For Science!

For City 17

"Dad... Oh God, no... daddy... don't leave me... please... oh no..." At this point, Alyx's pleas for her father had dissolved into quiet sobs as she leaned over her recently deceased father's chest. She dare not look up; the gruesome damage done to poor Eli would have been overwhelming at a time like this. The Advisors had just broken in and taken Alyx's father before his time. To make matters worse, all Gordon could do was watch. He was never the type to talk, much less console a weeping girl. He felt terrible for his lack of words. Slowly, Gordon placed his hand on Alyx's shoulder. He dared to take a look at Eli's face for just a moment.

A dry heave. That's the only thing he found in his throat. Still no words... Finally, Alyx found the courage to speak. "Gordon," she began, barely at a whisper, "What do you think we should do?" Ah... A decision. Gordon was relatively used to these, but no matter his idea, his associates always came up with an idea first. He sat still, not knowing what to do.

CRASH

"Gordon! Alyx! Eli! What the fuck just happened?" A familiar voice rang out from above, after the crash. Gordon recognized it immediately. It was his best pal from Black Mesa. Barney! He must've heard the noise and kicked down the door! "Holy shit!" he exclaimed, before being silenced by Dr. Kleiner. "Barney, I must ask you to tone down your language, please!"

"Sorry Doc. Uh.. Alyx? Gordon? Eli? You down there?" Barney walked closer to the railing. "Jeez, that walls not lookin' good. What happ.... ened."

"What is it, Barney?" Dr. Kleiner asked... No response. Barney slowly walked to the elevator, a look of disbelief on his face. Gordon waved to Barney to come down. Barney pushed the elevator button and waved Dr. Kleiner in as well. The room was silent for a while. Once the elevator reached the bottom, both individuals stepped out with heavy hearts onto the scene. There, beside the muscular man in armor, lay the weeping body of Alyx over her dead father's body. His head, previously impaled by the Advisor, had a large hole straight through.

"Oh no..." Kleiner gasped, "Oh Eli..." The room was quiet once again. "Eli had all the plans... Aside from Judith, of course. What do we do now? Gordon?" All eyes were on him. Just as he was about speak, another interruption took its place. "Actually," Alyx started, sniffling, "We should investigate that ship... the..."

"Borealis? The missing ship from Aperture Science?" Kleiner corrected. "That would be marvelous! Although... Eli did say that it was... too dangerous. Oh, phooey. Gordon? What do you think?" Gordon looked up at his friend and nodded. Kleiner was loath for a second, but nodded in response shortly after. It was settled, then. They know it was in the arctic, from the looks of it, (and the rumors) it was transported there via some force of nature... Whether it was Earthly or not didn't cross anyone's mind. "Alyx? Since you were the one to think this up, you should decide when we set off." She sat there, pondering in thought, the prospect of saving all of the human race occupying her thoughts; rather than what had just transpired.

"Today. Some point today, I want to be on the move."

"Fair enough... The helicopter should still be quite functional. I suppose we should use that, as opposed to walking. You've already traveled the better part of the country, have you not, Gordon? Ehehe... Well, let's get this baby moving!" Alyx looked to Gordon, then to Barney. "I want you to come with me."

"What!?" Barney exclaimed, clearly not liking the idea, "I-I can't! You heard Eli! It's gotta be destroyed! You don't know what it could-"

"Exactly. If it kills us, oh well. You can tell me, 'I told you so' in hell. If it saves us, that's great. It's more fulfilling knowing you have saved others than knowing you saved yourself." Gordon looked at her intensely, as if studying her. wondering where she got this philosophy on life, before realizing Barney kept arguing, "Alyx! Look at you! You can't throw yourself away! And you certainly can't take us down with you. You can't treat life like a game!"

"But that's the thing! At this point, why not? We could die any second now! Life is the biggest game of all, so I'm doing what I can and having fun! I'm living!" Her voice suddenly became somber, and soft, before she glanced at her father again, "Nobody gets out alive, anyway." Barney, realizing what she meant, looked at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry, Alyx. I don't... I didn't mean to yell. If you really want to risk it. If you want to save us... ALL of us, then let's go!"

Gordon, who had been watching the two, promptly nodded and walked towards Dr. Kleiner, who had gone off to inspect the helicopter for injuries. As Gordon approached, he asked, "Do they always fight?" Gordon shrugged as if to say, 'How should I know?' Kleiner took this as an acceptable answer and continued to maneuver around the equipment. "Well, Gordon, it seem to me the this birdie is stable. Why don't you hop in and start her up; check the fuel?" Gordon nodded and climbed in, leaving Kleiner to think about why he had never spoken. Ever since they first met, he had been more quiet than a dead man! What? Too soon?

...TOOM... TO-TOOM... TOOM... TOOM... TOOM... TOOMTOOMTOOMTOOMTKKATKATKATKA...

Before long, Gordon had jockeyed about the controls, successfully starting the helicopter. "Aha!" Exclaimed Kleiner from just outside the cockpit, "I knew you could do it!" Although Gordon couldn't hear him, he knew he was being praised. He shut down the helicopter and climbed out. "How much gas was left?" Gordon held out his hands so that they were far apart, then gave a thumbs up. It was a full tank! "Great, then! I'll tell Alyx!" And with that, the lab coat wearing, mostly bald doctor walked,- almost running -back to the others. Gordon slumped up against the side of the helicopter and closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep. (Also hoping he didn't have to pilot the damned thing.)

About an hour later, all the members of White Forest that were able to attend were attending the goodbye ceremony, if that's what you could call it. The funeral of Dr. Eli Vance would wait until Alyx, Gordon, and Barney's return. Most importantly, Dr. Magnusson insisted that Gordon should pilot. 'Damn.' Gordon thought, as he stepped into the cockpit once more. Well darn it, if he could drive a boat through radioactive waters and shoot down a gunship in the process, than he could sure as hell pilot a helicopter. Forget instructions, he had determination.

It was an hour into the flight. Gordon was finally learning how to smoothly operate a helicopter. Then again, he always managed to operate things perfectly the first time. Almost like there were instructions in front of him; plastered on some imaginary screen. According to the compass, they were heading north. They had enough fuel to just barely make it there, but also had enough in containers to just barely make it back. Every once and a while, Barney would mutter something random, and Alyx would pry and persist until she heard what he said, no matter how stupid it might have been. Every half hour, White Forest would attempt to communicate with Gordon's helicopter. Either out of laziness, or an effort to not speak, Gordon always handed the speaker back to Barney. Needless to say, it was an exceedingly boring ride there and back.

Every once in a while, Barney cracked a joke. ALl of which were stupid, but just corny enough to make everyone laugh. Every once in a while, Barney brought up some ideas of what 'awesome' things they might find on the Borealis. Every once and a while, Barney fell asleep and began to sleep-talk, only to have Alyx wake him up. Barney did a lot of things on the ride there, and Gordon nearly contemplated going back there, and gluing his lips shut. That would never happen, of course... He didn't even have any glue.

Alyx had finally fallen asleep with a worried expression on her face when Gordon checked the coordinates. There were close, now; no time to rest. Gordon waved over Barney, who took one look at the co-ords and woke Alyx up. "We're nearly there. Better get ready."

As if on cue, White Forest called in, "Hello, Freeman. It's been some time now, have you seen the Borealis?" Ah, of course. Magnusson. Barney reached over, grabbing the microphone, "Yeah, we're closin' in on her. Haven't seen her... thoug-"

"There it is!" Alyx called from afar, "That's the Borealis!" Sure enough, in the distance, there was a massive cargo-looking ship with a faded "Aperture" logo imprinted on the side. Gordon picked up the pace, knowing where he was headed now, looking forward with a certain familiar determination on his face. The kind he got in Ravenholm, the kind he got in the citadel, and the kind he got when he faced two antlion guardians. "Dr. Magnusson, it looks like the coordinates were just a tad off. When we land, we'll tell you what the more accurate ones are."

"Thank you, Barney. My oh, my... This will be such a breakthrough!"

"Ya got that right! Gordon, it doesn't look like there's an entrance on the bottom. I'm not even seeing any doors! The deck looks big enough, though. Let's try to land there." Gordon sighed and rolled his eyes, 'Of all the places.' Gordon found a spot to put the bird down, and began a forward decent, much like an airplane would on a runway. "Alright, Doc, we're making our decent."

"Thank you Barney, let me know when you are go-"

"What the-? Hello? Doc? Mr. Magnusson?" Barney peered around the chair and looked into the cockpit to see Gordon frantically jerking the joystick back and forth. He had no idea why until he looked out the window. It was hard to notice amidst the snow storm, but a glance at the altimeter confirmed his fears. He looked at Alyx with fearful eyes and nearly yelled, "Brace yourself, we're goin' down!" Gordon looked at the ship. He was ready. He knew that SOMETHING would go wrong here, seeing as things rarely went right for him. Ironically, it looked like their trajectory was perfect. They were going to hit the deck of the Borealis. 'Hope you're happy, Barney.'

Barney was uttering a quick prayer, Alyx was semi-hopeful to see her father again, and Gordon just sat there. In the midst of screaming and shouting; the beeping and booping of the helicopter warning its passengers, Gordon just sat there. In the midst of chaos, Gordon Freeman stayed perfectly still... still no words. Still no words.

Gordon woke up to the sound of a cold wind pounding furiously against the night sky. He wasn't cold, per say, just chilled. His HEV suit kept him warm, although it wasn't necessarily designed for that. He looked around, searching for signs of the wreckage. Looking up, he found a faint trail of smoke. No doubt it was coming from the deck. Just his luck that he flew over the edge. Judging by his adventures in the past, he would have to find a way to the top of the ship, all the while finding conveniently placed ammunition and weaponry to shoot zombies with.

Pulling himself up off the ground with a grunt, Gordon managed to hobble over to the ship's wall. He sighed, thinkinng back to what Barney said, "It doesn't look like there's an opening on the bottom." 'Of course' Gordon thought, 'Of course there can't just be a darned opening. What do I do, dig in?' As if the gods were laughing at him, Gordon tripped while walking along the rim of the ship wall. As he pulled his leg out of whatever ditch it was in, he looked back to find a hole which lead under the ship. 'Son of a...' Gordon sighed and prepped himself for whatever evils he'd face THIS time.

Gordon crouched down to fit into the small hole in the snow. As he went on, he realized that he was unarmed entirely. Confidence quickly draining, and bravery failing, Gordon started to slow down. He thought, however, that slowing down would only give him more time to fear the improbable. Come now, what are the odds of those headcrabs being out here? That was more of a Black Mesa thing anyhow. He pressed onward, his suit's flashlight failing him once or twice... Alyx did say she would talk to Kleiner about getting him some new batteries. He was pretty sure this thing was from Black Mesa!

'Enough reminiscing; I have to find the others.' Gordon thought, as- BAM! -he got out of that hole! Gordon looked around, trying to make out a decent assumption to where he was in the ship. 'Heh,' he thought, 'I didn't study for this in college.' Going off of the two corpses that were huddled together; live or die, he didn't have much time here. A light was shining in through a hole in the wall, letting Gordon see much better. It occurred to him that he would have to hug the side of the boat and pray that there were holes. Otherwise he'd be in the dark all the time.

It had been a minute of walking up stairs. Yes, he had found a way up that did indeed hug the wall. And yes, there were indeed holes in the wall. It's like some higher power had a plan for him. Then again, there was that enigmatic man who seemed to talk to his mind at the strangest of times. Suddenly, the holes stopped. They didn't get smaller until no light got through; they just stopped. Sighing inwardly, Gordon set off into a pitch-black room. He thought he'd be high enough into the ship to have some windows, but nope! Not a one. Gordon turned on his flashlight and began to venture throughout the dark rooms.

It was room twenty-seven. Or so Gordon had counted. He really didn't mean to keep track, it just seemed like that's what his mind decided that that's what it was doing right then and there. Through the fog and heavy dust layers of the room, Gordon managed to find something. He walked closer to it. It glowed; one. It was a crystal; that's two. And it was floating; that would be three. He wanted to know more. He wanted to learn its secrets. He wanted... to touch it. That's actually just about it. Gordon reached over and gently pressed his finger to the surface of it. His suit wasn't beeping, so no radiation. Gordon held his finger on for a few seconds, noticing a slight warmth it gave off. However, as soon as he took his finger off the crystal, it let out a blast of cold air and a shock wave.

First, Gordon tried to get up, but when it started humming, then shaking the whole ship, Gordon got nervous. What was it doing? Whatever it was, he now knew why Black Mesa hated Aperture... They just wanted to get a hold of whatever this was. That humming it was giving off was painful for whatever reason. Then, just as quickly as it began, it stopped. Cautiously, Gordon etched his way around the room, making sure to keep an eye on the crystal. As he found the exit to the room, he dropped the stealth and practically sprinted away.

Elsewhere on the Borealis

Alyx was scared. Beyond terrified. So mortified, she couldn't even tell if she was breathing. Literally, she stopped and focused just to make sure. "*gasp... pant... gasp... pant...*" Yes, she was indeed breathing, but just enough to keep walking. "Oh God, Gordon, where are you?" She whispered to herself. Her leg was cut, her hair mangled, and her head pounding from the crash, but she had kept going. A hand found its way onto her shoulder and Alyx screamed. "AAAAaah.... Barney? You scared the hell outta me!" She whined, but still couldn't repress a smile. It was good to know she could find someone in the hell hole of a ship. Still, it was Gordon she wanted to find. Unbeknownst to her, she was going in the opposite direction of where he was located, but going in the same direction as him. In laymen's terms, they were headed in the same direction. They were just a few hundred meters apart!

Meanwhile, Gordon was walking down another corridor. This one was shorter, so it had less rooms. Upon entry of yet another boring room, he heard a meep. Yes, a meep. A little noise emitted by some creature. Gordon thought he was crazy. Like it was coming from... whatever that containment unit was. It resembled a closet, and might have been one. Nature had not been kind to it. It had lost color, a detail Gordon noticed between the splotches of snow that seeped through the cracks in the wall. He heard another sound; this one more like a hiccup. If misheard, it would sound like a poison headcrab. Oh, how annoying those were back in the day. Gordon heard the sound for what it was, but still kept cautionary measures well within his mind.

Fluttershy was not sure what to make of this. One moment, she had sent out Angel Bunny to get Rarity for their recently planned trip to the spa. She had stepped out her door and into this cold place. It looked occupied once; like ponies had been there, but disappeared. Although, there were things that Fluttershy didn't recognize. It seemed alien to her. She tried to return from her point of entry, in the... wardrobe, she guessed, but nothing happened. Then, a sound from down the hallway! She dashed into the wardrobe with the agility of a bulldozer, surprisingly not alerting the possible predator. She peered from the slot between doors in the wardrobe as tears came to her eyes.

She wanted to go home. Why couldn't this happen some other time? What would become of her animals? She began hyperventilating in the small closet and crying quietly. The creature began to turn into the room she was in, and that didn't help. Then she squeaked. Oh, great, now she was SURE it found her. She had might as well know what it was that would surely eat her. She saw its face first. Skin covered it mostly, with brown hair near its mouth and chin, and on its head. It had a pair of glasses, the reflection of which rendered her unable to see its eye color.

It wore a suit. The suit looked shiny on one place or two, but scratched in the rest. Like a suit of metal, mostly. She whimpered again, and the creature looked at the closet. It didn't look deadly, that for sure. It slowly started walking toward her. Fluttershy simply stared at it. She couldn't find the will to move.

Now Gordon KNEW there was something in that closet, and it was indeed not a headcrab. Slowly, he worked his way across the room, inching closer to the creature in the closet. As he stood in front of the doors to the wardrobe, he asked himself if it was worth it. What if it was just another monster? 'Oh well, here goes...' Gordon thought as he pulled out the doors to the war... dr... What.

Inside was a small, horse-like thing. It was butter yellow, and had a pink mane. Gordon stared, still noticing details. It had three butterflies on its flank and two wings on its side. This was no monster. This was a being straight out of a mythology textbook. It simply stared at him. As he stared at it. Still no words... He extended his hand slowly and cautiously towards the apparent pegasus and it recoiled quickly, trying desperately to squirm itself away. When it could back up no further, he was able to put a hand on its shoulder. He looked at it with caring eyes, wondering how it got here and how to get it out.

He began thinking, petting its head as he thought. For the sake of its sheer adorableness, he simply HAD to take it with him. And... Nope, that's it. There is no arguing with adora-logic. He looked at it with a look of concern. A look which into a smile as he found the pegasus leaning into his hand, smiling. He stopped and looked at it with disbelief. He was no stranger to inter-dimensional travel, but still! This was quite unique. The pegasus looked at Gordon before getting the memo and blushing profusely. Gordon chuckled to himself at the creature's display of emotion. He stood up and beckoned for the small pegasus to follow.

Reluctantly, she did. She seemed to understand it somehow. It was just as lost as she was, only stronger than she was as well. It knew what to do and she didn't. She felt safer around it. "Thank you, mister alien." She muttered under her breath. Gordon's trained sense of hearing caught wind of it and he nearly tripped. "What!?" He splurted. It felt good to talk, he noted. Still no... Wait a minute.

...

Lookit that, what do you know?

Words.