Pre Seven Hour War and Portal Storms
A Chicago, Illinois native, Grant Peters was a man who valued money very highly. Grant has always been a good business man, even from as early as his childhood. As a child, he made some small steps of getting income through chores for the neighborhood or setting up lemonade stands. He had a 4.0 grade point average and was the top of his class, consequently being a victim of bullying. When he finished his college years, he bought some shares of Aperture Science Inc and made several investments to the research company's projects, resulting in his financial success.
When Grant graduated from high school, he immediately began the development of his college education. Due to his excellence in grade school, and only getting anything other than an A three times in his permanent record of which all three grades were Bs, Grant was accepted to Harvard University. At Harvard, Grant studied Business Administration for four years. Grant graduated from Harvard with a Ph.D in the study. From there, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At MIT, Grant studied Quantum Physics for two years. He left MIT with a Bachelor's Degree in the study. Grant began his college education in 1964. It ended in 1970.
As soon as he left MIT, Grant applied for a position in the civilian known sector of the Black Mesa Research Facility, the Anomalous Materials Laboratories. He visited the Civilian Recruitment Division office at the Black Mesa Research Facility for an interview. A few days later, he recieved an unfortunate letter in his mail box. A letter of denial for employment. The letter read as follows:
Black Mesa Research Facility
Office of the Administrator
BLACK MESA RESEARCH FACILITY
Black Mesa, New Mexico
Februay 11, 1970
Dr. Grant Peters
15 Greenbrooke St
Chicago, Illinois
Employment Denial
Dear Dr. Peters:
We have acknowledged and reviewed your application to the Black Mesa Research Facility, Anomalous Materials Laboratories. We appreciate your interest in employment at the Black Mesa Research Facility. We are enthusiastic to inform you that you have passed your interview. However, we regret to inform you that we must deny your contract due to failure to meet the specific requirements. These requirements include a Master's Degree or above in said study of science. We acknowledge that you only hold a Bachelor's Degree in Quantum Physics. We apologize for the inconvenience.
On a brighter note, you may apply for some of our less demanding jobs, as there are plenty at the Black Mesa Research Facility. These jobs include positions in divisions such as Research Association, the Black Mesa Security Force, and Service Personnel. We assure you the value of these positions are worthy of your application. Please contact the Civilian Recruitment Division for more information.
Office of the Administrator
Civilian Recruitment Division
Black Mesa Research Facility
OTA: lm LM
After being denied employment at the Black Mesa Research Facility, Grant went on to other forms of income, primarily in the research field. The same year, Grant used the money in his savings account to buy shares of Aperture Science. He contributed several investments to the company to assist the funding of projects. His investments were mostly to projects in the field of Quantum Physics, a study Grant had prior knowledge of. The fact that Grant studied Quantum Physics at MIT encouraged him to provide funding for the experiments performed by Aperture Science regarding Quantum Physics. His investments turned out to be a great dicision, as it amassed him nearly millions of dollars in the long run.
Grant enjoyed being a share holder of Aperture Science Inc. He had an excellent source of income and was doing something he enjoyed. Grant occasionally worked along side Cave Johnson, CEO and founder of Aperture Science Inc, in looking over projects until his death in the late 1980s. Cave Johnson's place as CEO was succeeded by his secretary, Caroline.
Grant did not like Caroline very much. Cave would have chosen one of the shareholders to be his successor, Grant being a possible candidate. However, Cave chose his secretary above all others worthy of the position. Caroline never knew that Grant loathed her. Grant always believed that the company wouldve done much better, possibly better than Black Mesa, had he been CEO.
Grant was a multi-millionaire. He owned a three story luxurious mansion on a property the size of one and half football stadiums(this could possibly be an exaggeration) in Chicago. He owned two other homes, one in Aspen, Colorado, and another in Paris, France. He owned several sports cars. Holding about five percent or more of the Aperture Science shares, his bank account had over about $600,000,000.
Seven Hour War and Portal Storms
Grant one day got word that contact with the Aperture Science Enrichment Center has been lost. The possibilities suggested that the recent activation of GLaDOS v3.11 consequently lead to GLaDOS taking control of the facility, maybe even killing everyone there(Which she did, with neurotoxin) due to her natural tendency to want to kill everyone and everything within picoseconds of her activation. Grant thought it was typical of an AI based off of the personality of Caroline to massively screw things up. With the loss of the Enrichment Center, Aperture Science's stocks steadily and surely decreased, along with Grant's income.
Not too long after, the Seven Hour War began. Grant was in his mansion when it all began. It was about 30 minutes to midnight when he got a call from a relative to turn on the news. The news was reporting attacks in New York, Los Angeles, and already cities in West Europe. These attacks were like nothing mankind has seen before. Worried, he told the security personnel for his property, which consisted of 20 hired mercenaries from Blackwater Worldwide(now known as Xe Services), to be on full alert throughout the night. He could not fall asleep, he stayed up watching the news reports as the situation grew. About a few hours later, he got a call from his head of security.
"Sir, theres a few people from the FBI at the gate, said they wanted to talk to you."
"*sigh* Alright, let them in."
"Yes, sir."
When Grant hung up the phone, he got dressed and went outside to see two federal vehicles coming from the gate. The cars parked in the drive way infront of Grant. They parked near the Lamborghini Aventador, one of Grant's favorite sports cars in his collection. Four federal agents stepped out of each car, most of them had the stereotypical appearence of a federal agent, wearing sunglasses and black suits with matching ties. One of them went up to Grant.
"Dr. Grant Peters?"
"Yes, that's me. What's the problem?"
"Special Agent Frank Sheldon, FBI." He shows Grant his badge. "I'm going to assume you've seen the news in the past five hours. The attacks?"
"Yes?"
"Mankind as a whole is facing an enemy no one has ever seen. This is a global crisis. The nations of the Earth have been declared war on by a force not of this world. Not even of this universe. The past five hours of combat between the world's militaries and this unearthly force has proven that fighting them is futile. Our military's numbers have been greatly reduced. The president, and the rest of the world, has ordered that a surrender be made. However, we have no medium of contacting the enemy. Dr. Wallace Breen, former administrator of the Black Mesa Research Facility, is setting up a team of scientists to create a way to contact the enemy and make our surrender. However, due to his facility being destroyed, he does not have all the proper resources he needs."
"And where does any of this involve me?"
"You are the only representative for Aperture Science that we could get a hold of. Ms. [Caroline's surname] is missing, and the other shareholders could not be contacted. We understand that Aperture Science has been working on the Portal project? Dr. Breen said that you could provide him with the correct resources."
"You know the Enrichment Center is offline."
"Wasn't there another place? A warehouse in Cleveland, Ohio?"
"I doubt you'll find much there, I'm not sure if we kept any components for the Quantum Tunneling Device there. If we did, odds are it'd be under heavy security holding."
"This is where you come into play. We need you to give us what we need. We need any shipping manifests, security overrides, and any additional information."
"And you expect me to have that information?" Agent Sheldon gave Grant an expecting look. "*sigh* Alright, follow me to my office." They went into Grant's private home office. Grant sat down at his desk and accessed his computer.
Please login.
Username: GPeters
Password: *******
Forgot your password? Too bad. - Cave Johnson
Initializing connection...
Retrieving info...
Sending client info...
Accessing...
Access granted. Welcome back SHAREHOLDER: GRANT PETERS!
Flashdrive detected.
Accessing file search...
Find: Warehouse, Cleveland.
Searching...
Results:
Shipping_Manifest.pdf - Sending to flashdrive
Security_Override_Codes.txt - Sending to flashdrive
ASHPD.doc - Sending to flashdrive
Files have been successfully sent to flashdrive.
Disconnecting flashdrive...
Flashdrive disconnected.
Logging off GPeters...
Disconnecting...
GPeters logged off.
Grant disconnected the flashdrive from the USB dock. He put the cap on and gave it to Agent Sheldon. Agent Sheldon took it. Agent Sheldon then put his glasses on. "Thank you, Dr. Peters. You are doing a great deed for mankind." Grant nodded at Agent Sheldon's statement. Agent Sheldon and his entourage then got into their cars and left through the gate.
By this point, Grant was getting paranoid. He decided that it would be best to wait out everything from the panic room in his basement. Grant then let his security personnel know and then went into the panic room. The panic room was rather comfortable. It had a bed, a lavatory, CCC monitors, a radio, a phone, and supplies.
An hour later, something was going on outside. Grant could see everything from the CCC monitors. There was something in the air. It looked like a combination of a giant dragon fly and a helicopter(It was a gunship). It flew by Grant's property and killed everyone in his security personnel. It then flew away. Grant was now uneasy knowing that his security personnel has been wiped out and he was left there alone. He decided to wait for a little longer before he chose to go outside.
About a few hours later, there were some soldiers on Grant's property. They were looking everywhere. They were most likely looking for Grant. Grant did not know if they were there to kill him or save him. Eventually they found the panic room. They spoke through the buzzer.
"Dr. Peters?"
"Yes, what do you want?"
"US Marines, we're here to escort you to the United Nations Headquarters."
"The United Nations Headquarters? Why?"
"You will recieve information once there."
Grant did not know what was going on. Nonetheless, he opened the panic room door. He then went with them upstairs. A UH-60 Blackhawk was waiting for them. They got in and the Blackhawk took off.
Grant still did not know why he was being taken to the UN Headquarters. He was not an ambassador. He wasn't even a public figure. Although he did manage to be interviewed one time by Forbes Magazine. He doubted whatever was needed at the UN Headquarters involved interviews about business.
The chopper flew for some time, occasionally landing in some places to refuel. They finally arrived in New York. The sky was filled with what seemed to be portals; they looked like rips in the fabric of the universe. Grant was in awe at the sight. Below the portals was a war torn Manhatten. The Blackhawk then landed in the court yard infront of the UN Headquarters.
There was definately a military presence there. However, among the military were strange creatures never seen before. They ranged from small three legged creatures, to big three legged creatures. In the air were more of those dragon fly machines that Grant had seen earlier, along with a few of them that seemed like stingray variants of the dragon fly machines. The stingray ones were holding different things. The human military seemed uneasy around these creatures. Obviously these creatures were what mankind had been fighting for seven hours.
The soldiers took Grant into the General Assembly hall. Grant took a seat. There were others there. Most of them were familiar world leaders. Standing behind the main desk in the front of the room was Dr. Wallace Breen. Floating next to him were more of the strange creatures, only this time they seemed unique from the others outside. They seemed like giant maggots, wearing some sort of mask and having artifical arms. They were obviously the High Command.
Dr. Breen began a speech.
"Hello, and welcome to what is left of New York City and the United Nations Headquarters. I understand some of our world leaders here are familiar with this very room. As you all know, mankind has surrendered to these alien beings. These alien beings are known as the Universal Union. They go through different planets and dimensions, conquering them and making them a better place. The Universal Union has been keeping watch of the Earth for some time, deciding when would best to make their invasion. Through the use of modern technology, on behalf of the nations of the Earth, I, Dr. Wallace Breen, have personally declared mankind's surrender. The Universal Union subsequently rewarded me by appointing me as Administrator of their new territory. You are all here today because each one of you have contributed somehow to the success of the Universal Union, whether it be making a surrender on behalf of your individual country, or providing the materials for surrender, becoming an accessory to our surrender. For that, the Universal Union would like to reward you with appointing you positions in the Administrations of each established city across the globe. Let me read the list made, you will hear your name and which city administration you will be assigned to."
Dr. Breen then read a list. He called out names and cities such as City 1, City 2, City 11, City 17, City 18, City 27, City 32, City 45, etc. He finally called Grant's name. He then said which city administration Grant was assigned to. "...Dr. Grant Peters, City 45 Administration..." When Dr. Breen was done reading the list, he gave them further instructions. "There will be shuttles outside to take you to the airport where you will be taken to the city you were assigned."
Grant went outside. He then got on the City 45 shuttle. The shuttle then drove through the the war torn Manhatten, across the war torn Queens Borough Bridge, then through the war torn Queens and finally arriving at La Guardia Airport. He then boarded the plane to City 45.
Some time later, he arrived at City 45 and was taken up to his base of operations. It had a living quarters and office. There was also a broadcasting studio and an elevator. Grant already thought it was nice.
A couple days later, Grant got a letter on his desk from City 17 Administration. It had a speech for Grant to give to the citizens of City 45. Grant looked over the letter again and again until he memorized it. Grant then went to the broadcasting studio. He pressed record and spoke.
"Hello and welcome to City 45..."
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