Timeline of the Half-Life and Portal universe

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"Time, Dr. Freeman? Is it really that time again? It seems as if you only just arrived."

― The G-Man

The timeline of the Half-Life and Portal universe spans from the 1940s to the first decades of the 21st century. That timespan saw the rise and fall of rival scientific research corporations Black Mesa and Aperture Science, the invasion of Earth by the Combine, an alien intergalactic organization, in the aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident, and the uprising of humanity against them.

Valve's official stance is that they do not intend on providing a definitive Half-Life / Portal series timeline as they fear the possibility of contradicting themselves would limit their creativity in future games. Since the story is still in the process of being written, there is always a chance that facts will be altered at a later date. This timeline has been built by gathering every known date with the known events and chronological facts organized around them. Several retcons have been made since the release of the first game; they have been applied here with the altered dates denoted. The events of Half-Life: Alyx indicate the storyline does not always occur linearly as events in both the past and future can be further manipulated.

1800s

1891

Year engraved on several metal railings found in City 17 and St. Olga.

1940s

1943

Cave Johnson receives the Shower Curtain Salesman award within Aperture Fixtures.

1944

January

Cave Johnson appears in the UP Pioneer Press headlines for buying a salt mine in Upper Michigan, which is later reconstructed as the Aperture Science Innovators facility.

Between 1944 and 1954

Richard Keller is born. He is 55 in Decay, set in 200-.

Between 1947 and 1957

Wallace Breen is born. According to a copy of The Terminal found in Half-Life: Alyx, he is said to be 52 during the events of Half-Life, set in 200-, and the immediately following Seven Hour War.

1947

Aperture Science Innovators is established. The same year, Aperture Science receives the award for Best New Science Company from the Science and Business Institute of America.

1949

Aperture Science is rated #2 among the Top 100 Applied Science Companies by the Mechanical Engineering World Journal. It is implicit that the number one spot was achieved by Black Mesa, but nothing firmly concludes this, based on the intense rivalry between the two companies.

1950s

It is during this decade that the Black Mesa facilities are built, before being purchased and refurbished later by Black Mesa.

1952

Aperture Science is the Runner Up for the US Department of Defense's Contractor of the Year award. By now, Aperture Science has begun testing Repulsion Gel. Test Shaft 09's Entrance Way, Lobby and Testing Lounge are built.

1953

• Aperture Science goes public this year.

• Aperture constructs Pump Station Alpha and at least Test Shaft 09 Chambers 01 and 02.

• Aperture begins operations as a manufacturer of shower curtains. Early product line provides a very low-tech portal between the inside and outside of your shower. Very little science is actually involved. The name is chosen to make the curtains appear more hygienic.

1954

Aperture Science is the Runner Up for the US Department of Defense's Contractor of the Year award again, likely losing to Black Mesa.

1955

Aperture Science receives the Spirit of Idaho National Potato Board award for the promotion of Potato Science.

1956

• The Eisenhower administration signs a contract with Aperture Science to manufacture shower curtains to all branches of the US Military, except the Navy.

• Pump Station Alpha (which pumps Repulsion Gel) is in active use by now.

1957

Aperture Science constructs at least Test Shaft 09 Chamber 26.

From 1957 to 1973

Aperture Science produces mostly shower curtains, eventually making Cave Johnson a billionaire.

1958

Aperture Science constructs Test Shaft 09 Chambers 27 and 28, and begins forming control groups for experimentation with cranial microchip implantation.

1960s

1961

June 15

Aperture Science's Test Shaft 09 "Zulu Bunsen" is condemned and sealed off.

1968

Aperture Science is involved in US Senate hearings regarding "missing astronauts". By now, Aperture Science has gone bankrupt.

Between 1968 and 1978

Colette Green is born. She is said to be 31 in Decay, set in 200-.

1970s

1971

• Aperture Science re-opens Test Shaft 09 for testing. The lower sections appear to remain unused.
• Aperture constructs Pump Station Beta and begins Propulsion Gel testing.

1972

Aperture Science constructs at least Chambers 01 and 02 of the Propulsion Gel Testing Facility.

Between 1972 and 1982

Gordon Freeman is born. He is said to be 27 in Half-Life, set in 200-.

1973

The earliest known use of a bulletin board system by Aperture Science.

Between 1974 and 1984

Gina Cross is born. She is said to be 25 in Decay, set in 200-.

1976

Aperture Science constructs at least Chamber 05 of the Propulsion Gel Testing Facility.

1978

• Aperture Science constructs the elevator out of the Propulsion Gel Testing Facility.
• Due to financial difficulties and possible legal problems arising from testing prominent citizens, Aperture Science begins using homeless people as Test Subjects.
• The object of testing and experimentation at this time is Propulsion Gel.
• Complementing the Propulsion Gel testing, Aperture Science also begins experimenting with human deconstruction, enhancement, and reconstruction procedures.

Between 1977 and 1987

Adrian Shephard.

Adrian Shephard is born. He is said to be 22 in Opposing Force, set in 200-.

October 17

Cave Johnson receives the answer to a confidential letter titled "Human Enrichment & Testing Initiative, Resource Acquisitions", describing the four types of Test Subjects and their behavior.

Between 1978 and 1988

At the age of six, Gordon Freeman constructs a butane-powered tennis ball cannon.

1980s

1981

• Aperture Science constructs the Conversion Gel Testing Facility's enrichment center, and now performs tests on its own employees. By now, Cave Johnson has spent $70 million on moon rocks to grind up and turn into Conversion Gel, and as a result of exposure has himself become gravely ill and addicted to pain medication.
• Aperture engineers complete the Heimlich Counter-Maneuver and Take-A-Wish Foundation initiatives. The company announces products related to the research in a televised ceremony. These products become immediately wildly unpopular. After a string of very public choking and despondent sick child disasters, senior company officials are summoned before a Senate investigative committee. During these proceedings, an engineer mentions that some progress has been made on Tier 3, the "man-sized ad hoc quantum tunnel through physical space with possible applications as a shower curtain." The committee is quickly permanently recessed, and Aperture is granted an open-ended contract to secretly continue research on the 'Portal' and Heimlich Counter-Maneuver projects.

1982

• Aperture Science constructs Pump Station Gamma and the Conversion Gel Testing Facility.
• Cave Johnson names Caroline as his successor. When testing is complete, her intelligence is to be stored in his computer (likely running on GLaDOS).
• This is the oldest known date of the Enrichment Center Test Subject Application Process being applied to Aperture Science's Test Subjects. It is operated by version 1.07 of GLaDOS, later "1.07a" and "1.09".
• An image of a cake celebrating October 27th 1982 is among several of cake-related images in GLaDOS's databanks.

1983

September page of "The girls of Aperture Science" 1983 calendar, with a girl posing in bikini on an Unstationary Scaffold in Test Chamber 18, as seen in one of Ratman's dens.

A calendar named "The girls of Aperture Science" is issued by Aperture Science. It is unknown if this was only released in this year.

From 1983 to 1985

Work progresses on the "Portal" project. Several high-ranking Fatah personnel choke to death on lamb chunks despite the intervention of their bodyguards.

1984

An image of a cake celebrating 11 August 1984 is among several of cake-related images in GLaDOS's databanks.

1985

The Aperture Image Format is created.

1986

• The Conversion Gel Testing Facility is updated with an additional wall.
• Word reaches Aperture Science management that Black Mesa is working on a similar portal technology. In response to this news, Aperture Science begins developing GLaDOS, although the name was already in use in 1982.

1987

This is the most recent date for the Aperture Image Format. At that time, it is maintained by Doug Rattmann.

1989

Testing on parallel universes is performed in Pocket Universe Lab 08.

1990s

Late 90s

While visiting the University of Innsbruck, Gordon Freeman observes a series of seminal teleportation experiments conducted by the Institute for Experimental Physics. Practical applications for teleportation become his obsession.

Between 1995 and 2005

Alyx Vance is born. She is said to be 19 in Half-Life: Alyx, set five years before 202-.

1996

After a decade spent bringing the Disk Operating System parts of GLaDOS to a state of more or less basic functionality, work begins on the Genetic Lifeform component. During that time, the Aperture Science Red Phone plan is implemented in case GLaDOS appears to become sentient and godlike, requiring an employee to sit by a red phone on a desk in GLaDOS chamber's entrance hall.

1997

At that time, GLaDOS's version is 3.11. This is also the latest known date of Aperture Science using a bulletin board system.

1998

Aperture Science releases several testing elements, such as the Excursion Funnel, a tractor beam-like funnel made of liquid asbestos; the Thermal Discouragement Beam, a laser to destroy Sentry Guns and activate some receivers; the Aerial Faith Plate, a catapult plate flinging into the air Test Subjects or any other object upon contact; and the Pneumatic Diversity Vent, a variant of the Vital Apparatus Vent used for distributing objects to Test Chambers.

From January 5 to August 16

An exhibition on "Young Masters, 1870 - 1930" is held in the National Art Gallery of the city that would later become City 17.

December

The "extreme" tarragon-flavored Grunge soda is labeled Flavour of the Month.

1999

Gordon Freeman graduates from MIT with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics.

From September 25, 1999 to March 12, 2000

An exhibition on "Tyrannosaurus Rex: The Ultimate Predator" is held in the Natural History Museum of the city that would later become City 17.

2000s

200-

This is the "year" during which the Black Mesa Incident occurs. Deliberately kept vague by the Half-Life team, it could be any date from 2000 to 2009.

Deduction points at "May 16, 200-" for the precise date of the incident. What follows are the different facts and clues leading to that choice:

• The year "200-", first appearing in the Half-Life instruction manual, is given in every official source from the Half-Life story arc era.

• On March 24, 2010, an updated and expanded Aperture Science timeline originally given on ApertureScience.com in 2006 and submitted by Erik Wolpaw was published on Game Informer. Several dates were changed, and the last paragraph was expanded with facts suggesting that the Black Mesa Incident had occurred in 1998, the same date as that of Half-Life's release, instead of the original "200-". However, Marc Laidlaw dismissed "1998" as the date for the Black Mesa Incident, as the date "200-" given when the first Half-Life was released is the only correct one. For convenience and consistency, that "1998" will always be replaced by "200-" on the wiki, even with the dates pertaining to Aperture Science.

March 3

Shephard's first given diary entry.

From Shephard's diary entries: "Another typically hellish day at base camp... I'll be glad when this is over and I can get assigned a mission. There has been this really weird civie spotted at the base. Rumor is he's from some government branch looking to recruit; others say he's with some secret research group. I would jump at the chance to join. It would be cool just for the change and the adventure."

March 7

From Shephard's diary entries: "I finally saw the government guy today. I am not sure he is a g-man, but he was wearing a really uptight suit and carrying a briefcase. He looked more like a lawyer or insurance agent to me. I did notice him checking me out. Several times throughout the day I spotted him just watching me during training. I wonder what he's up to..."

March 9

From Shephard's diary entries: "For weeks our drills have been the same crap day after day. Today we assemble for the morning run and our drill instructor tells us we have one week to become experts at indoor strategic combat. We will be spending every day this week at the combat simulation facility. As far as I know this a specialized training not taught in boot camp. What I want to know is if this is to test our ability to adapt or if we are being readied for a specific mission? Time will tell..."

March 12

From Shephard's diary entries: "The rumors have been flying since our indoor combat training began. Most of my peers are convinced that we are being primed for a mission. No one can agree on what the mission is. I have heard the name Black Mesa Facility thrown around a lot, but I have no information about the place. The rumors are that some top-secret research is going on there. Doesn't sound too exciting to me..."

March 15

From Shephard's diary entries: "The rumor has been confirmed. We are being trained for a mission at the Black Mesa Facility. All I know is that the place is being used by scientists who are doing some kind of new research. I can't imagine what we would be needed for. We were told today to be ready in case it happens tomorrow. I don't know what "it" is, but the whole thing is a little strange. I kind of hope it doesn't happen; the mission doesn't seem to have much excitement potential. I'd rather hold out for something with more likelihood of combat."

Several days before May 16

The untested AI of GLaDOS is activated for the first time as one of the planned activities on Aperture's first annual bring-your-daughter-to-work day. Upon being activated, she almost instantly becomes self-aware, takes control of the Enrichment Center, locks everyone inside, and floods the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin, but is halted when she is quickly fitted with a Morality Core. She then begins a permanent cycle of testing, aimed at beating Black Mesa in the race to develop functioning portal technology.

May 5

Freeman's letter of acceptance to Black Mesa, as it appears in the instruction manual of the PlayStation 2 version of Half-Life.

While concluding his work at the University of Innsbruck, Gordon Freeman receives a letter from the Black Mesa Office of the Administrator's LM confirming he is hired, commencing his position immediately but no later than May 15.

May 9

Barney Calhoun receives a letter from L.M. about his May 15 reassignment to Blue Shift.

May 11

Colette Green receives a letter from the Black Mesa Office of the Administrator's LM saying that sample GG-3883 will replace sample EP-0021.

Before May 12

Barney Calhoun has his retinal scan verified and salary increased. His two-day Security Guard Training is scheduled.

May 12

08:00

First day of Barney Calhoun's Security Guard Training under Miller's Holographic Instructor counterpart, in Sector A. This is the Blue Shift Hazard Course.

May 13

Second day of Barney Calhoun's Security Guard Training.

10:30

Colette Green's letter about sample GG-3883 and Gina Cross' Hazard Course Training schedule.

Walter Bennet is being instructed by Gina Cross for an Anti-Mass Spectrometer Overload Simulation.

May 14

19:00

Colette Green was to be instructed by Isaac Kleiner for an Anomalous Materials Handling, but it was postponed to June.

May 15

• Barney Calhoun is assigned to a 09:00 - 22:00 Blue Shift assignment until August 15 and reports at Area 3 Medium Security Facilities at 09:00. Other unknown security guards are assigned to Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Indigo Shifts in specific areas of Sector A, B, and C. For that timespan, the Violet Shift is on standby.

• The latest date as to when Gordon would begin his employment at Black Mesa. Half-Life 2 and its Episodes implied that Gordon was already working for a time at Black Mesa before the incident: Barney tells Gordon he owes him a beer and reminds him who he is when first meeting in the City 17 Trainstation, and Alyx tells in the City 17 Underground that Gordon and Barney would compete in the air ducts to get into Kleiner's office whenever he got himself locked out. Dr. Breen describes Gordon's time at Black Mesa as being a "brief tenure."

20:30

Gina Cross is being instructed by Richard Keller for a Mark V HEV Suit Prototype Testing.

May 16

07:30

Gordon Freeman is being instructed by Gina Cross' hologram counterpart for an HEV Suit Training in Sector A's Training Facility. Before beginning the training, the scientists monitoring Gordon mention that the sensors in their equipment are not working.

08:30

More system crashes occur throughout Black Mesa (the security guard in the Sector C lobby states he has had a system crash "about 20 minutes ago").

8:42

Barney Calhoun starts his tram ride from the Area 8 Topside Dormitories at Black Mesa, to start his second Blue Shift day at Area 3 Medium Security Facilities in Sector C. He arrives there sometime before 9:00.

8:47

After his HEV Suit Training, Gordon Freeman starts his tram ride from Level 3 Dormitories at Black Mesa. He is 30 minutes late.

Remainder of the day

The Anti-Mass Spectrometer.

• The Black Mesa Incident. Around 9:00, Freeman conducts an experiment on sample GG-3883 in Sector C's Anti-Mass Spectrometer. The experiment goes wrong and triggers a Resonance Cascade, teleporting Xen creatures to Earth.

• Freeman, Calhoun, Green and Cross fight their way through the facility.

• The military arrives at Black Mesa. Adrian Shephard and his squad are attacked by Alien Crafts and their Osprey crashes, leaving Adrian severely injured and unconscious for the rest of the day.

• Overnight, Freeman successfully launches the rocket.

May 17

• Early in the morning, Gina Cross and Colette Green can perform a resonance reversal. Their fates, along with Keller's, are unknown.

• Barney Calhoun successfully escapes Black Mesa with Rosenberg, Simmons, and Walter Bennet.

• As Gordon Freeman fights his way across the surface towards the Lambda Complex, Adrian Shephard regains consciousness and discovers he's been left behind (this matches the message addressed to Cooper). Race X creatures appear sometime later.

• Freeman defeats the Nihilanth and frees the Vortigaunts. The G-Man hires him and places him in stasis.

• Shephard defeats a Gene Worm as it emerges from an inter-dimensional rift. His persistence draws the attention of the G-Man and his employers who decide to place him in stasis so that he will not disrupt their plans. Black Mesa is destroyed by an atomic bomb.

• As the Black Mesa facility is destroyed, GLaDOS's race against Black Mesa is stopped.

After May 200-

Newsclips of that period seen in Black Mesa East.

During this period of nearly 20 years, Gordon Freeman is in stasis. It starts at the aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident in May 200- and ends at Gordon's arrival in City 17 in 202-.

Combine invasion

• Portal Storms rage on Earth while Xen creatures continue to be teleported. The governments and the United Nations provide protection centers located in major cities worldwide.

• The Aperture Science Enrichment Center remains in lockdown, with employees still trapped inside. The number of Aperture Science employees also likely diminishes, until there are only a few of them left.

• The Combine launches an assault on Earth. In the Seven Hour War, Earth military forces resist despite being outmatched by the Combine's resources and technology. Wallace Breen, the administrator of the Black Mesa facility, informs the United Nations that he has established communication with the Combine and receives authority to negotiate. He cedes the entire planet to the Combine and becomes Earth Administrator, responsible for controlling the population under Combine rule.

• This is the period during which Portal is set. It occurs a short amount of time after the Combine invasion of Earth, somewhere around the year 2010.

• In the Aperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Center, Chell is awoken by GLaDOS who makes her perform seemingly routine tests. However Chell soon learns that the Aperture employees are long dead or escaped, and that GLaDOS is seemingly the only being left in the decaying facility. After much promise of cake at the test's conclusion, Chell is met with an incinerator, which she narrowly escapes, and works her way through the maintenance areas, despite GLaDOS's protests. Eventually, Chell finds GLaDOS's control room, and manages to escape death by neurotoxin by detaching GLaDOS's Personality Cores, and partially destroying her as a result. Chell is forced to the surface by GLaDOS's explosion, only to be dragged away from freedom and back into the facility by the Party Escort Bot. Unknown to Chell however, GLaDOS is still alive.

• Doug Rattmann, being one of the last Aperture employees alive, witnesses GLaDOS' destruction. After the Party Escort Bot drags Chell back into the facility, Rattmann feels guilty for Chell's situation and reenters the facility to help her.

Origins of the Resistance

• Earth's ecosystems are contaminated by alien fauna and radiation. The Combine activates a field that suppresses human reproduction and introduces a chemical into the water supply that causes forgetfulness.

• Surviving Black Mesa scientists, including Isaac Kleiner, Eli Vance and Arne Magnusson, continue to research inter-dimensional technology with the hope of freeing Earth.

• At some point, while helping Isaac over a barrier into City 17, Eli loses his left leg to a bullsquid.

• Alyx Vance grows up under Combine rule, living in and around the new Earth capital, City 17. She takes an active part in the Resistance. Using Combine technology, Eli builds Dog to protect her.

• At an unknown time before Gordon Freeman's awakening, Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance each build a teleport in their respective labs not needing a Xen relay with the aid of Alyx Vance and Judith Mossman, among others. The teleport was tested on a cat, whose fate was never revealed. They then continue working on it until Freeman's arrival.

Miscellaneous

• An electronic pass card of Terminal Authority employee Fyodor Todorova is set to expire on December 5, 2001. However, the card is ultimately never invalidated after this date, and Alyx ends up using it years later while traveling through the Quarantine Zone.

• Another electronic pass card of Terminal Authority employee Zdravka Damyanosvka is set to expire on September 28, 2002. However, the card is ultimately never invalidated after this date, and Alyx ends up using it years later while traveling through the Quarantine Zone.

• An image of a cake celebrating "4 July 2006" is among several of cake-related images in GLaDOS' databanks.

2010s

Ten years before 202-

Arne Magnusson begins work on the White Forest satellite delivery rocket.

Five years before 202-

April

Around this time, the Citadel begins construction. As described in Alyx's observations, the initial spire structure appears from the center of a deep crater in the ground, and a perpetual storm rages above the structure.

June

Some sort of scaffold and feeder cables appear around the main structure of the Citadel. A perimeter wall is built surrounding the crater at the bottom of the structure, and a "flight deck" and oscillating "ribs" appear near the top of the tower. The storm above seems less aggressive, but the top of the tower is still shrouded by clouds. The purpose of the Citadel remains unknown.

November 29

Alyx details her most recent observations of the Citadel's construction. She observes lights coming from the tower as some sort of power source appears in the center - this "mini reactor" appears to be inconsistent and self-contained, often causing blackouts. It seems to draw power from the Citadel's new power source. The scaffolds around the tower appear to be mobile. More cables appear daily.

On or After November 29

• Five years before the return of Gordon Freeman and the destruction of the Citadel, Alyx sets out to rescue her captured father in the Quarantine Zone, a journey which leads them both to discover a powerful "superweapon", which they surmise to be Gordon himself, being held by the Combine in the zone inside of a suspended prison called the Vault. After rescuing her father, she manages to break into the Vault to free its captive, revealed to be the G-Man. The G-Man makes an offer to Alyx, showing her a vision of the future where her father is killed by an Advisor at White Forest during the events of Episode Two five years later. The G-Man allows Alyx to intervene, saving Eli and killing the Advisor, but it comes at the cost of her freedom as she's then "hired" by the G-Man and put into stasis against her will.
  • The illustrations of the Citadel made by Alyx on November 29 closely match the current status of the Citadel at the start of Half-Life: Alyx, placing the game around that time.

One year before 202-

This is the last time Alyx Vance drives Highway 17, as said by her in the radio transmission at Shorepoint Base.

Summer

Alyx leaves the Scout Car with Leon at Shorepoint Base.

2020s

202-

The destroyed Citadel in the second Episode Two teaser.

• Nearly 20 years after the Black Mesa Incident, Gordon Freeman is awakened by the G-Man after a long period of stasis. He explores City 17, encounters the Resistance and some of his former Black Mesa colleagues. Soon after he joins their cause in the war against the Combine and triggers the uprising of City 17 and his surroundings, becoming the primary target to the Combine. After destroying the Citadel's dark fusion reactor and defeating Breen, Gordon is called into stasis by the G-Man a second time.

• Soon after he is freed from stasis by a group of Vortigaunts. Gordon and Alyx flee City 17 and proceed to the Resistance base White Forest, located in the Outlands.

• The Resistance reverses the Combine Superportal, inflicting a consequent blow to the Combine plans, but Resistance leader Eli Vance is killed by an Advisor at White Forest.

• The ending of Half-Life: Alyx implies that the G-Man allows Alyx to travel forward in time to this point in order for her to kill the Advisor before it kills Eli Vance, thus setting in motion a timeline in which Eli survives the attack while Alyx has been taken by the G-Man.

Pre-Portal 2

GLaDOS' partial destruction is followed by a period of inactivity within the Enrichment Center, during which time maintenance systems and Personality Cores maintain its functions. The facility remains in disarray, having become overgrown and dilapidated. Pre-recorded 'Emergency Test Protocols' can oversee test chambers in times of cataclysmic system failure, "remain[ing] functional in apocalyptic, low power environments of as few as 1.1 volts". Chell spends this time in stasis until the events of Portal 2. At the beginning of her stasis, Chell is under supervision by a remaining Aperture employee, Doug Rattmann.

The span of time between Portal and Portal 2 is not entirely clear. During Portal 2's opening sequence, an automated 'Courtesy Call' implies that Test Subjects in stasis are revived every 50 days. However, when the player is next woken, the Announcer reports that the time elapsed is "99999...99...". It is unknown what unit of time it refers to. Of course, it may be that the system has completely broken down and is no longer capable of accurately tracking time. At the bare minimum, enough time has passed for GLaDOS’s chamber to become overgrown, with the presence of trees implying at least a few decades have passed, at minimum.

Portal 2

Chell facing GLaDOS in the ruins of the Enrichment Center.

After over 50,000 years in stasis, Chell is awoken by the personality core Wheatley circa 52,000 AD. Wheatley insists he can secure an escape route out of the Aperture Laboratories, which instead results in the inadvertent reactivation of GLaDOS. As the story progresses, Chell finds herself traversing old condemned Enrichment Spheres originating from earlier than June 15, 1961, at which time Aperture Laboratories was under the direction of Cave Johnson.

See also

• Canon
• Retcons