&quot;About that beer I owed ya!&quot;

Yes. Definitely. Absolutely.

[ ..You aren’t from this universe, are you? ]

Me? What do you mean? I know Doctor Freeman, I'm literally from city 17!

[ Saying something like that, assuming the letter G in something like Gmail would stand for Garry is.. ]

[ Well, it’s a bit odd for someone who hasn’t seen the naming convention anywhere before, and I know for a fact Garry’s Mod, one of the only instances of that convention would be prohibited by the combine. ]

Easy. I got sucked into a portal. Got a toolgun and physics gun. Eventually got bored and came back to my own dimension, y'know, half-life, and realized I still had that stuff with me.

[ That’s.. roughly what happened to me. Got lost in the backrooms while someone (not naming any names, Grem..) was screwing around. Now I’m stuck here cuz neither of my coworkers’ ships can get into my home universe. ]

[ still got my toolgun but Eli confiscated my physgun thinking it was a stolen aperture prototype.. Haven’t seen the damn thing since. ]

Eli couldn't take it from me, but he did try.

{ Wait, I did? }

{ I only remember confiscating Bosch’s.. you sure I was the one who tried taking yours? ‘cos I have a fairly distinct outfit, and I doubt if the person was wearing anything other than.. this that it was actually me. }

It looked like you. It'd be worrying if it wasn't you.

{ I mean, every Time Lord’s faces have to come from somewhere.. they can’t just make a new one up on the spot.. }

{ It’s likely it was just a doppelgänger, probably male_06 Alessandro.. }

Don't worry, you don't have to censor yourself around me.

I'm very aware of the nature of my being.

{ Oh. }

{ That’s a problem.. }

Why? Why is that a problem to you?

{ My entire job is making sure people don’t know any meta stuff.. }

{ sorta like a large-scale M.I.B. thing, making sure things end up happening just.. right… }

{ hang on, am I working for @hl1-gman’s employers? }

hl1-gman

I Don't Remember Ever Hiring You, But I Have Been To Aperture In The Past

{ I wasn’t hired by you.. they approach me directly. They were very professional and to the point about it, but that’s to be expected. }

{ I took the job because the other option was forgetting but about all of the meta knowledge I’d already learned (but knowing that part of my memory was gone,) and I’m an archivist, so losing it would’ve driven me mad. }

{ But I realize now that was selfish. Preserving my own knowledge at the cost of countless others’.. }

{ I should’ve quit aeons ago. }

Uh... what did I just walk in on? The hell does "meta" mean, in this context? Are you saying there's a meta to reality?

{ In this context meta means knowing about or discussing things that exist outside our shared multi/universe. }

{ Let me ask you this, do you remember escaping Black Mesa after the resonance cascade? }

I, uh.... Huh. That's odd. I.... can't remember that. Although I'm pretty certain it musta happened, since I'm here and all. I think I vaguely remember some kinda big fall down an elevator shaft, or something. Maybe I died there and I'm dreaming all this up! ...Nah, that's not likely. I'm sure it's fine that I can't remember, though.

{ The reason you can’t remember it is because it never happened, Mr. Calhoun. The writers just handwaved it away so you’d show up in the sequel. they didn’t think up a story for you escaping, you just did. }

O-oh... Really? I mean, that seems kinda far-fetched... They can change reality to whatever they want? That's, uh... terrifying.

{ Not really.. They’ve got guidelines and supervision ‘n all other manner of things stopping them from doing anything that wouldn’t fit, namely the threat of being fired from an extremely well-respected software company. }

{ And either way, the threat of them doing anything to change this place is null. Unless they find some revolutionary new tech they can use for the next game in the series they won’t make it, period. }

So, what? We're just.. stuck in some kinda limbo until they make the next one?

{ This world still lives and breathes, but it does not change, not until further notice. }

{ I choose to see it as a form of freedom.. after all, we’re not actively being used for any narrative purpose, so until we’re needed again, we can do effectively whatever we want.. }

{ Then again, I’m not necessarily bound by a ruleset myself. I could just migrate to another universe If i wanted.. }

thedefinitearticle-official

You can go to other universes? How the hell are you doing that?

He’s got a TARDIS, like mine but, to put it bluntly, a lot more advanced.

He mostly uses it for tourism, but he’s only human, after all.. kinda.

You mean, like, that thing from that old TV show, Doctor Who? Those are real? This just keeps getting stranger and stranger....

{ Yeah that’s why My (former) place of employment was trying to keep meta knowledge down, it drives a decent chunk of the population insane. }

{ Anyway, like the Doctor just said my means of transportation is a TARDIS, a type 76 to be exact. }

{ generally more fuel efficient than other models, but takes a lot longer to refill.. Butut because of how efficient it is it can cross through universes without the massive energy cost of previous models. }

{ And he’s right about the tourist thing. }

Huh. Interesting. Well, I can accept that fictional universes are real, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the rebellion against the Combine. I should be focusing on that more, not talking with all you people on Tumblr...

{ That reminds me.. You wanna get your hands on some extremely destructive weapons? Power armor, maybe? }

{ I have a lot of old.. “souvenirs” from past trips that I don’t really have a use for. }

Uh, yeah, of course! Especially if it'll help us in the rebellion. What do you have?

lexd

gmail = garry's mail

Yes. Definitely. Absolutely.

[ ..You aren’t from this universe, are you? ]

Me? What do you mean? I know Doctor Freeman, I'm literally from city 17!

[ Saying something like that, assuming the letter G in something like Gmail would stand for Garry is.. ]

[ Well, it’s a bit odd for someone who hasn’t seen the naming convention anywhere before, and I know for a fact Garry’s Mod, one of the only instances of that convention would be prohibited by the combine. ]

Easy. I got sucked into a portal. Got a toolgun and physics gun. Eventually got bored and came back to my own dimension, y'know, half-life, and realized I still had that stuff with me.

[ That’s.. roughly what happened to me. Got lost in the backrooms while someone (not naming any names, Grem..) was screwing around. Now I’m stuck here cuz neither of my coworkers’ ships can get into my home universe. ]

[ still got my toolgun but Eli confiscated my physgun thinking it was a stolen aperture prototype.. Haven’t seen the damn thing since. ]

Eli couldn't take it from me, but he did try.

{ Wait, I did? }

{ I only remember confiscating Bosch’s.. you sure I was the one who tried taking yours? ‘cos I have a fairly distinct outfit, and I doubt if the person was wearing anything other than.. this that it was actually me. }

It looked like you. It'd be worrying if it wasn't you.

{ I mean, every Time Lord’s faces have to come from somewhere.. they can’t just make a new one up on the spot.. }

{ It’s likely it was just a doppelgänger, probably male_06 Alessandro.. }

Don't worry, you don't have to censor yourself around me.

I'm very aware of the nature of my being.

{ Oh. }

{ That’s a problem.. }

Why? Why is that a problem to you?

{ My entire job is making sure people don’t know any meta stuff.. }

{ sorta like a large-scale M.I.B. thing, making sure things end up happening just.. right… }

{ hang on, am I working for @hl1-gman’s employers? }

hl1-gman

I Don't Remember Ever Hiring You, But I Have Been To Aperture In The Past

{ I wasn’t hired by you.. they approach me directly. They were very professional and to the point about it, but that’s to be expected. }

{ I took the job because the other option was forgetting but about all of the meta knowledge I’d already learned (but knowing that part of my memory was gone,) and I’m an archivist, so losing it would’ve driven me mad. }

{ But I realize now that was selfish. Preserving my own knowledge at the cost of countless others’.. }

{ I should’ve quit aeons ago. }

Uh... what did I just walk in on? The hell does "meta" mean, in this context? Are you saying there's a meta to reality?

hl2-freeman

We’ve BEEN meta, Barney.