Barn(r)ey

((Please read if you are new, returning or submitting an ask))

This is a blog for @alieryn-art ‘s Barn(r)ey/HL2VRAI AU comic. The comic centers around Gordon, Barney Calhoun, and the science team, along with other HL2 characters, dealing with the return of Benrey into the world of Half Life and his rather inconvienent method of doing so.

(IMPORTANT: Things will be added to this list as they are written into the story, so please check back every so often because it is subject to change !)

The concept surrounding this au will include things like:

possession

glitching

canon- typical violence

injury/blood

mentions of struggling with identity (in the self-aware/existential crisis sense)

sickness/coughing

Major character injury

bug/insect imagery

Body horror and mild gore

Amputation (Not depicted in detail)

Facial scarring

Human limb regrowth

Multiple limbs

Temporary character death

If you are uncomfortable with any of these concepts but still want to read the comic, content warnings will be tagged accordingly. If you would like me to tag any other content with a warning, please feel free to message me and I will gladly do so.

If you are new to this comic or need to catch up, below is a link to all of the comic parts in order as well as the link to each chapter (updated when needed):

Start from the beginning:

https://barnrey.tumblr.com/tagged/barn(r)ey/chrono

Chapter Index:

Overwrite.

2. Chaos Theory

Cover by @fujiyama_hellcat on Instagram!

3. Red Letter Day or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Freeman

-Some important things to note about this AU and to keep in mind when reading:

This takes place two years after the events of HLVRAI.

Gordon Freeman is both the name of the in-game character and the player of the game.

Time passes much quicker inside of the game, so rather than two years passing, twenty years have passed. (The universe of hlvrai is the same as hl2, so hl2 is essentially just the future of hlvrai.)

All of the original science team (Dr. Coomer, Bubby, and Tommy) have not aged, due to their cybernetics and alien genetics, respectively.

The comic begins in media res (ap lit people where you at), so things that are not explained yet will be explained later on for the sake of plot.

Dr. Coomer and Dr. Bubby are the only AI that have become truly self-aware that they are in a game.

Benrey is also self-aware, but he has always been that way as he was never part of the original game code.

Info about the Ask Box! (UPDATE: THE ASK BOX IS NOW CLOSED)

ALL ANSWERED QUESTIONS WILL FURTHER THE PLOT. Your question may change the course of the story, so ask wisely!

Asks will incorporated into the universe and will be asked by another character or will be answered by the actions of the character(s) as the plot progresses. This is so that the fourth wall is not broken.

Ex: You ask why Dr. Coomer has a cyborg eye -> Gordon will ask in-universe why coomer is missing an eye.

Not all asks will be responded to, partly because of the plot’s progression and partly because it does not further the plot or is a repeat ask.

Asks might not be answered in order and will be responded to at the general storyline’s convenience.

Asks will typically be answered in between chapters rather then interrupting the flow of the current narrative.

Please avoid asks that are just compliments to characters or non-questions. Please avoid nsfw questions as well.

If you are asking me (alieryn) something, please go to my main blog @alieryn-art to submit it.

Soon!!!

Update: Sooo unfortunately I’ve come down with a pretty bad cold and the panels will have to be delayed by a day or too. Sorry :-( Have this WIP panel as penance.

Tommy discretely pocketed what he thought was soda for later.

Gordon rounded up the group to prepare to trek off into the city.

“Alright guys, we should start making our way to Eli’s lab to meet up with Alyx and Barney-“

“And our friend Benrey!” Coomer interjected.

Gordon’s face fell into an expression of visible disgust at the mention of that name. He dismissed Coomer in a tone that might have sounded more uncaring and contemptuous that intended.

“We’re not going there for him.”

“And what the fuck are we going to do with this?!” Bubby gestured to Forzen, who had been standing and staring at random points in the room, seemingly bored of his situation. He looked down at Bubby after a pause.

“Hey I have a name.”

“I’m old as the fucking pyramids you think I’d remember that?? I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning!! Or if I even had breakfast!!! Gordon when are we getting breakfast??”

Gordon squinted, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed.

“Let’s just… everyone keep a close eye on bootboy; he could be useful later.

Boper ran up behind the 7 foot tall soldier.

“Hey uh Boper? Be careful with him; he could teleport or whatever at any moment,” Gordon said.

It was when he saw Forzen from behind that he spotted a small familiar symbol on the back of his neck just below his right ear.

Chapter 3 finale part (1/3)

Forzen sat down on a nearby storage box. He removed his weapon from his back and laid it across his lap as Kleiner rambled.

“Incredible.. how long have you been able to perform such feats of time-space travel? How often does it happen? Can you control it?”

Forzen looked up with squinted eyes from cleaning his gun.

“I don’t know. A few years maybe. It just happens,” he looked back down and continued to work on the weapon. “I can’t control when it happens or where I go.”

There was a beat of silence and Forzen stopped and exhaled without looking up again.

“That’s how I got here. One second I was at Black Mesa, another I was in the middle of this.” He looked up. “That was a year ago.”

Kleiner nodded slowly. “I see.. and you appear to have not aged physically despite the tremendous leap in space-time. You need something to stabilize you, to keep you from fluctuating across and giving into quantum collapse on the molecular level..”

Forzen knit his brow. Kleiner paced in front of him.

“Do you have a constant in your life that could stabilize you? A place, a thing? A person perhaps?”

Forzen shook his head. Kleiner continued to brainstorm as Gordon walked over to Darnold. The potion master appeared to be loading a flare gun-like weapon with soda canisters. Gordon looked on in confusion.

Say hello to Security Chief Boper!