Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s no surprise that Bubby Mesa takes an interest in the new up and coming game.

He’s always had an interest in video games. When he was young and wanted to avoid his parents, it was the best distraction and a half decent excuse. Bubby poured himself into everything he could get his hands on. Games ranged from Pokemon to Bioshock to Minecraft to Stardew Valley. Bubby dug his heels into the world of video games and didn’t let go.

It’s no surprise he became a streamer either. He already loved playing games, why not make money off of it? Bubby chooses the name ‘MasterBubby’ and begins his career. He’s not popular with millions of fans, but Bubby has enough money to buy his own place and live comfortably, alone.

Alone is fine. It’s good. It’s better.

Bubby’s brother still calls him twice a week, keeping as much contact as he can. Bubby has never been great at expressing himself but he looks forward to those calls. He stares at the phone ten minutes before their usual time and begins to tap his fingers on the coffee table.

As soon as it rings, Bubby snatches the phone up. He answers, sucks in a breath, and says in a completely neutral voice, “Hello, Jason.”

“Bubby!” Hearing his brother’s voice alone makes him soften, not like he’s going to say that. It occurs to Bubby that he hasn’t had an actual conversation with anyone in a while. The closest he’s come in a few days was a chatter cashier who he only half paid attention to.

Is that healthy? Bubby almost immediately dismissed the thought. He’s perfectly fine. He’s alive, isn’t he?

“Man, good to hear your voice again! How’s your day been?”

“It’s noon.” Bubby informs him.

He gets a pause before laughter erupts from the other side. Bubby’s mouth twitches upwards. “Riiight, you just woke up, huh? Late night streaming again? Wish I could’ve made it- night shift again.”

“You didn’t miss much.” Bubby answers smoothly, even though he might’ve been disappointed when he learned it last night. “Just some Q&A while I stripmined for diamonds.”

“Still gonna watch it when I can. Gotta support my baby bro.”

A scoff escapes him. “I’m twenty fucking three. I’m not a baby.”

“Two years younger than me sure sounds like a baby to me.” Jason pauses. “So. I might’ve gotten you an early birthday present.”

Bubby shouldn’t be surprised. Jason has always been big in surprising him early. Granted, one week early is significantly less shocking than one month early like last year. Nonetheless, Bubby still rolls his eyes at him. He refuses to acknowledge the stupid grin on his face.

“Impatient, are we?”

“You’re one to talk.” Jason quips.

Bubby can’t even begin to argue with that. “Should I expect it in the mail then?”

“No- well, yes, but not the physical mail. Check your computer! Gifted you something on Steam!”

“That narrows it down quite a bit.” Bubby stood up, making a beeline for his computer and waking it up. “What game?”

“Nothing on your wishlist. It’s a new one! Ya boy got you early access!” Pride leaks out into his voice. Bubby attempts to stifle a snicker with little success. He can hear Jason smiling stupidly wide like he always does. “‘S called ‘Half Life’ I think.”

The wind gets knocked out of him. Bubby is shell shocked for a moment before he blurts out, “Are you fucking serious?” Bubby might’ve accused him of pranking him but sure enough, once he’s able to pull up his Steam account, there it is. A gifted version of Half Life. “Holy shit. How- how did you get this?”

“Good buddy of mine was a part of the development team- no joke. Pulled some strings, yadda yadda, and boom. Perfect birthday present for my lil bro.”

Bubby gapes and quickly starts downloading the file onto his computer. “This… This isn’t fair. How the hell do you manage to beat me every year?”

“Gift giving isn’t about beating the other person, Bubs.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you were losing.”

Jason stifles a laugh. “Whatever you say, dude.” Bubby takes that as a win.

He almost misses it. The way Jason swallows, small but unmistakable. Bubby feels a burning feeling in his chest that can only be anxiety. He knows Jason too well to know that the gift was to soften the blow for something else.

“Hey uh… Okay, I’m gonna say something and just… Hear me out for a second? One second- then you can disregard it and I’ll never bring it up again. Sound good?”

Bubby nods mutely. It takes him a moment to remember that Jason can’t actually see him. Great. Now he’s got anxiety and shame in his gut. “Uh, yeah. Fuckin’... Go for it.”

He doesn’t sound as confident as he hopes.

“So… Last year I came out to Mom and Dad and they’ve been taking it really well. I- I’ve been kinda testing the waters and… You know I wouldn’t bring this up if I wasn’t certain that it could be good for you, right? I- if there was ever a time to decide whether or not you want them in your life again- which I know you’ve been uh… Just. Does that make sense?”

There’s a dam in Bubby’s throat that blocks his words from coming out. Bubby has to force his way through it to be able to respond. “Yeah. I get it. I’ll… Keep that in mind.”

“I’ll support you no matter what you decide.” Jason says quickly. “I’m not pressuring you into anything. I just... Want you to be happy. That's all that matters.”

“No, I understand.” Bubby half winces at how dry his tone is but he can’t find it in him to change it.

“Sorry to uh… Ruin the mood. Though maybe playing a bit of that game could improve it?”

He’s not wrong. With every single crisis in his life, Bubby played video games to calm down and think before he dealt with it. When his parents were fighting, when he was questioning his identity, when he was deciding what path to take after High School- all of which he got through with help from Rollercoaster Tycoon, Terraria, and Mario Striker respectively.

(A Younger Jason blinks at his Terraria character in surprise. “Oh hey, you made ‘em a dude?”

Bubby’s mouth had gone dry. Fuck. He forgot about that. “Uh, yeah… There’s- there’s a potion in-game that changes your gender and I wanted to see if it actually did anything.”

Jason chuckles slightly but doesn’t question it further. He doesn’t question it when Bubby doesn’t change it back either.)

“I hope you know that I’m going to become a ghost until I finish this game. It’s all I’m going to be doing.”

Another laugh from Jason. It clears the tension in the air but Bubby can still feel it under his skin. His fingers twitch at the thought but he refuses to acknowledge it any further.

“Yeah, I suspected as much. You’re gonna have a blast, I just know it. Good game, apparently! Plus you’re a fan of sci-fi and apparently it takes place in a place called ‘Black Mesa’ so honestly? I think this was destiny.”

“There’s no such thing as destiny and I will fight you on it.”

“Sorry, it’s written in the stars, Bubs. You can’t control the stars.”

“Watch me.”

“I will.” He can hear Jason grinning again. “Anyways, don’t want to keep you for too long and honestly, I got nothing to report on my end. I’ve only been up for an hour and work was boring. But, I’ll see you next week for your birthday. We’ll go out for drinks or bowling or something. Have fun, y’know? You’re welcome to invite any of your buds!”

“Eh, maybe. We’ll see.”

“Offers always open. I’ll leave you to your game. Go apeshit. Bye, love ya!”

“Love you too.”

Bubby pauses when the line goes dead and huffs. You’re welcome to invite any of your buds still echoes in his head, haunting him.

Bubby doesn’t really have ‘Buds’.

He has some people he’ll occasionally talk to or stream with but… Are they ‘Buds’ really? Bubby doesn’t really fit in with them…

Bubby shakes himself. Today’s not going to be ruined. Today, Bubby is going to play a game and he’s going to like it.

—

In no time, Half Life has been downloaded and Bubby has his VR Headset on. He taps his foot as he loads in, then is met with a main menu.

Bubby clicks on settings first- pure instinct from streaming. He’s not going to stream this yet- his first play through will be his own. Maybe he’ll go back- each play through is meant to be different after all since the AIs are supposed to be advanced- but he’ll see how he feels once he’s done.

Bubby skims the setting list, clicking on subtitles as he’s always had a certain fondness for them, and then notices a checkable box at the bottom.

Allow in-game commands?

Bubby grins wildly. “Hell yes.” Bubby murmurs out loud as he clicks it.

With everything else set, Bubby moves on. The game has him make a quick character, which he promptly models after himself. He chooses to be a scientist, seeing as he’s always had an interest in being one since he was a kid. By the end of it, he’s looking at a model with jet black hair that’s slicked back, has icy blue eyes, and just for fun, sharp teeth. Why not, right?

Bubby nods, satisfied. He types in his name, clicks play, and the game fades in.

The first thing he sees is a face right in front of him. One that looks around his age, with fluffy, chestnut hair; bright green eyes; and a warm smile that greets him.

“Hello, Dr. Bubby!” The voice is loud and right in his ear. Bubby startles, which makes the character pull back. He continues in a much more palatable volume, green text appearing on screen. “Good to finally meet you, my name is Dr. Harold P. Coomer!”

Bubby half heartedly shakes his hand when he offers it, still frazzled. “Uh, yeah. Likewise.” He turns his head to get a good look at the setting. They’re in a locker room, both standing next to their respective locks, labeled ‘COOMER’ and ‘BUBBY’ respectively. Bubby wonders if there’s anything important in his locker- he’ll check after he’s done talking to Dr. Coomer.

When Coomer is done shaking- which takes a lot longer than the usual quick handshake, Bubby realizes- he crosses his arms behind his back. “I’m glad to be a part of your team- today’s the big day for the test! We’re going to change the world, aren’t we?”

“Sure are.” Bubby glances over the obvious exposition. Luckily, the game seems to notice his lack of enthusiasm and the interaction is cut short.

Coomer nods firmly. His tone is no less chipper. “I’ll see you in the observation room by the test chamber, then! Another day, another dollar, am I right?”

A snort escapes Bubby- god that’s such a corny thing to say. Coomer seems to take it as a compliment and waves goodbye. Bubby does the same, still grinning.

“This is gonna be fun.” Bubby snickers to himself when Coomer leaves. “Dr. Coomer, I think you're gonna be my favorite.”

His eyes finally land on his locker again. “Let’s see what we got…” He pushes it open. Inside is a gun with ammo, which Bubby questions why a scientist would have that but takes it anyways; a lab coat, which he equips and grins when he looks down at his updates model; his company ID, which seems obvious to take; and a-

A… Passport?

“Why the hell do I need a passport?” Bubby grumbles. He takes it anyways, of course. He’s not a fucking idiot. The game wouldn’t put it in if it wasn’t important.

All of it is transferred to his inventory. Bubby opens up the menu and notices a ‘Command Guide’ option that catches his interest. He skims through it but especially takes interest in commands like ‘Spawn (Weapon)’ and ‘Set (object) on fire’.

Why the game has an opinion like that, Bubby has no idea. But he’s not complaining. In fact, he memorizes the command in his head. Might be useful. Bubby smirks to himself.

Chapter Text

Bubby runs into the next NPC as soon as he’s out the door. He’s just making his way through the halls when a tall guy walks out and spots him.

“Hello?” He tilts his head at him, eyes strikingly bright yellow and curious. The text that pops when he speaks is also yellow- Bubby silently wonders if significant NPCs have colors.

Bubby gives a wave of acknowledgement. The fact that a grown man is wearing a pinwheel hat takes him off guard for a moment but he shrugs it off. Something about it fits him- round face maybe? Makes him look far younger than he probably is.

“Who are you?” Bubby asks, eyebrows quirking up. He doubts a random NPC would look this unique. He’s got to be important. Bubby would bet money in it.

The NPC grins at him. “My-my name is Tommy! Are you Dr. Bubby?”

Dr. Bubby. He likes the sound of that. Plays right into his childhood fantasies of being a mad scientist and makes him grin. “The one and only.”

“O-oh! I’ve been hoping to meet you! I’m- I’m on your team! For the Xen Crystal experiment!”

More exposition no doubt. Though the name does catch his interest. “Xen, huh?”

“Yeah! That’s what they’re call- calling that other world, right? The one with all the aliens?”

Sci-Fi game, just as Jason said. This is gonna be fun. “Ah, yes.” He nods, taking his word for it. The NPC is programmed to know these things after all. “Well, can’t wait to see the results. Gonna head over there… You gonna come or what?”

To his surprise, the NPC shakes his head. “Still on lunch break. It’s gonna end soon though so I’ll- I’ll see you soon!”

Guess he’s not gonna follow me around. “Right, have a good lunch... What do you eat anyways?”

He expects a sandwich or something. What he gets is, “Soda!”

“...Just soda?”

“Yep! It’s my favorite!”

Bubby has to try hard not to laugh. An NPC who drinks soda for lunch. Who the fuck comes up with this stuff? “Uh, well, have fun.”

“I will!” Tommy leaves, heading back into where he came, which Bubby can now see is a kitchen area. He chuckles to himself and moves further down the hall.

From what Bubby can tell, Black Mesa seems to have a lot of classic features you’d expect in a laboratory. Long hallways, most of the colors being pretty muted or monotone, tiled floors that make a clicking noise when you stride across them, and automatic doors. An aesthetic that Bubby can respect.

He passes a guard but doesn’t pay him any mind at first. Instead, he comes across another one guarding a large door. The second guard takes one look at him and tells him he’s expected down in the observation room before starting to open the door.

There’s a tap on his shoulder. Bubby glances back and is met with the same first guard as before. Deep red eyes bore into him, but more lazily than intimidating.

“Got your passport?” The guard asks. Deep blue text appears as he speaks.

It seems ridiculous by all means but Bubby does have it. No need to pester the guard about it if he doesn’t have to cause trouble in the first place.

Bubby pulls it out of his inventory and flashes it at the guard. The guard reads it and breaks out into a grin.

“Fiiiinally. The last guy who came through here was all like, ‘Bluh bluh I don’t have it bluhhh.’” The guard snickers to himself. “What a loser. Didn’t even have his fuckin’ passport.”

Guess it did have some significance after all. Bubby slips the passport back into his inventory and chuckles, half to himself and half at what the guard is saying. “Am I free to go then?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I think I’m supposed to escort you though.” He shrugs. “Nothin’ personal. Just wanna get you there in one piece y’know.”

“Protect me from vicious scientists?” Bubby raises an eyebrow at that. He’s not sure it transfers to the game or not but the guard seems to react to it nonetheless.

“Yeah- they’re absolutely feral. They’ll- they’ll eat ‘cha. And show up to work without their passport.”

“Well, I can protect myself.” Bubby pulls out his gun he collected from earlier. The guard’s eyes light up and gives a lopsided grin.

“Siiiick. You gonna fuck shit up with that?”

“I would never.” Bubby smirks. “Unless I had reason to.”

The guard laughs, then starts to lead the way. “Fuckin’ nice, dude.”

Bubby follows, figuring an NPC probably knows the way better than he does. The guard is nearly a whole head shorter than him but looking at him makes him shiver for a moment. Then Bubby childs himself. Not only is he not that bad of a guy but he’s also virtual. He can’t actually do anything to him, only to his in-game character.

“What do I call you anyways?” Either the guard doesn’t have a name or he’s actually an important NPC. The question is a good way to tell.

“Benrey.” He answers. “And you’re uhhh… Bubs or something.”

“Bubby.” He answers, then pauses and corrects to himself. “Dr. Bubby.” He’s never going to get used to that, in the best way possible.

“B...Bubs.” Benrey started to snicker to himself. “BBBBBBBBBubs.”

Holy shit- what kind of AI is this? Bubby stifles a laugh but he still ends up grinning. “You’re not at all what I expected from a guard.”

Benrey’s face falls for a moment. Bubby quickly corrects himself, shrugging. “I mean that in a good way. Half these guards look like they have a stick up their ass.”

Bubby stops after that. Huh. Why was he so quick to try and cheer up a computer? Fuck, is he really that pathetic and desperate for companionship?

Benrey grins at him. Bubby’s gut twists. He is and he doesn’t like it.

—

Heading down to the observation room, Bubby walks into a laboratory and hears arguing down at the end of it. Benrey shows a mild interest in it but seems to wait to see what Bubby will do.

And it’s not like Bubby is gonna not go see what it is.

There’s a few tubes with buzzing interest that Bubby looks over but he ultimately leaves them alone. Instead, he notes the source of the argument to be three people all standing by what looks to be a large computer. Two of which are wearing a similar uniform to Bubby’s character model- scientists, no doubt- while the other is in an orange HEV Suit. Their argument begins to come in clearer through his headphones when he gets closer, subtitles following.

One of the subtitles appears in a deep orange while the other two appear in black. Bubby has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes a little. His theory about colorful subtitles and important NPCs seems to be right. A little basic but Bubby won’t complain. None of the colors are blinding so far- not even Tommy’s bright yellow.

“-can’t believe this! I just heard you talking about how the machine was acting up and now you’re telling me it’s completely safe?” The deep orange text seems to come from the guy in the HEV Suit. He’s got long, dark brown hair tied into a low ponytail, a pair of square glasses, and eyes that match the color of his text. “What is this bullshit? Should we even be running the test at all?”

“Now Gordon,” one of the scientists sighs. “This happens all the time. Nothing’s happened before-”

“We also weren’t dealing with alien energy we don’t understand!” The orange guy- Gordon, apparently- throws his arms in the air. Gordon finally seems to notice Bubby and Benrey, turning to him. He seems to regard Bubby with interest but takes one look at Benrey and grimaces. “Oh. It’s you.”

“It’s me.” Benrey smirks. “You got your passport this time, weather boy?”

“W- weather boy? And no! I told you, that’s a bullshit company policy that you just made up to fuck with me again!”

“Excuse me but who the hell are you?” Bubby butts in, eyebrows raising.

Gordon straightens up, nodding slightly at him. “Gordon Freeman, I’m supposed to be the assistant for the Xen Crystal experiment.”

“Supposed to be?” Bubby echoes curiously.

“It’s- it’s going to go wrong, I can feel it. I- you’re Dr. Bubby, right?” Bubby gives a nod. It’s no surprise that all the NPCs seem to recognize him. Player character and all. “You have to listen to me when I say we can’t go through with this experiment.”

Gordon looks like he’s gonna say more and Bubby means to cut in but both are silenced by a booming noise. A piece of the computer the two scientists are standing next to falls to the ground and they rush to figure out what’s going on. Bubby and Gordon both gape while Benrey stares blankly at it. Gordon whips around, tugging at his hair in a stress filled panic.

“See?” Gordon gestures to the computer wildly. “It’s dangerous!”

“It’s- it’s fine!” One of the scientists protests without looking up. “Dr. Bubby, there’s no reason to stop the tests, really.”

The NPC doesn’t sound so sure but Bubby truthfully kinda wants to see what will happen. Worst comes to worst, he’ll just restart the game and try from scratch or reload a save file. Bubby shrugs, making Gordon stare at him in horror. “The show must go on, Gordon.”

“Do- do you want a Resonance Cascade to happen?” Gordon spits out.

Bubby isn’t entirely sure what that is but like hell he's gonna back down from an NPC. “Is that anyway to speak to your superior?” Bubby crosses his arms and gives him a hard look. It must transfer over from VR because Gordon suddenly doesn’t meet his gaze.

“...No.” Gordon huffs. “Sorry, I… I just don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Says the guy who didn’t have his passport.” Benrey finally cuts in.

Gordon bristles. “That’s not real! Who carries around their passport?”

A smile creeps up on Bubby’s face. He takes his passport from his inventory and shows it off to Gordon. “I did.” He says in a smug tone. “What kind of idiot wouldn’t?”

Gordon stares at the passport, a hopeless look on his face. “Lets… Lets just get the experiment done already.”

Gordon follows Bubby and Benrey as they all finally leave the pair of scientists to fix whatever broke. Bubby tried really hard not to continue to smirk but he can’t help it. He’s having a bit too much fun.

Is it wrong to bully an NPC? Perhaps. But it’s just an NPC in the end.

—

Bubby only realizes how big ‘Black Mesa’ is when he finally reaches the observation room. How long did it take him to get there? Longer than he expected, that much is clear.

Dr. Harold Coomer is already there, grinning brightly. “Ah, Dr. Bubby! I see you met Gordon already, he’ll be helping us conduct the test! And Benrey here was helpful enough to get you here- wonderful!”

“Mmhmm. Can we get on with the test?” As interesting as the characters are, Bubby really wants to see where the story is going to go. That’s what he’s here for after all.

Dr. Coomer nods in agreement. “Of course. Gordon, head down to the testing chambers.”

Gordon nods seemingly reluctantly but follows the instructions anyways. Dr. Coomer waits until he’s gone before continuing. “Dr. Coolatta will be joining us soon as well! Fine fellow, that one. He’ll be monitoring the energy output and readings from the crystal!”

“Coolatta?” Bubby raises his eyebrows. “Like… The drink?”

“I suspect so! He does love his drinks.”

...Wait a second-

The sound of the door sliding open makes Bubby spin on his heels in real life, nearly getting tangled up in the cords in the process. He still gapes at the scientist who walks through. “Tommy?”

“Hello, Dr. Bubby! Dr. Coomer! Oh, and Benrey!” Tommy greets them all with a wave.

Benrey, who was previously leaning against the wall next to the door, perks up visibly upon seeing Tommy. “Yooooo! Tommy!” He holds out his fist, which Tommy promptly bumps.

“You’re Dr. Coolatta?” Bubby cuts in.

“Oh, yes!” Tommy smiles. “But I prefer to be called Tommy. Not a big fan of uh, all the formality.”

Tommy Coolatta. Now that was an interesting name.

“Tommy it is.” Bubby nods.

The sound of large, mechanical doors open and Bubby glances back. There’s a good sized window that lets him peek into the testing chamber, and Bubby can now plainly see that Gordon has entered.

“Ah, Gordon! We can finally start the test! Bubby, mind walking him through the instructions?”

Dr. Coomer gestures to a mic in front of the window. Bubby notes a sheet of paper of instructions on the same table and follows what it says, guiding Gordon over to the panel and telling him which button to press.

When the NPC takes a bit too long to get there, Bubby adds in, “Gordon, if you don’t hurry up, I’m going to make you explode.”

“Jeez, okay!” Gordon yells back, quickly starting up the rotors. “...Can you even do that?”

“Don’t test me.” Bubby tells him, then laughs softly to himself.

A low but long groan catches his attention. Benrey slumps, clearly bored out of his mind. Bubby isn’t sure how an NPC can get bored but probably just a part of his programming.

“Stop complaining and come take a look if that’s what you want.” Bubby motions him over. Benrey obeys, poking his head out to take a look.

“Looks cool… Bet it would look cooler if I were in there.” Benrey mumbles.

“...Get in then.” Benrey sends Bubby a surprised look. Bubby shrugs in response. “I mean it. Why not?”

Benrey grins wickedly. He climbs up onto the table and worms his way through the window. Bubby has to stop himself from bursting out laughing as he drops down into the testing chamber.

“Wha- what is he doing here? There’s not supposed to be two people in the testing chambers!” Gordon calls up to him.

Bubby grabs onto the mic and leans in close. “Stop being a little bitch and let him join in. He wants to.”

“He’s not even in an HEV Suit!”

“I don’t need one.” Benrey tells them both. “Not human.”

Bubby honestly can’t tell if it’s a lie or not but it seems to shut Gordon up. “Gordon, push the Xen Crystal into the machine.” Bubby tells him.

“I still think this is a bad idea!”

“Energy- energy levels are good so far!” Tommy tells him. “Just tell him to push it in carefully! Slower- slower than molasses drips off a spoon!”

“I’m… I’m not going to say that.” Bubby tells him bluntly.

“Do tell him to be careful!” Coomer says.

“That I can do. Hey, Gordon? Push it in carefully and don’t fuck it up.”

Gordon seems to grumble at that. Benrey seems to be talking to him but Gordon isn’t responding and Bubby can’t hear what he’s saying. Soon enough, he doesn’t find it in him to care because the second the Crystal touches the beam of the machine, it all goes to hell.

A green flash builds up and starts pulsating energy. Bubby stumbles back for a moment and alarms start going off. It all happens at once.

“The- the machine is going critical!”

“I TOLD YOU THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!”

“Ohhhhh shiiiit.”

“Dr. Bubby- DUCK!”

Bubby’s player model is suddenly tackled by someone he doesn’t quite process. He startles in real life but doesn’t get any time to process it as the green energy bursts and his screen goes green.

—

Bubby gets a moment to breathe as the game loads the next section in.

“Holy shit…” Bubby breathes to himself. “Maybe it would’ve been a good idea to listen to that one guy but…” He shakes his head. “Well, already chose this hill, might as well die on it.”

The screen loads in and Bubby is laying on the ground. Debris surrounds him and finally, a health bar pops up for him. Though, judging by the fact that it’s still at 100, he seems to be unharmed from the attack.

The model stands up on its own before it syncs back up with his own movements. Distant alarms still continue to ring and the lights are dimmed. It becomes very clear to Bubby that the machine going off seems to have affected more than just the observation room and test chamber.

Bubby barely gets to step forward. A buzz of green energy forms right in front of him and a four legged creature with fangs appears. Bubby’s never seen anything like it- it has to be alien. And the moment it sees him, it lunges.

Bubby ducks and it flies right past him. He makes quick use of getting his weapon out and shooting it. Two shots seem to do the trick and it falls, dead. Green blood oozes out of it.

Bubby stares at it. He hears footsteps and turns just in time to see Dr. Coomer enter through a sliding door that seemingly no longer works. There’s blood on his jacket, both the green kind and the regular kind, yet he’s still smiles at Bubby when he sees him.

“You’re awake! Apologies but I was trying to find a ‘Medical kit’ in case you had been injured! Tommy is trying to find Gordon and Benrey as we speak!”

Bubby blinks, adjusting his headset. He wonders if he looks like he’s adjusting his glasses on his character model to the NPC. “What… What the hell happened exactly?”

“Well, you were going to be hit by the machine's sparks so I tackled you! After that, you passed out just as the VOX announced that there was a Resonance Cascade!”

“And what is a Resonance Cascade?”

“To be put quite simply,” he said, still smiling, “It’s a cataclysmic disaster. An apocalypse of sorts. Welcome to our own little apocalypse, Dr. Bubby!”

Oh. Bubby thought. Now it gets interesting.

Chapter Text

Apparently the alien invasion had started and Bubby didn’t want to say it out loud to the NPCs but he was thrilled.

Though he wasn’t great at hiding it because Dr. Coomer noticed it. Bubby took down another two of the small, jumpy aliens all while grinning like a maniac.

“You seem quite pleased with yourself!” Coomer commented. He seemed as chipper as ever, all things considering. “Enjoying killing aliens?”

“Perhaps.” Bubby lowered the gun to his side, trying to drop the grin but not being able to. He quickly redirected the conversation. “What do we even call these things?”

“They’re called ‘Headcrabs’ because they try and eat our brains! Nasty little things, aren’t they?” Coomer chuckled to himself, nudging one of the dead ones with his foot. “They’d be almost cute if they weren’t trying to kill everything in sight.”

Bubby peered down at one. “Huh. Guess it would be kinda cool to keep one as a pet-”

The headcrab twitched. Bubby immediately shot another round into it, yelping as he did. He stared it down just to make sure it was dead and tried to ignore the burning embarrassment when Coomer- the NPC- started laughing at him.

“Jumpy, are we?” Bubby refused to look over to him, already having an idea of what his face looked like. “Makes sense, we are in a life or death situation! Though you seemed-!”

“Shut up...” Bubby mumbled. Coomer shut his mouth immediately, making Bubby blink in surprise. Was it really that easy to shut down an NPC? Bubby might have to keep that in mind. Not like he’s gonna abuse it but… Well, you never know.

Bubby peeked down the hall of the corridor. A few dead NPCs of guards and scientists were scattered around, one of which had a headcrab where their head should’ve been. Coomer followed his gaze and grimaced.

“Seems we caused quite the mess. We’ll need to get to the surface and get help. Or perhaps the scientists at the Lambda Lab will know what to do.”

Bubby nodded absentmindedly. He started to walk down the hall, looking around for anything his character could pick up. “Where’d you say Tommy went off to again?”

“To find Gordon and Benrey! I do hope they’re alright.”

They probably were fine. Important characters wouldn’t die this early on- assuming they were important. They’d probably show up as he progressed.

One of the bodies began to move. Bubby’s first thought was it was an NPC still alive who would most likely give some sort of important piece of dialogue before dying but then he saw the head. It wasn’t there at all- there was a headcrab in its place. But the body moved on its own, long, inhuman hands reaching out for him and Bubby quickly jerked away.

“What the fuck-!”

Bubby fumbled with the controller to get the gun in his inventory but someone else beat him to the punch. A handful of shots hit the center of the zombie and it went down. Bubby stared and quickly turned his head to see who had fired. Coomer was already looking, eyes bright once he recognized who it was.

“Fine shooting, Dr. Coolatta!”

For a split second, Tommy’s eyes were trained on the zombie, focused and deadly calm. The second he looked up and saw Coomer and Bubby however, all of that was gone and he smiled like sunshine itself.

Which deeply confused Bubby but he wasn’t going to say a word about it. He didn’t know what to say.

“Dr. Bubby, Dr. Coomer! Good- good to see you’re both okay!” Tommy waves with the same hand he carries his gun, which doesn’t seem safe but he’s also a video game character. Bubby doubts he’ll cause any trouble because of it.

Behind him, Benrey and Gordon follow his lead, giving a quick wave. Neither looks physically hurt but Gordon does look significantly more tired than before. Benrey on the other hand, barely looks phased by the whole ordeal, eyes still half lidded and mildly interested.

“I told you this would happen.” Gordon mumbles.

“Nobody likes an ‘I told you so,’ Gordon.” Bubby replies smoothly. He’s not gonna let an NPC make him feel guilty for playing the game. It was likely going to happen regardless.

Bubby peeks down the hall for any more enemies and spots a headcrab creeping towards them. Bubby makes quick work of taking it down, another two shots and it’s no longer moving.

“Shit!” Gordon jumps, eyes bewildered. “W- why do you have a gun? You’re a scientist!”

“Why don’t you?” Bubby sends him a smug look. Gordon visibly deflates. A low cackle comes from Benrey and he joins Bubby’s side.

“We should get a move on,” Coomer pipes up, “We got a long road ahead of us if we’re going to get out of Black Mesa!”

Bubby reloads his gun and gives a firm nod of agreement. “Agreed. Follow my lead and try not to get killed.”

—

To Bubby’s surprise and liking, his team of follower NPCs actually prove to be useful and hold their own against aliens.

Tommy turns out to be a hell of a shot for one. Deadly silent when he attacks but otherwise has a sunny disposition.

Gordon, who he kinda expected to be kinda useless, picks up a crowbar somewhere along the way and while he only attacks to defend himself, is competent enough.

Benrey doesn’t attack very much and sometimes just lets aliens bite at him. However, Bubby soon noticed there was a pattern for the times he did kill some aliens. Anytime Bubby himself was in danger, Benrey seemed to jump to take care of the problem, then act like it was no big deal.

Dr. Coomer caught him the most off guard, however. No gun, no crowbar, just his bare fists. And it worked. Coomer punched aliens to death and came out on top.

Coomer caught him staring and flexed one of his arms and- oh shit, how is he so jacked?

“Don’t worry, Dr. Bubby! I don’t need a gun, mine are attached to me!” Coomer laughed wholeheartedly at his own joke.

Words got caught in Bubby’s throat. Why was this scientist so muscular? Why did his laugh sound so genuine? It did a funny thing to Bubby’s chest and he swallowed in hopes of keeping it down.

“Right, uh… Good work, Dr. Coomer.”

“No need to be so formal.” Coomer wiped the alien blood on his lab coat, then offered his hand to him. “You can call me Harold!”

“...Harold.” Bubby echoed uncertainty, eyeing the hand outstretched to him.

“That would be me!” Coomer laughed again. He gave Bubby a light punch on the arm. Bubby’s character took a point of damage. “If we’re traveling through an alien infested area together, you should at least be able to call me by my first name.”

By all accounts, it made sense. Anyone else wouldn’t blink an eye at it. But Bubby is interacting with an AI and calling him by his first name feels almost personal. It feels like something he would do if he were friends with this AI and…

Hard to be friends with someone who isn’t quite as real as you, isn’t it?

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Bubby said at last. It seemed to be enough for Coomer as he turned away and started moving forward. Bubby stayed in place for just a moment longer.

Despite a few weird moments here and there, Bubby was quite liking his little team. The game itself was kinda dark- dead NPCs seemingly around every corner and aliens jumping out at him- but his own gaggle of AIs often took the edge off it all.

They were fun. Benrey had a weird sense of humor and poked fun at Gordon quite a bit; Gordon tended to overreact to everything which made Bubby feel better about himself when he got jump scared by Headcrabs; Coomer could go on and on about nearly anything Bubby asked him; and Tommy was usually cheerful when spoken to and kept a level head through it all. Bubby could get used to the group.

Bubby made his way to the elevator and clicked the button. The elevator fell, taking two screaming NPCs with it. The loud crash at the bottom makes Bubby wince. Gordon jumps at it, Tommy and Dr. Coomer’s faces drops, and Benrey… He doesn’t really react. Not visibly at least.

“Jesus fucking christ.” Bubby mumbles.

“Oh shit, they’re dead.” Benrey said, voice flat.

“Sure are. Gordon, give me your crowbar for a second, I need to smash these windows.”

Gordon didn’t say a word, shock evident in his face and just silently handed it over. Bubby smashed the window to the door and climbed through. Spotting a ladder, he made a beeline for it. Coomer’s voice made him stop.

“Such a shame…” Coomer was peeked over the side, frowning at the mess below.

“We didn’t even know who they were.” Bubby says, then pauses. Was that too harsh? Does it even matter?

“Isn’t that the worst part?” Coomer looked over to him. Something about his eyes made Bubby’s gut twist. Like he was looking right at him- past his character model and into his real eyes. “We don’t even know who they were. All they had to lose.”

“Better that way. We can’t grieve over every- every dead person down here. Gotta make it out.” Bubby turned to the ladder and started to climb up it. “We should get a move on.”

The thought Coomer posed unsettled him- he didn’t know why. But he’s not going to blink twice at nameless, dead NPCs.

—

The lockers proved to be useful, Bubby found ammo and a few medkits there, which fixed him up pretty quickly.

The other NPCs raided their own lockers. Bubby noted that there were several lockers labeled ‘Coomer’ which confused him greatly. Without a locker of his own, Benrey followed Bubby around like a dog, which honestly he didn’t mind too much.

Gordon took a picture frame out of his locker and smiled at it fondly. Bubby’s curiosity got the better of him. “What you got there?”

“Picture of my son, Joshua.” Gordon said proudly. “Can’t wait to see him when we get out of here. Isn’t he beautiful?”

Gordon turned the frame around to show it off to everyone else. Coomer and Tommy both smiled and complimented him, but Bubby couldn’t help it. He snorted.

“Your child looks like a fucking JPG!” Bubby cackled. Gordon’s face dropped.

Benrey started snickering too. “Yeah uh, looks a bit shit, Freeman.”

Gordon instantly bristled, glaring at the two of them. “This- this is my baby boy and you’re insulting him?”

Gordon continued to wave the picture frame wildly. There was no mistaking it- that baby was pulled straight from google without a second thought. Bubby physically couldn’t respond, he toppled over laughing, knees going weak. “Holy shit.” He wheezed. Gordon might've looked appalled but Bubby couldn't stop. It wasn’t his fault that the AI was saddled with the most basic looking baby he had ever seen.

Gordon’s face burned red. “Stop- stop fucking laughing!”

“Dr. Bubby, it’s rude to insult other people’s children.” Coomer chided him, arms crossing.

“I don’t- I don’t see what’s so wrong with him?” Tommy questioned, frowning.

“Can’t believe uh, Gordon’s a cringe dad. Is he- does that make him a DILF?” Benrey glanced over at Bubby, seeking validation.

Bubby lost it. He physically couldn’t stand. Benrey grinned proudly to himself.

Gordon pinched the bridge of his nose, taking deep breaths. “You’re going to be the death of me…” He mumbles, bitter and exasperated.

—

He wasn’t entirely sure if the AIs actually needed to eat or not but Coomer brought it up so Bubby decided to raid the kitchen. He promptly broke open the vending machine and the AIs went to town on it. Bubby just got to sit back and let them do their thing.

Benrey eating a bag of chips, bag and all, was an entertaining sight, but what caught his attention was Tommy, shotgunning soda like his life depended on it. There had to be at least twenty cans that fell out of the vending machine. Tommy drank them all in under a minute.

“You really like soda, huh?”

Tommy grinned. “I do! Makes you see faster!”

Bubby had no idea what that meant and frankly, he didn’t want to ask. But gears turned in his head and Bubby quickly pulled up the list of commands he could run.

“You want more soda?” Bubby smirked to himself. Tommy nodded eagerly.

Bubby spawned in another can of soda. Tommy didn’t blink twice at it, instead consuming it. It was gone in seconds. Benrey wasn’t paying attention but Dr. Coomer and Gordon stared at Bubby as he spawned another couple in for Tommy. Again, they were consumed in no time.

Bubby started to rapidly spawn them in, Tommy quickly drinking them by the dozens. Bubby didn’t stop- he didn’t want to. He wanted to push the limits- see what would happen.

Tommy drank can after can without stopping. That is, until his entire character model glitched violently, causing Bubby to jerk back.

If the other AIs weren’t entirely paying attention, they were now. All eyes were on Tommy, equal levels of alarm. Tommy didn’t move a muscle. Benrey was the first to break the silence, scooting over to him. “Uh… Tommy? You good, Bro?”

Tommy blinked owlishly. Bubby carefully waved his hand in front of his face. His mouth pressed in a thin line. “Hey. You still working?”

Bright yellow eyes met his. A smile broke out on his face. “My name is Tommy!”

Bubby frowned, leaning forward. He studied Tommy for a second. “Yeah. I know- you told me that already.”

“My… My name is Tommy.” He repeated, voice wavering. Bubby’s eyebrows raised. A confused expression broke out on Tommy’s face. “My name… My name is Tommy…”

Benrey stared, paralyzed and hesitated to reach out. Gordon looked back and forth between Tommy and Bubby, almost accusingly. Coomer tilted his head, wary but decided to speak up. “Tommy? Are you feeling quite alright?”

Confusion quickly turned to panic. Tommy’s shoulders trembled. “My- my name is Tommy!”

Fuck. Bubby grimaced. I broke him.

A second after he made the realization, everything turned gray.

Bubby blinked. Nothing seemed to be in color until he looked down at himself. His character model stood out- whites and blues instead of shades of gray like everything else. His eyes turned to the others but not one of them held color. They didn’t even move- frozen with looks of confusion and terror on their faces.

Did he break the entire game?

“Dr. Bubby.” Bubby’s head snapped towards the entrance to the kitchen where the voice came from. A man in a suit stood there- he was the only other thing in color besides Bubby himself. His posture was straight but stiff. There was a small smile on his face but it was a forced one if Bubby ever saw one. His jaw was clenched, no matter how much he seemed to be trying to hide it. “I didn’t expect we would need to talk this… Early.”

Bubby stood up, sizing him up. Whoever he was, he was extremely tall- taller than Tommy even. In fact… Huh. Something about him reminded him of Tommy but he couldn’t place what. “Who the hell are you? And what’s with the grayscale fuckery?”

While unphased by his wording, the man in the suit seemed to grow more annoyed with him. His blue eyes glowed and flashed at him. “Many call me The G-Man, and I needed to talk to you in private. I paused time, I hope you don’t mind.”

Something about his tone told Bubby he didn’t care if Bubby minded or not.

“G-Man?” Bubby repeated skeptically. He bit back a mean spirited comment about how ridiculous that name was. “Fine. What do you want?”

“I’ll cut to the chase. I’m fully aware that you have certain… Powers at your fingertips. But you should take it upon yourself to use them wisely.” G-Man’s eyes drifted to Tommy and back. “Abusing them like this- so needlessly- its rather unbecoming."

One word. One small word that rubbed him in the wrong way. That’s all it took for Bubby to bare his teeth. “Is that so?”

“Just because one can play god, doesn’t mean they should, Dr. Bubby.” G-Man continued, although every word made Bubby see red. “There are consequences to your actions. Every single one of them.”

“Are you a judge then? Is that what- what gives you the right to tell me how to play my game?” There was venom in every word and Bubby didn’t care.

G-Man gave him a hard look. “Even if I told you I was, you wouldn’t believe me.” Then, for a split second, there was a ghost of a smile. “Your loss. Perhaps, all you need is… To learn a lesson. A few consequences, hm?”

Bubby didn’t respond but didn’t break away from his gaze either. G-Man nodded to himself.

“I see. So this is the way it has to be... Well, Dr. Bubby, until we meet again. Which, for both of our sakes, I hope is a long time from now.”

The screen twisted and blurred, and the second that color returned, G-Man was gone.

Bubby huffed. “Good riddance…”

“Dr. Bubby? How did you get over there?”

Bubby blinked and turned back. Benrey was still at Tommy’s side with Gordon close behind but Coomer was staring at Bubby, curious.

“I got up. Did you not see that? I was talking to the suit bastard.”

Coomer scanned behind him but in the end, looked more perplexed than before. “I didn’t see you talking to anybody.”

Bubby paused. Everything else seemed to freeze when G-Man appeared. None of them probably saw anything. “Never mind… Tommy?”

“I’m- I’m feeling better now!” Tommy told him, seemingly already knowing what he was going to ask. “Ready to move on when you are!”

“You sure dude?” Benrey frowned. Tommy smiled and nodded. Benrey apparently wasn’t too convinced because he put a hand on each of Tommy’s shoulders to steady him. “Hold on, lemme give you a little something.”

Tommy must’ve known what he was going to do because he didn’t move. Bubby paused, unsure of what was going to happen. A million possibilities bounced around his head but none of them were right.

Benrey opened his mouth and colorful, glowing balls floated towards Tommy. A low, pleasant humming sound followed and the balls seemed to swirl around Tommy, who visibly relaxed.

“What the fuck.” Bubby blurted out.

“He calls it the ‘Sweet Voice’ I think.” Gordon watched it with mild interest. Clearly he had seen it before but not enough to be totally familiar with it. “Usually he uses it to calm people down when they’re yelling at him for following them around and harassing them.”

“It- it has other uses!” Tommy added. He gestured to the Sweet Voice, plucking a ball from the air and watching it dissipate. Curious, Bubby tried to grab one. It turned to mist in his hands. “Teal to Green means Healing Beam!”

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Coomer appeared by Bubby’s side, temporarily startling him. Bubby shrugged in response. His eyes remained fixated on Tommy but he didn’t glitch again.

Something touched Bubby’s shoulder and he froze.

He felt it. A ghost of a touch in real life that made him pause the game and take off the headset for a moment. Nobody else was there but his shoulder buzzed like the touch was still there. Bubby shook himself.

He assumed he was just imagining it until he unpaused the game and noticed that Coomer had put his arm around him. How could he feel that? Did he just not notice that before? Was he just imagining it?

“Dr. Bubby, you seem tense.” Coomer told him, searching his face.

Bubby was going to ask him what he meant until he noticed it. His jaw was clenched down hard. The game seemed to be really good at capturing his facial features. Freakily good sometimes.

“Nothing to worry about.” Bubby waved him off. “Just eager to get a move on.”

Coomer paused. He almost doesn’t look convinced but Bubby doesn’t think it’s in his programming to doubt him. He’s been pretty agreeable so far. “If you say so, Bubby.”

Coomer gives Bubby a pat on the shoulder. Bubby suppresses a shiver. There’s no doubt about it- somehow he can feel it. Like Coomer’s actually there- like he’s real.

Bubby tries his best to ignore it. It’s likely all in his head anyways. He’s got a game to play.

Bubby leads his gaggle of AIs down the hall, away from the kitchen. Bubby doesn’t notice the man in the suit at the end of it, watching him carefully with narrowed eyes.