The first part of a Half Life 1 Spin-off short novel.
Not sure actually if I can be bothered to finish it, but let me know what you think.
Half Life: Gray Unit
Prologue
Through the obscurity of space, streaks of white arrows flew past my face. There were hundreds of them; many were above my head, scores of them below. No sound came from them, just silent beams of light flying through nowhere. I could not feel anything. I couldn't move. Yet I was stationary whilst hovering in the middle of nothing. My mouth tried to open, but my lips were almost sealed together. I tried to moan out in horror, but still, no noise erupted.
Slowly, through the blackness, a small figure seemed to fly towards me. Straight-backed and facing the opposite way to me, my eyes were fixed upon it; this diminutive form gradually making its way towards me, bit by bit. I could make out a really dark suit, with a suitcase dangling next to it, held with a skeletal hand, the flesh nearly dangling off it. The skin was pale and looked too white to be healthy. It was a man, the hair was short and black, but the posture was more artificial then any person could be; he stood there, in the same position, not moving; not even the slightest movement of breathing.
Breathing. I couldn't breathe. My nose must have been plugged or something, I had lost all sense except sight; it was horrible. My heart began to beat faster, it needed air. A form of hot, searing pain filled my chest. It was both an unbearably horrid experience, yet strangely relieving to know I had some sort of feeling reaching my body - even if it was such a terrible sensation.
"Dr. Vance has accepted the offer."
The words said weren't detected by my ears, but through my head; a voice of a sort of suspicious nature echoed through my entire body - I could feel the vibrations of those words ripple through my skin. I began to feel vomit heaving up my throat. The figure no longer moved towards me - he stayed where he was.
"As the penultimate phase has - therefore - been completed, the last phase can - now begin."
His speech was jittery, as though he was not quite sure whether he was saying the right words; he obviously had some difficulty with his English; he always pronounced the nouns twice as long as they should be correctly. My vision slowly blurred, the figure and the blackness began to blend together, with light constantly bouncing off him by the flying, white arrows.
"I have compiled a list of the possible, candidates."
The lights stopped moving at that last word, the countless rays simply stopped where they were. Slowly, the figure began moving towards me once more; the back still facing me and the body still perfectly still. Or was it I who was moving towards him?
My eyes, still blurry began to hurt. My throat, slowly giving way to vomit, was sore and dry. My chest, fit for bursting and burning with searing pain began to tear apart at my lungs.
"Although there is one - one person whom we have been - informed - about that should be observed more closely..."
By now I knew that he wasn?t talking to me, did he even know I was there? If he was talking to someone, where, and who, was that person?
"His records show an excellent report, much more so than any of the others."
I stopped moving -or did he stop moving? I felt so confused and dizzy. I was aware of a blood vessel thumping brutally against my brain. I felt something warm trickle down through my nostrils - must have been blood. I began to moan again in pain and used all my strength to try and move a finger; but to no avail.
"I should now begin the - observation - of them all. It will be - interesting to see them act through something like that... They should have been prepared for all possible occurrences, all Unforeseen Consequences..."
By now my vision was slowly slipping into pitch blackness. The rays of light began to move again, only faster and more dim ? but backwards. The figure began to gradually move backwards, too.
"I will no doubt look at the recommended subject first; in fact - I almost look forward to doing so..."
The rays of light suddenly flashed as bright as the sun, I was blinded and I could no longer see any darkness - or the figure. I felt hands touching my entire body, heard shouts of shock and horror- questions of; "Can you hear me?", "Who is it?" and "Is he okay?"
"I look forward to seeing you in action - Mr. Freeman."
The brightness seeped away into the light from a 20 watt bulb and my mouth finally opened wide, spraying vomit into the air and splattering onto my face. Sitting up immediately, I gulped in large quantities of air and focused my eyes.
"Whoa, calm down there!"
I turned to look into the face of Lennon Kerberos; my superior at work. Around my location were my colleagues ? my friends, all staring at me or holding me up. For a moment I glanced at them all, all their worried faces. They looked at me as though I were some freak of nature, which I could understand. I was just so confused at the time being, I couldn't think of anything to say.
"Whu ubund?" I tried to speak, only to spit out bits of vomit onto the floor.
Giles knelt next to me and handed me a cup of water.
"I think you had an attack of epilepsy - You were having severe spasms all on the floor? Jesus Christ you scared me." He stated.
Taking a sip of the drink, I cleared my throat - it was no longer sore. I wiped under my nose - indeed; a long trail of blood had seeped through my nostrils, trickling over my chin. My head was still pounding, my eyes still a bit blurred. I wanted to tell them all of what I saw, but I didn?t want to come through as completely insane. I looked at my clothing - my white uniform, stained with a sickly yellow liquid mixture. My ID Card was scattered nearby.
"You slammed your head against a table when you fell." Timothy stood next to me and handed a tissue. "No wonder you're bleeding. Are you okay?"
"Not - Not again? I need to - The Medical Room would be nice..." I staggered.
"Of course." Lennon helped me up. "I wonder if this'll come under your insurance policy? Having these epileptic fits? You never had them before you were transferred here."
"Heh- Must be- Crap food at the canteen!" My legs managed to take the strain and I slowly made my way to the door. Turning to my colleagues I coughed and then said; "I'll be fine! Don't worry about me, just continue with the work!"
"He's right." Lennon replied, "The experiment begins in two days time, let's not slack people." With that he clapped his hands, indicating for work to continue, then picked up my ID Card- my face and name printed on the front - Roy Huntford.
Everyone said their goodbyes and wished me well, even as the door closed behind me and Lennon as we gradually walked down the shiny, metallic corridors of the Black Mesa Research Facility.
Not sure actually if I can be bothered to finish it, but let me know what you think.
Half Life: Gray Unit
Prologue
Through the obscurity of space, streaks of white arrows flew past my face. There were hundreds of them; many were above my head, scores of them below. No sound came from them, just silent beams of light flying through nowhere. I could not feel anything. I couldn't move. Yet I was stationary whilst hovering in the middle of nothing. My mouth tried to open, but my lips were almost sealed together. I tried to moan out in horror, but still, no noise erupted.
Slowly, through the blackness, a small figure seemed to fly towards me. Straight-backed and facing the opposite way to me, my eyes were fixed upon it; this diminutive form gradually making its way towards me, bit by bit. I could make out a really dark suit, with a suitcase dangling next to it, held with a skeletal hand, the flesh nearly dangling off it. The skin was pale and looked too white to be healthy. It was a man, the hair was short and black, but the posture was more artificial then any person could be; he stood there, in the same position, not moving; not even the slightest movement of breathing.
Breathing. I couldn't breathe. My nose must have been plugged or something, I had lost all sense except sight; it was horrible. My heart began to beat faster, it needed air. A form of hot, searing pain filled my chest. It was both an unbearably horrid experience, yet strangely relieving to know I had some sort of feeling reaching my body - even if it was such a terrible sensation.
"Dr. Vance has accepted the offer."
The words said weren't detected by my ears, but through my head; a voice of a sort of suspicious nature echoed through my entire body - I could feel the vibrations of those words ripple through my skin. I began to feel vomit heaving up my throat. The figure no longer moved towards me - he stayed where he was.
"As the penultimate phase has - therefore - been completed, the last phase can - now begin."
His speech was jittery, as though he was not quite sure whether he was saying the right words; he obviously had some difficulty with his English; he always pronounced the nouns twice as long as they should be correctly. My vision slowly blurred, the figure and the blackness began to blend together, with light constantly bouncing off him by the flying, white arrows.
"I have compiled a list of the possible, candidates."
The lights stopped moving at that last word, the countless rays simply stopped where they were. Slowly, the figure began moving towards me once more; the back still facing me and the body still perfectly still. Or was it I who was moving towards him?
My eyes, still blurry began to hurt. My throat, slowly giving way to vomit, was sore and dry. My chest, fit for bursting and burning with searing pain began to tear apart at my lungs.
"Although there is one - one person whom we have been - informed - about that should be observed more closely..."
By now I knew that he wasn?t talking to me, did he even know I was there? If he was talking to someone, where, and who, was that person?
"His records show an excellent report, much more so than any of the others."
I stopped moving -or did he stop moving? I felt so confused and dizzy. I was aware of a blood vessel thumping brutally against my brain. I felt something warm trickle down through my nostrils - must have been blood. I began to moan again in pain and used all my strength to try and move a finger; but to no avail.
"I should now begin the - observation - of them all. It will be - interesting to see them act through something like that... They should have been prepared for all possible occurrences, all Unforeseen Consequences..."
By now my vision was slowly slipping into pitch blackness. The rays of light began to move again, only faster and more dim ? but backwards. The figure began to gradually move backwards, too.
"I will no doubt look at the recommended subject first; in fact - I almost look forward to doing so..."
The rays of light suddenly flashed as bright as the sun, I was blinded and I could no longer see any darkness - or the figure. I felt hands touching my entire body, heard shouts of shock and horror- questions of; "Can you hear me?", "Who is it?" and "Is he okay?"
"I look forward to seeing you in action - Mr. Freeman."
The brightness seeped away into the light from a 20 watt bulb and my mouth finally opened wide, spraying vomit into the air and splattering onto my face. Sitting up immediately, I gulped in large quantities of air and focused my eyes.
"Whoa, calm down there!"
I turned to look into the face of Lennon Kerberos; my superior at work. Around my location were my colleagues ? my friends, all staring at me or holding me up. For a moment I glanced at them all, all their worried faces. They looked at me as though I were some freak of nature, which I could understand. I was just so confused at the time being, I couldn't think of anything to say.
"Whu ubund?" I tried to speak, only to spit out bits of vomit onto the floor.
Giles knelt next to me and handed me a cup of water.
"I think you had an attack of epilepsy - You were having severe spasms all on the floor? Jesus Christ you scared me." He stated.
Taking a sip of the drink, I cleared my throat - it was no longer sore. I wiped under my nose - indeed; a long trail of blood had seeped through my nostrils, trickling over my chin. My head was still pounding, my eyes still a bit blurred. I wanted to tell them all of what I saw, but I didn?t want to come through as completely insane. I looked at my clothing - my white uniform, stained with a sickly yellow liquid mixture. My ID Card was scattered nearby.
"You slammed your head against a table when you fell." Timothy stood next to me and handed a tissue. "No wonder you're bleeding. Are you okay?"
"Not - Not again? I need to - The Medical Room would be nice..." I staggered.
"Of course." Lennon helped me up. "I wonder if this'll come under your insurance policy? Having these epileptic fits? You never had them before you were transferred here."
"Heh- Must be- Crap food at the canteen!" My legs managed to take the strain and I slowly made my way to the door. Turning to my colleagues I coughed and then said; "I'll be fine! Don't worry about me, just continue with the work!"
"He's right." Lennon replied, "The experiment begins in two days time, let's not slack people." With that he clapped his hands, indicating for work to continue, then picked up my ID Card- my face and name printed on the front - Roy Huntford.
Everyone said their goodbyes and wished me well, even as the door closed behind me and Lennon as we gradually walked down the shiny, metallic corridors of the Black Mesa Research Facility.
