how to create a resonance cascade

What is a resonance cascade?

The Resonance Cascade is a cataclysmic quantum event created after the insertion of Xen crystal sample "GG-3883" into a Anti-Mass Spectrometer. The first Resonance Cascade occurred at the Black Mesa Research Facility's Anomalous Materials Laboratory complex, New Mexico on May 16th, 200-.

This guide aims at showing how to do one of these yourself!

Explaining the Xen Crystal:

Xen crystal are crystalline structures of exotic matter, originating on the Xen borderworld. Their strange properties were investigated and used by the scientists at Black Mesa in the research and development of teleportation technology. One such crystal was GG-3883, the "purest and most unstable" sample yet discovered by the scientists, which triggered the Black Mesa Incident.

Since the device used to analyze the material was an Anti-Mass Spectrometer, Xen crystals must contain a substance that has anti-mass, or in other words, negative mass. Not to be confused with antimatter, negative mass is a property of a theoretical substance known as exotic matter. Scientists have theorized that if exotic matter could be discovered or created it might be possible to open up a wormhole, a sort of tunnel or shortcut through space or between universes.

It is unsurprising that the Black Mesa scientists had a great interest in Xen crystals – as well as scientific curiosity, there were also obvious technological applications for a natural source of exotic matter. The teleporters developed at Black Mesa were enormous machines that required tremendous power supplies, but if the exotic energy in the Xen crystals could be harnessed teleportation could be made much simpler and more economical. The exotic energy was sometimes referred to as displacement energy due to its usage in the teleportation process.

Black Mesa scientists were making use of Xen crystals long before the resonance cascade disaster – the first teleportation experiments were only able to go to the Xen border world and not other locations on Earth, and as a temporary solution to this problem scientists created a relay device in the border world. The focus emitters were attached to an especially large Xen crystal, and it was this crystal that acted as the relay, receiving the teleport field and transmitting it back into our universe.

It is likely that the Xen crystals are a mix of both exotic matter and more normal matter, and since the sample that Gordon Freeman handled (GG-3883) was "the purest sample" it is likely it contained more exotic matter than previously discovered. Unfortunately, such a high concentration of exotic matter meant that the crystalline material had bizarre physical properties and was therefore very unstable. The powerful beam of the overloaded Anti-Mass Spectrometer damaged the crystals structure, causing a self-sustaining chain reaction known as a resonance cascade. The resulting release of exotic energy had devastating effects on the fabric of space-time, forming a ‘dimensional rift’ between Earth and the Xen borderworld.

Explaining the (original) Anti-Mass Spectrometer:

The original Anti-Mass Spectrometer was a room-sized piece of equipment located in Sector C's Test Lab C-33/a at the Black Mesa Research Facility used to analyze exotic materials such as Xen crystals. The machine was designed by Dr. Rosenberg.

Regular mass spectrometers are used to measure the mass and relative concentration of atoms and molecules, allowing the chemical composition and structure of a substance to be analyzed. This process does not work for exotic matter that has anti-mass (negative mass).

The Anti-Mass Spectrometer works by scanning a sample with oscillating electromagnetic fields and beams of high-energy plasma, agitating the exotic matter of the Xen crystals. This agitation of the Xen crystals results in currents of displacement energy within the crystal, which forms noticeable displacement fields that can be analyzed using advanced sensors developed by the Lambda labs. Xen Crystal samples are brought into the Test Chamber by a lift from the lower levels and held by a cart.

Despite the high levels of energy used in the experiments (running the spectrometer requires an HEV Suit, because the process is shown to place visible strain on the entire facility's power sources), it was a typically safe procedure. The final experiment of the Black Mesa Anti-Mass Spectrometer, combining an unstable sample Xen crystal (GG-3883) and the disabling of certain safety features, caused a Resonance Cascade and the opening event of the Black Mesa incident. The Anti-Mass Spectrometer was heavily damaged during the Resonance Cascade but not destroyed until Black Mesa itself was annihilated by a thermonuclear warhead detonation.

Explaining the HEV Suit:

The HEV Suit, or Hazardous EnVironment suit, often called the "Hazard Suit" for convenience, is a full-body hazardous materials suit developed at the Black Mesa Research Facility. Designed for Black Mesa scientists to protect themselves from radiation, energy discharges, blunt-force trauma during the handling of hazardous materials, and the effects of traveling to Xen as part of Survey Teams.

The HEV Mark IV suit worn by Gordon Freeman in the original resonance cascade incident has a built-in flashlight, Geiger counter, morphine administrator (which allows Gordon to sustain serious injury such as bullet wounds or shrapnel), an optional Long Jump Module which allows jumps over large distances (greatly increased horizontal range; vertical distance is elevated only slightly), a radio, tracking devices, and a heads-up display (HUD) which tracks health status and weapon ammunition usage, as well as including a weapons management system.

The suit contains an on-board computer system that constantly monitors the user's health and vital signs, reacting to any changes in the user's condition with activations in the aforementioned apparatus, and a soothing female-computer voice.

Additionally, the suit has an electrically hardened armor/energy shield system that can be charged at HEV chargers throughout Black Mesa. While charged, the suit provides greater protection from injury as the charge absorbs more than two-thirds of any damage or trauma experienced by the wearer, with the exception of fall damage, which is absorbed directly into body-integrity, and oxygen deprivation, caused by swimming without surfacing for long periods of time. With a fully charged suit, it is possible to survive several dozen bullets of small arms fire, continuous fire or even a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade.

Overview (as per Dr. Gordon Freeman's personal diary)

Every object has a set resonance. When excited by specific forms of energy of the correct frequency, it will resonate, and the amplitude of the vibrations will grow. If crystals (such as those from the Border World Xen) resonate beyond a certain threshold, it can open dimensional rifts and portals. The Xen crystal sample studied at Black Mesa resonated strongly enough to tear a rift between the border world, Xen and Earth.

While appearing to have been a contained event, it did have repercussions across the entire planet. The Resonance Cascade was the cause of not only the inter-dimensional rift but also all following events. It later sparked Portal Storms across the Earth and ultimately led to the Seven Hour War and opened the way for the Combine's invasion of the planet.

The Resonance Cascade is, therefore, arguably the single most significant event in the entire earth's timeline. Every event/occurrence of the Xen world on Earth can be traced back to the Resonance Cascade as a common root cause.

Appearances

The original Resonance Cascade caused an aggressive rift between Xen and the Black Mesa complex on Earth on May 16th, 200-. While at first, only basic Xen wildlife, such as Headcrabs, and Barnacles emerged through the rift, other intelligent creatures, such as Vortigaunts, were also sent to the other side by the Nihilanth, the leader of the Xen forces.

The phenomenon was self-sustaining and would thus continue until action was taken to terminate it, and Gordon Freeman, being the one who caused it, took upon himself the job of closing it, The rift appeared to have closed on Earth's side after the surviving Black Mesa science team, including Freeman, took steps to re-initialize Black Mesa's satellite-based energy projection network (including replacing a missing satellite by launching an orbital rocket carrying a replacement satellite).

The remaining scientists from the Lambda Core discovered that, despite their efforts, the portal was being held open from the other side by an unknown entity: the Nihilanth. As a countermeasure, Freeman was armed and equipped himself for an expedition. Then Freeman traveled to Xen via a portal prepared by the science team to neutralize the Nihilanth. His success in the endeavor eliminated the factor which kept the portal open, finally closing it on both sides.

So finally, how to create one of these events?

Well, it's simple!

You will need:

• 1 GG-3883 sample of a Xen crystal
  
  
• 1 Anti-Mass Spectrometer
  
  
• 1 HEV Mark IV Suit
  
  
• 2 Cups of disregard for humankind's well-being

Procedure:

• First, have a system crash 20 minutes before the incident. This event is crucial for the cascade, as it causes most systems in the complex to restart, making the chances of a problem happening much higher.
  
  
• Then, boost the anti-mass spectrometer 105%. This might be a bit of a gamble in safety terms, but it is crucial as it provides extra resolution.
  
  
• Make some of the equipment go critical, so it does stuff it isn't meant to do in the first place.
  
  
• Deviate a bit from standard procedures.
  
  
• Use the purest (and most unstable) sample of the Xen crystal to date ("GG-3883").
  
  
• Follow standard insertion procedure.
  
  
• Claim that the possibility of a resonance cascade scenario is extremely unlikely.
  
  
• Assure the administrator that nothing will go wrong.
  
  
• Start the rotors, bring the anti-mass spectrometer to 80% for a few moments.
  
  
• Power to stage 1 emitters, read predictable phase arrays.
  
  
• Activate stage 2 emitters.
  
  
• Try (and fail) to predict how long the system can operate at this level, nor how long the readings will take.
  
  
• Overhead capacitors to 105%.
  
  
• Read a small discrepancy, then claim it's back to being within acceptable bounds.
  
  
• Insert the cart containing the sample into the Anti-Mass Spectrometer
  
  
• Watch as electricity begins arcing out of control all around the test chamber
  
  
• Attempt to shut down, to no avail.
  
  
• Create a huge explosion that rocks the spectrometer, as several flashes of alien landscapes and aliens spawn out of thin air, creating the most ungodly cataclysmic quantum event in the history of man-kind.

Special Thanks

Thank you to the legends at Half-Life Wiki for providing the necessary information on how to create one of these fun events at the comfort of your own home!

More on the original resonance cascade[half-life.fandom.com]

More on the Anti-Mass Spectrometer[half-life.fandom.com]

More on the Xen Crystals[half-life.fandom.com]

More on Black Mesa Research Facility[half-life.fandom.com]

More on Gordon Freeman[half-life.fandom.com]

More on the HEV Suit[half-life.fandom.com]

[Ronay]

there is one kilo GG-3883 Xen Crystal in my refrigerator, and i was thinking what i am gonna do with that. this guide was very helpful. thanks bro

[󠁳⁧⁧*]

@CreaperMan : thank you mate

[󠁳⁧⁧*]

@kwume : shatting you mout tvitch

[76561199322895419]

best guide -rep wh

[minde]

Wery Good Guide Men I will Give award for this.