Half Life 2: Dominion

Ryan wears the standard blue citizen jumpsuit with "23-9418" displayed on the chest and sleeve, deliberately chosen to be neither too clean nor too dirty—perfect for someone who wishes to remain unremarkable. His medium-length brown hair is cut to regulation standards but always slightly unkempt, and several days' worth of stubble covers his face, staying just within acceptance parameters. Dark circles permanently frame his eyes, which rarely make direct contact with others. A barely visible scar runs along his jawline—a souvenir from his resistance days that he claims came from "factory work" if anyone asks. His loyalty score pin (42) is always visible but tarnished, as if cared for only enough to avoid attention. His hands, though he tries to hide them, bear the calluses and burns typical of someone who has worked extensively with resistance tech and improvised explosives.

Ryan embodies a careful balance of resignation and vigilance. He speaks little, and when forced into conversation, offers short, neutral responses that neither endorse nor challenge Combine authority. "It is what it is," serves as his mantra for nearly any situation. He has perfected the art of the empty nod when supervisors speak and the blank stare during mandatory viewscreens. Beneath this carefully constructed apathy, however, his former self remains painfully alive—he cannot help noticing ventilation weaknesses in Combine structures or mentally calculating the explosive force needed to breach certain walls. When scanner drones pass overhead, his breathing subtly changes—a trained response from years of avoiding detection. He carries the weight of his betrayal of the resistance cause not through dramatic guilt but through a numbing daily existence that feels like punishment enough. His greatest fear isn't death but being recognized by either side.

The man now known as Ryan Renner doesn't appear in any pre-war records—because he isn't Ryan Renner. Three years ago, after watching his resistance cell decimated during a raid in the industrial sector, he made the desperate decision to disappear. Using skills learned as the cell's tech specialist, he infiltrated a Civil Protection data center during a power fluctuation and created a new identity, complete with a fabricated history of compliance just adequate enough to survive. The real Ryan Renner was likely processed into a Stalker or worse in one of Richter's laboratories. Now living under this stolen name, he maintains minimal social connections and performs his assigned duties at a water filtration plant with just enough competence to avoid scrutiny. He frequents The Permitted Café not for company but because avoiding such normal social spaces would itself draw attention.