Random Talk Thread Mk. II

billthebetta · August 25, 2017, 4:08am

Meh, I went and took a shower. Now I’m clean and so are the forumz.

Arsonist · August 25, 2017, 4:32am

CaballoGallo · August 25, 2017, 5:43am

So, where were you when Half Life ep 3 came out and it was just a blog post

itsTwister · August 25, 2017, 9:40am

Sleeping.

Here it is btw

github.com

Jackathan/MarcLaidlaw-Epistle3/blob/master/Epistle3_Corrected.md

# Episode 3

Dearest Player,

I hope this letter finds you well. I can hear your complaint already, "Gordon Freeman, we have not heard from you in ages!" Well, if you care to hear excuses, I have plenty, the greatest of them being I've been in other dimensions and whatnot, unable to reach you by the usual means. This was the case until eighteen months ago, when I experienced a critical change in my circumstances, and was redeposited on these shores. In the time since, I have been able to think occasionally about how best to describe the intervening years, my years of silence. I do first apologize for the wait, and that done, hasten to finally explain (albeit briefly, quickly, and in very little detail) events following those described in my previous letter (referred to herewith as Episode 2).

To begin with, as you may recall from the closing paragraphs of my previous missive, the death of Eli Vance shook us all. The Resistance team was traumatized, unable to be sure how much of our plan might be compromised, and whether it made any sense to go on at all as we had intended. And yet, once Eli had been buried, we found the strength and courage to regroup. It was the strong belief of his brave daughter, the feisty Alyx Vance, that we should continue on as her father had wished. We had the Arctic coordinates, transmitted by Eli's long-time assistant, Dr. Judith Mossman, which we believed to mark the location of the lost research vessel Borealis. Eli had felt strongly that the Borealis should be destroyed rather than allow it to fall into the hands of the Combine. Others on our team disagreed, believing that the Borealis might hold the secret to the revolution's success. Either way, the arguments were moot until we found the vessel. Therefore, immediately after the service for Dr. Vance, Alyx and I boarded a helicopter and set off for the Arctic; a much larger support team, mainly militia, was to follow by separate transport.

It is still unclear to me exactly what brought down our little aircraft. The following hours spent traversing the frigid waste in a blizzard are also a jumbled blur, ill-remembered and poorly defined. The next thing I clearly recall is our final approach to the coordinates Dr. Mossman has provided, and where we expected to find the Borealis. What we found instead was a complex fortified installation, showing all the hallmarks of sinister Combine technology. It surrounded a large open field of ice. Of the Borealis itself there was no sign…or not at first. But as we stealthily infiltrated the Combine installation, we noticed a recurrent, strangely coherent auroral effect–as of a vast hologram fading in and out of view. This bizarre phenomenon initially seemed an effect caused by an immense Combine lensing system, Alyx and I soon realized that what we were actually seeing was the research vessel Borealis itself, phasing in and out of existence at the focus of the Combine devices. The aliens had erected their compound to study and seize the ship whenever it materialized. What Dr. Mossman had provided were not coordinates for where the sub was located, but instead for where it was predicted to arrive. The vessel was oscillating in and out of our reality, its pulses were gradually steadying, but there was no guarantee it would settle into place for long–or at all. We determined that we must put ourselves into position to board it at the instant it became completely physical.

At this point we were briefly detained–not captured by the Combine, as we feared at first, but by minions of our former nemesis, the conniving and duplicitous Wallace Breen. Dr. Breen was not as we had last seen him–which is to say, he was not dead. At some point, the Combine had saved out an earlier version of his consciousness, and upon his physical demise, they had imprinted the back-up personality into a biological blank resembling an enormous slug. The BreenGrub, despite occupying a position of relative power in the Combine hierarchy, seemed nervous and frightened of me in particular. Wallace did not know how his previous incarnation, the original Dr. Breen, had died. He knew only that I was responsible. Therefore the slug treated us with great caution. Still, he soon confessed (never able to keep quiet for long) that he was himself a prisoner of the Combine. He took no pleasure from his current grotesque existence, and pleaded with us to end his life. Alyx believed that a quick death was more than Wallace Breen deserved, but for my part, I felt a modicum of pity and compassion. Out of Alyx's sight, I might have done something to hasten the slug's demise before we proceeded.

Not far from where we had been detained by Dr. Breen, we found Judith Mossman being held in a Combine interrogation cell. Things were tense between Judith and Alyx, as might be imagined. Alyx blamed Judith for her father's death…news of which, Judith was devastated to hear for the first time. Judith tried to convince Alyx that she had been a double

This file has been truncated. show original

Can’t access original so github backup

Edit: screw you playstation

VaultHunter101 · August 25, 2017, 4:59pm

@FunkJunkie: Incoming!

Although you probably already knew that. Stay safe (and dry).

FunkJunkie · August 25, 2017, 5:04pm

What?!?!! There’s a hurricane?!?!

Thanks man

Just a few sprinkles so far. I’m well outside the worst of the storm proper, but we’re expecting in excess of 15 inches/40 cm over the next 4-5 days

I’m all set, just need to dash out for beer here shortly

AMG_75 · August 25, 2017, 5:07pm

Good to hear man.

QPH7QQ7

FunkJunkie · August 25, 2017, 5:08pm

The good news is my vacation is likely to be extended a day or two at least

TemetNosce · August 25, 2017, 10:07pm

Honestly, if you aren’t in a danger area, just enjoy it. Love storms myself.

FunkJunkie · August 25, 2017, 10:18pm

The thing is I probably won’t see anything major until Sunday evening, they’re forecasting a weird track for this one.

Just spoke with a friend who lives right near the bay, about 50 miles from me. They’re getting pretty heavy rain and some gust winds, but nothing too bad.

Arsonist · August 25, 2017, 10:22pm

I was trying to wait for things to settle down when you posted this.

Now it might be the most poignant post I’ve seen you make.

The depression is heavy.

VaultHunter101 · August 26, 2017, 1:44pm

Just saw this today:

What’s interesting is that you can see the hurricane pulling more clouds in as it travels towards the coast. Things are gonna get wet…

VaultHunter101 · August 26, 2017, 1:46pm

And now for something COMPLETELY different:

Got to say, even though base 60 gives more accurate results, I’m REALLY glad I didn’t have to use that in school without a calculator!

Raven_Ghosthawk · August 26, 2017, 2:06pm

The depression is heavy.

Yours...or Ma Nature's?:

"Once a group of thunderstorms has come together under the right atmospheric conditions for a long enough time, they may organize into a tropical depression."

FunkJunkie · August 26, 2017, 2:48pm

It’s crazy how fast that thing developed, advisories went from tropical storm to Cat 3 in a day; it was a 4 when it made landfall

I’m roughly at the big X, it’s been a very rainy morning.

Some tornadoes have moved through the area as well, and this may stick around until Wednesday.

Fun times

Tracer · August 26, 2017, 5:15pm

It’s mostly cloudy in my area right now. It was raining yesterday.

Anyways, When I opened up YouTube to watch a video and this thumbnail kind of freaked me out.

aavincam · August 26, 2017, 6:32pm

eww you go with white background youtube? My eyes are burning looking at the thumbnail

Tracer · August 26, 2017, 6:44pm

I don’t really care for the new layout so I’m stuck with the old layout.

aavincam · August 26, 2017, 8:59pm

I just installed a chrome add on for the black on mine, hurts my eyes when im up at 4am and the white burns

CaballoGallo · August 26, 2017, 9:45pm

ye same, white background for anything should be illegal.