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a-substantial-trash-pile · 4 months

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Studio TV Solutions presents Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware (2020) [not a real movie]. A movie with a totally improv’d script starring a moltey crew who are sure to give you a rip-roarin’ good time!

anyway hi new au just dropped. i’m calling it HLVRAIM. it’s HLVRAI but it’s a blockbuster movie and the science team are played by actors. i have many thought on backstories n stuff that i will stick under a “read more” here otherwise this post will be hella long on people’s dashes. 👇👍 pls care about this i thought so hard and much

Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware was put out by Studio TV Solutions in 2020 and destroyed the box office with how fun it was and how well the cast played off one another. The cast was given a general outline for the script with the goal for it to be mostly improv.

Gordon Freeman: Mannie Flores (Dominican American, age 28, he/him) - Popular Youtuber/Twitch streamer (“Radi0Mann”). Got offered the role in HLVRAI thanks to the creative things he’s done in his Youtube/Twitch career. This is his first “official” acting gig. He was pretty starstruck at first, but then as he got to know everyone, he realized they’re all a bunch of dorks (affectionate). - Started off as a gaming channel, but then started branching off into various creative endeavors as he got more popular. He still plays games too though. - One of the things Mannie did in his internet career that hit the mainstream was when he wrote, directed, starred in, and filmed his own movie in just 2 weeks because he failed a bet with his audience. Except the movie was actually really good and funny and heartfelt (i want to say it was about “a man who got left behind on earth after everyone else was raptured because god literally forgot about him”, but i think the concept might’ve been done already). - Met Benji through HLVRAI. They hit it off and now they’re dating. They tried to keep it secret for a while but Mannie had a slip-up during a stream that sort of blew it out of the water.

Benrey: Benji Song (Japanese/Chinese, age 30, he/they) - Started off as a film sound designer in the industry, then through a series of silly willy little events—possibly even shenanigans—got roped into a role in a passion indie film that became wildly acclaimed and flung him into the spotlight. Been an actor ever since, but isn’t the most proactive in taking jobs much to their agent’s annoyance. People never know where he’ll pop up next. Sometimes Benji will sneak in sound designer work behind their agent’s back. - Honestly likes background work more because everyone’s got these expectations of them as an actor that they feel pressured to meet. But he’s also afraid of disappointing people. He’s working on it. - Met their partner Mannie through HLVRAI. Totally was a fan of his streams/videos beforehand though. When they mention that, Mannie gets flustered. - Does music as a hobby. Electronic stuff mostly—enjoys mashing together all sorts of sounds and trying to make them work. After HLVRAI, Mannie’s streams gets cool new music that’s made by somebody going by “johnwicklover1994.” wink

Harold Coomer: Hau’oli “Hau” Kaleo-Kirchhoff (Hawaiian/Samoan, age 66, he/him) - Old musician who’s supposed to be retired but once in a while will release a song or even do a concert (but nothing crazy). - Hau’oli is pronounced [hh-ow-oh-lee], but he also goes by “Hau” for the haoles’ sake. :) Kaleo is [kah-leh-oh]. also Hau’oli sounds a little bit like the name Holly so that’s a fun coincidence i didn’t realize until later. - Most of his music is chill island tunes but he has been known to dabble in rock and jazz. - Married to Mose (been together for 30 years and counting).

Bubby: Mose Kaleo-Kirchhoff (German, age 69 [nice], xe/him) - Veteran actor—been in the acting industry for a long time. One of his more well-known roles was in a popular sci-fi series. - Married to Hau’oli (they got married the moment it was legal). - i went with a name that started with “M” cuz when Gordon first asks Bubby for his name, xe’s like, “mmm Bubby.” and i headcanon it’s because Mose was about to say xir own name and had to swerve last minute and the thing his brain resorted to was Bubby lol.

Tommy Coolatta: Luis Tanglao (Filipino, age 37, he/they) - Child star who dropped out of the industry when he hit his teens and then came back years later as a comedian. He has material about how fucked up being a child star was. Will only take acting roles if it interests them. - They don’t care about how the public/media sees him. He’ll speak his mind and call out BS when he sees it. Interviewing them can be a war zone. - Hosts a popular podcast with some buds they discuss things like video games, their lives, news, etc. Just shooting the shit. - Sunkist is their actual dog and she modeled for the png photo that was used. Her name is actually Biko. She is a very good girl. <3

Darnold Pepper: Sage Haven (African American, age 40, he/her/they) - Famous cooking show host who gets offered roles in movies. Got popular by how unconventional her meals and cooking methods are and how funny he is. - Has had multiple food/cooking/baking shows over the years. Every competition-based one they’ve had focused more on good vibes, fun, and encouraging one another rather than drama. One show involved people competing to see who could make the best full course meal with the catch being they could only cook everything in a microwave. Many microwaves perished. - Changed their name to Sage Haven during their transition. They chose it because it reflects his passion and also is a play on the phrase “safe haven”, which is what she wants to be to others. - He has an adoptive daughter named Kit. She helped them think up bits and jokes. She also had to help explain what Half-Life was.

haven’t gotten to gman and forzen’s actors yet unfortunately. thinking gman’s actor could be a talk show host? because that would be funny. anyway thanks for humoring me on my shenanigans. bye

#hlvrai #frenrey #gordon feetman #benrey #tommy coolatta #dr coomer #dr bubby #darnold pepper #hlvrai boomer #hlvrai au #hlvraim

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spaceistheplaceart · 4 months

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i've literally seen NOBODY talking about this but i think this guy getting beat up could be Benrey... but dam!!! he looks very different!!! so i tried to combine his old look with his potential new look and... this is what I got (creepy man... but cool...)

BONUS coloured version I didn't like much and also a HLVRAI-era benny below

Summarized ID: a drawing of benrey looking forward smirking. he's missing a tooth, has a sparse mustache, his left eye is lighter/white and there is a scar on his left eyebrow. He has a dark shadow over his eyes.

FULL ID UNDER CUT

Image One: On the left are three reference images. The top one is of the man who was being beaten up by Combine in the HL2VRAI trailer. He is laying on the ground, smirking, with a tooth missing, a black eye, and a scar on his eyebrow. He has tan skin and a buzzcut, a wide nose, and possibly heterochromia. Could also be the lighting. The image below that is the stock image of the Barney Half Life One model. The third image is of Benrey from HLVRAI, looking at the viewer head on. He has high cheekbones, smile lines, shadowy eyes and a slim face. Above him in blue text reads: "you're not supposed to be here."

The drawing next to the reference images is of Benrey, but trying to combine the reference images. The drawing was made with a pencil-like brush and is uncoloured. He is looking forward smirking. he's missing a tooth on his left side, has a sparse mustache, his left eye is lighter/white and there is a scar on his left eyebrow. He has a dark shadow over his eyes that extends from his slightly receding hairline. His hair is black. He wears a collared shirt.

The first bonus image is the same image as the first drawing but now coloured. Benrey has tan skin, lit from the right side, and is wearing a blue shirt. The shadows are more purple in tone. The second bonus image is him but looking like he did in HLVRAI: clean shaven, wearing a tie, and his helmet. No scar, no heterochromia, and no missing tooth.

END ID

#hlvrai #hl2vrai #i think it could be him bc the trailer focused on him for a moment also he has that cheeky mfing grin which is so benrey moment #i REALLY like the new design iff this is him...#looks like someone i would not want to run into... scary and creepy but very cool #GOTTA have the shadow over his eyes ok its law #the scar? the missing tooth? the little mustache and also the heterochromia (?)#veryyyy cool #scopophobia #benrey #op art #benry #hlvrai benrey #hlvrai benry

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1-800-deactivatednearu · 9 months

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woag character design notes

[i.d.: a drawn line up of the half life vr ai characters, from left to right, gordon, dr. coomer, tommy, bubby, gman, and benrey. /end i.d.]

yeah i skipped some guys , i dont draw some of them enough to have much unique designs and some of them are a png of a dog

trust me i am just surprised as the rest of yall that i am doing hlvrai art . design notes below (very long, mind your step)

gordon:

wow this guy dont got no head

i didnt want to give gordon a face because of how unexact the person is as the fandom engages with it. is it wayne rtvs? (well as presented to an audience, yes) is it gordon freeman? (well as seen from an in game perspective, yes) is it a whole new guy entirely? (well as

i cut the confusion and took it a whole new direction: guillotine

hlvrai being treated as a very broken game is fun to me as a design perspective, so if you (the audience) are not supposed to see his face, what happens when you see it anyways? missing texture time

there are eyes drawn over because i did not have confidence in my expressions at first and then it grew on me

i think if i were to draw (and i have drawn) an actual person under the mask i would still censor the eyes because that is where the vr headset sits!!

(i do not like putting an actual flesh to gordon though)

though i really like seeing how other people interpret gordon hlvrai it is not . my gordon ? we are talking about the same guy . but this is my gordo . i made this one . this guy my guy . maybe i should draw other gordon designs

i can draw the hev suit from memory and it is also the entire reason why i can render metal confidently

i liked how people changed the lambda to read ai :] i also have no clue if i wrote the lambda correctly

(i did, i just checked)

dr coomer:

as much as i draw/drew him i find it more fun to not stick to one set design :)

so a lot of my takes on dr coomer tend to jump from idea to idea, especially from what other people are doing, though they could be fitted to the left and right designs!

the left design is mainly based off what i saw in fandom spaces

we see rounder shapes, making for a more friendly and welcoming appearance

i think of this as straying from the more professional uniform of the actual scientist models

enter swimming shorts and bright yellow socks, for some reason

so now he kind of looks like a cool science teacher :)

it might be the lab coat

the right design is mainly based off thumbnails for hlvrai itself

these use a more angular appearance

i want to push how comically buff he is because of strength he shows at times, especially since his left design seems to completely down play it as a comically not buff man who is still very strong

the shadows on right design coomer get so much more harsh and exaggerated because i have comic books on the mind :)

he really does look like a dehydrated comic book character huh

tommy:

stick bug (he gets it from his dad) (this thought process is explained at gman section)

i pushed a lot of the saturation of colours in her design because i think tommy gets to be a little silly with it

fun art story of the day! when you color, try messing with hue! you might notice you can get away with a lot as long as your values are about right

i like pushing this with white because you can get away with a lot of things reading as “off white”

old faithful for me is cool shadows with a warm transition colour to keep things visually interesting

i keep making white objects the trans flag

happy pride

tommys design looks a little like a school boy, with the tucked in button up shirt+suspenders+shorts+jacket tied around the waist . and the primary colours . but like it is really fun to dress up so brightly

i actually was strongly inspired by medieval babies if that is a weird descriptor? i wanted him to both be a middle aged man but also a young adult

do not be like tommy, who has their finger on the trigger of the gun while not even looking at where it is pointing and good god he is squeezing the trigger . top ten firearm safety of all time

bubby:

the absurd part is that i think bubby is tall . he is just between tommy and gman who are exaggeratedly lanky .

i wanted to make bubby a pointy kinda guy, so he is the only one actually wearing the lab coat proper . and the only one actually wearing dress socks but not even wearing dress shoes

i wanted to give him a novelty tie but i was running low on ideas and running high on boreds so we dont get a tie

he does have crocs though!! in attack mode!!

i do think we all kind of saw his model and collectively decided it works for him because i have honestly not seen major divergences from his model?

gman:

stick bug

i wanted to stress the more spooky and unknowable nature of him and took it in the dark souls direction of “make bigger than player character”

maked too bigger

he cannot walk through any doorways but you will have to crane your neck to look up at him

in the opposite direction of tommy, i pulled a lot of the saturation in gmans design

it feels important to make them both not fully match the rest of the slightly less broken npcs because there was so much work to make them look cool so i have to respect that

actually a lot of gmans and tommys designs are made in opposite to one another

gman has a largely stationary face and very stiff line work

while tommy is pushed to expressive as possible

thats pretty fun, way to go me

benrey:

benrey also has two designs

and in both of these i keep getting too lazy to use a reference so the vests are super plain (forgetting the badge and black mesa logo) . i think the helmet is supposed to be darker actually .

the design ethos of benrey was “built like a brick shithouse”

a friend of mine took this cooler and interpreted it as a shield/wall/barrier as a physical (and narrative) obstacle

again the first uses fandom designs

most notably the overcast shadow (seen in video thumbnails but i never noticed it or understood why so many people did it until someone pointed it out to me)

i think hlvrai is such a great medium because it acknowledges it is a game and is able to play into that to great effect! i think the shadow is fun to imagine as solid black as a small reminder of the impossibility of the space :]

benrey is a smug cat in the body of a human . to be honest . and this is the full range of emotion i have ever drawn him with

the second was mostly because as fun as taking creative liberties are, i just really wanted to see benrey as is: the half life security guard model in all its slight wonk :]

i actually do prefer this design . it is a little more uncanny because i choose the worst translations of the model . i like it because it is a little more uncanny !

that can be said for like . every single design in this line up huh .

#hlvrai #my art #gordon feetman #dr coomer #tommy coolatta #dr bubby #gman coolatta #benrey #half life vr but the ai is self aware

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snailsdraw · 1 year

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[Start ID: 7 pages of HLVRAI narrative doodles about Benrey wearing skirts based on [this post here].

Benrey looks at his reflection in the mirror and the long skirt he's just put on. It's a purple vintage swing skirt from the 1950s, an unused item Dr Coomer had tucked away up until just recently. Dr Coomer stands behind Benrey, sporting a hawaiian shirt, with his hands proudly on his hips: "I think you look very handsome, Beppy! Would you say the same?" Either sides of the skirt are bunched up in Benrey's hands where he's lifting it up and away from brushing against his legs. His mouth is a tight, thin line. "it's, uhh…yeah. like it. looks. can i take it off now, please?" Benrey grits out. Tommy winces at the stream of flimsy red sweet voice bubbles slipping out from the corner of Benrey's mouth: "Uh-oh. Red like, like a brick means that's a bad, uh, ick."

Tommy leaves the shirt he's just finished folding and picks up a pair of comfy black pajama pants with a green grid pattern on it from off the pile of unfolded clothes next to him on the couch. "Here! This'll help!" he says, before launching the pants right at Benrey's face. Dr Coomer chuckles at him.

Sometime later, Gordon knocks on their open front door. He asks: "Hey, any of yall seen Capt- Joshie's stuffed horse? I think he might've left it here the last time we-" He's interrupted by an abrupt "hey" from Benrey. Benrey's dressed in his hoodie, playstation socks, and most importantly, the pajama pants and skirt from earlier. He leans forward, a hand on his hip while the other twirls a chullo string around his finger playfully. Benrey smiles smugly at Gordon, showing of his new skirt: "bet you're, uh, jealous you can't pull this off, huh?"

Tommy pipes up: "Oh! I was just about to go give- to return this to you. Hello, Mr Freeman!" Benrey looks displeased at Tommy's sudden entrance as the taller man pops into view behind him, a stuffed horse held in his hand. Gordon's smile is a grateful one as he passes Benrey to retrieve the toy: "Aw fuck, thanks man." "yo what the hell man? you ruined my moment…" Benrey pouts, arms crossed and side-eyeing Tommy. Dismissively, Gordon tells Benrey: "Dude, I've been rocking those since, like, preschool."

Benrey just grumbles and blows a rasberry, back stubbornly turned on the two behind him: "you're no fun." Gordon takes Joshua's stuffed horse from Tommy's hand. Not looking at Benrey, he mumbles with a shrug: "I mean…I didn't say it was bad or anything. Suits you, I guess." Benrey gives him an unsure look as Gordon passes him again on his way out: "/gen?" "Uh, yeah, /gen-" Gordon says distractedly, rushing out the door. "L-look, I gotta run. If Josh finds out Cap'n's gone, he's gonna freak. Thanks again, Tommy!" (Cap'n is the name of the stuffed horse) When he's gone, Tommy taps Benrey on the shoulder.

Tommy whispers sideways to Benrey: "Don't worry, Benrey. I think he liked it." "wuh?" Benrey says, looking up at him. Tommy does a series of ASL hand signs indicating that Gordon had been blushing. Benrey's eyes widen at him, and a couple of shy peach sweet voice orbs bubble from his mouth.

In the elevator, Gordon has his back pressed up against the wall, the horse plush clutched to his chest. "God, hope I didn't catch a cold or something," he thinks, mistaking the awkward heat in his face for an oncoming fever. He is, as Tommy had communicated, blushing.

End ID.]

Thanks to the op of the post this was based off for the inspo heheh.

Also, I don't know if Tommy's signing is accurate😬 (I never formally learned sign language so I could only look for references online).

#* writes the colour of the skirt and pj pants in the id even though it's not in the image *#this was supposed to be a short thing but hahA #hlvrai #hlvrai benrey #hlvrai coomer #hlvrai tommy #hlvrai gordon #snail's art #id #frenrey

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hashashafashasha · 4 months

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HL2VRAI TRAILER ANALYSIS

youtube

"Friday, July 6th, 2040" - The science team has been left in the game for 20 years, since the original series took place in 2020 according to Dr. Coomer. This likely means that the ACAB stream and cast commentary are both non-canon.

The party was for Tommy's 37th birthday, meaning he is now 57 years old. Our beautiful baby boy has grown up so fast. This starting sequence has original backing music too, which uses the melody that both Passport Guardian and Gnome Regrets also share.

Does Bubby replace Kleiner in this universe?

what

Dr. Coomer hasn't changed model, BUT

This is definitely GMan giving his job to Tommy (which I predicted hooray for me), so it is possible for the AI to change models, meaning Bubby = Kleiner isn't out of the question.

Finally, the release date switches between 2024 and 2025, meaning we might have to wait, at most, two years for hl2vrai.

All of these still don't account for Benrey, and while we still haven't seen him since he died in canon, I think Wayne has made it pretty clear that he can return. And still no sign of Emmet Calhoun

I don't know what this thing is someone please help me

Let me know if there's anything I missed! Also yes I know that I said the science team wasn't coming back I know I was wrong I know but please please spare me I was wrong but I was just saying what I wanted to happen there's probably going to be a mix of new and old characters if I had to guess but please for the love of god let me live I'm sorry

#hlvrai #wayneradiotv #rtvs #hlage #hl2vrai #Youtube

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dimonds456-but-only-hlvrai · 6 months

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Welcome to the AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS!

Thoughts below the cut, ID in alt!

SO: Caine is still the ringmaster, and the others may or may not be there, but for what I was specifically thinking, this is a sort of replace-the-cast thing. The most obvious two are Gordon as Pomni and Coomer as Kinger. I was thinking Bubby could be a Zooble equivalent, Benrey as Jax, and Tommy as Ragatha. Darnold would be left in Gangle's spot (though the two are nothing alike), and Forzen would have been Kaufmo.

I picked and chose names based on how weird they were GFDHJSAK

So, normal names like Gordon or Tommy got replaced, while unconventional ones like Benrey and Bubby are the same.

Leodoll is a play on Leo, meaning lion, and doll, which is. obvious.

Asher Blau literally means "happy blue." They're both Jewish names (from what I understand, PLEASE tell me if I'm wrong here), and of course Asher is a double play on Ash, like fire.

Beybend is a play on "Beyblade," while also suggesting Tommy's new flexibility

Benji Calzone is funny

Gotcher is a play on tamogotchi and Kinger's name (or, the last part of Coomer's original name)

The designs are also a play on their personalities, going off the theory for the show that that's the case (like Ragatha being a bit of a doormat and Jax being a jackass)

Gordon: Plush lion. Fierce, brave, and strong, but also a huge softie. Makes others feel better and/or safe.

Bubby: Mime action figure. Going off the idea of him being in the tube like how mimes usually start their routines pretending to be in boxes. Also his joints CAN detatch and re-attach, so something something symbolism somthing he was built instead of born something

Tommy: Heavily inspired by Betty Spaghetty. Literally really flexible, playing into the idea of him having really good instincts/adaptability.

Benrey: LEGO ass. Wanted to play into the idea of his shapeshifting, and also stepping on LEGOs sucks and you KNOW he'd find that funny. Moves like Queen Whatevawanabe (how do you spell her name?) from The Lego Movie 2. Also I liked the idea of he and Gordon being opposites: Gordon is soft, Benrey is hard. You cannot really change Gordon's appearance at all, Benrey's is MEANT to be changed, ect. I like stuff like that idk

Coomer: Tamogatchi. Easy. You ever seen Wreck-It Ralph? He moves like the Nicelanders from that movie, but with a lot more casual glitching. His speech pattern is basically identical to canon. My guy has ADHD and a terrible memory, so although he's kind, he's not super reliable. He's been here for a LONG time.

I do not know what Forzen and Darnold would look like.

Sunkist is one of those lil ducklings on wheels little kids play with, but ofc a dog instead of a duck.

If/when Joshua shows up, Gordon would be SO upset. Relieved as well, but mostly concerned. I was thinking he could either be a lion, too, cuz the idea of a lion cub is SO CUTE, but I think him being a horse makes more sense for his personality. Cowboy horsie!

Before anyone asks, yes, Gordon DOES run on all fours if he wants to be faster

I have zero idea as to where Gman fits into this. Maybe he MADE the program, I don't know.

Anyway, yeah! :)

#hlvrai au #hlvrai #tadc #the amazing digital circus #crossover #gordon martinis freeman #gordon feetman #bubby #tommy coolatta #benrey #benry #dr coomer #dr bubby

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pistachi0art · 3 months

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Sorry for adding to what im sure is your massive pile of asks, but you have such a knack for making insanely interesting aus and amazing art to go with it. It's fr an addiction. For the parasite au, do you think there would be any side and/or after effects that linger if the science team were cured? Or would they just go back exactly to the way they were before? I can't imagine Gordon or even Benrey coming out unscathed even if a cure was whipped up. The angst potential is rotating in my mind.

haha it’s all good! ^^ I love getting into the nitty gritty of my aus so the more the merrier! And tysm! I have sm fun with the aus I make so I’m incredibly happy to hear that ppl are having as much enjoyment tagging along as well as adding their own to what I have formed.

as for those infected then cured, definitely! in the science teams case it would be worsened/loss of vision (Darnold could likely fix it) and in ppl who had prolonged infection unhealthy weight loss due to a lack of nutrition and joint pain. Other than physical injury it’s gonna take time to readjust from it, nothing too long term unless it’s something loss of permanent- (like loosing a limb or the infected person having their optic nerve gone- leading to blindness)

Gordon getting cured would probably have the worst of it recovery wise, next to his already crappy vision getting crappier our orange guy would have lost a lot of that fat he had on his body from not eating much other than the occasional nibble from another human while he was out of it… :( but let’s say that the arm incident also kinda happened so he unfortunately comes back to consciousness finding out he’s also lost a limb :/

Benrey on the other hand would probably just be really sluggish and have a lot of pain in his body from the janky movements he had no control of . And also a gross gooey sweet voice chronic cough bc his body is trying to expel whatever is left in him.

BUT YEAH TON OF ANGST POTENTIAL! ESPECIALLY IF YOU CONSIDER THE HYPOTHETICAL “GOOD END RECOVERY” PART OF THE AU :))

#tw parasite #tw body horror #tw infection #tw recovery #ask reply #hlvrai infection au #yeah no one’s gonna have fun even after a potential cure

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barneyfan99579 · 5 months

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tumblr i would like to properly introduce you guys to my benrey oc, Little B.

ok so first and most important thing if you squeeze him in your hand he makes a squeaky noisethat is his true form, HE IS that small HIS PASSPORT IS EXACTLY THAT SIZE… i definetly didint just think correctly when i was drawing this but now its true not normal sized passport you can squeeze him like a stress toy but if you throw him against the wall it MIGHT crack 50/50 chance of him either becoming one with the wall or it breaking he can posses objects and make them float he choses to walk most of the time even tho hes SMALL and hes been stepped on atleast 6 times he also SCOURS through black mesa vents like the lil rat he is he does this real oftently and yes he has rat friends hes also "accidentally" fallen inside scientist's experiments causing them to fail dont ask HOW. none of the scientist like that lil mf bc he ruins so many things except for OOOONEEEE that i wont be naming.. his fav UNEDIBLE food IS battery acid his fav edible food is strawberry jam sandwich he could eat it entirely and the only reason he hasnt left black mesa yet is bc he does not like his own realm not bc theres something wrong with it, hes just not satisfied ANDDD THIS GUY DOESNT REALLY ENJOY SPEAKING he only lets out squeaks sometimes (rarely) thats when scientists try talking to him he either just..stares at them, ignores them or runs tf away but hes not that fast you can hear squeaky noises when he walks or runs too he flipped one of them off once he really likes chewing on passports his bmsv is like a bunch of distorted black lines that can exist for 30 seconds to 5 mins thats why scientists see weird floating black lines sometimes around the facility you can MOLD him theres time to time where his clothes, his helmet and his body turn into clay-like he doesnt do this by himself he cant control it, but this IS kind of hard to happen and he also becomes like unconscious while this happens but if you do mold him he takes 1 hour to go back to normal if nothing touches him he takes only 2 mins to go back to normal HE CAN STILL CHANGE HIS OWN SIZE THOU but he likes being tiny the only times he'll ever change his size to bigger is to play his cello that he keeps somewhere deep in the facility n he only does it at night only being specific on the last part bc i love cellos. he can't feel pain, and he understands all languages if anyone has any other questions abt him dont be afraid to ask

#hlvrai #hlvrai oc #oc #oc art #benrey #benry oc #benrey oc #silly little guy #throws him at a wall

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blacktobackmesa · 2 months

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do you have any more thoughts on benrey and gordons eldritch4eldritch relationship in Streamman? I just remember you talking about gordon chilling with his webcam on and benrey also in his 'true form' and also gordon being able to just leave his body w benrey- it's such an interesting dynamic that's really cute!!! it would be awesome to hear more on it

So I had a response to this written out, like, the week this ask was sent in December. And then I left my computer for a few minutes and the computer went into standby and the text ate itself. If I was thoughtful I would have replied to this for Valentines Day but Happy Six Days After Valentines Day! The stores are all sold out of discount chocolate now and are set up for Easter.

Being able to "demask" around each other is a real comfort. The parts of them that are scary and alien are different from each other, but when in each others presence, there's no pressure to hide it. For Gordon, being something so vast that his friends can't comprehend his presence is a big vulnerability. For Benrey to think his true form is straight-up sublime to look at takes away that shame.

Benrey, on the other hand, doesn't have a true form. He was created without limits, expectations, or a personal history-- his antagonistic behavior and hang-ups on rules nobody else seems to get are how he tries to find structure. It's hard for him to admit he's sensitive about being unable to relate to others and live up to their standards. Once Gordon understands that, he can encourage Benrey to be more true to himself and break the mold he's tried to fit himself in. You don't have to be people-shaped if you don't want to be, man, try new stuff!

Turns out "New Stuff" can sometimes use up too much processing power and crash the PC.

"Hey, it's okay! It happens! We're learning together. Maybe on our next date I can toy with the graphics settings so we don't fry the graphics card trying to render your formless mass of colors and lights."

"oughg, i think i need to not move for a week. too much. too much benny."

"Well, you're one hell of a fireworks show."

"next time my final true ultimate form can be. a turtle. or a glass of milk."

"Whatever you're feeling, babe."

#gordon streamman #frenrey

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adrian-sheppy · 5 months

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Sorry if this is completely wrong igore if it is LMAO but I noticed you seem to have different hcs for how mind lost his eye!!! Like in Seattles Going Under it was lost in a vague fight or something, but in art w/ the resonance cascade he lost it prolly during the ambush? I was wondering if you had info to share on it/infodump abt or if its just whatever makes the art more fun!

hehe youre observant and actually right on the money. yup! so essentially i just have different eye trauma head canons for whichever version of freemind im drawing; since he doesnt actually lose his eye in canon, its up to everyone to fil in the blanks if they wanna use the popular headcanon. i wrote . a good chunk of stuff . so i put it under the cut . but heres a picture to be like a . tldr

I sorta like his eye already being gone before the resonance cascade (in a non-freemanverse scenario). he does verbally say something like "my eyes" in the series, indicating he has two, BUT . well. its a headcanon. so we can have fun with it . my eye loss pre-rescas freemind stems from my original freemind design (before i ever started posting half-life on the internet) where he had short hair, but i needed a way to distinguish him from og gordon, so I used thr popular one eye headcanon. then I realized him losing his eye bc of the military goes perfectly with martini losing an arm. that bothered me for a while until i realized i could just have multiple freemind designs + headcanons. if theres different variations of Gordon and martini, why can't there be some of Freemind as well? grins grins

i left it open ended in my SGU because people have their own headcanons and I thought anyone could just fill in their own. if I did every make a canon eyeloss event prequel thing, he would've lost his eye during college in some sort of either freak accident (like tripping on something and injuring himself bad; I like this one because he'll lie and say he was in a fight) or, like u said, a fight . for SGU, college was a low point in his life of him struggling with freedom from his parents for the firsr time, but them and their ideals still holding him hostage. he is simultaneously more repressed and more emotionally volatile than present!gordon. then, when his parents die, hes just given a clusterfuck of emotions. so why dont we add physical trauma? whatever the sgu canon event eye loss was, it was definitely related to substance abuse issues. whether that be he was high/drunk and got into an accident, or fought someone... not sure! yet. the only thing that i can say was that no fire or chemicals were involved, since his tearduct is (unfortunately for him) wholly in tact!

but for freemanverse!freemind, he should lose his eye during the rescas since its like thematic and stuff if (almost) every Gordon Loses Something. also, angst. whenever I draw freemanverse (even in a domestic setting) in my head, i always think of them surviving the rescas together! i have. convoluted freemanverse headcanons. the eye loss is an important freemanverae event because, like martini, it gives him a valid reason to REALLY dislike benrey (but in my au, benrey isnt the big bad, so he "redeems" himself kinda sorta) . and then it ALSO opens up freemind to be upset and vulnerable, which allows him to bond with his fellow freemen.

...

also I want barmey to tend to his wounds and call his scar(s) badass. im not immune to buttermind and i never was.

honorable mention: sims freemind, who has both eyes physically but only can see from one. this is due to me unable to properly texture a glasses + eyepatch combo, that and i have no experience with 3d modelling (I did try!).

i hope this is a satisfying enough infodump!! I'm sorry if it's a bit vague; a lot of my ideas tend to be fluid. i also like taking inspiration from what other people think! some of you guys are way super smart and have awesome ideas. i am not immune to well articulated essays and thought out headcanons

#also fun fact! my og freemind design had short hair BECAUSE i was going to use his hair growth to indicate time passing #going from the rescas to a more domestic and “calmer” setting with his new friends #and the hair growth is supposed to represent lije... self acceptance almsot #and like a slightly healtheir view of himself (dont worry hes still an asshole)#and thats also why COLLEGE FREEMIND (who i never draw) has short hair also!#yay! emotional growth represented by the literal growth of hair!#freeman's mind #freemind #mindverse #gordonverse #gordon freemind #freemanverse #asks #half life

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freehounyaoi · 2 months

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HALF LIFE VRAI (+gorgeous & og gordon) HEADCANONS IF YOU EVEN CARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BENREY WOOO

during. the end, he had 2 extra eyes, one above his left eye one below his right eye, now he has scars where they laid, they’re faint but he. is autistic im sorry he’s too me to not be he had a tail during the end too faint freckles ^_^ he REALLY likes red meat he likes blue flavor, not blueberries, not blue raspberry, blue stubble YAYY specifically in end, benreys feet to knees and hands to elbows fade into rlly dark blue/black looks like he’s dying of illness but like. has never been sick disassociates very often very touch very very touchy polyamorous, exes with forzen & is now crushing on both Tommy & gordon orphaned, kinda lived on his own since he isn’t human, picked his own name doesn’t actually have brothers, he’s a loser breaths through his mouth esp when he’s comfortable weird but like imagine he’s cuddled up to someone and he just yeah

COOMER YAYYY

fat, idc i’m right

gender-fluid, transmasc & gay ^_^ old man yaoi with bubby YAYYY

cool little funky punching enhancement thingies

big ol’ doe brown eyes

brunette hair before he started graying

after the resonance cascade he retired, they deserve it

has nightmares over clones. a lot, a big lot

autistic, everyone knows the science team kinda is autistic,

going off the autistic thing, one of his vocal stims is hello gordon

loves talking, loves it so much, he loves just talking to people she likes

has a high score on punch out & that one punching game where you punch the punching bag to get evaluated on

the reason is divorced because he realized he was gay

hawaiian shirts FTW!!

(most of these are somewhat canon, holly (his va) headcanons him as transmasc, short and stocky, and 5’4!)

Bubbster

Intersex & bisexual (idc if gir hcs him as straight it’s my world now/pf)

if he didn’t live with Coomer after the resonance cascade, he’d probably just be a basement dweller and just sit in the corner and cry

Bionic legs :3

canonically test tube baby, he’s probably really freaked the fuck out over it & has had genuine panic attacks over being artificially made, only in front of coomer

literally always has epi-pens for coomer

naturally(?) ginger idk what you wanna consider it, he’s canonically like 6 but in my head he’s like 67, he’s been locked in black mesa for 67 years

blue eyes

has a leather jacket with a tiger on it he will wear just to do so

has made the science team watch scrubs.. twice

picks at skin as a stress tick

has tourettes

near blind

when he got his bionic heart he died so he will sometimes just be like “hey guys i’ve died before”

being put back in the tube after betraying gordon was one of the worst things he’s been through, it was terrifying

GORDON FEETMAN!!!

also fat

joshua exists but he was an accidental pregnancy (gordon seahorse father yayy)

ftm based off last hc, that’s just canon cuz i said so

joshua is like, 9 in my head so gordon had him at like 18

bisexual

has a crush on benrey (canon but yk)

mexican and african

curly ass hair, takes really good care of it, always smells nice

bilingual

blind in left eye, 25% prescription in right eye

feels guilty as fuck even when everyone would joke about him being the cause of the RC

also autistic

wayne did not dk him justice when he lost his hand, he was screaming so gutturally loud it was painful, he strained his voice so bad, the pain was so excruciatingly terrible

tommy genuinely was the only one he could trust after benrey & bubby turned their backs on him, and that sucked because his feelings for benrey before that point were getting to him

only was adamant about not being friends with benrey at the end because of the betrayal, he wanted to hate benrey

tommy is like his. comfort friend, he doesn’t have to worry about him.. he does but he always feels comfy around him

Tommy cool man

Autistic, ADHD, PTSD and OCD

G man species, half human

strawberry enthusiasts:3 (me too)

every flavor tic tac enthusiast, always give the science team tic tacs like all the time

not very good at games enjoys playing them though

very touchy for multiple reasons

Sunkist service dog for multiple things as well, helps with panic attacks, PTSD symptoms, anxiety attacks etc

Tommy doesn’t know how Sunkist was trained to do all this, he made her sk he just kinda accepts it for how she is, and loves her

compression hugs, likes being laid on top of, it’s comforting

looks scrawny but can like. genuinely pick up all the science team & benrey with ease

started collecting propeller hats after the RC

the reason he can read sweet voice is cuz g-man species

thinking about getting a cat, maine coon or norwegian forest cat, he likes big ass animals

Sunkist is LARGE like large as fuck for a golden Tommy made sure she was huge

milk enjoyer :3 drinks it with most of his meals

wears readers

ANGEL KISSES!! (moles or beauty marks whatever you wanna call them)

tooth gap :3

walks on tiptoes

Gorgeous

6’7

cuts his hair into a fringe, lets it grow out to shoulder length, then cuts it fringe, never ending cycle

beauty marks man

freckles too

nobody fucking knows his trauma

doesn’t understand why he can understand cicero?? he just.. can??

learned ASL as a kid

clearly has some form of mommy issues he will not touch on

wears solid colors, he doesn’t wear shirts with decals, or anything, a. he doesn’t like them. b. for ASL purpose, it’s recommended to wear light/dark clothes (light in his case) depending on your skin tone to MAKE it easier to read sign, usually in light pink

prefers skirts cuz.. they’re comfy, usually knee & ankle length.. sometimes he will wear mini skirts……. cuz he’s gross

actually hates head crabs.

would be a nudist if it was sociably acceptable

actually really enjoys video games! he doesn’t talk about it, he’s good at them too

he’s a dog person, he wants a saint bernard

freeman YAYY

6’

beauty marks

patchy beard

dark hazel eyes

starting to grey, short pony tail

has scars from his HEV suit

actually lost his hearing DUE to the RC, his mother was deaf so that’s why he knows ASL, it completely shot out his hearing

has always dressed nice

cat person

Alyx is like his daughter to him

i can’t decide if he’s trans or not

same situation with gorgeous, he wears solid colors for ASL purpose

him and cicero have yet to find a way to communicate

when he found out alyx learned ASL for her boyfriend (this is canon, was planned for episode 3) he was over the moon

enjoys IASIP (it’s always sunny in philadelphia)

scary when he’s pissed off

G-Manual samual

major RBF

scottish

moles kuz hes kawaii

wears readers

hes autistic

going on with him being autistic, the fabric his suits are a comfort fabric to him

enjoys sitcoms

drinks his coffee straight black

he is trans masc to me

praises his employers like god tbh

if he were to drink, which he doesnt, his go to drink would be rum on ice

some form of alien, not from xen though, no one knows where hes from

some type of holy creature??? he cant die?? hes weird

you'll never see it but he doesnt bleed red, his blood is black

enjoys fishing

goes to bed at 11pm, wakes up at 4am hes weird

hes also the best father ever???

songs that remind me of science team members + benrey the 6th

Benrey the 6th

I Will - Mitski

Kiss Me, Son Of God - They Might Be Giants

I’m Gonna Win - Rob Cantor

Mad World - Tears for Fears

We Will Commit Wolf Murder - Of Montreal

Gallery Piece - Of Montreal

Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears

The Party's Crashing Us - Of Montreal

Tommy Coolman

Living Island - POGO

Fireflies - Owlcity

Teenage Dirtbag - Weetus

rises the moon - liana flores

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy - Queen

Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears

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a-substantial-trash-pile · 1 year

Photo

the science team go on a road trip across new mexico and are only pursued by cops 3 times during it 👍

- tommy’s phone has like 10301 photos on it because he takes pics of everything including the shitty snacks they get at gas stations but it’s ok he’s got unlimited storage. 90% of the photos are of sunkist. - darnold’s got his rocket boots on so he can fly around and explore freely because that’s what i’d do if i had rocket boots and were free. also she’s super prepared and has got all kinds of stuff in that fanny pack including soda and a first aid kid. don’t ask how. do you need a band-aid? she’s got some cool TF2 themed ones. don’t ask how. - benrey got the cool new cap from a tourist trap in roswell (aka gordon bought it for him). also patamon the headcrab gets to come on the road trip too. - gordon tries to reign everyone in at the beginning and be the “responsible” one but quickly gives up and just goes with the shenanigans and has fun with it. this isn’t a stressful res-cas situation anymore--he can let loose. - bubby geeks out about the stars and points out all the ones he knows (aka all of them) to coomer and coomer is just enjoying hearing bubby talk while thinking “this moment right here right now is real and nobody can take that from me.”

who is driving you ask? it’s bubby. he’s the car. xe can talk to everyone through the radio so xe’s not left out on singing “take me home, country roads over” and over until gordon promises to buy everyone slushies at the next gas station.

#hlvrai #gordon feetman #benrey #tommy coolatta #darnold pepper #dr coomer #hlvrai bubby #hlvrai boomer #frenrey

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princess-of-anons · 1 month

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It is Worm Time once more

At long last, the color version of Gordon’s Worm Form is here! As mentioned in a previous post and on the ref, the pattern is based somewhat on the HEV Suit. Unlike Benrey, Gordon’s worm form has a unique ability provided to him by his experience with the mini-gun hand: Devil Claw Mode!

Obviously, Devil Claw Mode is derived from Devil Gun Mode, but they are pretty similar in name only. Devil Claw Mode allows Gordon to use his claws to attack for devastating results. These claws will only inflict damage if Gordon intends to harm you with them, and if you DO take damage, the pain will be brief but will feel overwhelmingly like your body is both burning and freezing at the same time.

Below are pictures of the normal claws (left) and the Devil Claws (right). Gordon can deploy them at will and has often kept them on, knowing they won’t hurt his friends, because he likes the glow.

I also have a couple Freeworm sketches, plus some Benrey and the Smol Worm Mode. After unlocking Worm Mode, both men have the option to combine the Worm Mode with the Sizeshifting abilities that Benrey has previously displayed to create HLVRAI Worm Off the String. There’s no limit to how big or small the worm form can be, but after a certain Smallness threshold it takes up less “resources” to just make the worms a single color instead of maintaining the color pattern; both this and the noodle arms can be turned on and off at will if they REALLY want to keep their peculiar markings.

Just like last time, I have a transparent version of Gordon Worm and a “lights out” version underneath the read more

#my art #hlvrai metamorphosis au #metamorphosis au #hlvrai #hlvrai au #gordon feetman #benrey

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klondii78 · 2 months

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urrgh doodle page kinda um more abt it under the break

on the left is the hlvrai wof au ive had in my brain for a while, im still kinda playing around with gordon's design and idk if hes going to stay a sandwing but whatever. im pretty certain with benrey's colors and hes def a sea/night hybrid. then we got some pythor bc im watching ninjago in full and i went the entirety of season 2 missing my bbg so let me have this. and then in the bottom right is a wof freemind um... i havent actually watched freemans mind yet but i made him a skywing for (hopefully) obvious reasons. its covering up a drawing thats not bad i just thought it was a tad personal to post. and thats it rlly, uh lesson learned from all this: dragons are hard to draw sometimes. also sorry if the shading is doodoo i was going to only shade the feetman derg but yknow. hope i tagged right

#klondii doodles #hlvrai wof au #gordon feetman #benrey #gordon freemind #pythor p chumsworth

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decks-writing-blog · 2 months

Text

Whatever the Fuck Benrey is: Chapter Five: Roomies

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

How powerful Benrey was had always fluctuated based off where he was and if he had enough power to imbue objects that could draw in more power for him – like the passports on Xen – but he’d always been consistently stronger in the Black Mesa facility. More so in certain parts of it but always even just entering should’ve given him a buff. Which was part of why he never made much of an effort towards resisting the people sent to bring him back. This time though the inside of the facility felt the exact same as the outside which had felt only slightly different from Tuefort.

That made sense though, didn’t it? He’d been the most powerful he’d ever been while in Xen. All connections to which were now closed and thus there was less Xen air or whatever floating around the facility to feed him. Maybe the scientists had used Xen energy to make him. Educated speculation but that and knowing he for sure had some kind of connection to Xen should be enough make Gordon happy, right?

He almost marched forward to share this discovery about himself right away. But he’d paused upon stepping off the elevator while the others continued forward, they hadn’t noticed he’d stopped yet. If he was going to sneak off to see how much of his gamer pad was still intact, now was the time to do it. It wasn’t part of the living area which made up most of the start of the facility and was what the Science Team were here to investigate, but it was still thankfully relatively close to the entrance. If one was willing and able to phase through a section of the ground to cut a big turn anyway which Benrey was. Phasing through thick sections always sucked because he couldn’t see but he’d long since imbued his Game Boy with some of his energy, allowing him to sense it and thus find the room with ease once close enough.

Except, while the entrance should’ve been close enough, he couldn’t sense it. Even upon walking further in and towards the rear wall, there was nothing. Something to do with his defeat in Xen when the passports had been blown up or had it been destroyed too? Or maybe his connection to it had been broken upon entering Xen. Well he’d made the trip through the ground enough times that he should still be able to do it. So, trusting the Science Team to keep Gordon safe – much of the danger seemed to be done anyway – Benrey headed off in that direction.

It took longer than it should’ve but he did eventually find what was left of his gamer pad. Which wasn’t much. Parts of the facility were less underground than others or full on above ground, making them more vulnerable to bombings which the US Military had employed in their attempts to wipe Black Mesa off the map. Just his luck, that the part of the facility he’d found a decent sized hidy-hole for his gamer pad was one such area.

Phasing through the rubble, Benrey did his best to look at everything, trying to find anything salvageable. None of it was though. All his stuff was destroyed. He couldn’t even blame Gordon or anyone else action could be taken against because it was the military that did it. If he had as much power as he had on Xen he could maybe do something but… even then probably not. What a massive fucking bummer.

Benrey shifted up to sit atop the rubble and mope. He stayed there like that until it got boring. At which point he started making his way back towards the Science Team, still moping though because it sucked and wasn’t fair. What kind of assholes destroyed a guy’s gamer pad like that? All in a failed attempt to stop an alien invasion too. An alien invasion that the scientists had stopped no thanks to the military trying to kill them too for knowing about it or whatever. The US military sucked.

By the time he made his way back to the Black Mesa’s living area, he was feeling a bit better. He’d been resigned to possibly not being able to come back to check anyway which would’ve meant he had no stuff also. Knowing it wasn’t just inaccessible but completely destroyed was still more aggravating though. Especially since he couldn’t do anything about it.

Once in the living area it didn’t take Benrey long to find the Science Team. They’d set up a in one of the areas meant to be a park, complete with now dying trees and grass. There were still bodies about here as well as the area as a whole but less than other areas of the facility. True to their mission, they’d found survivors. Whether Darnold was among them, Benrey didn’t get close enough to tell. Not because he was worried about possibly being recognized but because he was still moping about his lost gamer pad and thus wasn’t in the mood to talk to people right now.

Tommy eventually noticed him though and started approaching. He could’ve left before he got to Benrey’s bench but… it was Tommy, he was allowed. “You, uh… find your stuff?” he asked as sat next to Benrey. “That’s what we assumed you were doing anyway. Gordon was worried but I told him it was okay… probably anyway.”

“Yep, found my stuff but it got bombed so it’s all busted now. Sucks real hard. Got nothing left.” Not even his camera because he’d lost it on Xen after dying and reforming. Whatever was left of the backup in his gamer pad, he hadn’t been able to identify as such.

“Oh… um, sorry. We were pretty successful though. We found some survivors, including Administrator Breen. He’s uh… the big guy at Black Mesa, the boss.”

“I lived here my whole life, dude. I know who Breen is.” Benrey had even met him a few times. “He’s lame.”

“Oh, uh… I guess that makes sense, huh? We never talked about work stuff before though so I wasn’t sure if you knew him. But uh… anyway, because of that, we’re getting paid triple overtime for the whole week. Gordon negotiated it with help from Bubby.”

“Bubby’s getting paid too then?” Wasn’t he in the same boat as Benrey in terms of being a science experiment?

“Yep. He uh… he started refusing to work a while ago apparently until they made him a bank account and started paying him. So he’s been an employee for a some time, meaning um, he gets paid too. We could uh… try to do the same for you. Gordon said not to mention you to anyone in case they wanna try to contain you again. He said the same for Bubby too though but then Bubby got bored of hiding and came out anyway. He threatened to set anyone on fire who tried to put him back in his tube. No one wanted to test him.”

Benrey would’ve assumed Gordon would’ve wanted to unload him onto someone as soon as possible. The fact that he’d specifically said to keep Benrey a secret instead was even more surprising. What was Benrey supposed to do with that revelation? … Maybe nothing because he could go over there and demand to be included in that payout. It had to at least be enough to get a PS3 and a couple games, right? But… what if they weren’t as willing to let him get away with it as they had Bubby? What if the rest of the Science Team weren’t willing to go so far as to back him up in such a move? Tommy would but the rest of them, probably not. If it could be said he was back on their good side at all, it was barely. So it might not be worth trying.

Not that he was scared of revealing himself and thus risk losing his newfound freedom. It was just, without the buff he normally got in the facility and with his gamer pad gone, it would be more boring in here than out there. And the whole confrontation would be annoying. He didn’t want to put up with it.

He tore his gaze off the group in the distance and returned it to Tommy, sitting next to him and smiling. “Nah, I uh… don’t need their money. You have any luck with your stuff?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. The area’s surprisingly not too damaged. All my Beyblades are intact and most of my OSHA manuals too. … A few of them got gooed by… by a zombie or something. Gordon made me throw those away but he promised to buy me new ones as soon as he can.”

Benrey was maybe a little jealous but Tommy and everyone else having all their stuff busted too would’ve been a bummer.

“Um… sorry again about your stuff. I should probably go back over there before they start to miss me. I’ll uh… be quiet about you, quieter than a mouse in a house but I’ll try to let the rest of the Science Team know you made it back safely. In the meantime you might wanna… disguise yourself a bit, just in case anyone else notices you and that you’re not um… you know, human.” With that, Tommy stood and started back for the group.

With a sigh, Benrey shifted not just his hand this time but all his visible skin to match Gordon’s. Having a non-human skin colour was more fun but it did more easily mark him. He changed his eyes and teeth too, making them as close to human as he could. Anyone who took a really close look at him would likely still tell that something was off but not many people bothered looking that closely. Trying to hide as a human was lame and boring but sometimes there was good cause to.

***

The temptation to tattle on Benrey became much stronger with Tommy’s whispered news of his return. Doing so was literally one of the reasons Gordon had started thinking about making this trip. A glance over revealed that he was indeed settled in on one of the out of the way benches. Chances were most, if not all of the scientists in charge of him were dead so tattling on him would perhaps get little more than a ‘not my problem’. Even Breen, as head of Black Mesa couldn’t be intimately involved in every experiment and thus might not know a whole lot about Benrey and thus might not care much. But most of the survivors were scientists and thus not being familiar with Benrey but knowing he wasn’t human might make them even more interested in getting him back into Black Mesa custody. And if Gordon told them they should contain Benrey, they’d probably listen.

If they’d come here even just yesterday, Gordon would’ve tattled immediately. Benrey was dangerous and annoying, containing him again would surely be best for everyone. But… Benrey had spent his whole life as Black Mesa’s science experiment, was possibly even made in the lab. That wasn’t right.

And, on a more personal level, Benrey had played video games with Gordon yesterday. Woke him from a nightmare before offering to give him his hand. Even if it would grow back and not hurt him much, that was still a fairly big offer, right? Then he’d sat and watched Gordon play games for the rest of the night, keeping him company, before apparently letting him sleep on his shoulder on the ride down here. To top it all off, even with the betrayal and fight at the end, Benrey had traveled with the group for a lot of their journey through Black Mesa. They’d been through a lot together.

With those thoughts swirling through his head, Gordon of course eventually made his way over to Benrey. “Hey,” he said in way of greeting upon reaching him.

“Yo.” Benrey looked up at Gordon from where he’d lain down on the bench, his head resting at an awkward angle on the metal handrail. Just seeing it made Gordon’s neck twinge in sympathy because how was that not painfully uncomfortable? He’d also changed his appearance to something more human, probably wise. What were the limits of his shape shifting? Would it be rude to ask? Now, when they were trying to keep what he was secret, probably wasn’t a good time to regardless.

“Tommy told me you couldn’t recover any of your stuff.”

“It got bombed. Fucking assholes.”

“Yeah, fuck the US military, they suck.” Such had always been the case but after this, dislike for them was now personal. “But, uh… in addition to getting paid a bunch for the last like week, if I stay with the company, I’m bound to get a massive promotion and raise. Which means I should have enough money to maybe get a...”

“A Play Station 3?” Benrey interrupted, sitting up. “You’ll buy me a PS3?”

“More like I’ll buy myself a Play Station and let you play on it.” Meaning Gordon was basically committing to keeping Benrey around. That was better than letting him run wild and do who knows what harm to society. The only other way to stop that would be to work with the other scientists to contain him again and that… was also not an option. Somehow the temptation to tattle had died upon coming over and talking to him. “You gotta agree to behave though, no more killing people or… or birds or anything else alive, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah, gotta play by your dumb rules ‘cause I’m broke and have no authority. But you really wanna keep working for Black Mesa? I mean, this place sucks pretty bad now, right?”

“Well, I don’t wanna work in this facility anymore. And I don’t want anything to do with aliens or anything that would require me to wear a HEV suit again. But normal science stuff in a normal lab, I’d be down for that. I’m only twenty-seven so I’m not ready to retire yet.” And not working would give him too much time to think. He couldn’t pretend the resonance cascade and its fallout hadn’t happened but he could avoid thinking about it so much he ended up descending into a panic spiral.

“Guess that makes sense. But you letting me play your Play Station means we’re gonna stay roomies even when you move outta the hotel?”

“Yep.” The polite thing to do would be to add, ‘if you’re okay with that,’ but keeping Benrey from causing chaos was apparently solely his responsibility now – the rest of the Science Team might help but that was questionable thanks to their own potential to cause chaos that he would also have to try to prevent – so remaining ‘roomies’ was non-negotiable. It’d be like having a dangerous animal, such as a chimp or a grizzly bear, as a pet, so maybe not the smartest idea he’d ever had. But as long as Benrey continued to be easily occupied by video games, it would probably be fine.

“Awesome.” And he was apparently pleased with the arrangement, increasing the chances that it would indeed turn out fine.

Now that things were settled and they seemed to be getting along better and Benrey knew Gordon’s lost hand wasn’t a funny joke, it maybe wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Heck, given that Benrey was an alien, creature hitherto unknown to humans, or a lab grown monster, it might even be fun. No longer being in a life or death scenario brought with it the return of Gordon’s general scientific curiosity and Benrey had certainly proven himself to be very interesting from a scientific point of view. Being able to study him – ethically, no poking or prodding, mostly just observing – was a good opportunity. And even if Benrey wasn’t the best and could be actively annoying at times, he could at least distract from worse things. So staying roomies was probably the best possible scenario.

Chapter Six

#hlvrai #Frenrey #benrey #hlvrai gordon

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