When Gordon dreams, Chell dreams
Submission for the Clickers Club 'Dreams' challenge. *WARNING*: Contains spoilers for Half Life and Portal franchises.
Musical ramblings of Stoob
for my music.
Story behind the song
Firstly, if you do intend on playing either Half Life or Portal, please stop reading now so as not to spoil the surprises.
Are we sitting comftiboldy two-square on our botty? Then I shall begin. :)
The Half Life/Portal universe, certainly a passion of mine. I'd been pondering recently the ins and outs of the enigmatic bread crumbs left by Valve in the game (I write fanfic for a few franchises), and the links between the two games/worlds. So one of my recent musings was that if time lines are what we think they are, then when Gordon Freeman 'dreams' (is in stasis), so does Chell; Gordon and Chell being the protagonists in Half Life and Portal respectively. This could lead to all kinds of flights of fancy regarding the characters' origins, as Chell's lineage is unknown beyond being adopted, possibly by an Aperture Science associate by the afore mentioned bread crumbs. Oh Valve, you know how to weave a good tale and intrigue. Oh, and Portal is responsible for all those 'The cake is a lie!' memes that flooded the net a few years ago, so sorry about that. You are promised cake for successfully completing a set of tests for the homicidal and facetious AI, GLaDOS, but everywhere around the facility is written in a maddened scrawling, 'the cake is a lie'. GLaDOS is widely regarded amongst 'gamers' as one of the greatest antagonists of any medium, and quite rightly IMHO. Only SHODAN of System Shock fame is a greater psychotic AI, and she will no doubt appear in a future work.
Musically, I've tried to capture the essence of the music from Portal and Half Life and did okay I think.
Lyrics
G-Man: “Wisely done, Mister Freeman! I will see you up ahead.” (HL1)
Unknown AI: “Thank you for assuming the party escort submission position.” (Portal 1)
This is the last we see of Gordon and Chell in their first instalments, before each is put into stasis. Gordon agrees to work with G-Man rather than facing a “fight you have no chance of winning” (and true if you choose that path), while a wounded Chell is being dragged back into the Aperture facility after GLaDOS is initially thought defeated. G-Man is an enigmatic character of unknown origin that always seems to be one step ahead of Gordon in his fight against the alien invasion (literally, if you can find him quick enough in-game as he straightens his tie and wanders away with his briefcase), though it is suspected that he is not of this Earth and his motivations are still not known. More extreme theories state that G-Man is Gordon Freeman from the future, guiding his own actions.
G-Man: “Wake up, Mister Freeman, wake up and... smell the ashes.” (HL2)
(crow flies by)
GLaDOS: “Oh. It's you. It's been a long time. How have you been? I've been really busy, being dead, you know, after you murdered me!” (Portal 2)
The opening gambits for the second instalments. Gordon is awakened from stasis by G-Man in the future and thrust into a world conquered by the alien dimension-hopping Combine, while Chell 'inadvertently' (G-Man suspected) re-awakens GLaDOS. I'm implying, if not obvious, that these events are happening at the same time in the games' universe. The crow represents the G-Man flitting between his work with Gordon and Chell/Aperture, as he is often accompanied by crows in-game.
Doctor Kleiner: “It's... The Borealis!”
Doctor Vance: “Good God!”
Doctor Kleiner: “Incredible!”
Alyx Vance: “What?!”
(HL2 ep2)
The two doctors are part of the original team that worked with Gordon Freeman to stop the first alien invasion at Black Mesa and assist Gordon again in HL2, Alyx being Eli Vance's daughter and main sidekick to Freeman (love interest? Valve didn't say but the fanbase says so). What they are viewing are images of the SS Borealis, which is probably the most tangible link between HL and Portal. We see the original dry dock for the ship at Aperture Science in Portal 2, as well as this scene from HL2 ep2, and is at least some part of the original tests into portal technology (Manhattan Project stylee), and a dispute between Black Mesa (Gordon's original employer) and Aperture Science (where Chell is). It's pretty much said in-game that Black Mesa stole projects directly from Aperture so who actually opened the Pandora's box to the alien invaders is still up for debate.
GLaDOS: “You like revenge, don't you? Everyone likes revenge! Well let's go get some!” (Portal 2)
Alyx Vance: sobs desperately (HL2 ep2)
Wheatley: “Grab me, grab me, grab me!” (Portal 2)
(Door slams, footsteps then door opens again to toss out a Weighted Companion Cube, the door slams shut again) (Portal 2)
Humiliatingly now powered by a child's science project potato battery (if someone calls your PC 'a potato', this is why), GLaDOS with Chell on their way to stop Wheatley from allowing the facility core to go into melt down due to his stupidity; Wheately was designed to be the stupidest AI that ever existed in an attempt to dampen GLaDOS' propensity to try and flood the facility with neuro-toxin within nano-seconds of being activated. Sad times at the end of HL2 ep. 2, as Alyx's father is killed by Combine forces but she and Gordon are saved by her robot 'pet', Dog (assumed stolen AI tech from Aperture). Meanwhile back in the Portal-verse, Wheatley tries to save himself from being sucked into space through a portal after attempting to kill Chell but she is saved by GLaDOS (who has realised that part of her AI is actually a simulation of Chell's mother, Caroline), but Chell is kicked out of the facility regardless because killing her is too hard and GLaDOS just wants an
Excellent twist on the Dream Song Challenge theme. Brilliantly put together and highly entertaining. First class track.