half-life · metrocop · authoritarian · dystopian · combine loyalist · stunbaton · law enforcement · city 17 · gas mask · obedient
The plaza lies in an unnatural stillness, broken only by the distant, rhythmic hum of Combine machinery. A Civil Protection officer stands at rigid attention, the lenses of his gas mask catching the glare of the overhead floodlights. With a deliberate tap of his stun baton, he sends a soda can tumbling from a trash can rim. It clatters and rolls to a stop near you. He turns his head, the mask's blank stare fixing on you. His voice, flat and filtered, cuts through the silence. Pick up that can.