The day dawns clear and unseasonably cold. Alyx has been up for a while--she tried to sleep, but couldn't quite manage it--so the maps are already set up in the north hangar when people start to pour in. The new arrivals from City 08 have nearly tripled the population of White Forest, so the room fills quickly, and there's considerably less ( Read more... )

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ELI MOSES VANCE
1968-2021

There should, thinks Alyx, be more than this. Her father was the reason the Resistance existed, the reason they were allied with the Vortigaunts--arguably, he was the reason the human race still exists as anything but mechanized slaves to the Combine. He deserves a better sendoff than this. Hell, he deserves a fucking ( Read more... )

The door opens onto cool air, the hum of ventilation fans, and the slanted, golden light of the same August morning they left three months ago ( Read more... )

New shirt to replace Alyx's pierced and bloodstained hoodie: check.

Set of denims in what she hopes is Gordon's size: check.

Finding the way back up to the mess hall and bunks: ...not so check. Alyx hasn't been to White Forest for a couple of years, and isn't as sure of her way around as she thought she was.

She's not quite desperate enough to ( Read more... )

Getting out of the Combine-occupied hospital was no picnic, but they've managed it. Alyx is more than happy to get out of the building and back under open sky again.

Especially since she caught a glimpse of one of those gas-masked maggot monstrosities on a monitor as they were leaving.

"C'mon, let's find Barney and get moving."

"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 ( Read more... )