acts_of_gord | Emerald City Blues

Gordon's unvoiced fears about his suit's weight to the contrary, the Aperture Science Emergency Vehicular Evacuation Vehicle neither punctured nor sank when he got in. The small inflatable may be the single safest and most reliable non-lethal device Aperture has ever produced, which of course probably means it was originally intended for something else.

He's trying not to think about that, though. They're quietly puttering closer to the shore, and very soon they'll have to get out. Unfortunately, right now Gordon is remembering one of the History Channel specials his father was so fond of in those rare times when Bill Freeman was actually at home. It was, he recalls, the life of Douglas MacArthur.

He's not going to say 'I have returned' when he gets out of the boat. He's not.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

smelltheashes

The lanky man lowers his gun and gestures to his compatriots, who each move to cover one of the three newcomers. They move on in a single file, the lanky man in the lead, and with each White Forest rebel surrounded by two disgruntled residents of City 08.

From:

acts_of_gord

Given the current state of City 08, it'd be more of a surprise if they were actually gruntled. Gordon's more happy to see people than anything else, although that fades somewhat after a long enough walk in silence.

"How much further?" he finally inquires.

From:

smelltheashes

"Oh, we're gettin' there."

They're approaching a large building that looks like it was glass-fronted once upon a time, though now there are only a few shards left clinging to the frames here and there. The structure has collapsed in on itself and looks wholly uninhabitable.

So, of course, that's where they're going.

From:

acts_of_gord

"Good to know."

Hm. The old parking garage... well, there's worse places. Could be that Gehry nightmare, the Experience Music Project- that one looked like it'd come out second against the Combine since the day it was built.

From:

smelltheashes

Just inside the building are two guards armed with rifles.

"Halt! Who goes--" The woman on the left stops when she catches sight of Gordon. "Oh," she says, in the tones one might reserve for a door-to-door salesman or evangelist.

"Yeah," says the lanky man. "Takin' em to see MacIntire. After that... we'll see."

From:

acts_of_gord

Gordon glances over towards his companions a moment, to see how they're doing. There's not all that much he can accomplish right now, especially if these are people who blame him for their current situation, as they seem to be.

(He can't entirely fault them on that. Alyx did a few times, after all- and unlike Alyx these people have no reason to change their minds or think otherwise, at least not at the moment.)

From:

smelltheashes

Donna and Chen are standing stiffly, glancing back and forth at each other and their captors in stunned bewilderment. What is going on here?

From:

acts_of_gord

"Just roll with it," Gordon murmurs. "If this is what it takes to get antitoxin and the other supplies, this is what it takes."

From:

smelltheashes

They nod mutely, and proceed onward. And downward. Mostly downward, actually.

Unlike the last underground parking garage Gordon visited, this one has no zombies or antlions. Just armed rebels and jumpsuited civilians crowded into whatever space is available on the crumbling lots. Everybody seems on edge.

From:

acts_of_gord

"Is this everybody from this part of town?" Gordon asks. "What's going on up there, anyway?"

Not that he expects to get told until he's been vetted, but it's worth a try, right?

From:

smelltheashes

"This is everybody in every part of town," says the lanky man. "As far as we know, anyway. The chief'll fill you in. Probably."

Speaking of which, they're approaching the lowest level of the garage, which seems to be the Resistance base proper. It's just as crowded as the areas up above, but the space feels lived-in, with rough walls made of brick and sheet metal and various manufactured and improvised furnishings.

Nobody asks what they're doing. Some of the rebels look like they're about to ask, but stop when they see the man in the orange hazard suit.

From:

acts_of_gord

They evacuated City 17 because the Citadel reactor was going to blow, Gordon thinks; that's not the case here, or these people would be somewhere else by now. Even if it was only running as fast as their feet could take them. So...

... he's drawing a blank.

He's never been all that comfortable with people staring at him, neither before Black Mesa (thesis defense- urrgh) or after. Unfortunately, the HEV suit makes hunching his shoulders and trying to look inobtrusive rather hard, and he can't really turtle into the suit no matter how much he'd like to. The best he can do is keep an eye on the lanky fellow and where they're going, and hope that Donna and Chen are all right.

From:

smelltheashes

Their path eventually leads to a completely walled-off area in the back of the garage. It's even got an actual door--a heavy metal one with a sliding panel, like the ones at the train station in City 17. It only takes two knocks from the lanky man and a quick peek from whoever's on the other side before they're allowed in.

The space beyond merits a label like "inner sanctum" or "nerve center." There are several freestanding bulletin boards covered with various papers, Post-Its, and maps of the Seattle area. A bank of aging but serviceable personal computers sits along one wall. At the center of the room is a large table covered with the largest map of all, with half a dozen people clustered around it.

"Sir? We got 'visitors'."

One of the figures around the table turns to look. He's an older man--in his late sixties, at least--with well-combed white hair and a physique that's past its prime, but not by much. Without a word, he walks up to Gordon and looks him over with a squint that suggests that the prescription on his bifocals might be a few years out of date. (There aren't a lot of optometrists working in Seattle these days.)

Finally, the old man steps back with a grunt of acknowledgment. "Well, you got the look down, I'll give ya that. Just like the pictures."

From:

acts_of_gord

"...ex ...cuse me?" Gordon says a little weakly. The examination, okay, he understands someone having to look him over closely. It's not like you can really pat somebody in an HEV suit down for concealed weapons. The comment, though...

... wait. Wait, is he suggesting-

(Our apologies. Gordon is so relentlessly freaked out by the quasi-messianic position people have put him in that it has simply never occurred to him that there would be anyone crazy enough to try to pass themselves off as him. Who would want to be in his shoes?)

From:

smelltheashes

The old man huffs a laugh. "You think you're the first 'Gordon Freeman' to come through the city? You're off by a couple dozen, boy. Everybody knows this is where he was born. Every time you turn around, there's some young punk claiming to be the One Free Man, ready to lead us to freedom and prosperity... and then he either skips town with half our supplies, or gets himself killed along with a squad of our own soldiers."

From:

acts_of_gord

Oddly, for a moment Gordon actually does wish he were some kind of Messiah. Because then he could melt people for taking his name in vain.

Or something, anyway. He shakes his head rapidly and comes back to the present moment.

"Sir, I wasn't planning on coming here. We wound up on this side of the continent by accident. We're trying to get back to City 17, and we're trying to save a man who took a black headcrab bite to the face protecting us back on the East Coast. That's all."

From:

smelltheashes

"It's true, sir," says Donna. "We didn't even know where we were at first. We got here by using an experimental teleporter that had no way of programming in a destination."

The old man quirks an eyebrow. "And your friend with the headcrab bite, he came in that way too?"

"Yes, sir. There are four other humans and a Vortigaunt on board a ship about half a mile off the coast."

"We can take you there if you don't believe us," adds Chen. "I know there's been enough crazy crap happening lately that I wouldn't believe if I hadn't seen it myself..."

From:

acts_of_gord

"I'm not interested in causing problems," Gordon says. "I'm interested in getting us back where we belong, and making sure Corporal Shephard doesn't die. The ship's got hardware problems, and the infirmary's out of bug juice. Send somebody with Chen and Donna here to check out the ship if you want, but I swear, that's all we're trying to do here."

From:

smelltheashes

One of the other people around the table--a small, waifish girl with blond hair and vivid green eyes--murmurs something inaudible in the old man's ear. He nods. "'Scuze us for a minute, Jackson?" he says to the lanky man. "And for God's sake, let 'em put their arms down, we're not in a fuckin' prison camp here."

Jackson nods to the other three, who lower their guns and usher Gordon, Donna, and Chen back out of the room.

From:

acts_of_gord

Gordon waits until they're out of the room to run his hands wearily over his face. At lest he won't have to go out into the city again for a bit. He'd rather deal with strangers giving him contemptuous looks than the silence and darkness aboveground.

"How're you two holding up?" he asks as he drops his hands.

From:

smelltheashes

"I'm okay," says Donna. "Chen? How's your leg?"

"It's fine." He's looking at Gordon, more than a little boggled. "There are people posing as you? Why??"

From:

acts_of_gord

"I don't know. I don't even want to be in my position, and I'm me." Gordon shakes his head. "Maybe they think they'll get enough people behind them that they'll get to be in charge if they throw the Combine out of an area, or something."

Pause.

"If it weren't for the suppression field only falling recently... never mind."

From:

smelltheashes

"What's that got to do with ow!"

That would be the sound of Chen getting elbowed in the ribs by Donna.

From:

acts_of_gord

Gordon offers Donna a wry smile; she, at least, understands. "It doesn't matter," he says aloud. "They're just assuming that being me comes with privileges or perks, is the important thing."