HLVRAI Alyx

Hello, Gordon!

He awoke in a void, seeing nothing around him but a skeleton, missing an arm and leg, "It's...It's you again..." he mumbled. The skeleton nodded, the robotic voice that sounded like a tired woman, "You are asleep," it said, "How do you know that...?" he mumbled, confused, then spoke, "Who are you...?" it did not answer, "I want to know, please..." then it ran, "Hey!" he called out, then chased after it, before grabbing where the arm of the skeleton should be. It felt cold and metallic, and for a split moment, he could see a prosthetic arm where he touched. The skeleton winched its arm free, popping off the prosthetic. They both stared at it before the skeleton simply said, "Give it back..." and Gordon did, "...Why are you helping us...?" he asked as the skeleton popped the arm back on, then the prosthetic disappeared by whatever disguise the person had, "I am not helping you. I am helping myself," Then he woke up.

Confused, he awoke on the elevator, "I- Huh...?" he barely remembered the dream. He turned to Alyx, who was struggling to stay awake. Any time she closed her eyes, Coomer shook her. He sat up, the familiar room appearing as they lowered, where a man was working at a table full of liquids and substances. "Let's see...nineteen...twenty...twenty-one...twenty-two... twenty-three unique flavors!" he said, working as normal, "Ooo, I can't wait to show them this!" The man looked up at them, "What a crazy sense of deja vu," he said, "Darnold!" Gordon said, rushing over, "You have to help us man, we're losing Alyx and-" Darnold stopped him, "Woah, woah, hang on, Alyx? I thought Dr. Fancis said that she was doing a test," he then saw her, putting a hand to his mouth, "Oh..." he simply said, "Hang on, I'll get the potion," he said, rushing away as Tommy and Coomer proped Alyx against a wall. She gave a groan, "I'm gonna die, aren't I Gordon...?" she mumbled, "No, you're not going to die, Alyx, I promise," He said, comforting her, "Your hand's missing again, Dr. Freeman," Darnold said, "Oh god, she's got green all over her. How are you two still alive?!" he said, then Benrey spoke, "Yeah haha! You fucked up, you lost your arm, again!" he laughed. Darnold ignored him, "How long has she been like that?" Darnold asked again, "A day and three hours...?" Darnold looked panicked, "We need to get her patched up right now! She's only got a few minutes left at this point!" he said, trying to find the potion, "I think I've got about five potions, so I believe I can spare you and Alyx two," he said, and Gordon nodded, "Anything, Darnold, just anything to help," he said, getting even more dizzy. It felt like the world was spinning, "I found a torrent of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on his computer," then Darnold sighed, "Please don't mess up my computer again..." then turned back to Gordon, "Anyways, Dr. Freeman, I think they're right...here they are!" he soon brought two barrels, "Oh god, right, I have to drink several gallons of this stuff," he said, grabbing a barrel and passing it to Bubby, "Coomer, Bubby, help Alyx with hers, I don't think she has any motor functions at this point..." Alyx was just sitting on the floor, crying, "I'm gonna die and I'm never gonna- gonnaaaa- gonna...fffffinish Sonic Undergrrrouunnddd..." then Darnold spoke, "She needs her Black Masa Official Silly Straw™ first," Gordon sighed, "She's been in the future for the past 3 years, she doesn't have one." Darnold felt there was too much of a rush for it to matter, "It's fine, we gotta make this work!" he said, "Chug-a-lug, Alyx!" Coomer said, who was being frustratingly stubborn, "I don't want soooup..." she said, pushing away the barrel, but they managed to get her to drink it, along with Gordon who braced himself for pain, "Chug! Chug! Chug!" he heard Benrey shout, laughing, encouraging the others to join in with the chanting before Gordon screamed in pain. Alyx didn't do much, having been too mentally gone to even express anything, before she too screamed out in pain. Gordon looked at his arm, "Hell yeah! Mini-Gun Arm™!" he said, shooting it into the ceiling, "Whoah! Let's not destroy my lab, please!" Darnold said, "Sorry, sorry!" He looked at Alyx, who was looking at the new arm and leg she had. They looked kind of like prosthetics, except there were tubes with blue liquid flowing through them, in and out of the black metal of her arm and leg. On the heel of her foot was a blue circle and one in the center of her palm, "What...the fuck...did I miss,"  Alyx said, wide-eyed, "Welcome back, Alyx," Gordon said, "Holy shit, your arm!" and before Gordon could speak, Darnold spoke first, "Now, it may take a minute to recalibrate your leg, since it needs to adjust to your weight. While you may not weigh that much without the metal arm and leg, you'll be way heavier with the attachments," he said as Alyx attempted to stand before falling over like a baby dear, almost doing the splits, "Hah! Baby! You're- You're uh- a baby! Yeah! haha!" Benrey taunted. Gordon was about to help her before she stopped him, "No, no, I got it..." she said, pulling herself up, stumbling about like some creature learning to walk for the first time until eventually, she could walk like normal. She inspected her arm, "It's...it's like it's my real arm..." she said, "Amazing, right?" Darnold asked, "How did you do this Darnold? This- this is awesome! I mean, a potion that can grow back limbs! You could help millions...with..." she then remembered the future, "Forget it..." Darnold looked concerned, but let it go, "So I know Gordon already knows how to use his hand...Alyx, can you clench your fist for me?" he asked, and Alyx nodded, clenching her fist before the circle in her foot activated, boosting her into the air like she was wearing jet boots, "Woah!" she shouted before landing, "That...That was awesome..." she said, "Now, hold your hand out in front of you with your arm straight and your hand up with your figure tips to the ceiling," she did as told, "Now stretch your arm," then she shot bullets out her hand, it bouncing around before dissipating, "Now I think if you stretch and clench, you should be able to do one more thing." She soon shot herself across the room, hitting a wall, "...So there's a booster in my hand and my foot...and now I think I have a concussion..." Gordon helped her up, smiling, "You ok?" he asked. She gave a nod, "Now, before I forget, remember that-" he cut off, before AI took over, "PRESS ALL BUTTONS TO ACTIVATE DEVIL GUN MODE!" then he spoke again, "Dang it, I forgot it..." he sighed, "Do you guys mind if I try coming with you again?" Alyx shrugged, "Don't see why not," then Gordon stopped her, "Hang on, you sure Darnold? There's going to be a lot of killing," Gordon said, "I wanna see if I can push through this time," he said, and Gordon finally agreed, "Alright, let's go." Immediately after leaving the room, there were more guards, shooting at them, "Open fire!" Alyx shouted, shooting out of her arm, and using the other arm to stabilize the arm. After they guards were dead, Darnold turned back, "I can't do this! I just can't!" he said, and Alyx sighed, "Then stay here where it's safe...we'll come back for you," she said. Darnold nodded, "Ok." He watched them go forward, leaving the lab. As they found their way outside again, they saw an aircraft fly in, "The manta rays are back!" Gordon shouted. They began shooting, Alyx boosting herself over explosions and killing the rest of the attackers, "Let's move!" she shouted. The others caught up, killing more guards on the way, "Ok, so how are we going to go back to Darnold?" Gordon asked, "I'm sure I can do some time-travel shit, don't worry," she said, feeling as if she just lied to Darnold. Now Gordon too. Soon an air strike went off on a building above them, "Woah!" Bubby called out, "Did we just get nuked?!" he asked, "Not yet, c'mon!" Alyx shouted, rushing into a room, killing the guards inside, "Ooo, papers," Bubby then destroyed the tables, "Damn it, Bubby! Again?!" Gordon shouted, "We don't need info," he said, then found a radio, "Do not, for the love of Christ, destroy this too," Alyx said. Gordon tried to trick the military again, "Alright, bullshit time," he said, speaking into the radio, "Uh- Alpha- Delta 1, scientist- uh- dead, meet back for- for lunch...?" he said. He looked at Alyx, who looked at him like he was stupid, "Are you serious? Lunch?" the radio spoke, "Airplane." It was destroyed, "Airplane, bathroom, bathroom," it said, "I...what?" then another, "Bathroom...airplane," Alyx was confused, "Airplane, bathroom, bathroom, bathroom, airplane...what does that nonsense mean?" Alyx said, laughing, "If there's anything I remember from my time studying military communication, I do believe this means they're planning a full-on assault!" Coomer said, "Oh great..." Alyx mumbled, "We should probably get going...let's go," Gordon stated, moving forward. As they did, they ended up finding Sunkist, "Sunkist!" Tommy shouted, rushing to the dog and hugging it, "You're here!" he said, and the dog barked, spewing out balls of the Black Masa Sweet Voice™. Alyx looked a bit sad, "Whats wrong?" Gordon asked, "Back at...the City...I had my own 'dog'...kinda. My dad made him, and I built on my dad's design. he was a robot but...I miss him," she said. Soon, Coomer came from nowhere, scaring Alyx, "We'll find him! Don't wor- Look, Gordon! Ropes! Can use these to traverse large pi- HELP ME GORDON!" Coomer shouted, getting caught in a barnacle, "Damn it, Coomer..." Gordon said, tiredly. Alyx shot him down, "I think I'm getting used to this gun hand thing..." she said as Coomer dropped, "Well, get un-used to it. Mr.Coolatta, or, uh, GMan...? He's just gonna take the prosthetics because they're 'government property,'" Gordon said, "Of course..." she then rushed forward, "At least I'll get my arm and leg back.." Soon, they found the white Cadillac, "Hell yeah!" Alyx said, rushing to it as Bubby hijacked the car, "Someone left the key in here!" he shouted, "Get in!" Gordon hopped in, checking for glue, sighing before they sped off. As soon as the car crashed, he hopped out, "Everyone out! It's going to blow!" he shouted, "I can't! I'm stuck!" Alyx shouted, trying to pull herself out, "Oh shit!" Gordon shouted, rushing over and attempting to pull her out before Alyx pushed him away, "Go!" before the car blew up, sending Alyx into a wall, "AH!" she shouted, holding her side, before finding glue, "Did someone glue me to the seat?!" Benrey started laughing, "Get pranked!" he shouted, "What the fuck?!" Alyx shouted. Gordon was just confused. He knew Benrey remembered the timeline, but why was he targeting Alyx now? Wasn't he the one Benrey was after...? "Another one of Benrey's classic pranks!" Coomer said, "I-I- ...what the fuck guys..." Alyx soon got up with struggle, "Let's just go," she said, moving forward. As they went forward, they found the two skeletons again, along with a third. The third skeleton and the skeleton with no arm or leg were spewing Black Masa Sweet Voice™ at each other, before the other one pointed at the group, spewing Black Masa Sweet Voice™ of its own. The two skeletons looked over, staring at them. The third skeleton was a little shorter than Alyx, about Benrey's height, actually, exactly Benrey's height. Benrey approached the skeletons, "You guys have your passports?" he asked, and they pulled out the passports. The two intact skeletons had their origional passports, one saying, "BENRY BENRY BENRY BENRY BENRY" and the other having his own name...but the other one just read, "Vance." Alyx stared at it, "What...in gods green earth..." she mumbled, confused, and also disturbed. Soon, she raised her gun, staring at the skeleton, but the skeleton soon put the passport away, then, with a movement as if raising their non-existant hand, they assended, the other two skeletons grabbing onto it, "They used a rope to get out of the pit, Gordon!" then the three skeletons ragdolled to the bottom, an explosion going off, "Jesus Christ!" she shouted. The others moved on without Gordon and Alyx, being distracted by aliens up ahead, "Gordon, watch out! Aliens!" Coomer shouted. Alyx and Gordon stood, staring at each other, before Alyx spoke, "We should probably rest soon," she said. Gordon stayed quiet, thinking, "What?" she asked, "Benrey's been so focused on you for some reason. Do you know why?" Alyx thought, "I know he has some interaction with the outer space...that's what I call the void area you saw me in...but...we usually stay pretty spaced. We don't really interact minus a few hellos in the past," she said, "Even before I ended up here...he doesn't look the same in the outer space, but I know it's him," she add, "Alright, well...we should probably go," and so they left, off to find a space to rest.