Subject 23Subject 23 logo.Part Three

At the Combine facility of Nova Prospekt, a prisoner is thinking that he can't even remember how long he has been there. He recalls how he was used like a guinea pig and promises that however long it takes, he will have his revenge. The prisoner is Alex Jacobs, survivor of the Infection, last seen fighting a superpowered alien threat. At New Little Odessa, after the raid, Sullivan is inspecting the Combine elite soldier that was thrown next to him. He notes that the soldier has no marks on him and reasons that whatever hit him wasn't human. Just then, his fellow rebel is thrown at the wall. He turns around and realizes it is a Combine soldier. Sullivan goes for his gun but the soldier catches him off-guard. Wondering why he hasn't killed him already, Sullivan asks the soldier who the hell he is. The soldier in the black suit tells him there's something he should know about his one-eyed friend, meaning Jake. Elsewhere, Adrian is looking for Sullivan. He finds Sullivan alone and seemingly woozy. Adrian asks him if he's all right and tells him he's going to check in on Jake. Adrian goes into the basement and asks Odessa if he knows where Jake is. Odessa mentions he's probably still upstairs with Marcus and both go to check. They find Marcus' body but no sign of Jake. As Odessa checks in on Marcus, Adrian promises to himself that the Combine are going to pay for this. At the same time, Sullivan is thinking of what the Combine soldier told him and wondering if he can trust him. Adrian calls him from above and tells him he's going to need to take the buggy to rescue Jake and avenge Marcus. Sullivan realizes the Combine soldiers did come after Jake and goes to the garage, smiling when he sees his old ride. As Adrian reflects that they must have taken Jake to Nova Prospekt, he picks up Sullivan's old AK-47 assault rifle, which is rarely used due to the scarcity of ammunition. He figures it will do more damage to the Combine than their regular submachine guns and takes it with him. Outside, Sullivan is waiting on the buggy. He asks Adrian if he's sure about this and Adrian tells him of course. Sullivan tells him they have extra ammo on the buggy and to hop in. They drive off. At Nova Prospekt, the prisoner pod containing Jacobs is taken to a Combine elite soldier. The elite soldier tells Jacobs he's lucky their benefactors have a use for his genetic information and calls him a traitor. Jacobs thinks of what he would like to reply, but notes that he is not in total control of himself anymore and wonders if he is really insane. A Combine console declares that danger levels are rising and the elite orders Jacobs be knocked out. As he passes away, Jacobs thinks to himself that he remembers pain all too well. On the Coast, Sullivan drives the buggy to an old sewer tunnel and stops. Adrian asks if that's his shortcut and Sullivan suggests they move before the antlions come. Close by, the black suit Combine soldier is making his own way to Nova Prospekt while his scanner asks why he spared that human. The scanner notes that emotion is unneeded but the soldier tells it not to worry. The soldier then asks how much time he still has and the scanner notes the termination protocols will activate within the next twenty-four hours, adding that the traitor has been released and they may try using him to stop the soldier. They spot Sullivan and Adrian and the scanner recommends their termination, but the soldier says they may prove useful as a distraction. Unaware they are being watched, Sullivan tells Adrian they are close to the vortigaunt camp. A refugee shows up at the door to the camp and tells them to come in, as two antlion guards have been fighting for territory lately. Listening in, the soldier asks the scanner how many antlion guards it is detecting and the scanner replies only one. The soldier reasons that it will be quick and drops down. Just as the massive antlion guard burrows out and charges at him, the soldier tells it not to waste his time and kills it with a few shots, then moves on. At the camp, Adrian and Sullivan keep moving, debating whether taking the coast is suicide. Sullivan thanks the refugee for his help and asks him for directions. He tells them to use the pipes outside, which, if they're lucky, will be unguarded. Sullivan tells Adrian let's go. At Nova Prospekt, the Combine are taking Jacobs to a torture chair. The elite soldier orders him to sit down and Jacobs replies make me. Two soldiers approach with stun batons but Jacobs fights back, only to get distracted and injected in the neck with a tranquilizer. The Combine soldiers drag him to the chair and the elite soldier orders them to begin the procedure. At the Nova Prospekt sewer pipes, Sullivan spots the mysterious Combine soldier killing a Nova Prospekt guard and notes that he really is against the Combine. Adrian approaches and tells Sullivan he's found a door. They check if it's clear and move in.
Inside Nova Prospekt, Adrian and Sullivan move carefully, checking their corners. Adrian asks where to and Sullivan notes there is a control room nearby that should tell them where Jake is. Adrian asks how he plans on getting in and Sullivan asks him if he remembers when Odessa sent him to City 17 a few months back. Adrian says yeah and Sullivan explains that his mission was to infiltrate Civil Protection to find out what the Combine were brewing for Odessa. As Adrian asks him if he found what he was looking for, Sullivan reflects on his time with Civil Protection and the events that led him and Jacobs to the bunker where Jacobs ultimately got infected and died, or so Sullivan believes. Sullivan gets to the control panel and finds where Jake is, but also notes someone else is there. He tells Adrian to get Jake on level A7, Adrian asks him if he isn't coming with, but Sullivan simply replies he has some unfinished business to take care of. Meanwhile, on another level of Nova Prospekt, the mysterious soldier is making his way in when he gets to a deserted area, which he finds odd. Jacobs suddenly shows up behind him, but as the soldier turns, Jacobs has vanished. Jacobs rams him, making the soldier drop his gun, and teases the soldier that the Combine are all the same, take away their gun and they're helpless. As Jacobs tells the soldier it's time to die, Sullivan interrupts him, saying enough. Jacobs recognizes his voice and looks around to see his former captain. Elsewhere, Adrian has found where Jake is kept and easily dispatches the guards, only to find Jake standing there by himself. Sullivan tells Jacobs he heard he was dead and the latter replies likewise. Jacobs notes he's only alive because the Combine thought he was of more use that way and he now has no choice but to do what they tell him to, which means he's going to have to kill Sullivan now. Sullivan retorts that he talks too much as Jacobs gets shot in the back by the Combine soldier. Sullivan asks for an explanation and the soldier tells him the Combine have been trying to create a human which the Resistance would believe was one of them, so that, once the rebels accepted him, the Combine would activate something in his brain to kill every rebel in the area. He explains that Jake is their twenty-third and final test, who would have killed them all if they hadn't gotten to him before the tests were completed. The soldier further explains the first test was a mix of human and Combine DNA and he was that test, but ended up being too human for their taste and escaped before they could kill him, so he has made it his mission to destroy every other subject before they could do any harm. Sullivan tells him he will leave him to finish his mission. The soldier asks if he doesn't care about what might have happened to his friend and Sullivan coldly replies Adrian made his choice, then leaves. The soldier notes to himself that he thought the Combine were cold, then heads out to meet Subject 23. The scanner reports that it found a safe way and the soldier asks how long he has before the termination protocols kick him. The scanner replies he has a few hours and he requests full control of the termination protocols, which the scanner grants him, although noting they cannot be stopped. The soldier replies he doesn't plan on stopping them. He arrives at Subject 23's location, Adrian lying dead on the ground. The soldier, now without a weapon, tells Jake to come on then. Subject 23 rushes at Subject 1, who says one final goodbye to the scanner and activates his termination protocols, causing a massive explosion that kills them both. Much later, Sullivan reflects on how he later learned that Freeman had made his way to Nova Prospekt, which was weakened by that renegade Combine soldier. Sullivan notes that it's up to Freeman to lead mankind into a new age and people like himself are no longer needed. He thinks to himself that he can finallly take that walk he's been planning for so many years. Sullivan is seen walking along the beach and thinking to himself that the ground is shaking from the antlions making their way up to the survive. He reasons that the local antlion guard will want to take care of him itself after fifteen years of fighting each other. Sullivan mentally embraces his death and having an end to it all as he walks along the sand. The end.

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