Chapter Text
He had been told during his short briefing that this was supposed to be a simple software test- an easy enough job for him.
Black Mesa had hired Gordon for some smaller projects before, so he was used to the fact that they were either keeping a good chunk of information from him… or flat-out lying to his face about this job as well.
He never liked finding out all on his own how huge the issue with a software actually was each time. Still, the company paid him well enough for him to accept every new freelance offer from them.
But this? This…
Even after all had been done and finished, he couldn’t find a word for the entire mess.
Staring into the darkness of his deactivated VR set sounded like a good choice for now, as he let his senses slowly return to the real world, dragging his mind along…
Self-Aware Artificial Intelligence. Multiple of them. Experiencing emotions, having thoughts, making choices… it should surprise him, but with Black Mesa’s general shadiness and the “plot” of the simulation he had just experienced, he couldn’t bring himself to.
He let out a deep sigh, feeling the weight of his clunky VR suit putting way too much pressure on his sore muscles. He truly felt like he walked miles in the HEV suit in the game… and in a way he really had.
He couldn’t wait to get out of this thing and just-
Suddenly a hot shot of pain went through his entire body, forcing him to curl in on himself, stumbling- he was bracing himself for impact with the floor-
But it never came. Instead, he felt himself getting caught in someone’s arms. He heard a voice, way too muffled for him to understand a word they were saying. No, wait! Two voices?
He blinked away a tear of pain and tried to lift his head in confusion, but his aching body didn’t let him have a break. He curled in further clutching his right arm-
His… right… arm?
Oh no.
Oh noNONONONONO- the pain suddenly spiked in intensity as Gordon realised what was causing the pain.
His hand.
His hand was gone.
“AAARGH- WHAT THE FUCK?! WHERE IS- W-What… ha-”, he tried to stammer out a plea for explanations to whoever was in the room with him, but could barely focus enough as his other senses still struggled to return to him properly.
“It’ll a-all be okay, Mr Freeman-”
“...T-Tommy?”
Gordon tried to spot the man in the darkness of his VR set, but couldn’t see anything.
“Yeah, I-I got you!”
Gordon felt a nervous but gentle pat on his shoulder.
Wait-
But before he could even open his mouth for a new question, he felt his VR set getting oh so carefully pulled off his head.
He hissed at the brightness of the few lights in the room and blinked a few times, letting his tired eyes adjust to the change in brightness as much as possible.
“Thomas. Do bring Mr Freeman to a.... safer location. He already has shouldered so much more than he was expected to.”
Gordon opened his eyes and found himself in Tommy Coolatta’s arms, G-Man standing near the door frame to the hallway, nervously keeping an eye on people running by.
“Wha- … w-what’s going on.. y-you two are- what about everyone else-”
Tommy tore his worried gaze away from his father and back to the man in his arms. Gordon jumped as he was slightly startled by the set of bright yellow eyes that were now focused entirely on him.
“A-Always worrying about the others b-before yourself... They’re on their way out as well! A-Are you okay? … c-considering...”- Tommy eyed Gordon’s stump.
Gordon looked back at it for a moment as well. Weirdly enough the massive wound didn’t seem to be bleeding… but it looked like it had an unnatural surface layer. It had a slightly green hue to it.
“I… I think I’m going to be sick.”, Gordon managed to mutter.
“W-We’ll fix this! Trust me-”
“I always have.”
If he had been more lucid, Gordon would have questioned the sudden amber glow on Tommy’s face, but right then he just thought that it suited the man.
“O-Oh.”, Tommy stuttered out, “BUT! I have to move you now, Mr Freeman! It might… it might hurt a bit but you’ll be safe at home in a second!”
Gordon furrowed his brows.
“How are you going to get me home that fast-”
Just like that, he was met with instant void-like darkness around him.
But before his brain could slide right into panic mode, he felt the all-too-familiar sensation of his soft bed on the back of his head. He blinked, his surroundings slowly coming back into focus.
Oh.
He was staring at his bedroom ceiling with the one persistent spider (he had named it Herbert and they had been living on a shaky peace deal for about 12 weeks now), his massive second-hand wooden closet, the countless posters on his walls-
He was actually home.