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Gordon never figured that Benrey actually knew anything about science.
So when he comes home to the shared apartment, he’s pretty surprised to see Benrey and Tommy crowded around their small kitchen table, which is covered in wires, and what appears to be a dismantled playstation controller. Sunkist is lying on the ground, head resting on Tommy’s foot.
“Hey- uh, guys? What’re you doing?”
Tommy’s head shoots up, even if Sunkist’s ears perked up and Benrey shot a glance towards the door when Gordon entered, it appeared that Tommy was absorbed enough in his work that he didn’t notice. “Oh! Hello Mister Freeman, me and- me and Benrey- we’re working on a science project!” Tommy’s hand idly finds a wisp of his hair and begins to twirl it around his finger as he speaks.
“Benrey had this really cool idea of a- a voice-activated game controller!”
Benrey looks up at Gordon, a smug smile barely visible on his face. “Yeah. Shit’s gonna be crazy. It’s gonna be loud as balls for the next three months.” He looks over at what Tommy is working on, as the other man solders a wire down to one of the board’s terminals. “The mic is fucking trash bro, so you have to yell if you want it to work. Not that it’s a problem for you, man.”
“Hey- fuck you.” Gordon’s brows are furrowed, but there’s a laugh in his voice regardless. Tommy is bouncing his leg furiously while he works, and the components of the controller rattle on the surface of the table. Sunkist has moved his head to allow for Tommy’s movements, and watches his owner with the same dopey expression he always has. “Tommy,” Gordon says, watching the other hard at work. “I thought you went to school for nuclear physics?”
“Ye- Yes Mister Freeman, but I read about this on Wikipedia-”
“The free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” Benrey interjects.
“Yeah! I read about it and then I read all thirty-one pages of the United States playstation controller patent number 20130215024A1, and Benrey showed me- showed me a video about soldering, so it’s all A-OK!"
If a normal person said that, Gordon would have snatched the soldering iron out of their hands immediately. But Tommy has a knack for absorbing knowledge, and even if Gordon isn’t incredibly well-versed in the knowledge of electrical systems, he seems to be doing an alright job.
Gordon points to a little tab sticking out of the top of the controller frame. “So uh, what’s this part do?”
“Flame sensor bro.” Benrey says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Gordon snatches up the little piece of plastic with an “Oh no- Nope! Nope! Not in this house!”
Benrey moves to snatch it out of his hand, but Gordon blocks it with his prosthesis and sprints off into the bathroom. Benrey materializes sitting on the bathroom counter, just in time to hear the toilet flush. He punches Gordon in the shoulder.
“Dick.”
-
The two men work on the controller while Gordon cooks dinner. Tommy has replaced nearly all of the symbol buttons by this point, though without the flame sensor the Square button has to remain normal. Gordon gave up asking questions. He’s a theoretical physicist, but he knows fuck-all about electronics. Benrey has been utilizing the Black Mesa Sweet Voice™ in order to test out the sound-sensor, and finally after the millionth “AAAAAAA”, Tommy claps his hands together and momentarily flaps them next to his face. “See-See the red light there? That means it’s working!” Benrey doesn’t move from his seat, and there’s no indication that he’s even looking, but regardless he replies “Epic.” and that seems to be enough for Tommy.
Gordon turns the burner off and gestures to the hot soup on the stove. Benrey’s bowl just appears out of thin air when Gordon isn’t facing him and Tommy retrieves one from the cabinet.
After dinner, Tommy finishes screwing the playstation controller back together. It looks fairly normal, minus the fact that the Circle, X, and Triangle buttons are missing, replaced with little LED’s. After setting up the playstation, Benrey boots up Call of Duty. Gordon watches him navigate through the menus by licking the spot where the X button used to be and then decides that frankly, this is a little too weird, even for him. Tommy looks pleased, commenting that “the moisture detector is working as smoothly as a- a salmon swims downstream.”
Gordon gives a confused congratulations to the two before retreating into his room for the night.
-
He is woken up by screaming.
Busting through his bedroom door, Gordon is ready to fucking attack whoever is inside his apartment in the middle of the night. But when the door slams open, the screaming stops. Gordon looks around to see Tommy with Sunkist on his lap and his hands clapped over his ears. Benrey is sitting on the couch, surrounded by glowing purple orbs. It dawns on Gordon that the screaming he heard was probably the Black Mesa Sweet Voice, however that does not explain why the Black Mesa Sweet Voice is being used en-masse in the middle of the night to power the stupid playstation controller.
“Bruh.”
As eloquent as ever, Benrey breaks the silence. Tommy follows up with a nervous sounding “M-Mister Freeman, what’s wrong?”
“WHAT’S WRONG!?” Gordon yells, before remembering that he has neighbors and quieting down. “What’s wrong is that I just woke up because you guys decided to wake up the entire god-damn building!”
Benrey turns his head to look at Gordon, still holding the controller. He blasts a stream of blue orbs in Gordon’s direction, and momentarily, Gordon feels calm. Until Benrey opens his mouth.
“Well, that-uh, that sounds like a you problem.”