"What cat?"

[YROC]

So, early in HL2, before get into the teleporter(maybe even before you get into the suit) Alyx says "What cat?" after someone else had said something which I never catch. Later in the game, during the rebelllion, Barney says "Do you hear a cat?" ((I think) something along the lines of that). So, is that cat thing an inside joke or something? Can someone explain what the hell is going on?

 

[jet_porkins]

When you first encounter Kleiner in the flesh and are about to teleport, Kleiner says something along the lines of "The teleporter's working again," to which Barney replies, "Good, because I still have nightmares about that cat."

 

[ríomhaire]

They must have tested the previous model of the teleporter on a cat, with poor results (think Galaxy Quest: "It's inside out...and it exploded.") This is also a reference to The Fly in which a teleporter is tested on a cat, causing it to disappear without a trace (though through the course of the film you can hear it meowing in the ether from time to time).

 

[YROC]

Thanks for the info. Love learning new things about games i've beaten over and over and over and over.

 

[G(ordon)-man]

Yeah, it's a sort of a joke.

 

[altceva]

I thought many mammals were extinct along with the Combine invasion, especially urban pets, considering 90% of the cities went down. If the Resistance scientists would have a cat, why would they sacrifice it for the experiment? Why not catch a bird instead? I mean, the cat is one of the last individuals of its specie and you make teleporter tests with it?

Killing kittens and keeping headcrabs as pets. Scientists are weird people.

 

[Eejit]

Perhaps they don't like cats.

 

[Mech Man]

I thought many mammals were extinct along with the Combine invasion

Actually I would have thought that a lot of terrestrial animals became extinct in the portal storms which was a short while before the combine invasion. Considering the amount of hostile creatures pouring in from xen and their unique abilities that surpass earthly animals (the houndeye's shockwave for instance) I would see that as a possibility.

 

[coheedswicked]

thats how the dinosaurs became extinct

 

[Shasta86]

I always thought they were calling the pet headcrab, "Cat".

 

[Officer Combine]

I don't think I'd name a headcrab "Cat". That headcrab's name is Lamarr.

 

[Shasta86]

I don't think I'd name a headcrab "Cat". That headcrab's name is Lamarr.

Yea, but from what I have seen, Barney hates Lamarr, and so he calls it "Cat".

I could be completely wrong. Swhatevah.

 

[Edeslash]

I thought many mammals were extinct along with the Combine invasion, especially urban pets, considering 90% of the cities went down. If the Resistance scientists would have a cat, why would they sacrifice it for the experiment? Why not catch a bird instead? I mean, the cat is one of the last individuals of its specie and you make teleporter tests with it?

Killing kittens and keeping headcrabs as pets. Scientists are weird people.

A bird would fly away.

 

[huntingbear]

A bird would fly away.

well that depends on the estimated airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.

 

[Great Grizzly]

Is it a South African Swallow or a European Swallow?

*pulls out calculator*

*furiously crunches numbers*

 

[Tacoeaterguy]

The whole.. cat thing and the testing of the teleporter reminds me of the Portal chicken test that failed.

 

[auleu]

In portuguese, "cat" is also a metaphor for an illegal/improvised ellectrical instalation. It explains the concern of Barney and Alyx, as well as the way Dr. Kleiner changes the subject.

 

[Officer Combine]

In portuguese, "cat" is also a metaphor for an illegal/improvised ellectrical instalation. It explains the concern of Barney and Alyx, as well as the way Dr. Kleiner changes the subject.

Heh. That doesn't sound right.

 

[ozzy_15]

what if the "cat" he was talking about was a fast zombie cause if you listen closly to one in ravenholm it sounds like a cat meowing

 

[ChiliFan]

if you listen closly to one in ravenholm it sounds like a cat meowing

it's howie long's death scream from broken arrow

 

[ozzy_15]

ok but don't they kinda sound like cats?

 

[dinogirl71]

well,in the teleporter,there is a cactus.after a few tries at it (and throwing the catus at alyx barney and dr.kleiner,)it disiergrated.the cat disengrated.

 

[Emporius]

That's a good to know. Cats are all lazy engrates.

 

[tomemozok]

Actually you are all wrong...
In the early stages of the game development,there should have been a scene where barney is trying the teleport to go to krakens base for the first time,and
suddenly a cat would show up and jump as the port was happenning.
Barney teleports with only half of the cat,since the cat didn't make it in time,and the other half is seen by Gordon and Kliner.
The whole thing got scrapped when they actually scrapped more than half of the game.Krakens base and the old kliners lab scenes were scrapped preety early in the development cycle,but they left the cat incident just for laughs between the employees of valve.
This is all described in HL2:Rasing the bar.
You can see both levels in the mod missing information,althou the old kliner lab is preety buggy.