Gina Cross

Doctor Gina Cross is a Black Mesa scientist who first appeared as the holographic assistant for Gordon Freeman in the Black Mesa's Hazard Course and then later as one half of the protagonist team involved in the Black Mesa Incident in Half-Life: Decay.

Background
Cross is a 31 year old Hazardous Environment Supervisor with level 4 security clearance. She is the senior physicist assigned to anomalous materials handling at the Anomalous Materials Laboratory at the Black Mesa Research Facility.

She graduated from Caltech and has a Ph.D. in applied physics and masters the bioengineering and mechanical engineering fields as well. She is the designer of the HEV Suit and it is mentioned that she had tested the prototype for a Mark V suit, although it is unknown how this is related, if at all, to Gordon's Mark V suit in Half-Life 2. Her personal HEV suit is tan colored.

Half-Life
In the Half-Life Hazard Course, the holographic assistant preparing Gordon Freeman for any possible disaster in his job as a research associate was based on her appearance.

Half-Life: Opposing Force
Gina makes a cameo in Opposing Force. At some point, Adrian Shephard is allowed to use the Displacer to transport himself to the original Hazard Course, where Gina's hologram is still running. Interestingly, the course is full of Vortigaunts, who attack the hologram but do not damage it.

Half-Life: Blue Shift


In Blue Shift, Cross is seen in a small cameo appearance. Barney Calhoun can go to the video surveillance room and use a ceiling mounted video camera to watch her deliver the GG-3883 crystal sample.

Her HEV suit in this is colored orange, not tan, as it is the original  model used for the Half-Life Hazard Course. It is unknown why the "Gina" model was not used.

Half-Life: Decay
In Decay, Dr. Cross is the one who delivers the GG-3883 crystal sample to the delivery system and then heads to an area below the test chamber, where Dr. Colette Green is stationed, to fix a jam in the lift that allows the specimen to be delivered up to Gordon. After the Resonance Cascade occurs, Dr. Cross teams up with Dr. Green to battle their way through the now alien-infested facility. They first escort Dr. Rosenberg to the surface to contact the military, and then under the guidance of Dr. Richard Keller, they succeed in starting a resonance reversal to help lessen the effects of the dimensional rift.

During the course of the game, the holographic assistant is again seen when the players are required to cut through the destroyed remains of the Hazard Course to reach the surface.

Behind the scenes

 * Although initially only a non canon female scientist player model for Half-Life Deathmatch simply called " ", she was retconned in Half-Life: Decay as a standalone character alongside Colette Green and the woman who gave her likeness to the Hazard Course's holographic assistant. Therefore Cross was created like Barney Calhoun, from being a generic model with a generic first name to a standalone character with a surname.


 * The holographic instructor model seen in Half-Life and Blue Shift actually appears as an older woman with brown eyes, while Cross is a young, blue-eyed woman. In fact, the model originally had the face of a blue-eyed young woman and bun pins in the hair, which fits Cross' features and the Half-Life Deathmatch  models which the Decay model is based on, but it was replaced by an older face for some reason. The Decay model for the holographic instructor was however remade as a retcon to fit Gina's likeness (although the bun pins are missing in its hair). Furthermore, while Cross' appearance was based on the "Gina" model from Half-Life Deathmatch, only the HD version features the bun pins in the hair.


 * Although the outcome for Dr. Cross, along with the rest of the survivors in Decay, is unknown, a body resembling hers can be found in Opposing Force by Adrian Shephard, in one of the Displacer's Xen teleport destinations. The actual model name for this body is  (a Half-Life Deathmatch player model), which would suggest that the corpse truly belongs to Cross, "Gina" being her first name and the model existing since the release of Half-Life (and not Colette Green, since only the environment light is making the HEV suit look maroon, while it is clearly orange and beige). However, this possible retcon has yet to be made by Valve or Gearbox, since Gina Cross didn't exist as a real character before Decay, released two years after Opposing Force.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life: Day One
 * Half-Life
 * Half-Life: Uplink
 * Half-Life: Opposing Force
 * Half-Life: Blue Shift
 * Half-Life: Decay