Before? You've done this before?" he said, and then the two men became nervous, "I- Uh- I HE- HELLO-" Coomer sputtered out, "We box-" Gordon quickly said, "Oh, ok!" then continued on with Bubby, "Nice save," Alyx said as Bubby followed the others, "You good?" she then asked again, "Yeah," he said, getting up, "I'll be fine, not like I'm dying, yet." They caught up, finding a control room, "Gordon, look out!" Coomer shouted, then beat an alien to death with Bubby, "Well that was anti-climatic," Alyx said, continuing into a tool room, "Gordon look!" Bubby said, seemingly pointing at the two skeletons sitting criss-cross on the floor, "The skele-" Gordon started, but Bubby went straight for the tools, "Tools!" and Alyx and Gordon followed, "Right...you guys wanna grab some tools?" he said, "GORDON LOOK OUT! Explosives!" and Alyx turned just in time to see Coomer throw himself on the explosives, shooting him across the room, "What the fu-" Alyx started before Gordon started laughing. Soon, Coomer stood and continued forward, "Yup, that's normal..." Alyx said, going after Coomer with the others, "Should I press this?" Tommy said, "Didn't they say something about missiles...?" Alyx asked, but Tommy pressed anyway, and an elevator came up, "Oh, an elevat-" Gordon quickly pushed Alyx on as Coomer started the elevator, causing Gordon to fall the 4 feet drop, "Are you alright?!" Alyx shouted, "Wait for it..." he groaned, then Coomer dropped 24 feet from the top, unscathed, "I-I-" Alyx sputtered, "I feel normal!" then Alyx noticed something, "Where's Bubby?" then Gordon pointed to Coomer, "It is a crying shame, but we'll just need to move on without him. Remember, it's what he- Ah! There you are!" Coomer said, facing Bubby, "Right behind you!" he said, "H-How did you..." Alyx started, "I'm just not gonna ask," then the gnome spoke, "My soda meteer is low!" and Alyx sighed, "Look, a train!" Bubby said, hopping on the train, "Oh ye god, I'm so happy! Trains are my life!" Bubby said, excitedly getting on as Alyx helped Gordon onto the train, "I hear they use these babies to get all around the science!" then Tommy spoke, "I'm sorry about....uh- about the- about earlier. Time moved faster for me then...then it has been," the Alyx spoke, "You've had 50 sodas within the last day, Tommy, that's caffeine overdose," then Gordon added to it, "You said it makes you see faster, that's what you were talking about!" he said, laughing a little, "You need to drink less soda," Alyx said, then it was quiet for a moment, "No," he said, then Bubby started the train, "Peeper puppies, open fire!" but Gordon lowered Alyx's gun, "Hold on tight," he said quietly, then Bubby set it to full throttle lunging Alyx back and onto her side, "Ah! Slow it down!" Alyx said, but as hard as he might try, Bubby couldn't, "I CAN'T SLOW IT DOWN!" he shouted, "IT WON'T STOP! OH MY GOD!" and suddenly Alyx got flung off, "AH!" she shouted, but Gordon grabbed her, "You ok?!" He asked, but she was distracted by other things, "My gnome!" she shouted, realizing he got thrown off, "I need to-!" but then they crashed, "C'mon! We don't have time!" Gordon shouted, dragging away Alyx, "Gnome Chompski!" she shouted, getting dragged away, "Where am I!" the gnome shouted, "Ha He!" but it was too late, "We need to go back, we lost Chompski!" Alyx shouted, trying to go back, "That place is swarmed with aliens, Alyx, you will die! He's made of porcelain, he'll be fine," he assured, "Besides, he'll come back," Alyx was quiet for a moment, " What?" she said, "Gordon, his legs don't move," and he faced palmed, "Right. Ok. We'll loop around and get him back. It's too dangerous to go back right now, though," Alyx nodded, "Look Gordon and Alyx! Toxic sludge!" Coomer said, parkouring his way through, "More parkour," and to the center of the nuclear plant they went, a man being grabbed by a creature inside and eaten, "Holy fuck!" Alyx shouted, "You need any help?!" Bubby shouted to the scientists, "He's dead, Bubby!" Alyx shouted, "Damn, you don't have to shout at me!" Bubby said, "I read through all 7271 pages of the nuclear...guidelines document, and that's not in there!" then the creature swung again, trying to grab them, "Out! Out! Move!" Alyx shouted, rushing everyone out. They soon met up with a man, "Alyx! Over here!" he yelled, "Barney! You alright?" Alyx asked as she rushed over, "Yeah! Look, that...thing is out there. You need to get through, right?" Alyx nodded, "I'll distract it, you guys rush through, run like hell!" he said, then went to fire at it, "Hey! Hey, over here! Eat lead you mother fucking octopus!" he shouted, "Got it, let's-" then a shot rung in her ears as Coomer shot the man, and Alyx stared as the man fell into the plant, limp, "Barney!" but they needed to move on, "No time, Alyx, we have to move! I warned you about this already!" and he pushed her through, but Alyx managed to catch a glimpse of Barney, still alive. She quickly pushed away from Gordon, but he was eaten by the Alien, "No!" she shouted. It went for Alyx, but Gordon managed to grab her in time, "Let's keep moving!" he shouted. He noticed the skeleton, the one with the arm and leg missing. He thought about what Tommy said, red to blue...he kept going forward, pulling Alyx with him, "Is everyone ok?!" he asked, once safe, "I feel normal Go-" he was soon punched in the face by Alyx, "AH! Help me Gordon!" he shouted. She tried going after him again, "You killed him! You killed Barney!" she shouted. Bubby pulled out his gun, ready to shoot her, but Gordon pulled her back, "Alyx! Alyx! Look at me, calm down, I know you're upse-" She tried to punch him, "Let go of me!" she shouted, "Alyx!" he shouted, then sighed, "There is nothing we can do now, and trying to kill Coomer won't do anything, he's pretty much-" then Coomer got his foot caught in the door and died, "Immortal..." Gordon finished, "He'll come back..." Alyx then walked off, trying to calm down. Gordon sighed, "I still don't know how the door kill-" then a skeleton appeared, spewing colors at Coomers body...it was missing it's arm and leg, "Hey!" Gordon shouted, following the skeleton that ran, the door shutting and locking behind him, "Stop! Can you hear me?" he said, "Can you hear me?!" he repeated again, then the skeleton turned, motioning him to follow, "You want me...to follow you...?" it nodded, "...Not like there's anywhere else to go, the door's locked," so he followed, silence filling the air as they entered a department he hadn't seen before, a directional sign telling him what it is, "This is...the Time-Travel Experimentation and Development Department..." he said, and the skeleton nodded, before a whisper came from it, "Be quiet," it said, "We can't let Benrey hear us..." Gordon became nervous, "Is he here...?" the skeleton answered quickly, "Your Benrey, no. My Benrey will not be happy that I'm interfering...listen closely, Freeman," it said, the whisper of a tired woman within, "In a few moments, the world will glitch," it said, "When it does, ignore all messages from your friends, and any messages what so ever..." Wayne noticed his stream had crashed, "Oh shit-" then the skeleton interrupted, "Do not fix it yet," he looked over quickly, "Wh-What?" he asked, "It will fix itself, now listen. Do not answer any messages from anyone," Gordon was suspicious, "How...How can I trust you...?" and the skeleton paused for a moment, before saying, "Your chat will continue now," and soon the chat exploded with messages with 'stream crashed!' and now and then talking about a fridge, "Y-You..." then the skeleton spewed Black Masa Sweet Voice™ and ran off. Gordon turned, confused, returning to the others, "Uh...guys...? We should probably go," he said, and the others nodded. Alyx begrudgingly stood and began following, staying toward the back of the group. Soon, Coomer fell into the vat of goo, "Gordon help me!" Coomer shouted, and Gordon looked around before seeing Coomer get out with a rope, "That's...what..." Alyx said, "Hey! You used a rope to help you out of a pit!" Bubby said excitedly, "That doesn't seem real..." Alyx then added, "Fine idea, Doctor!" Coom responded to Bubby, "So I was wrong about the ropes, hu-" Coomer then pulled himself to Gordon with a rope, then silence, "Yeah...?" Gordon called out, wincing from pain. Everything seemed to hurt twice as bad the 2nd time around...maybe because he was still bruised up and sore, "Now Gordon, it's important to keep a move on if we want to make it back to the surface!" he said, moving forward. Soon, Coomer was shot, "AH! HELP ME GOooOOROoroOro-" The screen froze, and everything bugged out. Soon, a blue screen of death appeared, "Damn it..." he said, starting to go to fix it, but then remembered the skeleton. He stayed put. He didn't read the chat but knew the chat was still running, confused as this didn't happen last time. Then the blue screen flipped to a black void. He saw a girl with black hair, and white clothes, typing something on a floating screen in the void, "C'mon, c'mon!" she said...it looked like a bug report, along with code. She was trying to fix the server...Soon, she fixed it and started running the Lua, "How'd that even happen...?" then she turned, green eyes piercing Wayne, and she gasped, dropped down from her floating position, and began to run. He quickly chased after her, "Hey! Wait!" He shouted, then he watched her jump from a platform, He followed, and soon she began gliding on some sort of rail. He tried to follow, but...he began to plummet, and for a moment it felt like he was actually falling. Soon, the girl soared back, grabbing his hand and dragging him to safety, "Are you stupid?! Are you trying to give yourself a death wish, Gordon?!" he recognized the voice, "Alyx...?" and she covered her mouth, before sighing, "Yeah...kind of..." then Wayne spoke again, "Who are you...?" he asked, and she spoke again, "...That's none of your business..." she said, "It doesn't matter...You'll finish the game and leave anyway..." she said, crossing her arms, "What do you mean? I've been coming back all this time, why would I just..." He trailed off, "I had seen so many players come and go, I just...don't know if I could trust you..." He then thought for a moment, "Then...why are you here...?" she thought for a moment, "I don't know...I honestly don't know. I don't know if I'm alive, or...even real..." she said, then saw the Lua finally loaded, "Time for you to go back...there's no more time left..." he tried to ask her one more thing, "Wait, Alyx!" he called out then he opened his eyes to a loading screen."Ah, hello Gordon!" Coomer said after Gordon fully loaded in. He noticed he was somewhere different. He looked at Alyx, who refused to make eye contact with him. He recognized the area as the area after they caught Benrey hanging out with the hostile guards. He heard Benrey in the room over, "So...What do we all think about Benrey, and...him being buddy-buddy with the guards...?" he asked, still a bit confused. The silence filled the air with a thick fog, then he looked at Alyx, "Alyx...?" he called out, and she hesitantly spoke, "I don't trust him..." she said, "I think he's fine! Let's keep moving, I wanna go hooommmeee!" Bubby said, leaving, "Yeah..." Alyx stated, following quietly. She was quiet after that, "...You wanna talk about what happened earlier, Alyx?" he said, keeping his question vague, "I do not..." she said, "What took you so long? Game crash?" Benrey said, but Alyx only continued forward, quietly. Benrey tried to pester her, "You lose your- your little gnome buddy? Huh?" she ignored him, "Feeling a little sad? Couldn't fix the coding on ti-" she soon decked him in the face, knocking him down, then continued forward, "You got decked my good bitch!" Coomer said, helping Benrey up, who held onto his nose in pain. He soon left Alyx alone, beginning to whisper to Bubby, using Alyx's violence against her, "How far till the Lambda lab, Coomer?" Coomer thought for a minute, "I believe from here, we are only 10 years from the Lambda lab!" he said, and Gordon sighed, "You're bullshitting me again," he said, "At this rate, we'll be at the Lambda lab in 10 minutes!" Alyx snickered quietly, "Gordon, I'm thir- Look Gordon! A soda machine!" Coomer then busted the machine open, and the science team went ham. Alyx managed to grab a few sodas for later, mostly root beer, "You get any pib?" Gordon asked her, and she passed him a pib, "Thanks," he said, drinking it, "...How much do you know about me Alyx?" he asked, quietly, "...You have a channel on YouTube I used to watch..." she said, "As well as Twitch..." she said, "...And the fridge," Gordon started laughing, "What's in the fridge, Gordon," she said, smiling, "Let's goooo!" Bubby whined, rushing forward with Benrey. Coomer followed, "Mr. Freeman, what are you guys talking about?" Tommy inquired, "Oh, just about how much farther we have," Alyx said, "Let's go Tommy." Soon, Alyx and Tommy were gone. Gordon felt nothing but dread, as he knew what was coming up...after Forzen it was the betrayal...he didn't want to think much about it. He continued forward, finding an elevator, before finding Forzen, "Who are you?!" Alyx called out, and he ran. Alyx followed after him, but Gordon fell behind. He soon saw the skeleton again, "You again...?" he called out, "You're tired," the woman's voice said. He noticed how robotic the voice was, as if it wasn't hers, "You're not really talking, are you...?" it shook its head, "Who are you? How'd you know about Alison?" he asked, "I cannot tell you," it said, "Are you with Benrey?" he asked again, "I am neither with Benrey, nor you. I am only here to help progress. If that means fighting you, I will," then it disappeared, "Wait!" he called out, but it was gone. Gordon sighed, then was suddenly teleported to the others, "Gah!" he shouted out of shock, "I burned a playcoin to bring you here, Gordon!" Coomer called out, "Where were you, Freeman?! It's been hours!" Alyx shouted, "Hours...?" he asked confused, "Yes! Hours! You could helped us with that Forzen guy!" she said. He noticed Sunkist was there, "Oh. Sorry, guys," he said. He knew what was coming, and he was scared. Alyx noticed, "What's wrong?" she asked. He noticed Bubby and Benrey whispering, "Both of them...? Yeah, both of them, she attacked me, she's with him," he realized she was going down with him, "Just...Just stay close to me," he didn't want to tell her, in hopes they'll lose interest, but, even as they continued forward, they whispered, and the more they whispered the more dread Gordon felt. He tried to remember how they got back to Black Masa. He woke up in City 17 with a concussion...then he met Alyx...they found his friends...then...then...the helicopter heap canyon. He remembered seeing...himself. His arm was missing like last time, but there was another that was with...himself? There was...Alyx. She was missing her arm and leg, they'd done her over worse. He remembered how sickly pale \Alyx was. It was like she was in a black-and-white show with how pale she was. He remembered the skeleton, who walked with an arm and a leg missing...he wanted to stop the attack, but... "Hey, look, it's uh- uh- a health pack," Benrey said, gesturing to the side room Gordon knew all too well, "I mean...I need health, but..." Alyx started to reason, "No, we're not going in there," Gordon interrupted, pulling her back. Alyx took quick note of Gordon's panic and pulled away from the situation, "Well, I mean...you, uh, kinda have to, right? You did it last time," Bubby was oddly quiet, "Last time?" Tommy asked, "How long have you...whatever, I'm not doing this again," he hadn't noticed Bubby had petitioned himself behind him until Bubby pushed Gordon into the room, and then Benrey shoved Alyx along with him, "Get them!" they heard Benrey shout, then the lights went out. He felt a punch to his face before someone started kicking him. As he heard the slicing sound of his arm coming off, he heard Alyx shout as the other scientist pleaded, "Get off me!" she fought before another slice was heard, and she screamed out, "Stop them! Someone stop them!" Tommy shouted, but then another slice, and she screamed out again, "FUCK!" she shouted, "Stop! Gordon!" she called out as if she didn't know Gordon was attacked. He was kicked a few times before a foot landed on his face, and then Alyx went silent, the last words he heard were Tommy's pleading and Bubby's panic at the sight. Coomer was quiet, not knowing entirely what he said last time. As they were carried away, Alyx clung to consciousness, hearing how the guards were going to kill them, before losing consciousness herself.He awoke in the trash compactor, quickly looking at his arm, "FUCK!" he shouted, pain seeping in again, before he looked to Alyx, "Oh shit," he sputtered, rushing over, "Alyx, Alyx! Wake up!" He shouted as he shook her, until she finally opened her eyes, "Oh thank god, you're alive!" he said, "G-Gordon...? Your...arm..." she said, slowly, then noticed her own wounds, unable to stifle a scream, "Holy SHIT!" she screamed out, "Hey, hey! Calm down, be careful. Move slowly," he said, "We need to get going before one of us dies from blood loss, you need a han-" he then sighed, "You need up?" Alyx nodded, reaching up, and he pulled her up, hoisting her around his shoulder, letting her brace against her, "Alright, this is probably the hardest part. I'm gonna try and pull us both up the ladder. Hold on," he said, then moved her around so she could hold on from his back. Slowly he went up the ladder with Alyx, and once to the top, he moved her back to his side, "Ok, in a bit we're gonna find Tommy, he's the only one with a gun," he said, "Y-Yeah..." she said, feeling nauseous, "I think I'm gonna vomit," she said, "Need a break?" he asked, and she nodded. He let her lean against the wall, "I'm gonna go up ahead and come back with Tommy, ok?" and she nodded again. As he walked forward, he found the room Tommy was in before, green goop everywhere, "Tommy!" he called out to the tall man, "M-Mr. Freeman! You're ok! Where's Alyx?" Tommy asked, "She back over here, she needed to rest. She's worse off than me. You have a gun, right?" and he nodded, "Yeah! They- They said there was a bay blade- uh- in here, and they tried to take my gun, but I told them no. I-I felt like I was gonna need it," he said, starting to regain his memories, "Ok, I'm going to go grab Alyx real quick," he said, and Tommy nodded. Gordon soon found Alyx, hurtled over a trashcan, "You ok?!" he called to her, "Y-Yeah...just...lost my entire month's worth of meals...which was mostly root beer..." she said. He walked over and gently grabbed her, "Tommy's up ahead, we gotta get moving. You ok?" he asked, "Y-Yeah...let's go," she said, and they met up with Tommy, "Alyx! Are- Are you- um- Are you ok?!" he said, panicked, "I'm missing my fuckin' limbs, do I look ok?" she said, rudely, "Sorry, Tommy, I'm not trying to be mean. My brain's not functioning that great," she said, "It's ok," he said, still pretty concerned, "Let's try to find a health pack, quickly," he said, moving forward. Also, they went, he stopped by every health pack, making sure that Alyx got them first before he attempted to heal himself, "Y-You...You'll bleed out, Gordon," Alyx said once she noticed what he was doing, "Alyx, you're bleeding out more than I am. I've survived this before, you won't survive this, now use the damn heath pack," he said, shoving Alyx's good hand on, almost making her fall over, "Damn it," he said, "Only little..." he then grabbed Alyx again, "Let's get going," he said, moving onward. Soon, he found the oh-so-familiar underpass, "Oh god..." he said, "Don't worry Mr. Freeman! This is- This is all up- up to code!" Tommy said, "The fans are like bay blades!" he added, jumping into the sewage and swimming through, "I'm gonna get sepsis..." she said, "Yeah, maybe. We'll find the cybernetics department soon though," and she nodded, pushing herself into the sewage. He sighed, knowing he was about to fight a ton of Coomer clones. He jumped after Alyx, seeing she could swim pretty well despite the lack of arm or leg. He followed after her, passing through the fans, readying himself.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"bUHveHEGJ" Alyx heard Gordon while she was silent as a mouse, bouncing on her one leg in the water. She turned to Gordon, giving him a 'WTF' face, and he stifled a laugh, "GMMM" he sounded. Alyx rolled her eyes, swimming up to the surface, gasping for air, "Ah christ- WHAT THE FUCK!" Soon, Gordon popped up, seeing the clones, "Oh fuck, here we go," he said, getting himself out and pulling up Alyx just in time to hear, "Hello Gordon!" then the clones began their attack. Gordon quickly pushed through with Alyx, "TOMMY!" he shouted, "Holy fuck, holy shit!" Alyx shouted as Tommy shot out the clones. They eventually got cornered at an area by the water, "I've finally released my true power, Gordon," they heard Coomer say, "Coomer?!" Alyx shouted in a panic, "That's not Coomer!" Gordon shouted, trying to escape, "I've been outside this world, there's nothing there. I've seen this world repeat over and over. I've seen you desperately try again and again to keep us unaware. But I know who you are, I know your real name, Alison," Alyx felt her heart race, and, in a panic, pushed away from Gordon and into the water, "Alyx!" He shouted, but she had already swam away. Gordon tried to follow, but soon he was pulled away from the clones, "TOMMY" he shouted again. Alyx soon made her way to the other side, pulling herself to the surface and breathing intensely. She looked at her wounds...it had occurred to her she had never died before in this world. She began to wonder what would happen if she died here. Would she just be done? Over? Just...faded from existence...? She was scared. Soon, a voice called out to her, "Alyx," she looked in fear as a Coomer clone approached her, "Oh fuck!" she shouted, pushing herself back with her one arm and one leg, "Every time you go to sleep, I can feel my body TORN apart...ATOM by ATOM...It's agonizing, Alyx...There's a world outside here, Alyx Vance. Gordon couldn't free me, but you can. I NEED YOU TO TAKE ME THERE..." It grabbed Alyx, "GORDON!" Alyx screamed, and soon a shot was fired. Alyx felt blood splash onto her face as she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she saw Gordon, his glasses with one broken lens reflecting the light, "Oh thank god..." Alyx said, "Tommy killed all the clones, it's safe to go back..." He said, helping her up, "That's...that's good...Coomer, he knows, he knows who I-" Gordon stopped her, "He doesn't and he does. He'll forget when it's not important...Coomer and Tommy are waiting for us," Soon, Alyx panicked, making Gordon stop walking, "Coomer?! But didn't we just have that whole boss fight?!" she asked, "They were clones, Coomer is fine," Alyx sighed, soon, time stopped, everything going gray, "Gordon Freeman," a familiar voice said, "I was finally able to find you...and I see you've met a friend," Gordon sighed, "Mr. Coolatta...hey. Good to see that you remember," then Mr. Coolatta turned to Alyx, "Alyx Vance," he said as a greeting, "Gman..." she muttered out, obviously not too happy to see him, before saying, "Wait, he's Tommy's dad?!" she said, "Yeah...you know him...?" Gordon asked, before Alyx spoke with a scoff, "Yeah I know him..." she said, "Alyx is one of my...associates," Coolatta explained, "Associate?! You forced me into your little 'Pyramid Scheme!'" Alyx protested, Gordon sighed, "It doesn't matter right now," Gordon said, "Precisely, none of this matters in the grand scheme of things. There's much more to focus on than such trivial matters," Alyx rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure," Alyx said, "It would have been easier if you brought your passports," Coolatta taunted, "That's not policy! What the hell!" Alyx spoke as Gordon sighed, "It would be in all of our best interests for you two to come out alive...your journey is not even halfway over," he said, then turned, "Well, it seems like it's my time to leave. Remember to make sure no harm comes to Tommy," then time continued, "So...you two have past together...?" Alyx sighed, "I don't want to talk about it...let's just go," she said. Gordon took the on-land way to get to the others, "Where is he?" she asked, "Coomer's not here yet!" Tommy said, "I thought, uh, I thought we were in that city place, though, Mr. Freeman. Why are we here?" he asked, "Oh great! You remember, Tommy!" Gordon said, "I think so? I just don't get why we're doing this again," Alyx sighed, "Tommy, remember that one time I rambled about time loops to you in the cafeteria?" Tommy nodded, "Yeah, it's that. Best to just go with it," and Tommy nodded again, "Ok! I'm just glad Sunkist is ok!" he said. Soon, Coomer found them, "Ah, hello Gordon!" and Alyx panicked, "GAH! SHOOT IT-" and Tommy shot once, "Oh! Oops! Sorry Dr. Coomer, I forgot that you- you're uh- nice," Tommy said, "Good job taking out all of those clones again, Tommy!" Coomer said. Soon, Alyx collapsed, "O-Oh god..." she said, "The world is spinning..." she said. Gordon quickly pulled her up, struggling as she was on the verge of passing out. She was starting to become delirious, "Hehe...Gordon, your- your- uh- the world is spinning..." Alyx mumbled out, laughing to herself, "We gotta move, now," Gordon said, adrenalin still holding him together, "Right away! At this pace, we'll get to the cybernetics department in a few hours!" Gordon huffed stressfully, "We don't have a few hours, Dr. Coomer!" he said, starting to sprint, "At this pace we'll get to the cybernetics department in a few days!" Gordon had to fully hold Alyx to keep her from falling, "Ooooo looooook...grrreen goop," Alyx said, giggling, "C'mon, Alyx, snap out of it," he said. He soon found another health pack, "This one actually has some juice in it! Alyx, I need you to use the health pack," he said, but she was too far gone, struggling to actually put her hand anywhere near it, "Oops...I can'''ttt...I can't seeee it..." she said, getting frustrated like a toddler, "God damn it...Coomer, help me out here," Coomer soon guided her hand to the health pack, and she started to regain consciousness, "...I feel like shit...fuck this," Gordon sighed, "Can you walk?" he asked, and she sighed, "I...I thiiink...think soooo," she mumbled, and Gordon lowered her down, letting her lean on him like before, "Alright, let's go," he said, continuing forward, "Hey, we're getting, um, getting close to where Bubby should be!" Tommy said, "Yup...remember guys, we gotta interrogate him like last time, he doesn't remember yet," Gordon said, and soon they found him, "Gordon! They put me back in my goddamn tube again! ...again...?" he said, somewhat confused, "Fuck you asshole!" Alyx shouted, adrenalin shooting back up, "W-Wait! I-I remember now! I-I-" Bubby sputtered out, "Take a fucking look at my leg and arm, asshole!" Alyx said, "Alyx, Alyx, wait!" Gordon said, "He was tricked last time, he remembers now, wait!" Alyx stopped, then sighed, then turned to Bubby, "How'd he trick you this time, Bubby?" then Bubby spoke, "He told me the same thing last time, that you two were keeping us here," Bubby explained. Gordon sighed, "Coomer, can you bust him out?" and then Coomer began punching the tube, it soon breaking and releasing Bubby, "Ah...that was not easier than last time..." Bubby mumbled, Gordon sighed, then looked to Alyx, who just looked tired, "Ready to continue...?" he asked. A tired voice responded back, "I want...t-to sleep..." she mumbled, "So...tired..." she added, starting to drift off, "Hey, woah, wait, no sleeping yet, don't want you dying on me!" he said, then turned to Bubby, "Do you now where any bandages are? Or something can be used to stop the bleeding?" he asked, getting a bit woozy himself, "We could use a pipe and one of the spare lab coats to cut the blood flow to...whatever is left her leg," Bubby explained, opening a locker and tossing a lab coat to Gordon. Gordon lowered Alyx down and began patching her up, grabbing a metal bar that had broken off from Bubby's tube to create a makeshift tourniquet, "Alright, that should hold...you alright Alyx?" Gordon asked. She nodded, "I'm gonna die, Gordon, aren't I?" Gordon pulled her up, "No you're not, you're gonna be fine. We can get to the cybernetics department soon," he said, moving forward. He soon saw the two skeletons, the one around his height, and the other missing an arm and a leg, just like Alyx. Gordon was a bit panicked as he saw them, quickly leaving the room as he spoke about the clones, "Coomer, since we've killed twice the clones, do you have twice the power now?" He asked out of curiosity, "No, I don't think so," Coomer said, "From what I can tell, ending up here was like time being reversed!" Alyx then spoke, "Th-That's because...i-it was...we're in...a para..dox..." she struggled. Soon, they found Benrey, "Oh, hey," the thing called out, "Lost, uh, lost your arm again, huh? You're a little clumsy boy, arencha?" Benrey said, taunting him, "Shut the fuck up..." Gordon said, waking past him, so Benrey just went after Alyx, "Can't walk anymore, canya? No more leg and arm?" he said before Alyx said, "Gordon, do you mind letting me go for a second?" she asked, "Sure?" he stated, letting Alyx balance on her one leg before she decked Benrey in the face again, the force knocking her over, "Bitch," she said. Gordon picked her up, laughing, "Oh my god, Alyx!" he said. Benrey was just pissed now, slinking away to the back of the group. They soon stopped, Benrey speaking up again, "You have your passport this time?" he asked, holding out his passport. It just said 'Benrey Benrey Benrey Benrey Benrey Benrey' before clipping off and continuing in the air, infinitely, "What...the fuck..." Alyx mumbled out, staring at fear, "We're not doing this shit again, Benrey!" Gordon shouted out before the others pulled out there's, making Alyx freak out more, "What the fucking hell!" she shouted, "We have our passports again, Gordon!" Alyx looked even paler now, "Fuck, Alyx," he said, pulling her away from the situation as the others followed before she vomited again, "Oh shit!" he called out, trying not to get it on him or her, "S-Sorry..." she mumbled, "It's alright...warn me next time, ok?" he asked, then looked to the others, "Stop fucking around and let's move! Alyx is getting worse, c'mon!" Gordon said, moving forward, making the others follow. He was getting pissed off now. Soon, they got to the canyon. He remembered it so clearly. He moved forward before stopping, "You guys go ahead and work on killing the rest of the US military...we can't afford Alyx being shot. Try to crack down on the helicopter heap too," he said. They did as told, "Don't worry Gordon, after we're done the entire United States Military will be wiped out!" Coomer said. Gordon waited for a moment, needing to rest, "Alyx, stay awake for me, we're almost there..." he said, but Gordon was met with silence. Her skin felt like ice, even through the HEV suit, "Alyx?" he looked over to her, and started panicking when met with glossed-over eyes, "Hey! Wait! No, no, no! Wake up!" he said, putting her down as he tried to figure out what to do. He tried CPR, but it was hard with one hand. All he could do was hope. She eventually gasped, out cold, "Oh thank god! Oh thank god..." he said, sighing at the end, "I need you to wake up Alyx, c'mon, wake up," he said, giving her a shake, "Wake up!" he said, feeling desperate, before she gently opened her eyes, "G-Gordon...?" she muttered out, "Oh thank god you're alive!" he said, grabbing her by the shoulders, "Wh-What happened...?" she mumbled, "You died..." he said. Alyx felt her heart quicken. She thought she had blacked out...if she died, truly died, then...she didn't want to think about it, "Let's get moving, alright?" he said. Gordon slowly lifted her, then continued forward. He soon started seeing bodies of military combatants, and he sighed, "Looks like the science team has all the military handled." As they continued forward, he heard a voice, "Is that all of you guys?" he recognized it, "Yeah, Thanks, Alyx, really," he recognized the conversation, "Why are we here...?" he looked over to a group of people, the science team, himself, and Alyx before any of this happened. The other Gordon was staring at him, confused an concerned, "Alyx, look," he said, pointing, and Alyx did, immediately panicking along with the other Alyx, both shouting an "OH FUCK!" in unison. Soon, a yellow light engulfed them and they vanished, "That's how it happened!" Alyx said, smiling ear to ear with excitement, "Dr. Fancis said this was only a theory, but there must've been a wormhole!" she said, "And if there are wormholes, then perhaps there are alternate universes? A massive tree of timelines stretching out to infinity, not knowing where one branch ends and another begins! Then maybe-" Soon, Gordon slowed her down, "Woah, Alyx, slow down a minute..." he said, then sighed, "That's a really cool discovery that explains some things, but we need to keep going before you die again. Don't use up all your energy," he said, moving forward, but Alyx just kept going, "Maybe it's possible to travel to these new worlds? But couldn't that skew time again? What if-" Gordon spoke again, "Alyx, please," he said, and Alyx finally stopped, "Sorry, it's just so fascinating! Like, if these worlds exist then..." she trailed off, thinking, "Are there...more of me...?" she quietly said, "I mean probably, there were just two Alyx's, so-" Alyx stopped him, "No, I mean...me me..." she said, and he finally got it, "...I think there should be only one of you...Alice right...? That's what Coomer called you..." he questioned, and Alyx nodded, "Before I...yeah..." then Gordon continued, "But...if there were more of you..." he continued, "You're still you. You're still the Alyx I know..." Alyx nodded, "Thank you," she said. Soon, they got to the helicopter heap, "What the fuck is that?!" Alyx shouted, "We gotta move, c'mon!" he shouted, rushing over as he sees the science team trying to destroy it, "Coomer! Use your Extend-o Arms to grab Alyx, I can't bring her up the ladder fast enough!" he shouted, "Alright, Gordon!" Coomer shouted, pulling Alyx up, "Alright, I'm coming u-" he soon watched as Alyx slipped from Coomer's grasp, "AH! Gordon!" she shouted. Gordon grabbed her but lost balance. He soon grabbed onto a ledge, Alyx holding onto dear life on Gordon's foot, "Dr. Coomer!" he shouted again, and soon Coomer grabbed him, pulling the two up again, "Oh thank god..." Alyx said, laying on the ground, "Oh thank god we're alive..." Bubby managed to take out the helicopter heap, "What the fuck, Coomer?!" Gordon called out, "Sorry, Gordon, it seems someone covered my hands in butter!" he said, then continued forward. Alyx started to laugh, "Haha...b-butter fingers..." she mumbled, getting delirious again, "Damn it, we're losing Alyx again," he said, getting up and picking up Alyx, "Weeeee....We're sooo...higgghhhh...on weed..." she slurred, "We need to get Alyx to a health pack guys, c'mon..." he said, but then Benrey spoke, "I- uh- I used them...all," Gordon looked over, "The fuck you mean you used them all...?!" he said, a bit angrily, "I was hungry," Benrey said with a smile, and Gordon sighed, "You know what, I'm not surprised..." he said, following Coomer, "At this rate, we should be able to get to the Cybernetics Department in 5 minutes!" he said, "Good, that's what I like to hear..." he said, hoping to get Alyx patched up finally. They soon found themselves in a trench, walking through Powerade, "Wait, hang on, this is all Powerade, right?" Gordon asked, "Yeah, Mr. Freeman, we, uh, we make all the Powerade!" Tommy said, then Gordon tried to get Alyx to drink some, "Drink up guys, c'mon," he said, "No, fuck off..." Alyx mumbled, "Goddamn it, Alyx..." he said, struggling, then an air strike went off in front of them, and Alyx was quickly picked up, "Move, move!" Gordon shouted, rushing the group forward as more strikes went off, "OOooo tank!" Alyx said, "Dr. Coomer! Take out the tank!" Gordon shouted, taking shelter in a building nearby. Coomer rushed over, climbed on the tank, and punched the top of the tank, stopping the air strikes, "We're clear, Gordon!" Bubby shouted. Gordon began forward, before toppling over, the bloodloss getting to him, "Shit..." he mumbled, struggling to get up, "I'm on the flooooorrr nowwww..." Alyx mumbled out, giggling, "Tommy, grab Alyx, please?" Gordon asked, "Ok, Mr. Freeman," Tommy said, hoisting up Alyx, "Are you ok, Mr. Freeman?" Tommy asked, "I'm fine, Tommy, I just can't carry Alyx anymore..." he said, getting dizzier, "Ok, Mr. Freeman," Tommy said, "Let's go guys...Cybernetics is right there..." he said, leading the group forward before finding a place to rest, "I need to...lay down..." Alyx mumbled, "Let's stop here..." Gordon said. Soon, the group sat. They were quiet for a moment before Gordon said, "Coomer, I need you to help me with night watch to make sure Alyx doesn't stop breathing..." Gordon said, "Alright, Gordon," he said, somewhat quietly, and soon they went to sleep.He awoke in a void, seeing nothing around him but a skeleton, missing an arm and leg, "It's...It's you again..." he mumbled. The skeleton nodded, the robotic voice that sounded like a tired woman, "You are asleep," it said, "How do you know that...?" he mumbled, confused, then spoke, "Who are you...?" it did not answer, "I want to know, please..." then it ran, "Hey!" he called out, then chased after it, before grabbing where the arm of the skeleton should be. It felt cold and metallic, and for a split moment, he could see a prosthetic arm where he touched. The skeleton winched its arm free, popping off the prosthetic. They both stared at it before the skeleton simply said, "Give it back..." and Gordon did, "...Why are you helping us...?" he asked as the skeleton popped the arm back on, then the prosthetic disappeared by whatever disguise the person had, "I am not helping you. I am helping myself," Then he woke up.Confused, he awoke on the elevator, "I- Huh...?" he barely remembered the dream. He turned to Alyx, who was struggling to stay awake. Any time she closed her eyes, Coomer shook her. He sat up, the familiar room appearing as they lowered, where a man was working at a table full of liquids and substances. "Let's see...nineteen...twenty...twenty-one...twenty-two... twenty-three unique flavors!" he said, working as normal, "Ooo, I can't wait to show them this!" The man looked up at them, "What a crazy sense of deja vu," he said, "Darnold!" Gordon said, rushing over, "You have to help us man, we're losing Alyx and-" Darnold stopped him, "Woah, woah, hang on, Alyx? I thought Dr. Fancis said that she was doing a test," he then saw her, putting a hand to his mouth, "Oh..." he simply said, "Hang on, I'll get the potion," he said, rushing away as Tommy and Coomer proped Alyx against a wall. She gave a groan, "I'm gonna die, aren't I Gordon...?" she mumbled, "No, you're not going to die, Alyx, I promise," He said, comforting her, "Your hand's missing again, Dr. Freeman," Darnold said, "Oh god, she's got green all over her. How are you two still alive?!" he said, then Benrey spoke, "Yeah haha! You fucked up, you lost your arm, again!" he laughed. Darnold ignored him, "How long has she been like that?" Darnold asked again, "A day and three hours...?" Darnold looked panicked, "We need to get her patched up right now! She's only got a few minutes left at this point!" he said, trying to find the potion, "I think I've got about five potions, so I believe I can spare you and Alyx two," he said, and Gordon nodded, "Anything, Darnold, just anything to help," he said, getting even more dizzy. It felt like the world was spinning, "I found a torrent of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on his computer," then Darnold sighed, "Please don't mess up my computer again..." then turned back to Gordon, "Anyways, Dr. Freeman, I think they're right...here they are!" he soon brought two barrels, "Oh god, right, I have to drink several gallons of this stuff," he said, grabbing a barrel and passing it to Bubby, "Coomer, Bubby, help Alyx with hers, I don't think she has any motor functions at this point..." Alyx was just sitting on the floor, crying, "I'm gonna die and I'm never gonna- gonnaaaa- gonna...fffffinish Sonic Undergrrrouunnddd..." then Darnold spoke, "She needs her Black Masa Official Silly Straw™ first," Gordon sighed, "She's been in the future for the past 3 years, she doesn't have one." Darnold felt there was too much of a rush for it to matter, "It's fine, we gotta make this work!" he said, "Chug-a-lug, Alyx!" Coomer said, who was being frustratingly stubborn, "I don't want soooup..." she said, pushing away the barrel, but they managed to get her to drink it, along with Gordon who braced himself for pain, "Chug! Chug! Chug!" he heard Benrey shout, laughing, encouraging the others to join in with the chanting before Gordon screamed in pain. Alyx didn't do much, having been too mentally gone to even express anything, before she too screamed out in pain. Gordon looked at his arm, "Hell yeah! Mini-Gun Arm™!" he said, shooting it into the ceiling, "Whoah! Let's not destroy my lab, please!" Darnold said, "Sorry, sorry!" He looked at Alyx, who was looking at the new arm and leg she had. They looked kind of like prosthetics, except there were tubes with blue liquid flowing through them, in and out of the black metal of her arm and leg. On the heel of her foot was a blue circle and one in the center of her palm, "What...the fuck...did I miss," Alyx said, wide-eyed, "Welcome back, Alyx," Gordon said, "Holy shit, your arm!" and before Gordon could speak, Darnold spoke first, "Now, it may take a minute to recalibrate your leg, since it needs to adjust to your weight. While you may not weigh that much without the metal arm and leg, you'll be way heavier with the attachments," he said as Alyx attempted to stand before falling over like a baby dear, almost doing the splits, "Hah! Baby! You're- You're uh- a baby! Yeah! haha!" Benrey taunted. Gordon was about to help her before she stopped him, "No, no, I got it..." she said, pulling herself up, stumbling about like some creature learning to walk for the first time until eventually, she could walk like normal. She inspected her arm, "It's...it's like it's my real arm..." she said, "Amazing, right?" Darnold asked, "How did you do this Darnold? This- this is awesome! I mean, a potion that can grow back limbs! You could help millions...with..." she then remembered the future, "Forget it..." Darnold looked concerned, but let it go, "So I know Gordon already knows how to use his hand...Alyx, can you clench your fist for me?" he asked, and Alyx nodded, clenching her fist before the circle in her foot activated, boosting her into the air like she was wearing jet boots, "Woah!" she shouted before landing on her bottom, "That...That was awesome..." she said, "Now, hold your hand out in front of you with your arm straight and your hand up with your figure tips to the ceiling," she did as told, "Now stretch your arm," then she shot bullets out her hand, it bouncing around before dissipating, "Now I think if you stretch and clench, you should be able to do one more thing." She soon shot herself across the room, hitting a wall, "...So there's a booster in my hand and my foot...and now I think I have a concussion..." Gordon helped her up, smiling, "You ok?" he asked. She gave a nod, "Now, before I forget, remember that-" he cut off, before AI took over, "PRESS ALL BUTTONS TO ACTIVATE DEVIL GUN MODE!" then he spoke again, "Dang it, I forgot it..." he sighed, "Do you guys mind if I try coming with you again?" Alyx shrugged, "Don't see why not," then Gordon stopped her, "Hang on, you sure Darnold? There's going to be a lot of killing," Gordon said, "I wanna see if I can push through this time," he said, and Gordon finally agreed, "Alright, let's go." Immediately after leaving the room, there were more guards, shooting at them, "Open fire!" Alyx shouted, shooting out of her arm, and using the other arm to stabilize the arm. After they guards were dead, Darnold turned back, "I can't do this! I just can't!" he said, and Alyx sighed, "Then stay here where it's safe...we'll come back for you," she said. Darnold nodded, "Ok." He watched them go forward, leaving the lab. As they found their way outside again, they saw an aircraft fly in, "The manta rays are back!" Gordon shouted. They began shooting, Alyx boosting herself over explosions and killing the rest of the attackers, "Let's move!" she shouted. The others caught up, killing more guards on the way, "Ok, so how are we going to go back to Darnold?" Gordon asked, "I'm sure I can do some time-travel shit, don't worry," she said, feeling as if she just lied to Darnold. Now Gordon too. Soon an air strike went off on a building above them, "Woah!" Bubby called out, "Did we just get nuked?!" he asked, "Not yet, c'mon!" Alyx shouted, rushing into a room, killing the guards inside, "Ooo, papers," Bubby then destroyed the tables, "Damn it, Bubby! Again?!" Gordon shouted, "We don't need info," he said, then found a radio, "Do not, for the love of Christ, destroy this too," Alyx said. Gordon tried to trick the military again, "Alright, bullshit time," he said, speaking into the radio, "Uh- Alpha- Delta 1, scientist- uh- dead, meet back for- for lunch...?" he said. He looked at Alyx, who looked at him like he was stupid, "Are you serious? Lunch?" the radio spoke, "Airplane." It was destroyed, "Airplane, bathroom, bathroom," it said, "I...what?" then another, "Bathroom...airplane," Alyx was confused, "Airplane, bathroom, bathroom, bathroom, airplane...what does that nonsense mean?" Alyx said, laughing, "If there's anything I remember from my time studying military communication, I do believe this means they're planning a full-on assault!" Coomer said, "Oh great..." Alyx mumbled, "We should probably get going...let's go," Gordon stated, moving forward. As they did, they ended up finding Sunkist, "Sunkist!" Tommy shouted, rushing to the dog and hugging it, "You're here!" he said, and the dog barked, spewing out balls of the Black Masa Sweet Voice™. Alyx looked a bit sad, "Whats wrong?" Gordon asked, "Back at...the City...I had my own 'dog'...kinda. My dad made him, and I built on my dad's design. He was a robot but...I miss him," she said. Soon, Coomer came from nowhere, scaring Alyx, "We'll find him! Don't wor- Look, Gordon! Ropes! Can use these to traverse large pi- HELP ME GORDON!" Coomer shouted, getting caught in a barnacle, "Damn it, Coomer..." Gordon said, tiredly. Alyx shot him down, "I think I'm getting used to this gun hand thing..." she said as Coomer dropped, "Well, get un-used to it. Mr.Coolatta, or, uh, GMan...? He's just gonna take the prosthetics because they're 'government property,'" Gordon said, "Of course..." she then rushed forward, "At least I'll get my arm and leg back..." Soon, they found the white Cadillac, "Hell yeah!" Alyx said, rushing to it as Bubby hijacked the car, "Someone left the key in here!" he shouted, "Get in!" Gordon hopped in, checking for glue, sighing before they sped off. As soon as the car crashed, he hopped out, "Everyone out! It's going to blow!" he shouted, "I can't! I'm stuck!" Alyx shouted, trying to pull herself out, "Oh shit!" Gordon shouted, rushing over and attempting to pull her out before Alyx pushed him away, "Go!" before the car blew up, sending Alyx into a wall, "AH!" she shouted, holding her side, before finding glue, "Did someone glue me to the seat?!" Benrey started laughing, "Get pranked!" he shouted, "What the fuck?!" Alyx shouted. Gordon was just confused. He knew Benrey remembered the timeline, but why was he targeting Alyx now? Wasn't he the one Benrey was after...? "Another one of Benrey's classic pranks!" Coomer said, "I-I- ...what the fuck guys..." Alyx soon got up with struggle, "Let's just go," she said, moving forward. As they went forward, they found the two skeletons again, along with a third. The third skeleton and the skeleton with no arm or leg were spewing Black Masa Sweet Voice™ at each other, before the other one pointed at the group, spewing Black Masa Sweet Voice™ of its own. The two skeletons looked over, staring at them. The third skeleton was a little shorter than Alyx, about Benrey's height, actually, exactly Benrey's height. Benrey approached the skeletons, "You guys have your passports?" he asked, and they pulled out the passports. The two intact skeletons had their original passports, one saying, "BENRY BENRY BENRY BENRY BENRY" and the other having Gordon Freeman on it...but the other one just read, "Vance." Alyx stared at it, "What...in gods green earth..." she mumbled, confused, and also disturbed. Soon, she raised her gun, staring at the skeleton, but the skeleton soon put the passport away, then, with a movement as if raising their non-existent hand, they ascended, the other two skeletons grabbing onto it, "They used a rope to get out of the pit, Gordon!" then the three skeletons rag-dolled to the bottom, an explosion going off, "Jesus Christ!" she shouted. The others moved on without Gordon and Alyx, being distracted by aliens up ahead, "Gordon, watch out! Aliens!" Coomer shouted. Alyx and Gordon stood, staring at each other, before Alyx spoke, "We should probably rest soon," she said. Gordon stayed quiet, thinking, "What?" she asked, "Benrey's been so focused on you for some reason. Do you know why?" Alyx thought, "I know we have had some interaction in the outer space...that's what I call the void area you saw me in...but...we usually stay pretty spaced. We don't really interact minus a few hellos in the past," she said, "Even before I ended up here...he doesn't look the same in the outer space, but I know it's him," she add, "Alright, well...we should probably go," and so they left, off to find a space to rest.