The Right Tool For The Job

[Lord Raine]

The Right Tool For The Job

by Lord Raine

Disclaimer: We are all tools, but is ours is not the only hand that guides us. Also, I don't own this.

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"Dr. Freeman? I realize that this moment may not be the most. . . convenient for a heart-to-heart. But I had to wait until your. . . friends, were otherwise occupied. There was a time they cared nothing for Ms. Vance. When their only experience of humanity was a crowbar coming at them down a steel corridor. When I plucked her from Black Mesa, I acted in the face of. . . objections. That she was a mere child, and of no practical use to anyone. I have learned to ignore such naysayers when quelling them was out of the question. Still, I am not one to squander my investments. And I remain confident that she was worth far more than the initial appraisal. That's why I must now extract from you, some small repayment owed for your own survival. See her safely to White Forest, Dr.Freeman. I wish I could do more than keep an eye on you, but I have agreed to abide by certain restrictions."

"I suppose it only makes sense that you do not remember, considering the changes for you between then and now. Such a shame. The toys had such fun playing with you. The Lover, the Fool, the Twins. The Tester. Particularly the Tester."

"A robot would not have worked. It needed to be a human. Not a machine. But it needed to have machine qualities. That is what the Enrichment Center was for. What my employers engineered him to make it for. To create a mind. A mind capable of, among other things, getting the job done. The body was just a shell. That is where your initial designation came from, actually. Shell. It was used, preserved, and then ultimately discarded in turn. It did not matter. It was the mind that mattered. The vessel that housed it was replaceable. Expendable."

"You don't remember. A side-effect of the transfer process. But now you have been brought back. You endured after the end, and now you are here to prevent it. You are a decisive man, Dr. Freeman, and have surpassed the expectations of my employers. In fact, it has lead to some rather interesting offers for your services. Ordinary, I would not contemplate them, but these are extraordinary times."

"Well, now. Listen carefully, my dear. When you see your, father. Relay these words. Prepare for unforeseen consequences."

 

[Chaos341]

So "Gordan" was engineered to be a problem solver who G-Man swaps between bodies and history to solve problems for his bosses?

 

[Python453]

:huh:

What game is this from?

 

[atlas_hugged]

Portal and Half Life.

"Shell" is actually Chell, the main character of Porta 1 and 2. The enrichment center mentioned is the settings of those games, which in LRs interpretation was created by the Gman (a character from Half Life who has odd powers over time and space) to create the mind behind chell.

The mind was then plucked from the body, and sent over to Gordon Freeman's body (though maybe not directly after), and the events of half life, and half life 2 episode 1 take place.

That's what I'm getting anyways. It's a cool concept, and I'm guessing this is meant to open up the Half Life universe to all sorts of crazy crossovers, though a huge problem there is what's the point? It seems to lend itself only to retellings of various canons.

 

[Lord Raine]

Part of the idea came from the fact that Half-Life and Portal supposedly take place in the same world, but besides the occasional mention of Black Mesa in Portal, there's really nothing there to connect them. This connects them. Portal is, in this, the prologue to Half-Life. Chell is a test subject. Her body doesn't matter. What matters is the mind. The Enrichment Center was instigated by the manipulations of the G-Man in order to create someone with a mind capable of accomplishing certain tasks. The entire center is designed to test and experiment with various subjects towards that end. Thousands died. Athletes, scientists, random everymen. They all came up short. Not one of them was intelligent enough, clever enough, or possessed of the will to succeed. Even the intelligences in the facility, such as GLaDOS, were being manipulated towards that end. They were intelligent, but they were also limited by what their programming would allow them to accomplish.

The end result, however, produced a single viable subject. And a single subject was all that was needed. Where the best and brightest humanity had to offer failed, one succeeded.

Gordon Freeman is, ironically, not a free man. He was engineered, from the very beginning. He doesn't have the memories of his prior training, but he does have the reflexes, skills, abilities, and most importantly, the mental traits. Perseverance. Determination. Calculating intelligence tempered with cleverness, creativity, and incredibly advanced problem-solving skills. And an absolute, total, utter lack of fear.

The heart of a man. The determination of a machine. The skills of a fighter, a killer, and a soldier inexplicably possessed by a 'mere' scientist. In the games themselves, there isn't really a reason for him to possess those skills. This is my answer to question of why. Because this was what was intended all along.

Gordon Freeman is a hero. But he's not a free man. So the question then becomes, will he become a servant of eldritch powers, the mysterious 'clients' of the G-Man? Or will he defy his creation, and find a way to free not just the universe, but himself?

Only time will tell. But seeing how he's got a Gravity Gun in one hand and an ASHPD in the other, I'm sure he'll think of something.

though a huge problem there is what's the point? It seems to lend itself only to retellings of various canons.

That's why I don't intend this to really be continued. It's more of a conceptual oneshot than an actual story. The only place to really go with it is a canon retread, and I don't think anyone is really a fan of those.

 

[atlas_hugged]

I did think of something after I posted it. You could insert Gordan into any canon you wished with him as a villain.

Have cerberus contract the Gman and buy Gordon's services as a bounty hunter with Shepard as his target.

Then when they find out that they're both really effective and cool dudes, and that the Gman never actually wanted Gordon to kill Shepard, they go on a reaper killing buddy cop rampage.

 

[snthsnth]

Actually, the Borealis connects Portal and HL2, although it hasn't yet appeared. Mossman's reference to 'the Project' is supposed to refer to it. It could be a G-Man suppressor, or something that bothers his bosses, and they can't deal with it themselves.

 

[vel10]

Hah, nice. You have so many possibilities with this. Theoretically you could insert Gordon into any universe that isn't too fantastical. It's assumed that since the Combine are a major power, there are no magical or godlike entities or verses in existence. Otherwise, you're pretty free to experiment with this. Fun stuff!

 

[WhiteKnightLeo]

Every once in a while, LR, you prove yourself capable of making something I like.