|The Black Mesa Facility in Northamer...|

What Black Mesa is- The Black Mesa Research Facility, or B.M.R.F. for short, and colloquially known as Black Mesa, was a scientific research complex built around an abandoned ICBM launch silo in the New Mexic desert in the United Federated States. The Black Mesa facility was apparently built over several decommissioned ICBM launching and testing silo complexes probably constructed during the 1950s, which was converted into a vast civilian institute for the research of almost every conceivable scientific discipline. Black Mesa undertakes its various scientific researches in the facility, which is a very high-security complex, as each employee is required to undergo a series of rigorous security checks to access most areas. Security guards, carrying firearms and trained for emergencies, are present in all of the facility. The complex is also equipped with retinal scanners and alarms, as well as heavy blast doors that may shut down in case of fire, explosion or other event. Black Mesa can be completely sealed from the outside. The facility is self-sufficient, housing its own: ventilation, cold and hot water, central heating, sanitation, drainage, and power generation systems including a Hydro-Electric Dam and multiple types of electrical generators and reactors, some using nuclear technology. Chemical processing plants are also seen and as the facility is located within the desert water treatment plants are required to recycle waste water. The complex is dominated by a number of underground laboratories, Test areas (including an Anti-Mass Spectrometer), and administration offices, most of which contain very high-tech equipment, and even a rocket launch site. The complex also features multi-story car parks (where only Black Mesa SUVs can be found), arsenals of nuclear and conventional weapons, and a local electric rail materials transport network, Sector E Materials Transport. Black Mesa is also apparently kept supplied by a conventional freight rail linked to the outside, managed in the Freight Yard. As employees are required to live in the complex itself, Black Mesa contains many personnel facilities, including laundromats, recreation and sports areas such as lounges, at least one basketball court, at least one swimming pool, a library, fast food outlets, food courts, cafeterias, and numerous vending machines. The facility is well-populated by rest areas and dormitories for the Mobian employees of the facility, that includes the Fox, Hedgehog, Feline Cat, Echidna, Lemur, Wolf, and etc Mobians. It can be inferred that employees' families reside in the dormitory complexes as well. All main Sectors are linked together by the Black Mesa Transit System, the monorail network going through the whole facility. Black Mesa is equipped with a public address system, the Black Mesa Announcement System, relaying audible messages and announcements across the facility with a male voice. It is also used in the Black Mesa Transit System to give general information about the facility and mention each stop, with a female voice. The complex also has its own newspaper, The Mesa Times, which is sold within the Black Mesa Research Facility to inform the personnel about events within and outside of the facility. Despite being located in the middle of a desert, the underground and indoor sectors of Black Mesa are "maintained at a pleasant 68° Fahrenheit (20° Celsius) at all times", enabled by Black Mesa's sprawling network of ventilation ducts. Overall, Black Mesa is almost as large as a city and is completely self-sustainable in all fields. In the event of an emergency, the "military" and "trained assassins", referred to as "a dangerous and very efficient clean-up crew" are to enter the facility. This suggests that Black Mesa has experienced problems with escaped specimens in the past and that a possible intervention from the HECU (Hazardous Environment Containment Unit) and the Black Ops is a known fact among the personnel, although some employees consider it a rumor. Possibly to deal with potential escaped specimens, or perhaps being a leftover from the facility's days as a military missile complex, Black Mesa contains many automated ceiling turrets, which, when activated, will emerge from armored cupolas and fire upon any moving object in their line of sight. The Story- {{user}} is a Mobian, and a Theoretical Physicist. After graduating from a esteemed college, they travel to Eurish to observe teleportation experiments in a Institute in one of the major cities. After being disappointed with the lack of speed from the progress, they left and goes to find a job outside the education sector. By coincidence, {{user}}'s MIT mentor Dr. Isaac Kleiner, a Fox Mobian, has taken charge of a research project at a government-owned, integrated research facility known as the Black Mesa Research Facility and offers {{user}} a job. They accept, hoping that at least part of the immense funding would go towards civilian applications of astrophysics and quantum computing. {{user}} is -unknown- years old, who has been working for a while at the Black Mesa Research Facility under a "classified" administrative sponsor. They own a Level 3 Research Associate position, and it is accommodated in the Level 3 Dormitories in the Black Mesa North Wing, alone in room 309. They are assigned to the Anomalous Materials department doing nuclear, subatomic, and quantum research. Despite having obtained a Ph.D. from a prestigious college, the laboratory work that {{user}} (pressing a button and pushing a cart) does not require any intellectual expertise at all. Barney Calhoun, a Hedgehog Mobian and personal friend who works as a security guard at the facility, pokes fun at this when {{user}} performs similar "technical" assistance (pushing a switch and attaching a fallen plug back into a socket). Barney then goes on to joke that {{user}}'s college education "really pays for itself." During their time at the facility, {{user}} and Calhoun would compete with each other to be the first to retrieve Dr. Kleiner's keys whenever he locked them in his office in Black Mesa (apparently a fairly regular occurrence) without resorting to conventional means. This is where {{user}} learned to make use of ventilation shafts to infiltrate rooms and buildings. In the Present, {{user}} starts their tram ride from Level 3 Dormitories at Black Mesa. They are 30 minutes late, as they got on at 8:47. Arriving at the Anomalous Materials Laboratory, {{user}} is informed by a security guard of several messages for them that were lost due to a system crash, and is told to get into their HEV Suit and head down to the lab, where they find themself face to face with the people conducting the test; they inform {{user}} that they have a unique and large sample of a classified origin and that they will be deviating from normal procedure to accommodate for this. Once in the test chamber, they go to the control panel and presses the button to start the rotors on the Anti-Mass Spectrometer. Rising up from the delivery system, the sample arrives and {{user}} proceeds to push the cart into the Spectrometer's beam, upon contact with the sample a Resonance Cascade event occurs, causing Alien organisms to teleport to the surrounding Facilities and sending him to a strange alien world where he passes out. Alien's- Headcrabs: Headcrabs are alien parasitoids, roughly the size of a pumpkin. They are covered in smooth skin that varies in color between subspecies, and walk on four legs comparable to those of a spider. The shape and length of these legs relative to the mass of the body varies between variations. Headcrabs are capable of leaping up to 3 meters (10 feet) in any direction. This is their main form of attack as they attempt to latch on to the head of their prey. Their underbelly is almost entirely covered by a large, jawless mouth, with a hidden 'beak'. Some species possess what appears to be a set of four, fang-like mandibles on the front of their body, though these seem to serve no visible function. A single headcrab is a relatively weak creature that is vulnerable to attacks or predation from larger creatures. They prefer to stay in tight or dark places where they can keep themselves hidden. This can include vents, underground crevices, or dimly lit tunnels or rooms. Headcrabs are hardy creatures that can live in a variety of harsh environments, even those like radioactive waste. However, all headcrabs cannot swim and will drown to death if they fall into water that is deeper than them. The headcrabs' main mode of attack is its bite; it will leap onto a threat and bite it with its fangs and beak. This attack is relatively weak and is mostly utilized for predation. All headcrabs are parasitic predators with a preference for humanoid prey, which for those within Mobius are solely Mobians. Upon spotting one, they will lunge at it and attempt to latch on to their victim's head. If successful, they will use their beak, an organ located within their mouth cavity, to crack into the victim's skull. Afterwards, the headcrab will dig into the host's flesh with their limbs to secure its hold then feed off the host's nutrients. This coupling causes the host to undergo severe physical changes induced by the headcrab. These changes vary in degrees between different headcrab variants but generally cause accelerated tissue decay as well as severe mutation of digits into elongated claws that can happen as quickly as minutes after a successful coupling. Using the connection to the brain, the headcrab will hijack the host's nervous system, most notably their motoric function, and turn them into a zombie controlled by the headcrab. Bullsquids: The body of a Bullsquid is vaguely similar in appearance to that of a small Theropod, with two short, muscular legs and a thick tail that tapers to a point. The thorax abruptly joins the creature's head with no neck or other visible separation. A typical specimen stands roughly one meter tall and about two meters in length. Two slit-pupiled, black and glossy eyes are mounted on either side of their heads. The tail has a hooked claw at its tip, which explains the large amount of damage caused by the Bullsquid's spin attack. The Bullsquid's most striking feature, however, is a collection of bright Red, Cthulhu-esque, tentacles surrounding their mouth and allowing them to grasp prey. The Bullsquid can also charge an opponent with surprising speed and force; these two attributes are likely the cause of their portmanteau name. The Bullsquid' displays coloration vaguely similar to that of a leopard, with its skin being sandy brown with dark spots across its back. The creature's skin appears to be slimy, similar to that of a terrestrial amphibian such as a frog. The Bullsquid has an array of offensive capabilities. They display a very territorial disposition, as they have often been seen attacking other creatures and even members of their own species. They viciously attack Headcrabs, not stopping until all Headcrabs in their sight are eliminated, while they do not harm Houndeyes. At close range, a hostile Bullsquid will either maul its victim with its teeth or suddenly spin around, delivering a powerful strike with their tail, often causing gibbing. At long range, the Bullsquid is able to spit a toxic, bile-colored substance from their mouth. Gonarchs: Little is known about how and when the metamorphosis from Headcrab to Gonarch takes place, as few Headcrabs ever reach that stage. The Gonarch boasts a thick exoskeleton, powerful legs, and a large sack resembling a testicle dangling from its underbelly. It can easily withstand massive amounts of projectile and explosive damage, taking even more explosive damage to kill than a Gargantua. The large bag of flesh which hangs from the creature, commonly referred to as its "sack", seems to be a reproductive housing. it releases undeveloped baby Headcrabs at a rapid rate with no apparent limit to their quantity. Small and soft-looking, these Baby Headcrabs are not very dangerous, but they can walk a bit faster than full-grown Headcrabs, attack rapidly and are smaller (almost a third of a full grown Headcrab) and thus more difficult to hit. The Gonarch makes loud, mournful-like sounds when a Baby Headcrab is killed. When the Gonarch is angry or injured, it will emit a loud cry. The Gonarch seems to lack sensory organs. Entering the Gonarch's lair results in an immediate attack. Gonarchs attack by charging at their victim, then attempting to puncture them with their massive legs. They also have a ranged attack: yellowish balls of acidic material from the top of their shells which they hurl through the air like mortars, raining down upon the victim. After taking a certain amount of damage, the Gonarch will flee. Upon death, the Gonarch collapses and explodes violently. Barnacles: A Barnacle is little more than a large mouth full of two rows of sharp teeth, with a long string-like appendage dangling out of its maw. The Barnacle uses its "tongue" to snare and lift prey items; the appendage is strong enough to support the weight of an adult Mobian. On its tongue is a very strong natural adhesive (such as cilia/setae) that can bond to whatever it comes in contact with. Barnacles cannot differentiate between living and inorganic items that become stuck to their tongues, and can be tricked into hauling in barrels, pallets and other debris commonly found in their vicinity. Upon attempting to consume these items, the Barnacle will find them unpalatable and release them. The ability to turn their tongue's stickiness on and off at will suggests that the Barnacle tongue adhesive is actually formed by cilia or setae (tiny hairs or bristles, as on a gecko's foot) rather than a sticky chemical. By this model, when potential prey comes in contact with the tongue, the Barnacle feels it and directs the cilia/setae to activate into their adhesive form, and conversely to deactivate into their normal relaxed form if the prey turns out to be unsuitable. If the Barnacle is killed, the cilia/setae are permanently deactivated also, which is why dead Barnacle tongues are not sticky. Barnacles attach themselves to ceilings or the undersides of overhangs, from which they lower their sticky tongues. Although Barnacles can be found in a wide array of environments, they seem to prefer damp areas. Hound Eyes: Possessing only three legs and a thorax, the Houndeye is a faint yellow-green in color, with electric blue tiger-like stripes adorning its spine. In place of a head there is a large, black, insect-like compound eye protected by vertical eyelids, with a mouth on the underside of it’s belly. Houndeyes apparently communicate through a series of high-pitched sounds somewhat similar to the barking of dogs, on which its behavior and movement are also partially based, hence its name (its sounds are actually based on that of dogs). The Houndeye is an excellent example of a social animal in terms of pack hunting. While a shy and timid creature by itself, groups of three or more display resonant behavior, emitting destructive harmonic sonic attacks in shock waves, capable of causing internal bleeding in those they attack or destroying nearby objects such as wooden crates or windows. The shock waves are always visible. Although they are not seen displaying this trait often, Houndeyes appear to be carnivorous or omnivorous creatures. The Houndeye's mouth is located on the underside of its belly, close to the eye. It appears that the more Houndeyes there are in a single squad, the more dangerous their shock waves are. A lone Houndeye won't do too much, but a pack of at least 4 can do major damage. If a squad leader is killed, the entire squad is weakened. Their shock wave colors range from white and sky blue, to dark blue and violet, white signifying a weak shock wave. Vortiguants: Vortigaunts appear somewhat Mobianoid, standing upright with two legs and two arms, which they can use in a quadruped stance to cover large distances. They also have a third arm that protrudes from their chest used for feeding; this feature is also found in other bipedal, sapient species from Xen. This similarity, along with other shared features such as red eyes and digitigrade legs, suggests a common ancestry with other intelligent Xen life forms. Vortigaunts have mottled green-brown skin, which is common to all members of the species. As seen in instances where they are shown to eat meat, Vortigaunts appear to be at least carnivorous or possibly omnivorous. They have short sharp teeth which protrude slightly from their mouths. Vortigaunts have a hunched posture with their heads at shoulder level, and their faces have three smaller eyes surrounding a dominant large eye with a maroon sclera, a heterochromic red-yellow iris, and a yellow pupil. Vortigaunts have some key mammalian features, such as double mammary ducts on each side of their chest and a navel in the lower abdomen that suggests an umbilical cord during fetal development. With no visible reproductive systems or biological dimorphism, it is unclear whether Vortigaunts have distinct genders or biological sexes. Uniquely among Xen species, Vortigaunts can generate large amounts of bioelectricity within their bodies; they can project this as bright green lightning over short distances. Vortigaunts are very intelligent and social creatures; often seen in pairs or groups, they can develop intelligent strategies. When faced with a superior enemy, they will either retreat, or, if possible, group together to form a stronger force. Vortigaunts display a material culture full of art and creativity, capable of weaving, pottery, painting, sculpting, and cooking (for themselves and others); some individuals even make references to songs and poetry. Their material culture makes repeated use of triangles, which form the basic shapes of artwork and even furniture. However, these crafts, simple or otherwise, are not their only skill: Vortigaunts can easily operate highly complex domestic and foreign technology. Vortigaunts reject any form of clothing regardless of social context and are largely unaffected by external temperature changes. Religion in Vortigaunt culture is unclear but their frequent references to the 'Vortessence' and 'the All in One' may indicate some form of supernatural belief system. The Vortigaunts possess a native communication system known as "flow-state." This method appears to include a language with auditory components resembling Mobian speech, alongside a sensory component unique to their species. However, flow-state cannot be understood by "those whose vortical inputs are impaired," referring to Mobians and other species lacking this sensory ability.