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| The Diary of Dr Valeria Lector; A Half-Life 2 Fan Fiction | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 8 2009, 04:00 AM (210 Views) | |
| Sparky | Jan 8 2009, 04:00 AM Post #1 |
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Author's Note Well here it is, my first piece of fan fiction. Please read and review, constructive critisim or otherwise I don't mind. If you guys like it I might work on further entrys. Thanks Guys Essentially this is going to be a series of diary entries for a Scientist come Resistance member, Im going to start before the Black Mesa Incident and move on from there, treating the games as canon as far as possible. Disclaimer - I do not own Half Life or the assosciated concepts, this is not for profit and intended for enjoyment only. The Diary of Dr. Valeria Lector Entry 1, Recording Purposes Ahh the sweet smell of burning dead flesh…I really do hope you were able to sense the sarcasm there. However I’ve gotten quite used to it all ever since the Black Mesa Incident. Good ol’ Black Mesa. I still remember so many of the people there, some of which survived Black Mesa and the Seven Hour War…and some that didn’t. I remember the day it all happened as well, but I’ll get to all that sooner or later. For recording purposes I’ll tell a bit about myself. My name is Dr. Valeria Lector, you can call me Val. I grew up in Massachusetts and was what some might refer to as the ‘pampered genius’. Being in school was always difficult. I was always known as the ‘teacher’s pet’, but that’s probably because of my straight A record. What teacher wouldn’t love that? Anyway all up through high school I never really had any friends, but then again I was at least three years younger than most of them. Skipping grades made me feel good inside because I was so proud of myself. However that always made it harder for me to get along with classmates and my two siblings. Home life was always difficult, probably worse than school. I was always either fighting with my parents or my siblings. If it wasn’t my siblings being jealous it was my parents upset in my interests. I spent so much time in my room building ingenious contraptions and studying subjects like calculus, physics, and mechanics. My parents were proud me, but wanted me to have more social interaction. Rather annoying to be honest, but that’s life for ya. When I graduated high school, it was time for college. That started another argument with my parents. Where would I go to college? Would I stay in a dorm? So many questions led to so many arguments. Eventually my parents decided to send me to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and live in a dorm on campus. Being away from my family was such a nice relief. No more yelling, no more arguments and no more immature siblings! Actually being in college was even better. The students there were extremely friendly and had no problems starting a two hour conversation on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Of course there were those spoiled rich brats or the occasional stuck up genius but most people were pretty cool. One person that I was good friends with was Gordon Freeman, who was such a quiet but insanely smart man. He made a good study partner and to be honest I had a little crush on him heehee. But I kept my feelings secret because I was more concerned with my schooling. Gordon and I graduated at about the same time. Gordon with his thesis paper titled: Observation of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Entanglement on Supraquantum Structures by Induction through Nonlinear Transuranic Crystal of Extremely Long Wavelength (ELW) Pulse from Mode-Locked Source Array (whew!) and my thesis paper which I can’t seem to recall the name. The only other thing I really remember about graduation was Professor Kliener’s face. It was lit up like a Christmas tree; you could just see the sparkles of glee and pride in his eyes. After that I kind of wondered around looking for a job that would hire someone as young as me in the field I wanted. Eventually I got a job at the local research facility that focused on physics. I was so disappointed there though, the research was incredibly dull and slow. It also made me upset that after all my education, I was using about 1/5 of what I had actually learned. Luckily since I had kept in contact with Professor Kleiner, he recommended me to Dr. Wallace Breen, the administrator at the Black Mesa Research Facility (which is actually located over a decommissioned ICBM launch silo by the way). It was just the chance I had been hoping for. When I finally got the call from the administrator I was relieved after the interview to hear I’d soon have the acceptance letters mailed to me. Bah wish I could write more but I think I hear that familiar sound of a zombie and not just those regular shambling ones either… ---- Tempest, wasn't sure if this belonged here or in writing. Feel free to move it if required. |
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| Sparky | Jan 9 2009, 02:46 AM Post #2 |
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Entry 2, Black Mesa Whew! Last night sure was an epic adrenaline pumping event. The other Resistance members and I sure had a heck of a time taking turns putting multiple holes into the zombies. Was pretty fun until a pack of those damn spider zombies arrived. Last thing I remember was hearing that dreaded howl, and then a sharp blow to the back of my head. I woke up on a mat back at Station Twelve with the worst headache I had ever experienced and a few cuts. Wasn’t the pain that got to me but the embarrassment. I am supposed to be a Resistance leader who sets examples for others to follow by. Last night I was incredibly immature and let my guard down. At least no one was killed or seriously hurt. I can only imagine if it were a group of Combine Soldiers that had found us instead…probably would have been the end of Station Twelve. I can only hope the other Resistance leaders don’t hear of this. Well no use beating myself up about what happened or what could have happened. Lesson well learned. Fortunately one good came of last night, all day bed rest yay! This means I have the whole day to write in my journal instead of being stuck on watch outside. I find it rather curious that while I’m an ‘egghead’ and a Resistance leader, I’ve yet to be transferred to an area of safety. Shouldn’t I be in a lab somewhere conducting experiments and inventing devices to help aid the Resistance? I know Kliener has been wanting me to help him with the teleport chamber he’s been working on, but Eli insists that I remain at Station Twelve for the time being. I guess I’ll just have to ask him for more detail later. What to write about, what to write about… Oh I know, I can continue my story about my past from yesterday. So once I got my acceptance letters, I practically jumped for joy and called Kleiner right away. I could hear the joy is his voice and I felt proud. To me Kleiner was like my dad when my own wasn’t there to congratulate me; I really admired him. After reviewing the letters more in depth, I discovered I was to begin work immediately in Sector F, Lambda Complex. So after packing my bags and grabbing a plane to New Mexico, I moved into one of the dormitories topside of Black Mesa. The first few months were pretty interesting. Now that I was actually working at Black Mesa, I was able to meet up with Kleiner for lunch. We would always end up talking for hours past our lunch break about Xen, the border world. As most people do we had different views on teleportation, but we both agreed that Xen would have to be used as slingshot in order to attempt teleportation (at least for the time being). My favorite part of working in Sector F was having Hazard Team members come back from Xen with specimens. Of course the higher ups always got to choose the name for each different alien race, but that still didn’t stop me from giving them a personal name. I often enjoyed visiting the Biodome Complex in Sector E to view all the aliens. I remember one specific Bull Squid that I had named Spot. He was the only Bull Squid I had ever seen with only one spot, and he was a great listener even though he was behind almost five inches of glass. One topic I always found interesting to think about while I was working is how I always doubted aliens existed. Being up close and personal with beings from another world really opened my mind to different views and aspects. Other then scientific purposes, there was of course the lack of other females at Black Mesa. There were only two female scientists that I had heard of but never met. Their names were Dr. Gina Cross and Dr. Colette Green; both were stationed at Sector C in the Anomalous Materials Laboratories. Other than those two, I heard no other stories of female scientists. This made it incredibly hard for the males I worked with to restrain themselves from flirting with me. Luckily female security guards would be stationed in Sector F sometimes and they enjoyed the attention. This at least allowed me a day to work undisturbed. I do remember one particular scientist named Dr. Arne Magnusson though. He was extremely egotistical and respected no one except the administrator and unfortunately me. There were two main things that bugged me about him. One was the constant need to compliment me, flirt with me, and bug me to go out to lunch with him. He always threw a fit when I said I’d be meeting with Dr. Kleiner for lunch instead. That was probably because he was either jealous (even though Kleiner was nothing more than a friend), or because he was competing against him for grant money. The second thing that I REALLY hated about Magnusson was that he always wanted me to view his inventions and the layouts for them. I made the hugest mistake when I said yes one day. After viewing a few layouts for his Magnus Pulse Energy Compactor, I told him it might beat Kliener’s upcoming inventions. I think his chest might have exploded if it would have swelled a few more inches with pride. He then went on for about an hour going into detail about his contraption. Later I even heard he renamed it to the Val Pulse Energy Compactor. This may sound evil to say but he’s one of those people I really hope didn’t live past the Seven Hour War. My oh my I sure have written a lot today! I suppose I can continue about Black Mesa tomorrow, but for now I need some rest. My head still aches a bit and I’m tired anyway. |
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| Sparky | Jan 12 2009, 03:13 AM Post #3 |
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Entry 3, Zombies and Headcrabs I was running down the hall; 9mm pistol in one hand and a med kit in the other. I barely reached the wounded security officer when the above vent gave way crushing the man underneath. From above, in the part of the vent still intact I could barely see the lurking shadow of a headcrab. Cautiously I grabbed a grenade from my belt, pulled the pin and flung it up into the vent shaft. After the explosion I moved a little closer to see if I could scavenge the officer’s body for ammo. That’s when I realized I had made a deadly mistake. The front of the vent was secure but the back was not. However it was too late. I heard the familiar shrill shriek and then complete darkness as I lost complete control of my nervous system to the parasite… I awoke in a cold sweat last night; not sure what time since we really don’t have clocks. I remember sighing with relief as it was just a bad dream. Being turned into a zombie is probably the worst thing that could ever happen to someone. I remember studying headcrabs back in Black Mesa. We didn’t know much about them until during the Black Mesa Incident, but some things were obvious. You see a headcrabs nature is to wait and lurk in dark areas for unsuspecting prey. After finding a suitable host they let out a shrill scream as they jump upon the preys head. They then attach themselves by digging their claws into parts of the head while they use their mouth to tear apart the flesh surrounding the skull. By using parts of its own body to interfere with the host’s motor cortex of the brain, the headcrab is then able to control almost all parts of the body. The worst part is that the person/creature zombified actually stays alive while the headcrab eats parts of flesh from either the head or back depending on the crab. There are three different zombies based on the three different headcrabs; regular, spider, and hissing. A regular headcrab obviously turns a host into ordinary shambling zombie. A spider headcrab turns a host into a spider zombie. Spider zombies are quite interesting. They are extremely agile and can even climb up walls. It’s these guys you want to look out for in the field. I remember someone once telling me that the reason they have no flesh is because they tear it off so they can run and jump faster. Lastly there are the hissing headcrabs that turn a host into a bloat load zombie. At least I’m original unlike the other ‘egg heads’. Anyway bloat load zombies after being zombified become bloated because of the hissing headcrabs venom. After that, other hissing headcrabs attach themselves to the host’s back and eat the flesh off that area to survive. A bloat load zombie can carry about four hissing headcrabs. These are probably the most deadly of the three zombie types, but luckily they aren’t encountered much and they are pretty slow as well. There was a rumor I heard that there might be a Combine zombie but I think it’s just a mere story told to frighten people. So here I am once again spending my time patrolling outside Station Twelve. So boring but at least I have you to keep me company. Bah I’m so bored! I wish one of the other Resistance leaders were here so I could have someone intellectual to talk to. I mean don’t get me wrong, the Resistance members at Station Twelve are all fine and dandy. Thing is all they seem to want to do is talk about how all hope is lost or about their weapons. There’s no one really here to chat with about different teleportation methods or even the habits of a Houndeye alien. It can be very frustrating but sometimes if I’m lucky I get Dr. Vance’s daughter to stop by. She’s a really cool person to talk to about hacking and different areas around City 17. Well it’s almost night time and I’ll be off to grab a few hours of sleep soon. Not enough time to talk about Black Mesa but I can scribble down a few notes about Station Twelve. Station Twelve is a nice place as long as you’re ok with the smell of human waste and bugs….lots of bugs. Combine are always patrolling around us, so I often wonder how it is that they are able to miss one of the busiest safe houses in City 17. This is the main reason I must be careful while stationed here. It’s a pretty good place all in all though as long as you’re attentive and quiet. We have furniture, a radio to contact the other stations and plenty of headcrabs to eat. Headcrabs can be pretty good as long as they are cooked. However you NEVER want to eat the legs; very tough and they taste awful. It’s the backside and belly you’ll want to carve up. Anyway, most of the people that arrive here don’t stay long. Most of them head off through the Underground Railroad to try to get to Black Mesa East. Black Mesa East is probably the biggest safe house known to all the citizens. Dr. Vance, his daughter, and Dr. Mossman reside there along with a huge number of escapees and Vortigaunts. This is the place I wish so badly I could be transferred to. I hear that the Vortigaunts there make a great headcrab dish unlike the fools here who burn the crabs. They actually conduct teleportation experiments there as well. How I envy them! The trip to get there is quite long on foot and just as dangerous though. It really amazes me when I hear of stories of citizens that went through obstacles of hazardous waste, Combine, and zombies to get to Black Mesa East. Human survival is always a funny thing. For instance you have a group of citizens attempting to escape City 17. One of them dies and therefore the whole group grows stronger because of it. Besides that is one less person with a weapon. Well I’ve defiantly veered off topic, but at least my shift is up. Hopefully tonight I will have a nice dream, maybe something like meeting up with Gordon again or being transferred to Black Mesa East. |
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| Sparky | Jan 16 2009, 06:04 PM Post #4 |
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Entry 4, the Black Mesa Incident Part 1 So I’ve been hearing rumors about Gordon Freeman. While some say he probably perished at Black Mesa or was killed by the Combine, others disagree and say that one day he will return. I personally think he will return. I mean this guy literally went through Hell to close the inter-dimensional rift between Earth and Xen. He’s going to be hard to kill. Anyway I promised myself I’d get the guts to finally write about the Black Mesa Incident so might as well start now before I chicken out. I’ll start with the events leading up to the incident. So about a few months before the incident the administrator announced that research in Sector C (Anomalous Materials Lab) would be the main focus of Black Mesa. This of course made some people suspicious. I remember speaking to a few of the research associates in Sector C. Most were indeed happy that research had gone up because like me they had a huge thirst for knowledge. However, others were upset they weren’t being told the real reasons of what was actually going on. During these times, I often debated with other scientists and research associates of all areas of Black Mesa. The big question was what the researchers in Sector C would do to achieve more success with the crystal samples brought from Xen. The crystals had incredible abilities but the devices that were currently being used (like the Anti-mass Spectrometer) did not possess the power to scan the samples more in-depth. So basically the scientists were thinking of raising the scanners on the Anti-mass Spectrometer to a more ‘efficient’ level. However this had never ever happened because the chances of a Resonance Cascade occurring would be very high. Back at Sector F, fewer and fewer Hazard Team members had been returning from Xen. Most of the time we were lucky to receive a small crystal sample, but the chances of a live specimen being brought back had become almost little to none. This meant that the alien races on Xen weren’t putting up with strangers in their home anymore; they were fighting back. On May 5 200X (sorry can’t recall the year), Dr Kleiner got back in touch with Gordon Freeman and recommended him to the administrator of Black Mesa. Dr. Breen was impressed and offered Gordon a job in the Anomalous Materials Laboratories of Sector C. Of course he accepted and I was thrilled when I heard he got his acceptance letters. I remember meeting up with him in Level 3 as he was newly moving into his personal Dorm numbered 309. He was still as quiet as ever but there was one thing he just couldn’t stop talking about; his previous job. He had become extremely upset with how slow the research had been going in the academy he worked at. It was such a coincidence that Kleiner had still kept Gordon’s number and just decided one day to call and catch up. It seemed almost too perfect for Gordon especially since the research in the Anomalous Materials had just increased fivefold. I often wonder if it was all planned by a higher force… Sometime around the middle of May, the senior staff and administrator decided to change the crystal sample EP-0021 to the GG-3883 crystal sample for the next Anti-mass Spectrometer analysis. This is when people got extremely curious, including me. Gordon was just as clueless as I but he did tell me that it was the largest and purest sample collected so far. He also told me that many of the scientists in Sector C had complained to the administrator stating that pushing the Anti Spectrometer scanning levels AND using a sample as pure as GG-3883 would be far too dangerous. The days leading up to May 16 consisted of many people quitting their jobs and other people being laid off. A few days later in the early morning of May 16th (day of experiment in Sector C), a system wide computer crash occurred. When this happened the only thing I kept doing was thanking myself for taking a few computer classes in college. Every man and his dog in Black Mesa were calling up the technicians all throughout the morning. Even after the computer technicians were able to bring back the computer network, they still had problems to fix like the security system. Other problems like the electronic doors caused the maintenance workers to have a turn receiving calls from desperate scientists. That morning was so crazy but the worst had yet to happen. Hmm, that’s different. A Resistance member just handed me a letter from one of the other leaders. This might be important, so I’ll continue about Black Mesa a bit later. |
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| Sparky | May 10 2009, 02:19 AM Post #5 |
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Entry 5, the Transfer The first thing I felt upon receiving the letter was sheer terror. My previous actions involving the spider zombies led me to believe I was about to read a two page letter on being more mature. You can believe my surprise when instead of being scolded, I was being transferred. After reading the letter three times, pinching myself, and asking others to pinch me, I discovered this indeed was not a dream. Shortly after this discovery, I did a dance of victory causing the nearest Resistance members to most likely think I was drunk. The letter was pretty short but I’ll rewrite it in here since I’ll be burning it shortly. To: Val From: Izzy It has been quite some time since we have last spoken Val. I do hope that you and your friends are in good health and spirit. Lately I have heard of your accomplishments and have been relaying them to Eli. He seems impressed enough to wish to have you come help me with the certain tasks around my apartment. So if you could pack up your possessions at once and escort yourself to my immediate area, you can begin your work. If you desire to have some of your friends accompany you on your short trip, then feel free. I would love to converse with those that have lived with you throughout the past year. Well then, I can hardly wait to meet back up with you and to catch up on certain subjects. Wishing all goes well, Izzy. While this letter may seem nothing more than a friendly hello and come help me with some chores, it’s actually a carefully planned out code. While it is rather effortless to see through it, we know that the Combine lack these simple principles. What I got out of this letter from Kleiner, is that he talked with Eli and finally convinced him to have me transferred to his secret lab to help him work on certain experiments. Also, I need to hurry as fast as I can and take some friends (Resistance members) along with me for protection reasons, not that I need it. I think I will still bring a few Resistance members along with me, at least until we get out of the canals. So I’m all packed now, and as you can probably guess beyond excited. I will finally be able to put my mind to use and build all sorts of useful things for the Resistance. On top of that, I’ll be able to sleep on more than just a dirty mat shared by insects, I’ll be fed much better, and for the first time in months (since I haven’t had any visits from Alyx) I’ll have someone intellectual to speak with. I am feeling rather empty now though. Perhaps it’s because of the people I’ve grown attached to at Station Twelve. I know I’m going to miss a great deal of them, but I know I’ll always remember the good times I’ve shared with them. Even if good times usually consisted of either ambushing Combine Patrol units or pumping lead into zombies, we always managed to laugh about it all later. The only other emotion I’m feeling based off leaving Station Twelve is sympathy. I feel that while I’ll be off in experimentation land, the Resistance members here will still be fearing for their lives as the CP units are stationed above. For me it’s always been that I don’t realize how bad something is until I think about it. Otherwise I just push it aside and deal with the here and now. I really do hope that things will get better at Station Twelve, and that they will be able to stay organized even If I’m not there… Well it would seem that the Resistance members I chose to accompany me are ready to depart now. I pray that it doesn’t take too long to arrive at Kleiner’s secret lab, and that we don’t run into any CP units. -Val |
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| Sparky | May 17 2009, 05:58 PM Post #6 |
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Entry 6, To the Lab! The trip to Kleiner’s laboratory really isn’t all that long. It is however very dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. I’ve known this by heart for almost a year now, and I knew when I started off on my little trip I’d have to choose capable Resistance members to accompany me on the way. At Station Twelve there aren’t a whole bunch of people that fall into that category, no offense to them. In the end I chose my two closest and able friends that went by the names Steve and Mary. Steve is second in command and an excellent field man, while Mary is a medic and mostly stays at Station Twelve to help those in need. The two absolutely hate each other, but pretend they don’t in my presence. We set off on our journey around the middle of the night. There are pros and cons of leaving at night just like there is any other time of the day. For one, the Combine don’t patrol as much at night, and if they do it’s rarely in our area. On the other hand, more zombies come out during the night and Barnacles are harder to spot. Bah Barnacles…probably the most annoying creatures that inhabit the dark and damp areas of City 17. Maybe some other time I’ll take the time to explain them in more detail, but not now. Anyways, right after we left, we hit the mini ‘Barnacle field’ that lies about 12 feet away from Station Twelve. Now Steve and I can see pretty well in the dark, and the constant patrolling has caused at least me to memorize exactly where each Barnacle is. However Mary seemed to lack both these abilities. Shortly after about a minute of entering the area the Barnacles inhabit, Mary had somehow managed to have herself caught by one. Surprisingly enough, it was Steve who rushed to her rescue by attempting to pull her down. This of course led to no victory, so he ended up pulling his .357 Magnum out and shooting the damned thing. It all happened so fast and I’m glad Steve acted when he did. I also think that may have caused a bonding moment for the two but who knows. After Mary fell from the height she did (landing on Steve in the process), she ended up twisting her ankle. Steve knew almost little to nothing about anything involving medical subjects, so I ended up wrapping her ankle. Luckily since we had not gotten too far from Station Twelve, we were able to walk her back and continue on our trip. After clearing the Barnacles, we came to an area I like to call the box car pileup. The best way to describe what this area looks like is well, like a bunch of train cars crashed up on each other. Anyway Steve and I took turns helping each other lift ourselves up onto the box cars, until we finally reached the box car in which Joe lived and kept look out in. Joe is a pretty cool Resistance member who lives with a Vortigaunt by a name I can’t seem to recall. After talking for a bit, Joe helped hoist us up so that we could continue on. Getting through the next areas was pretty easy. Once we got to the train freight yard, all we had to do was simply stack wooden crates to reach a ledge that would guide me directly on a path to Kleiner’s secret lab. Upon completing this task, I bid a farewell to Steve and wished him well on his journey back. Traveling with Steve was pleasant, but I was glad to finally be alone to take in the night air and be able to actually hear myself think; Steve can really talk your ear off if you don’t tell him to hush. It didn’t take long to arrive at Kleiner’s after that, and it made it even better that Alyx was waiting for me. We exchanged greetings and then went inside through the secret entrance which I will NOT reveal! Meeting up with Kleiner this time was quite different. The last time I saw him was only about a month ago, but I think it was the fact that I would actually be staying there that made it a much more joyful reunion. Shortly upon arriving, Alyx took off to parts unknown while Kleiner went away to the other room to make some tea. This gave me a chance to get familiar with his lab once again. The first thing I noticed was that many new contraptions had been constructed. The main invention that attracted me was what looked to be a miniature teleporter. Of course my curiosity got me and I had to try it. My efforts to attempt to use the device were cut short as Kleiner came back with two cups of tea. When Kleiner saw me standing next to the mechanism, I think he forgot he was holding the cups because he nearly dropped them as he rushed over to me. The look on his face told me I was in for a long conversation on what the device did. However I was excited because this was exactly like what we were working on in Sector F of Black Mesa. After about an hour of talking about what I guessed to be right (a mini-teleporter) and testing its abilities, we decided to hit the sack and begin work the next day. You can probably believe my shock when I was led to a medium sized room with four mattresses…above the ground. I think I either squealed or squeaked as I jumped onto one of the mattresses which to my surprise already had someone, well something sleeping on it. As I lifted up the blankets I saw the familiar shape of Lamarr, Dr. Kleiner’s de-beaked pet headcrab, and immediately reached under to grab her out. After I got Lamarr out I gave her, or tried to give her, a huge hug. I absolutely adore Lamarr or as Kleiner likes to call her, Hedy. I still have no idea how Kleiner was able to capture, let alone de-beak her but oh well she’s one hundred percent safe to be around. Sometimes she will try to attach herself onto my head (like every headcrab would), but I really dislike when she does that since she kind of slobbers on my hair. Seeing as how Kleiner has little to no hair I can see why he doesn’t mind it. Shortly after the discovery of Lamarr, Kleiner went off to fetch her some food (which consists of watermelons). Even though it’s only been thirty minutes, I think I’ll go check on him to make sure everything is O.K. or to see if I can help in any way. – Val |
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| Sparky | May 17 2009, 05:59 PM Post #7 |
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Entry 7, Work, Work, Work Wow it’s been awhile since I’ve written anything, but I do have my reasons. Lately Kliener and I have been working on new methods for teleportation. I’ve been so excited lately I can barely sleep; however working all day and night tends to knock you out after awhile. Teleportation isn’t the only thing we’ve been working on either. I personally have been trying to build a replication of Dr. Magnusson’s pulse energy compactor. Being able to compact pulse energy would defiantly save time and energy outputs. Another device I’ve been working on is a pulse energy converter. I don’t have the right parts to build it yet, but when I do it will be able to aid Dr. Kliener in ways many thought unimaginable. Dr. Kliener lately has been worrying about Lamarr (he does that way too often in my opinion). He usually has three different theories as to what may be wrong with her. The first is that she’s depressed and misses meat, in other words someone’s skull. The second is that she’s ill and needs more food or interaction. The third theory is that she needs a male companion. Now I’m not sure if headcrabs can mate or not, but I’m pretty sure the third theory just means Kliener wants more headcrabs around the lab. One headcrab is more than enough for me. I can’t imagine waking up to find 5 headcrabs in my bed snuggling, or trying to work in the lab with all the shrieks and squeaks. Besides that the past week has been rather uneventful. Alyx did come to visit…or was that the week before the last? Oh well. I lose track of time so quickly, I don’t even think I can remember the current year. That’s something I find interesting about myself. I can remember useless things like exactly how many crows I’ve seen in the last ten years, but I can never remember important things like how old I am or what year it actually is. Sometimes I become severely depressed about it. What if I were to forget my name? I don’t know if that could ever happen but it is bad enough I don’t know how old I am… Bah I veered off the subject I was previously talking about. I think it was about Alyx, ah yes it was. Anyway, whenever Alyx visits she brings what you could call souvenirs from the abandoned places of City 17. Children’s toys, very old newspapers, mechanical parts, Combine armor, guns, ammo, food, and sometimes very odd devices is what is typically brought in. Last week (or the week before), she brought in a can of expired tuna, and a newspaper article that was at least ten to twenty years old. It always amazes me at the simple things people would find to complain or write about in newspapers. I can remember one article quite clearly from that newspaper about a woman who had her dog kidnapped by her husband. Why he did this I’ll never know because the paper didn’t say, though it was probably for money. Oh no Kliener is screaming in his lab, wonder what happened now. I’ll have to end today’s entry a bit early unfortunately. – Val P.S By the way the expired tuna was delicious. |
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| Sparky | Dec 16 2009, 04:57 AM Post #8 |
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Entry 8, Gene Markey the Headcrab When a person screams, it’s only natural to run to their aid. When Dr. Kleiner screams, it’s a bit more like give me five minutes to finish this book. Kliener has always had this bad habit of over reacting to things that frighten him, so last night I figured it would probably be the same. I can say I was defiantly wrong and I’m glad that I didn’t take five minutes to finish my book, well journal in this case. When I left the sleeping area and entered the lab, the first thing I saw was Kleiner cowering up in the little nook where he kept his storage. The second thing I saw was a headcrab shrieking and jumping at the frightened Kliener. My initial thought was that Lamarr had finally snapped and was attempting to attack Kliener even without her teeth. However that theory was pushed aside when I saw Kliener clutching Lamarr for dear life (if she had eyes they would have probably popped out of her skull erm body). Kliener eventually noticed me and yelled for me to trap the headcrab. Now I’m not sure how many people would react to this but my jaw literally dropped. I mean if he had yelled to me and told me to kill it then that it would have been a different story and I would have done so. However after seeing what headcrabs can and have done to people, I wasn’t about to take the same risk. I did what anyone would do in my situation and killed it…or so I thought. As I looked frantically around searching for Kleiner’s shotgun, I realized that it wasn’t hung up in the correct area. This surprised me since it was Kleiner’s favorite souvenir from Black Mesa, his lab coat being second. Anyway, seeing as how I couldn’t locate the shotgun I chose the first capable weapon I saw, a book. After smacking the thing with the book about fifteen times (thank you Shakespeare), Kliener shouted at me to stop. I really didn’t want to since I was upset that this headcrab had tried to kill my mentor and friend, but once I took once glance at Kliener’s face I knew I had to. Sometimes in life a person can look at another and know exactly how they are feeling or what they are thinking. This moment was one of those. Sympathy, sorrow, and rage filled Kliener’s eyes and I could feel nothing but regret. I tired apologizing but Kliener kept stopping me half way through. I didn’t know what to do. I mean what would anyone have done if they were in my position? Kliener cleaned up the mess the best he could and decided he’d use Markey (the dead headcrab whom Kliener had already named) for experiments on headcrab biology. He didn’t get far into storing the headcrab when Markey sprung to life and tried to attack Kliener again. This time I was successful at tackling and trapping the headcrab. The next few hours consisted of Kleiner teaching me how to de-beak and train a headcrab. We also had a very long talk as to how he had got the thing. He told me that Alyx had come in the other day with a dead headcrab, and she figured Kleiner could get some good use out of it for experimentations. Kleiner had put the headcrab away for another time but discovered it had come back to life magically. So he decided to de-beak it so Lamarr could have a male companion. Well when he opened the cage that’s where I stepped in and bashed it to ‘death’. Looks like this headcrab has nine lives, much like a cat supposedly. After Markey woke up, Kleiner fed him and introduced him to Lamarr. I expected the worse, but turns out the two actually like each other. Kleiner told me he predicted as much since Gene Markey was once the husband of the actress Hedy Lamarr. Ahh Dr. Kleiner you are a unique one. Well looks like there will be one more headcrab around the lab now; I just hope Kleiner doesn’t try to ‘adopt’ any children. – Val |
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| Sparky | Dec 16 2009, 04:58 AM Post #9 |
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Entry 9, the Calhoun and I Things around the lab sure have gotten annoying. Initially I thought that having another headcrab around wouldn’t be that big of a deal, boy was I wrong. Every morning now I awake to my hair being completely covered in headcrab slobber. Lamarr often cuddled with Kleiner so I seldom got the ‘pleasure’ of waking up with my head soaked. Markey it would seem has taken a liking to me and any chance he gets (I do mean any chance), he tries to attach himself to my head. Kliener thinks it’s adorable but I would love to mock him one day about his lack of hair. Also now that there are two headcrabs wondering around the lab, we have to collect double the amount of watermelons since that is their main diet. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m going to become like Barney with his ‘love’ for animals. Barney Calhoun was and still is a very dear and close friend of mine. He was a security officer at Black Mesa whom I had met through Dr. Kleiner. However his minimum security clearance made it hard for him to meet up with me in Sector F. Luckily I was allowed frequent lunch breaks, which was a privilege not everyone got. This gave me ample opportunity to join up with Calhoun where ever he was and patrol Black Mesa with him. The fact that we were same age (an age I wish I could remember) made it easy for the two of us to start nice long talks about almost anything anyone could think of. Usually though, it was about our past or our jobs. Both our pasts were pretty simple and straight forward. The only real difference was that I grew up a genius and Barney grew up a daredevil. Looking at Barney today, most would never guess he did parachuting, bungee jumping, and motorcycle stunts. Besides our patrol meetings, sometimes we had the rare chance to get together for lunch. Lunch meetings weren’t really all that different but we tried to keep our outgoing conversations to when we were alone or when we were with Kliener. Most scientists at Black Mesa were what you could call stuffed shirts who thought badly about security officers. I can recall too many occasions where a research associate would say something rude about the education level of a ‘rent a cop’. When this happened, it usually always ended with me being restricted to my quarters for a few days. Was pretty embarrassing because I felt like a kid that was being grounded to her room, even though all I did was stick up for a security officer. But anyway, Barney and I got particularly close before the Black Mesa Incident. Not like a relationship but more like brother/sister love. We shared almost everything and we both had nicknames for each other. I usually called him Barns but sometimes it was Dino; I got that name from that popular kid show with the purple dinosaur. Barney however used his unique sense of humor and came up with many nicknames for myself. However I can only recall three. The first is ‘Green eyed beauty’, which he perceptibly made up because of my eye color. The second and most common is Lauren which he accidentally called me one day because he was thinking of his sister. The last one always makes me laugh and it’s Miss Hannibal. Silence of the Lambs was one of my favorite movies back then, and when I finally convinced Barney to watch it he combined Hannibal Lector’s name with my own. Now and days things are a bit different. For one Barney is a Resistance leader but unlike me, he puts his life in danger every day. Barney works undercover as a Combine and has been doing so for quite awhile now. Luckily the Combine has not caught him yet; it’s a great source of information and I don’t know what I would do without him. After losing my whole family to the Seven Hour War I don’t want to lose Barney, he really is like the brother I never had. Writing these last few sentences has made me become rather emotional so I think I’ll continue tomorrow. – Val |
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| Sparky | Dec 16 2009, 04:59 AM Post #10 |
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Entry 10, the Black Mesa Incident Part 2 So it occurred to me the other day that I never finished writing about the Black Mesa Incident. I’m not sure I even want to though because it brings back too many emotional events. However, lately all my nightmares are about Black Mesa so I figure this might be good therapy, to just get it all out I suppose. After the whole system wide computer crash event, I figured I’d go blow off some steam by taking a trip to the Biodome Complex in Sector E. As always when I visited the Bio Complex, I usually headed over to bullsquid containment area to talk with Spot. I had not gotten far when a few of the glass windows next to me literally exploded, sending pieces of the debris straight into my left arm. My first reaction was to shout a few curse words in agony, as I delicately tired to pull each piece out. After that, I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. The aliens that were contained began teleporting from every which direction. Some of which stayed with what looked like faces of confusion, while others were forcibly (or willingly, who knows) teleported off to different locations. The structure of the room I was in at the time was falling apart rapidly. Concrete beams and hanging lights were breaking apart from the ceiling and crashing down only to land on top of frightened scientists. More glass windows burst into a million pieces as electronic devices around me exploded with a deafening blast. I did the best I could to dodge the falling beams while at the same time trying to think on my feet. I knew I had to get out of Sector E, that much was certain. However when something tragic, insane, or life threatening happens, people panic. My mind just kept racing back and forth with thoughts of an alien invasion and the safety of all my friends. At the time, an alien invasion fit what was happening. We kidnapped beings from their realm, so it made sense that they were coming to rescue them and eliminate us. Who would have thought it was actually a resonance cascade? Anyway, more aliens began to teleport in as I crawled away quietly, being careful not to alert them to my presence. Most of the other scientists had already been killed in the first wave of destruction, but the others were foolishly running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I couldn’t blame them for doing so, but I tried to remain calm. A few Vortigaunts then teleported in and quickly killed the remaining scientists with neon green energy blasts, sending tiny splats of warm blood across my face. If anyone has ever seen someone die in their lifetime then they would know how I had felt at that exact moment. It was horrifying to see a fellow scientist killed so violently and not be able to do a thing to help. The only thing I could do was force myself to creep away like a coward. After much luck I successfully snuck my way out of the Bio Dome and into the main halls of Sector E. Surprisingly they were empty, but that just made it all the more frightening; who knows when a random wave of aliens could teleport in? As I cautiously made my way to the transit system many more thoughts crossed my mind. What if the transit system was down, what would I do then? Was Sector E the only area being invaded? If not, how was I going to survive? Unlike now, I knew little to nothing when it came to weapons and battle tactics back then. I was pretty much scared out of my mind, and today when I think about it, the only thing that kept me going was survival. Such a funny thing survival… But anyway, when I finally arrived at the transit system hub I was fortunate enough to discover that it was indeed still functional; though for how long was not an answer I was given. When I glanced inside the monorail car, I noticed that there had obviously been a small battle that had taken place within the car. 9mm shells lay scattered across the floor along with the actual pistol which lay a few inches away from an officer’s hand. Small puddles of fresh blood also covered the floor, and a bloody handprint had been smeared across the back wall. Upon checking the pulses of the two scientists and security officer I deduced that all three were dead. I then tried my best to lift the armor off the security officer but leapt back with shock and horror after I had accidently flipped him onto his backside. A gapping cauterized wound (most likely from a Vortigaunt) had left bits of semi burnt intestine and other unrecognizable organs to leak out of the man’s stomach. That’s when the vomit came. I knew it was to be good to be true when I had finally gotten the peach flavored oatmeal from the cafeteria earlier that day. This memory is one I usually wake up screaming to, and I’m not sure why it has stuck with me through all these years. After I had nearly heaved my brains out, I returned to the officer’s body. I couldn’t help feel a sense of mourning and disgust as I bent down to obtain the deceased officer’s armor (what was left of it), pistol, and weapon holster. As dazed as I was by all that had just happened in the last few minutes, I decided I would have to toughen up if I was to make it. After taking a quick look at the schedule for the monorail I was in, I discovered just how lucky I actually was. The monorail car’s next destination was to stop right outside Sector F, exactly the place I was hoping to head to. About a couple of minutes later the car’s electronic door shut about half way and then began to move slowly off to its intended location. I knew it would be a little bit before I arrived at Sector F so I took the time I had to take in the scenery if that’s what you could call it. As I turned each corner a new horror laid waiting for me, and my question of whether the whole base was being invaded was quickly answered. The once beautiful structure of Black Mesa had been diminished to mostly rubble and malfunctioning electronic devices. The damaged com system made the atmosphere even more eerie as the voice(s) randomly shut off and changed sound. Frantic scientists ran cowering in fear from the invading Xen aliens, as security officers did their best to fight them off with their measly 9mm handguns. Eventually I made it to Sector F and luckily I got off the tram right before the beam split, sending the car crashing into the chasm below. As I dashed up to the two gigantic metal doors that led to the Lambda Complex, I entered my security code, used the retinal scanner, and swiped my ID card. The two doors slowly creaked open and as I walked through, I realized I was in for one Hell of a fight… - Val |
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