Urban Flight
"Careful, Lamarr! These lamps are quite hot! Ahem... is this on? Yes? Very well, I... I am not much of a public speaker, but I'll... I'll do my best. Fellow citizens... residents of City 17 and environs... by which I mean sentient residents, of course, human and otherwise, although I believe there is little need to explain recent developments to our Vortigaunt allies..."
( we've been waiting all our lives )
Alyx has never been happier to see Dr. Kleiner in her life, even if he's not actually here. The city may be in ruins, the streets may be overrun with antlions and Overwatch, the citizenry may be running like rabbits... but seeing good old Izzy on the screens where Breen used to read out his propaganda? That's a thing of beauty.
( for things we've always had but have no eyes to see )
"...first, as a matter of great urgency, if you find yourself still within the confines of City 17, you are well advised to leave the city at once by the fastest means available to you..."
( something new is going to happen )
She doesn't have time to stick around and listen, of course. No sooner are she and Gordon out in the daylight again than they have manhacks, scanners, and Overwatch bearing down on them. Alyx had hoped they'd be able to get a little further along before the Combine caught up with them, but wishes and horses and all that.
( the most natural thing, but nothing you'd expect )
"...forced a damper on the entire network of linked Citadel reactors. Thus, for the time being, I believe that all Combine portals have failed completely, as well as all communication systems based on that technology. In short, the Combine are completely cut off..."
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
And then there are the antlions. Dozens upon dozens of them, crawling out of every crack in the asphalt. There's even a goddamn bull. The only saving grace is that they're just as likely to attack the Overwatch as anything else.
( how do cities understand? )
"...most likely a temporary state of affairs. As we once learned to our dismay, even the relatively tiny fracture at Black Mesa gave our enemies an opening which they were able to force ever wider..."
( we drink our wine and wonder why we're really here )
Still, they press on, the same way they always have. Find your way around the enemy when you can. Use every resource available to you, whether it's a hacked rollermine or a mounted sniper rifle whose user you just killed with said rollermine.
( what's the point of even asking? )
"...In addition to the completely xenotheric species, there are many modified post-human allies still remaining on Earth who will be doing their utmost to re-establish lines of communication and supply..."
( we take the good and bad and make the best of it )
And if all else fails, you just grit your teeth and muscle straight through. Wounds heal. Bones knit. Pain is temporary, just like Gordon says.
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
"...what the Combine fear the most is not any tangible human weapon, but our will, our intellect, our ability to respond selectively and rationally to every terror they turn against us. We place our firmest hope in the human spirit, even knowing how easily it may be shattered..."
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
Of course they press on. What else can they do? Gordon talks about being offered a choice, but Alyx's choices were made for her long ago. Her father's struggle to let her live free also made her a target, a resource to be used as leverage against the leader of the Resistance. She's been "Vance Subprime" to the Combine since she was seven. And now that Breen's not around to want her alive and intact? If she's lucky, they'll settle for just killing her.
( have you watched the cities move? )
"We have all seen friends and family crushed by the Combine. Some of our neighbors have allowed themselves to be co-opted, and purged of their humanity, by the military machine. And those who resisted have met a most terrible fate."
( does nature fall before this age of industry? )
When you know for a fact that Door #2 leads to nothing but misery and death, that's not really a choice at all, is it?
( for today I'll let it go )
"Still, I cannot overstate how important it is that we retain our humanity. Only this will allow us to hold together, as we must, for their inevitable return... and what is certain to be unimaginable retaliation."
( you've been good to me, have I been good to you? )
So they press on through the crumbling streets, under the baleful shadow of a Citadel that's once again crackling with unstable energies.
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
"...to all those who can hear me now, as we struggle out of the shadow of our malefactors: welcome back to the light."
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
The clock is ticking.
( we've been waiting all our lives )
Alyx has never been happier to see Dr. Kleiner in her life, even if he's not actually here. The city may be in ruins, the streets may be overrun with antlions and Overwatch, the citizenry may be running like rabbits... but seeing good old Izzy on the screens where Breen used to read out his propaganda? That's a thing of beauty.
( for things we've always had but have no eyes to see )
"...first, as a matter of great urgency, if you find yourself still within the confines of City 17, you are well advised to leave the city at once by the fastest means available to you..."
( something new is going to happen )
She doesn't have time to stick around and listen, of course. No sooner are she and Gordon out in the daylight again than they have manhacks, scanners, and Overwatch bearing down on them. Alyx had hoped they'd be able to get a little further along before the Combine caught up with them, but wishes and horses and all that.
( the most natural thing, but nothing you'd expect )
"...forced a damper on the entire network of linked Citadel reactors. Thus, for the time being, I believe that all Combine portals have failed completely, as well as all communication systems based on that technology. In short, the Combine are completely cut off..."
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
And then there are the antlions. Dozens upon dozens of them, crawling out of every crack in the asphalt. There's even a goddamn bull. The only saving grace is that they're just as likely to attack the Overwatch as anything else.
( how do cities understand? )
"...most likely a temporary state of affairs. As we once learned to our dismay, even the relatively tiny fracture at Black Mesa gave our enemies an opening which they were able to force ever wider..."
( we drink our wine and wonder why we're really here )
Still, they press on, the same way they always have. Find your way around the enemy when you can. Use every resource available to you, whether it's a hacked rollermine or a mounted sniper rifle whose user you just killed with said rollermine.
( what's the point of even asking? )
"...In addition to the completely xenotheric species, there are many modified post-human allies still remaining on Earth who will be doing their utmost to re-establish lines of communication and supply..."
( we take the good and bad and make the best of it )
And if all else fails, you just grit your teeth and muscle straight through. Wounds heal. Bones knit. Pain is temporary, just like Gordon says.
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
"...what the Combine fear the most is not any tangible human weapon, but our will, our intellect, our ability to respond selectively and rationally to every terror they turn against us. We place our firmest hope in the human spirit, even knowing how easily it may be shattered..."
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
Of course they press on. What else can they do? Gordon talks about being offered a choice, but Alyx's choices were made for her long ago. Her father's struggle to let her live free also made her a target, a resource to be used as leverage against the leader of the Resistance. She's been "Vance Subprime" to the Combine since she was seven. And now that Breen's not around to want her alive and intact? If she's lucky, they'll settle for just killing her.
( have you watched the cities move? )
"We have all seen friends and family crushed by the Combine. Some of our neighbors have allowed themselves to be co-opted, and purged of their humanity, by the military machine. And those who resisted have met a most terrible fate."
( does nature fall before this age of industry? )
When you know for a fact that Door #2 leads to nothing but misery and death, that's not really a choice at all, is it?
( for today I'll let it go )
"Still, I cannot overstate how important it is that we retain our humanity. Only this will allow us to hold together, as we must, for their inevitable return... and what is certain to be unimaginable retaliation."
( you've been good to me, have I been good to you? )
So they press on through the crumbling streets, under the baleful shadow of a Citadel that's once again crackling with unstable energies.
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
"...to all those who can hear me now, as we struggle out of the shadow of our malefactors: welcome back to the light."
( all these buildings and mountains / slowly they'll arise / before our eyes )
The clock is ticking.