The Message – Mod Story Idea

13th February 2007

Introduction

Here is a story I have written with the idea of a mod in mind. As with most of my stories I will set the scene and then explain the thinking and planning behind it.

The Message

Kurban wakes to the sound that has haunted him for quite a while now. The sound of Civil Protection storming into his building performing another random search, in the hope of finding something connected with the rebels. “Why do they bother?” he thinks. “Nobody here is stupid enough to have anything to do with those anarchists.”

The sounds he hears and their order is so similar it’s almost like a recording. Boots stomping on the stairs, doors being kicked in, women screaming and perhaps the scariest sound of all – silence.

He gets up from his cot in his so called bedroom and walks into the main room and stands facing the slightly ajar front door. He has long since stopped closing it, let alone locking it. There’s no point when it gets kicked in every few days. It’s not as if he has anything to steal either.

The sounds of those boots are getting closer and closer to his door. The sounds themselves are so emotive, it’s the results and consequences of the sounds that really worry him. “What if one of his neighbors are really foolish enough to collaborative with the rebels?” He knows the whole building will be treated the same – interrogation and probable execution or perhaps worse – those rumored work details. How can work details be worse than death? Just hope you never find out.

The adrenaline in his system has started to kick in and his heart is begin to pump faster in anticipation of the questioning and searching. “No direct eye contact, reply quickly and clearly, use Sir at the end of each sentence.” He keeps reciting his personal mantra. Anything to stay alive a little longer.

They are on his floor now, moving systematically through the building like a plague in a city.

“Leave apartment 8A” calls one of the Civil Protection officers.
Pause.
“Orders from somewhere” replies the same officer from an unheard but easy to guess question.

Now Kurban is really worried. “Why would they leave me alone?” he wonders. “What have I done?” “What exactly does this mean?” It’s almost impossible to count the number of questions that go through his mind in a fraction of a second before he hears a voice from behind him.

“Aaarh” He spins around so quickly that he almost loses his balance. “You must be curiousss” says the man.

Before him stands a man in a nondescript blue suit holding a brief case.

“Who are you?” he asks.

“Perhapssss more importantly than WHO I AM is WHY AM I HERE.” Says the man cryptically. “I have a small,” he pause and adjusts his tie “minor but important task, that I feel you would be” another pause. This time he looks to his left and right as if he were checking if they were being watched, “more than ssssuitable for. The reward is a sssort of freedom.”

“I’m not interested in any “task” you have to offer!” Kurban’s responds with as much indignation in his voice as he can muster. He has to be careful because he has heard of people being tested like this. They say it’s a better way of finding the collaborators.

“It’ssss only a message” says the strange man. “Gordon Freeman is coming.” Another one of those annoying pauses interrupts the flow. “Make sure you are at the train station in City 17 at 3.00PM tomorrow afternoon. In the back entranceee you will find a Metrocop waiting. Sssssimply tell him Gordon Freeman is coming on Sssaturday.”

“And if I refuse?” replies Kurban.

“Unfortunately that is not an option.” This time he smiles. “See you tomorrow,……I hope.”

“Bu….”

“8A, I repeat 8A” A Civil Protection officer screams into his radio. “The collaborator is in 8A!” Boots begin pounding on the stairs.

Kurban turns towards the door. “SHIT! Now what?” He turns around again to find himself alone in the room. No where to go except out the window and onto the ledge, around the building and jump into the trashcan to break his fall.

He manages to escape, but only just. He needs to find somebody who can help him. He is not sure who he can trust. The bar that used to be on the corner, near the townhall, is said to be a meeting place for these rebels. So he sneaks into the back and waits in a cupboard until nightfall.

Eventually he hears sounds. People whispering. Two or more people enter the room where he is hiding. His first instinct is to call out and explain the situation but for some reason he waits.

“…shoot him on sight, they say”

“Who?”

“Some guy called Kurban. Here’s his picture.”

“Why?”

“Man! You ask too many questions. Something about him being a double agent. Working for the Combine but pretending to want to work for us.”

“Okay, whatever you say. Shoot on sight”.

He doesn’t hear the rest on the conversation. His mind is looking for answers as well as asking more questions.

“What kind of stupid message is that? Whoever the hell this Freeman guy is, he better be important.”

Unfortunately because his mind is focusing on other things he forgets to pay attention to his movement and shifts his weight from one leg to other. This causes a creak in the floor boards and the two rebels move towards the cupboard. Realizing the situation is about to get difficult he bursts out the cupboard and knocks over the two approaching men. Before they have time to get up and react he is out of the window and already in the river.

And so begins Kurban’s journey from his small town on the outskirts of the city 18 to the train station of city 17.

Background and Planning

I’ve always wondered how Barney knew Gordon Freeman was coming. Somebody had to tell him, right? Well, this is my interpretation for that event. The Metro Cop the player is meeting is of course Barney but that is never directly revealed to the player. Gman makes a couple of appearances; once at the very beginning and once at the very end.

The story is quite simple but still open enough for others to suggest facets not mentioned here. It also allows plenty of creativity for levels. At the same time I feel it fits with the main HL2 story. I wanted the player to have to fight against the Combine and the rebels to provide some more interesting scenarios.

The mod starts with the player coming out of the river and being chased by the rebels through some complex warehouse. The first puzzle for the player is how to stop the rebels from following him with no weapons. And also to workout how they are following him. (The answer of course is the water dripping from his clothes!)

One possible ending is that the after the player has passed on the message he is transported away with the screen turning black. The idea here is that the Gman is always setting difficult tasks for people to do so that he can find more people like GF; people to do his bidding. In this case you have proved worthy. Again, this isn’t expressly stated in the mod but simply implied.

9 Comments

  1. AI

    Phillip, have you been writing for Steven King?? This is a terrific story line!! My opinion is you could be a very good SciFi novelest!! I wish I had the talent you got for writing like this!!

  2. This sounds really cool. Tangential to the HL2 storyline, but still important. Also it seems feasible, unlike some mod stories. I was wondering something though. How will he get an HEV or will he get an HEV?

  3. have you been writing for Steven King??

    Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone.

    My opinion is you could be a very good SciFi novelest!!

    That’s very kind of you. I wrote like Barbara Castle (She’s the writer, right?) I could honestly write a book in about a month – however , the quality would be pretty low. After reading some sci-fi books I have definitely thought I could do better, but probably everybody does!

    I wish I had the talent you got for writing like this!!

    Maybe you do. Why not try writing some fan fiction for Half-Life 2? Perhaps use something that happened in HL2 as a starting point. Maybe one of the rebels that join GF, perhaps a story leading up to the moment they meet him?

    How will he get an HEV or will he get an HEV?

    I always thought that the player would play without it. Although it shouldn’t be too hard to find a way to include it.

  4. Anonymous

    I think the story would work as a nice mod indeed. The idea of both the rebels and combine being your enemies is a nice twist, though there should be some obvious differences in the way the two groups hunt you down.

    Talking about Barney though, didn’t he see you with the combine camera before you boarded the train to Nova Prospekt, and came to fetch you?

  5. I could honestly write a book in about a month – however , the quality would be pretty low.

    I think you’re being very modest & humble, Phillip. Your story was very descriptive & let my imagination feel exactly what you were describing. I think you should honestly try it someday. You could always post it here & you know we’ll all tell you exactly what we think. 😉

  6. The great and awesome Fluffy The Hamster declares:

    His name mysteriously changes from Kuban to Kurban.

    “Boots stomping on the stairs, doors being kicked in, women screaming and perhaps the scariest sound of all – silence.” Fluffy The Hamster recommends replacing “Scariest” with “Unnerving”. Somewhat of flows better, you know?

    “Before him stands a man in a nondescript blue suit holding a brief case.” Surely, you can describe the mythical GMan better then that!

    “”it’ssss only a message” says the strange man. “Gordon Freeman is coming.” Another one of those annoying pauses interrupts the flow. “Make sure you are at the train station in City 17 at 3.00PM tomorrow afternoon. In the back entranceee you will find a Metrocop waiting. Sssssimply tell him Gordon Freeman is coming on Sssaturday.”” When did GMan ever give *direct* instructions?

    “”Unfortunately that is not an option.” This time he smiles. “See you tomorrow,……I hope.”” Tad out of character.

    “I’ve always wondered how Barney knew Gordon Freeman was coming.” As far as I know, there isn’t anything suggesting that Barney did know that Gordon Freeman was coming. He got picked out by the camera at the security area (probably because he wasn’t a confirmed citizen) and got taken to the interrogation rooms for questioning. Barney saw him, managed to keep his cover and, as said, “Put a show for the cameras”. It’s perfectly likely that a plan like this was designed for specific citizens that the resistance wanted to keep *anyway*.

    As for it as a storyline, I’m not sure. Personally I wouldn’t, since I don’t agree with it’s basis.

  7. His name mysteriously changes from Kuban to Kurban.

    Just a simple typo. Exactly like your

    keep *anyway* AND it’s basis

    Thank you for pointing it out.

    Somewhat of flows better, you know?

    No.

    When did GMan ever give *direct* instructions?

    This time.

    Tad out of character.

    Perhaps, but I doubt anybody can claim to be an expert on the Gman.

    Surely, you can describe the mythical GMan better then that!

    Yes, but I chose not to.

    As far as I know, there isn’t anything suggesting that Barney did know that Gordon Freeman was coming.

    Now there is.

  8. I think you’re being very modest & humble, Phillip.

    Thank you for the compliment but no I’m not. I fully realize that my writing is amateurish, even without “Our Lord and Savior Fluffy The Hamster’s critique. Maybe one day I will take some writing courses, it’s just finding the time!

    I think you should honestly try it someday.

    I plan to. I have two book-length stories I have been working on for a while now and hope to write and post the first chapter on PP someday.

  9. Frederick

    One way to learn writing is to dissect other people’s writing. How may stories start with, “The ringing of the alarm clock woke me up in the cool darkness of a Kentucky morning.” Or something similar.
    It’s not that hard to write in that style. You read enough stories and the pattern gets hammered into your brain. Some of that is useful boiler plate just to keep the flow moving, but too much just sounds like hack writing.
    Keep on writing but keep in mind that clever writing just sounds like writing if you don’t have a well-developed story behind it.

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