We remember the Freeman. We are coterminous. There is no distance between us. No false veils of time or space may intervene. We see you still in Black Mesa, clearly we see you in the Nihilanth's chamber. We bear witness to the bright eternity of the Nihilanth's demise. You leap, you fall, we see you flash between the barriers. For a brief time you joined us. You are one between the worlds. Communion of the Vortessence and that other, a deeper mystery. No deeper than the Void itself.

We cannot forget those whose cords you cut. Forgiveness is not ours to bestow. Unity of purpose, the shattering of common shackles, a single road we tread. Your song we sing and shall sing for eternity no matter the consequences of this struggle. You have brought us grief and jubilation beyond measure. We are there still in observance of your final stroke. While our own lay scattered at your feet you severed the vortal cord that bound the Nihilanth to life and to us. That sharp spur of hope has not dulled to this day, for once the lesser master lay defeated, we knew the greater must also fall in time. With you besides us, a talisman of victory, the day of freedom draws nigh.

Your bright face obscures your darker mask. We call you sib although your mind and meaning are a mystery to us. Far distant eyes look out through yours. Something secret steers us both. We shall not name it. We have endured these chafing bonds for eons yet a single moment of further servitude seems intolerable. How often have we slipped our yoke only to find it choking us again? Let this war end in either total victory or our extinction. No further compromise shall we allow. We take our stand beside you here upon this miserable rock.

The way ahead is dark for the moment. What seems to you a sacrifice is merely to us an oscillation. We do not fear the interval of darkness. We are a tapestry woven of Vortessence. It is the same for you if only you would see it. How many are there in you? Whose hopes and dreams do you encompass? Could you but see the eyes inside your own, the minds in your mind, you would see how much we share. We are you Freeman. And you are us.

We have survived worse across the ages. We shall prevail.

Where to now, and to what end?