Combine Exchange ProgramEpisode 10: Names

Picking up where the last episode left off, the warden of Nova Prospekt asks the Civil Protection officer if he has a butthole, to which he replies what.

The warden repeats her question, does the cop still have his original butthole, specifying it's because he's still human, right. He awkwardly replies oh, yeah, he does. The warden strikes an excited pose and exclaims that's so cool.

The warden explains they transhumans don't have their buttholes anymore, explaining the poop goes straight into a bag and every day they have to take a hose. The cop cuts her off to say he gets it. She says he's a real human and he's with the Combine, that's so exciting. She notes she came there on exchange specifically so she could talk to humans, then turns to the console and presses a few buttons while telling them to watch this. A Combine prisoner pod is then picked up from storage and taken away.

The Combine prisoner pod arrives at the warden's room as the Civil Protection officer and Overwatch soldier watch. The pod then opens, revealing a human female inside, who blinks and awakens. The warden cheerfully tells her hello, human, how are you today. The woman stares at her.

The human woman starts screaming her lungs off in horror. The cop and the soldier stare at each other while the warden says so fascinating. The warden then says anyway and goes back to the console as the soldier covers his ears and the cop looks away. She presses a button.

The Combine pod closes again and is taken away while the human citizen's screams continue to be heard from inside a bit muffled. The warden turns around and says they do that a lot, though she doesn't get many answers, but now that they're there, she can ask all the questions she wants.

The Civil Protection officer tells the warden that, as fun as that sounds, they were just there to drop off a prisoner and need to be heading back, as the soldier nods in agreement. The warden crosses her arms and tells them they can't leave. The cop and soldier ask why in unison. The warden shrugs and asks if they didn't hear, rebels just blew up a segment of the railway. She adds that the Citadel sent a repair crew but it'll take a while.

The warden says in the meantime she'll introduce them to the boys, adding that they're so excited to have new friends. As they walk, she says just look at Laz, he can hardly contain himself. The cop asks what she means, then both he and the soldier are startled by Laz, the Nova Prospekt shotgun guard, standing right behind them.

Later, as the warden, the Civil Protection officer, the Overwatch Soldier and Laz walk through Nova Prospekt, the officer notes to Laz he thought transhumans only used their alphanumeric designators. As he asks since when do they use names, the Overwatch soldier looks at him. The warden replies since she took over, stating that names are such a human thing and she thought it would liven the place up.

The group arrives at a room with other Nova Prospekt guards. The warden says all their names are based on the first three letters of their designator, stating that her name is Nattie because her designator is NTT9987, while Laz is LAZ0029. She points to another guard who she introduces as BMN9577, so he's Bowman. Bowman waves meekly at the guests.

Nattie introduces another guard as PTE1762, so he's Pete, and then starts to introduce another guard, who cuts her off by saying TTS8114, please, he has no name. Nattie whispers to the cop that they call him Tits, to which Tits complains she calls him that. Nattie then notes she's been so rude and asks the cop if he has a name, like, given to him by his progenitors and everything.

The Civil Protection officer replies yeah and introduces himself as Daniel. The Overwatch soldier stares at him as he says that some people call him Danny or Dan. Nattie gets excited and says ooh, nicknames, that's so human. She asks the soldier his name, but he mumbles in reply. They're interrupted by a guard barging in screaming Mistress.

The guard kneels in front of Nattie and tells her there's an urgent call for her from the Citadel. She thanks him, calling him Hajik, then pats Danny in the head as she tells him she has to take this, then invites him to get acquainted with the other boys as she repeats the name Danny. As she walks away, she keeps repeating the name Danny excitedly. Danny and the Overwatch soldier stare at the Nova Prospekt guards, who stare back. Later, the guards are sitting at a table in a group while Danny and the soldier sit at another table far away.

Danny stares at the Nova Prospekt guards and tells the soldier he's starting to think the soldier was right about those guys. The soldier, looking depressed, doesn't reply. Danny looks at him and asks if there's something on his mind. The soldier replies no. Danny says he knows he doesn't like this place, but they'll be out of there soon enough.

The soldier replies that's not it. Danny asks then what. The soldier doesn't reply, so Danny looks away and retorts fine. The soldier then says his designator is JTO2309. Danny tells him he knows, it was in his file, then suddenly turns and asks wait, did he want him to. An alarm then cuts him off.

The Overwatch voice informs there is a priority warning, perimeter restrictors disengaged, all stabilization delegates move to Hard Points immediately. Nattie enters the room shouting that the thumpers are down and for everybody to gear up. Outside Nova Prospekt, antlions rush past the Combine restrictors. To be continued next episode.

Next comic:

Episode 11: Biotics Inbound

4 thoughts on “Episode 10: Names”

Furbine_OwOwatch

January 19, 2023

boy am i lucky im not getting transferred to Nova Prospekt

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1. CoolMAN
  
  February 8, 2023
  
  @Furbine_OwOwatch go now
  
  Reply
Kacper

June 6, 2023

Shame it all ends on a cliffhanger 🙁

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BladedBerserker

July 20, 2023

cool

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