The voice is a tiny one, and Alyx could be excused for not hearing it. Few people ever do. The speaker, after all, is smaller than most grains of rice- and is currently tucked inside a flat-sided borosilicate glass test tube hidden under Gordon's clothes.
Which isn't to say that the speaker can't hear what's going on outside, and do her best to shout- as far as her best can go, anyway.
Alyx doesn't hear the little voice. Kei, however, does.
"He's not dead," he grunts.
"What?" Alyx is still too stunned for the words to register.
"He's not dead," repeats Kei. "His daemon's under his clothes, I hear her--"
Quick as a flash, Alyx is on her knees next to the body, pulling his shirt open. Sure enough, there's the glass pendant, with a tiny speck moving inside.
Of course. His daemon's a tartigrade. Kleiner told me and I forgot... A wave of mingled relief and embarrassment washes over her.
"Oh, wow," says the tiny daemon as the light and the overwhelming sense of another human's proximity starts pouring in. "That was a bad five minutes- Gordon! Gordon, wake up!"
About now, the man starts to stir, wincing more than a little.
When he awakens, he'll see two faces staring down at him. One is that of a young woman, olive-skinned and almond-eyed, with a strip of cloth holding back her dark hair; the other is a fully-grown Bengal tiger. Both have identical expressions of concern.
After a moment, the woman's expression softens and she tries to smile. "Dr. Freeman, I presume?"
"...... are you a paramedic?" is all Gordon can think to say. That's who the people were who ripped open his clothes last time something like this happened.
Okay, it was a racing accident and not a beatdown. And he had armor on at the time, not... not whatever he's wearing now. But still.
The distant, echoing voice makes her and her daemon look up. "We'd better hurry," says the tiger-daemon in a deep, quiet rumble.
"I think you're right. Here--" The woman takes both of Gordon's hands and does her best to pull him to his feet. "The Combine can be slow to wake, but once they're up, you don't wanna get in their way."
"Gordon. Don't ask stupid questions. Follow the lady right now," says Sati with some asperity. "Unless you want to get hit again."
Gordon swallows and pushes himself to his feet. He's hurting in a lot of places, but nothing bad enough that he can't walk. Or run, as the case may be.
There's an elevator in the next room; Alyx strides over and pushes the button. "Dr. Kleiner said you'd be coming this way," she says, conversationally. "I don't think it occurred to him that you might not have a map."
"I'd say he's had a bad morning, but honestly, you've gotten more words out of him so far than he generally uses all day at Black Mesa," the daemon says. "He's always like this."
Maybe, Gordon thinks, if he lets his daemon keep talking for him, he'll get some answers without having to ask for them and look like a fool. Can he get away with that?
For the moment, at least. Although Alyx is wondering why Sati's using the present tense when talking about Black Mesa.
The elevator rattles to a stop somewhere below street level. Alyx leads Gordon toward a concrete wall with a Combine poster plastered across it. "Remember him from Black Mesa?" Alyx remarks, nodding toward the figure on the poster--a Caucasian man, perhaps sixty or so, with close-cropped white hair and beard. Oddly enough, his daemon is not in the picture. "Your old administrator. Don't get my dad started on Dr. Breen."
There's a fusebox on the wall next to the poster; Alyx reaches behind it and pushes a hidden switch, which makes the entire wall slide aside.
The voice is a tiny one, and Alyx could be excused for not hearing it. Few people ever do. The speaker, after all, is smaller than most grains of rice- and is currently tucked inside a flat-sided borosilicate glass test tube hidden under Gordon's clothes.
Which isn't to say that the speaker can't hear what's going on outside, and do her best to shout- as far as her best can go, anyway.
"Hey! Hey! What's going on out there?"
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"He's not dead," he grunts.
"What?" Alyx is still too stunned for the words to register.
"He's not dead," repeats Kei. "His daemon's under his clothes, I hear her--"
Quick as a flash, Alyx is on her knees next to the body, pulling his shirt open. Sure enough, there's the glass pendant, with a tiny speck moving inside.
Of course. His daemon's a tartigrade. Kleiner told me and I forgot... A wave of mingled relief and embarrassment washes over her.
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About now, the man starts to stir, wincing more than a little.
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After a moment, the woman's expression softens and she tries to smile. "Dr. Freeman, I presume?"
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Okay, it was a racing accident and not a beatdown. And he had armor on at the time, not... not whatever he's wearing now. But still.
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"Attention: Unidentified person of interest..."
The distant, echoing voice makes her and her daemon look up. "We'd better hurry," says the tiger-daemon in a deep, quiet rumble.
"I think you're right. Here--" The woman takes both of Gordon's hands and does her best to pull him to his feet. "The Combine can be slow to wake, but once they're up, you don't wanna get in their way."
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"Gordon. Don't ask stupid questions. Follow the lady right now," says Sati with some asperity. "Unless you want to get hit again."
Gordon swallows and pushes himself to his feet. He's hurting in a lot of places, but nothing bad enough that he can't walk. Or run, as the case may be.
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"Fix your shirt, Gordon. You don't have the chest for a Captain Kirk imitation."
"Sorry." Gordon ducks his head and starts trying to button up his garment. "Uh. No. No map."
"And no idea where we are at all," Sati chimes in. "Or who to thank."
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"Pleased to meet you," says Sati. "Are you related to Eli Vance, by any chance?"
Gordon might be too embarrassed to want to talk to a stranger right now, but Sati's not the one who got her butt handed to her.
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"Eli Vance is my father," she says once they're underway. "You worked together back in Black Mesa? I'm sure you don't remember me, though..."
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There's a pause.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Vance. Normally he's better than this...."
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Maybe, Gordon thinks, if he lets his daemon keep talking for him, he'll get some answers without having to ask for them and look like a fool. Can he get away with that?
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The elevator rattles to a stop somewhere below street level. Alyx leads Gordon toward a concrete wall with a Combine poster plastered across it. "Remember him from Black Mesa?" Alyx remarks, nodding toward the figure on the poster--a Caucasian man, perhaps sixty or so, with close-cropped white hair and beard. Oddly enough, his daemon is not in the picture. "Your old administrator. Don't get my dad started on Dr. Breen."
There's a fusebox on the wall next to the poster; Alyx reaches behind it and pushes a hidden switch, which makes the entire wall slide aside.
"Through here."
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