Resonance Cascade

Resonance Cascade
Type	Unstable resonance reaction
Location(s)	Black Mesa Research Facility

This article is about the quantum event. For the ensuing battle, see Black Mesa Incident.

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"I never thought I'd see a Resonance Cascade, let alone create one."

― Black Mesa scientist^[src]

A Resonance Cascade is a quantum event with cataclysmic repercussions.

Overview[edit]

Vortigaunt being teleported into Test Lab C-33/a during the Resonance Cascade.

The Black Mesa Research Facility had been researching the properties of certain anomalous materials. During one experiment in which Gordon Freeman inserted the Xen crystal sample "GG-3883" into the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, a Resonance Cascade occurred, culminating in the Black Mesa Incident. While seeming to be a contained event, it did in fact have repercussions across the entire planet. The Resonance Cascade was the cause of not only the interdimensional rift, but also all of the subsequent events. It sparked Portal Storms across the whole Earth, and ultimately led to the Seven Hour War and the Combine invasion of the planet.

As such, it can be argued that the resonance cascade is the single most significant event in the entire Half-Life series, setting the developments that define the rest of the story into motion.

Appearances[edit]

Half-Life and expansions[edit]

The Resonance Cascade caused an aggressive rift to form between the Black Mesa complex on Earth and the Xen borderworld. While at first only basic Xen wildlife, such as Headcrabs and Barnacles, seemingly emerged through the rift, increasing numbers of other intelligent creatures, such as Vortigaunts, were also sent from the other side by the Nihilanth, leader of the Xen forces.

The cascade was set to continue until stopped manually, and Gordon, being the one who caused it, took up the job of closing it. Once the rift appeared to have closed on Earth's side after Gordon had launched a satellite rocket into outer space, the remaining scientists from the Lambda Core discovered that the portal was being held open on the other side by the Nihilanth. Gordon then traveled through a portal to Xen to kill the Nihilanth, preventing him from keeping it open any longer, closing it on both sides.

Perpetual Testing Initiative[edit]

During one Multiverse in the Perpetual Testing Initiative, Cave Johnson purchases the Black Mesa Research Facility and shuts down the anomalous materials research that could have led to the Resonance Cascade, thus preventing the entire Half-Life storyline from happening. He then scolds the scientists for thinking that it would have been a good idea.