This episode was written & produced by Daniel Semo and Casey Emmerling.

In the late ‘90s, Brian Johnson and Brian Morden were suburban teenagers obsessed with video games and music. And then, through an extraordinary wish, the two friends found themselves on a journey that made gaming history. In this episode, we explore how a single line of dialogue became a timeless piece of Halo lore, and the profound impact it had on everyone involved.

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View Transcript ▶︎

You're listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz. I'm Dallas Taylor.

[music in: Skyler Lawson - Teton]

Brian Johnson: I came on the podcast to share a story, and in my opinion, it's about the most special line of video game dialogue ever recorded.

That's Brian Johnson.

Brian Johnson: I am not much of a storyteller. I'm kind of private. But this is sort of the one story I enjoy telling. And it's because I'm definitely not the main character. It's someone else's story, I'm the supporting cast.

As it happens, the main character in Brian's story is also named Brian.

Brian Johnson: My best buddy, Brian Morden.

[music transition to: Skylar Lawson - Falstaff]

Brian Johnson: Brian and I, we just have a lot in common. Brian and I have the same first name. We were both born in 84. We lived a few blocks from each other.

Brian Johnson: We had known each other since we were toddlers because we went to the same babysitter. So we both had freckles and thick glasses when we were young boys, and our schoolmates thought we were twins. Looking back, I think that wasn't just a recognition of our physical similarities, but that our friendship resembled more of, like a brotherhood.

Brian Johnson: I remember our first day of first grade, moving from my tiny kindergarten class to the big public school was scary for six-year-old me.

[sfx: school bell rings, sound of kids rushing]

Brian Johnson: And when I walked into my classroom, I was nervous, and I'm suddenly hugged by Brian. We didn't know we were going to be classmates. I just remember standing in the doorway, being hugged by Brian and thinking, "Hey, as long as we're together in first grade, everything's going to be okay."

Brian Johnson: [sfx: bicycle pass by] Brian and I, we had that idyllic upbringing of going outside and riding bikes all day, and then going inside to play video games at night.

[clip: Super Metroid gameplay in]

Brian Johnson: So I'm playing my brother's older video game systems.

Brian Johnson: Brian was always way ahead of me, kind of dragging me along, and he's getting into computer gaming, which is way different than playing Nintendo. This is like 1995, ‘96, so we're barely 11 or 12. And he calls me up to his house one day, because he's got a new game for me to try called Marathon.

[Marathon gameplay in]

Brian Johnson: I'm running around a dark spaceship by myself, and he kind of leaves the room. He's letting me figure out the buttons. And, uh, suddenly there's someone else in the game with me following me around.

Brian Johnson: And I hear him yell out from the other room, "Hey, don't shoot! That's me!" And I'm like, "What do you mean that's you?" And he's like, "No, I’m—That's me, I'm in the game with you!"

Brian Johnson: And my mind was blown, ‘cause I didn't know that was possible. Multiplayer back then meant you were either on the same arcade or TV. He was actually networked with me playing, and it was like seeing into the future. And I'm like, "Who made this game?" And he says, "It's Bungie."

[music in: Trevor Kowalski - Wandering Ahead]

Bungie is an American video game developer. At the time, they were an independent company based out of a small studio in Chicago. But they were on their way to the big leagues.

Brian Johnson: At this time, they're making hit after hit. They've made the Marathons, Myth of the Fallen Lords, Myth Soulblighter, Oni…

Brian Johnson: Brian and I are playing these games like our lives depend on it. As teenagers, Bungie were just rock stars to us. We consumed every bit of information about them, their employees, and their games the way other kids might like with sports teams or something.

As well as video games, the two Brians shared another passion: music.

Brian Johnson: We come from very musical families. Our moms were both English teachers and piano players. Brian's dad was actually a composer and a former maestro of our local symphony. We're musicians, you know, we were both playing instruments since we were young.

Brian Johnson: So when we're first hearing Bungie's music in their games...

[Oni - Loss Theme in]

Brian Johnson: …we're really falling in love with these thoughtfully composed, classically inspired, romantic cinematic scores. They had all these unique influences in them. And it was so rare to hear music approached so thoughtfully in video games.

Brian Johnson: And this was the work of Marty O'Donnell. Marty was the composer of all of Bungie's work post-Marathon, and his music and sound effects, they became the soundtrack to our lives.

[music in: Jordan Critz - Beau et Rapide]

In the late nineties, Brian and Brian start to hear rumors about a huge new project that Bungie is working on.

Brian Johnson: And then in 1999, Steve Jobs, he goes out onto the stage at Macworld and introduces a new video game.

Steve Jobs: …But this is one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. This game is gonna ship early next year from Bungie, and this is the first time anybody has ever seen it.

Brian Johnson: And the game being announced was Halo.

Steve Jobs: And so I’m very happy to welcome on the stage Jason Jones…

Brian Johnson: Jason Jones, one of the founding members of Bungie, he's, you know, one of our rock star idols, he walks out and he plays this teaser trailer.

Brian Johnson: It starts with what sounds like a chorus of monks chanting an ancient and sacred melody.

Brian Johnson: And there's these images of like a space marine exploring a foreign ring world. There are aliens and strange symbols and military vehicles, these vast landscapes...

Brian Johnson: And then the music erupts into like this cinematic blend of like world percussion and intricate string arrangements.

Brian Johnson: For us teenage boys, this world premiere first glimpse of Halo, it ignited our imaginations. And we're excited to play this game, but we're so excited to see Bungie become the studio we always thought they'd become.

[Trailer ends with applause]

Brian Johnson: Not long after this, Brian gets a pain in his hip. And at first, we thought it might be from a hard tackle he took when we were playing intramural football in high school. But this is like a dull, deep ache that just wasn't going away.

Brian Johnson: His parents, Fred and Dawn, wasted no time. They're just the most loving parents, always very involved, proactive, and they get him looked at immediately. And something wasn't right just from looking at the scans.

[music in: John Arndt - Apparition]

Brian Johnson: So January of 2001, all of us friends and family would learn this new word that would sort of change all of our lives. Brian is 16 years old, and he is diagnosed officially with Ewing's Sarcoma.

Brian Johnson: The pain in his hip is a tumor, and Ewing's Sarcoma is a rare bone cancer that primarily affects children and young adults. And it is nasty, it's especially nasty in 2001. The literature of the time says that the survival rate of Ewing's Sarcoma is like 40-60% or so, depending on the progression. But the doctors are pretty optimistic that they had found it early, and that it was localized.

Brian Johnson: So Brian is now going into high school and he's starting chemotherapy.

Brian Johnson: And throughout high school, I honestly don't have any memories of Brian complaining about his cancer, his diagnosis, not to me or anyone. You know, he's just this happy-go-lucky kid. He's laughing, he's encouraging, he's sweet. We were making movies together, and gaming, playing lots of music, making recordings...

Brian Johnson: Brian, despite losing his hair, and sometimes feeling a little sick, he appeared to me at the time to have a really typical life, and just innocent kids having fun in high school.

Brian Johnson: Looking back on it, I kind of now realize Brian was really good at putting on a brave face. And inside, he was dealing with a lot of thoughts and ideas that the rest of us teenagers couldn't imagine, that most of us as adults today haven't faced.

Brian Johnson: Shortly after his diagnosis, he is contacted by Make-A-Wish Foundation, because he's critically ill. And the packet that they sent him from the Make-A-Wish allowed you to both write and draw your wish. And it was only later I realized that they allow you to draw your wish because, sadly, some of the children that they work with are so young they can't write yet.

Brian Johnson: And so when he told me he got his packet, I was on the phone with him, urging him, like, [phone filter] "Hey, take your time. Let's logically go through and optimize your best choices for a wish." And he just starts giggling. He's like, [phone filter] "Dude, just come over, I already filled the packet out." So now I'm worried.

[music in: Jonny Southard - As One]

Brian Johnson: I came over, and he shows me his drawings. And it's of he and his family standing in front of a building that said “Bungie” on it. And so I'm just looking at it, trying to put it together, and I notice there's a fifth person in the drawing. And I started asking him, he's like, "Dude, it's you, me and my family. We're going to Bungie. We're going to play Halo. That's my wish."

Brian Johnson: And I couldn't believe it. I was amazed. He didn't even need to think about it or sleep on it. This is what he wanted. I was so honored that he wanted to share this with me. But Brian shared everything with me at that point, you know, everything that was good in his life. That was just him.

After receiving Brian's request, Make-A-Wish reaches out to Bungie. But since Halo was first announced by Steve Jobs, things have changed for the small game studio.

Brian Johnson: They're actually bought by Microsoft during this time. Microsoft announced they're jumping into the gaming market, and they have an idea for a new console that they're going to call the Xbox. And they need their killer launch title to sell this console. And so when Bungie put the industry on notice, Microsoft noticed. So Bungie is now in Redmond on the Microsoft campus.

Redmond is a suburb of Seattle, where Microsoft is based. At first, Brian’s request takes Bungie by surprise.

[music in: Steven Gutheinz - Watchers]

Brian Johnson: When Bungie finds out that a child with cancer has one wish, and it's to visit their studio, they were also very confused. And they're asking the same thing. "Is he sure about this wish? Are you guys talking to the right Bungie? Are you sure this isn't a mix up, and a kid that wants to go bungee jumping?"

In the end, they confirm that it is the right Bungie, and it is a real wish. And the company agrees to make it happen.

Brian Johnson: The date for us to visit them is August 12th through 18th, 2001. They want to make a whole week out of it, just a few weeks before we're going to start our senior year in high school.

Brian Johnson: So, you got to put yourself in our shoes. Like Make-A-Wish has pulled out all the stops. We're being flown out, all expenses paid. There's two nice hotel rooms, one just for Brian and I, and then an adjoining suite for his mom and dad and his little brother, Jamin. I'm just there as a sidekick, I'm just there to support him, and make him laugh, and just make sure he's the happiest kid in the world, along with his family.

Brian Johnson: And so we're being driven around Seattle for the week, visiting the Pike Street Market. We're eating at five star restaurants, we do Mount Rainier, museums, the Harbor aquariums… And, as a kid from small town Pennsylvania, I'm eating my first $100 steak while overlooking the Seattle cityscape in the Space Needle.

Brian Johnson: The first five days have gone by in the blink of an eye, and now we're coming up on the 17th, which is Wish Day. And we can hardly sleep the night before. We're going over our strategic plan to maximize our time at Bungie.

Finally, the morning arrives.

[music in: Trevor Kowalski - The Best Way Out is Through]

Brian Johnson: For the 17th, they're asking us to meet them outside of our hotel early. So we say hello, and then a white stretch limousine drives up. [sfx] The driver gets out. I remember his name was Jay, and he opens the door for us. [sfx] You just got to put yourselves in the shoes of two teenagers. We huddle in, and we were just balling out in this white stretch limousine.

[sfx] But before they can party too hard, the representatives from Make-A-Wish and Microsoft need to get serious for a minute.

Brian Johnson: They needed us to understand that this had never been done. This hadn't been done by Make-A-Wish, or Microsoft, or any other game studio, that what we are seeing is top secret. We have signed our lives away, NDAs… And I remember this specifically, they said, "We're going to be with the Elite Review Team with Microsoft." Basically meant we'd have an army of lawyers following us around inside as we saw stuff we shouldn't be seeing.

Brian Johnson: We pull into Microsoft campus, and it's still early morning. And one of the first things I remember doing, we’re kind of touring the facility, and we walk into some type of research lab.

[SFX: Science lab sounds]

Brian Johnson: And a dude in a literal white coat tells us, "Hey, follow me," he motions for us to follow him.

[SFX: footsteps going down hallway]

Brian Johnson: We go into a room where he proudly unplugs a prototype Xbox. He holds it up to his chest…

[SFX: Angelic choir]

Brian Johnson: And he just drops it on the floor.

[SFX: Xbox dropping + choir abruptly out]

Brian Johnson: And then he's a big guy, I remember. And he jumps on the Xbox with all his weight.

[SFX: Jumping on Xbox]

Brian Johnson: And then he picks it back up and he plugs it back in.

[SFX: Xbox startup sound]

Brian Johnson: And he proudly says, "This is an Xbox," and he's super proud of the build quality.

Brian Johnson: So that's the first time we saw an Xbox. We're the... probably the first kids to see them, I don't know. But we get to play some games, they show us Fuzion Frenzy, Project Gotham Racing…

Fuzion Frenzy Announcer: Get ready! 3, 2, 1, go!

[Fuzion Frenzy gameplay in]

Brian Johnson: It was super awesome to be sitting in a Microsoft lab playing unreleased games on a brand new unreleased secret console.

Brian Johnson: And I started to appreciate the brilliance of Brian's wish, ‘cause anyone could go to rock concerts and Disneyland. But what we were doing, money couldn't buy this experience. This was special.

[music back in: Trevor Kowalski - The Best Way Out is Through]

Brian Johnson: And it felt like we passed our initial test, and Willy Wonka was going to let us see more of his factory, because slowly the lawyers started disappearing.

Brian Johnson: We get back in the limo, and it's time to go to Bungie headquarters. And I remember, it's on a different part of the campus, and so our hearts are pounding.

Brian Johnson: But, when we walk inside, Bungie are as starstruck to meet Brian as we are to meet him, which was unexpected. You know, they're kind of in awe of the love this critically ill young man has for them and their work, and they're just super honored that he's there. And they're introducing themselves, and we have lunch with our heroes, Jason and Alex, the co-founders of the company.

Brian Johnson: And the lunch would be like… It would be like if Star Wars nerds met George Lucas and could ask him every question about Star Wars lore.

Brian Johnson: And finally, Jason Jones says, "Enough talk. It's time to play the game." And Brian and I get real quiet. We're in a dark room with screens set up. And they put headphones on us, and we're just thrown right into the middle of this Halo single player campaign.

[Halo Single Player Gameplay in]

Brian Johnson: And this is Halo, we’re holding an Xbox controller. We're playing an Xbox, we're playing Halo. The envy of probably about a billion other kids on the Earth.

Brian Johnson: And I remember after dying a few times, I just look over and just enjoy watching Brian experience his dream coming true. I don't remember anyone else there, it's weird. I just remember us together in that room. It was really special.

Brian Johnson: Next, they take us to a play pit. A play pit is where there's a bunch of screens and game stations together so that game developers can sit together, and test, and play through the game as a team. So they load us into a multiplayer map, and we get to play with them.

[Halo multiplayer gameplay in]

Brian Johnson: Brian and I are just speechless playing Halo with Bungie.

After the break, Brian gets immortalized in Halo history.

MIDROLL

[Music in: Trevor Kowalski - Lore]

It's 2001. Brian Morden and Brian Johnson are on the Microsoft campus, touring the studio of their favorite game developer, Bungie. There, the two friends get to meet their heroes, and even play an unreleased version of Halo.

Brian Johnson: So, this Make A Wish Day, it's blowing Brian's biggest expectations out of the water already. Brian got to do everything and meet everyone he wanted, except for one guy. We were getting towards the end of our time there, and Brian asks if Marty O'Donnell's there, our favorite composer. He's the one writing the music we've come to love. And Marty's there, he comes out and he greets us and he brings us, the family into his studio.

[Halo Theme sneaks in]

Brian Johnson: And he shows off the music and sound effects of the game. He played us, you know, the famous Halo theme.

Brian Johnson: And he's soloing different instruments and vocals on the mixing board.

Brian Johnson: He's talking about, you know, how he came up with the melody. He played us some new music from the game, and he's just, he's kind of excited to answer all of our questions about Halo and past projects and geeking out about music with us.

[music sneaks in: Blake Ewing - Spring Tides]

Brian Johnson: And when it seemed like Brian had run out of questions for Marty, Marty goes, "Hey, this game is coming out in a few months, and we need some good screams and exertions for all these marines in the game." And he pointed to the vocal booth in his studio.

Brian Johnson: And Brian being Brian, he kind of sheepishly looks at me, expecting me to be the one to go in, as I think he had deemed me the better voice actor. And Brian's shy. You know, he's just always thinking of others… That's the way he was, being inclusive even on his Wish Day.

Brian Johnson: And Marty—Marty reads my mind and reminds him, "Hey, that Brian isn't the one with cancer." So Brian nervously gets in the booth to make his voice acting debut.

Brian Johnson: And we don't know it at the time, but Halo is, it's an audio masterpiece. The soundtrack, the effects, the VO and tech. When it's released, it would have an unprecedented like 40,000 lines dialogue. It's the first game in 5.1. And Brian's about to be part of it.

Brian Johnson: So he's nervous at first, as anyone would be. And Marty is a pro voice director. He's loosening him up, getting him to laugh. And suddenly Brian is a natural, and he's cutting loose.

Brian Johnson: He's screaming into the microphone.

[SFX: exertions]

Brian Johnson: And, uh, Marty's like, "That's a good one, Brian, we can use this!”

Brian Johnson: And they're screaming back and forth at each other. And I don't know if, to this day, if Marty planned this, but he gets an idea and he says, "You know, there's a line left that I still haven't recorded for the game." You know, the game's coming out in a couple of months. He's like, "The line is, 'The Autumn, she's been hit.' And you need to really scream it like you're in disbelief.”

Brian Johnson: And Brian does his first take, and he’s kind of laughing midway through, you know, trying to become an actor. And then the second take he does it.

Brian Morden: The Autumn, she’s been hit!

Brian Johnson: He gets his voice to crack like a pro, and Marty, Marty yells, "That's it! You're in the game, Brian! We're using that!"

Brian Johnson: And, um… we couldn't believe it.

Brian Johnson: Um, I remember, Brian lets out just the happiest giggle you could ever hear. And it's just pure joy. You know, not only is Brian's voice going to be part of Halo forever, he's like a character in the game now. And I can't tell you what it meant to be in the room and share that moment where… that moment when your best friend's dream comes true. And I got a front row seat with his family. And uh, I will just forever be grateful to be part of that.

[Music out into music sneaks in: Eric Kinney - Seed]

Brian Johnson: The next thing we know, we're saying goodbye. We're back in the limo. We're kind of just sitting there, grinning silently, just giggling, thinking about what just happened.

Brian Johnson: This moment, it's hard to put into words what this game and company and community mean to us. For this podcast audience, maybe imagine you're a young girl whose favorite actor is Kate Winslet and your wish is to meet her. And not only do you meet her, she invites you to a movie she's acting in called Titanic. And then she invites you to be an extra in a scene with her, and gives you a line to say in the movie. Like, I—Even though I was there to support him, the impact this moment had on me was profound.

Brian Johnson: Getting a glimpse of what it was like to work in games, and be in a game studio, that experience would pull me towards the game industry. It was just like a magnet. And I felt that belonging and that magnet pulling me.

Brian Johnson: When Halo comes out, it's a phenomenon. Halo would be one of the great first person shooters of all time, it's on a scale and scope that no one's ever seen. And to this day, it's a ten billion dollar franchise and has many more sequels, and books and action figures, TV shows…

Brian Johnson: So when we get the game, our first playthrough, we find that Brian is in one of the most important cut scenes of the game.

[Halo cutscene in, woven in with Brian]

Marine: We’re gonna make it, aren’t we sir? I don’t wanna die out here.

Brian Johnson: The Autumn is the name of the giant ship that had just escaped from planet Reach, and it is humanity's last hope. And Master Chief, the main character, is standing beside a brave marine as they are escaping on this drop ship. And the Marine’s yelling, "The Autumn, she's been hit! The ship we're escaping from is taking fire."

Brian Morden: The Autumn, she’s been hit!

Cortana: I knew it! The Autumn’s accelerating. Keyes is going in manually!

Brian Johnson: And so this mysterious line now actually makes sense. And Brian wasn't just in the game. He's a character. And he's not just a character. He's like in a big story moment.

Cortana: You sure you wouldn’t rather take a seat?

Master Chief: We’ll be fine.

Brian Johnson: When Brian finishes his last round of chemo treatment, we throw an end of chemo party, which of course is a giant Halo LAN party.

A LAN party was when you brought all your consoles or gaming PCs to the same place, and connected them to the same network so you could all play together.

[party scene in incl. Easton - Anywhere But Here]

Brian Johnson: We filled up his church basement with Xboxes and televisions, copies of Halo, we had catering from his favorite Italian place, and most importantly, lots and lots of friends. We just lock ourselves in and play Halo all night and party. And we'd periodically stop... [button press with music stop]

Brian Johnson: And watch Brian's cut scene together, and cheer when he'd say his line…

Brian Morden: The Autumn, she’s been hit!

[Brian's line, people cheer, console off, button press music resumes]

Brian Johnson: You know, Brian's a rockstar. And it was just such a happy day. We ate food and played Halo until we’d fall asleep, or our forearms are too sore to hold the controller anymore.

After completing chemo, Brian's cancer goes into remission. He starts making plans for college, and tries to get back to a normal life.

Brian Johnson: Brian would get his driver's license. We'd go to prom, we'd graduate high school together. And as Brian would report in for his checkups, the remission was unfortunately brief. He'd get the really tough news that they detected cancer cells.

[music in: Jordan Critz - Flö [Piano Only]]

Brian Johnson: This next round of chemo and radiation was awful. Worse than the cancer. And at this time, he got accepted to university to pursue video editing, but he's not going to be able to do that. He's battling for his life.

Brian Johnson: I go off to music school. I'm visiting him on the weekends at the Children's Hospital at Pittsburgh, or when he's home.

For a little while, the two friends keep playing games together online.

Brian Johnson: But soon I wasn't seeing Brian online anymore. He's getting really sick. The cancer's spreading. And Brian's dad is letting me know that Brian's too weak. You know, he can barely use the computer.

Brian Johnson: And Brian's spirit is unbreakable. He wants to keep fighting, his mind's there, his spirit's there, but it's really hard for him to see his body betray him.

Brian Johnson: His dad told me that at one point he just asked to be cut in half, like, "Just cut me in half. Just get rid of this stuff, I just want to live." He's willing to do experimental treatments, anything. ‘Cause he just has so much to live for.

Cut to Valentines Day, 2003. Brian Johnson is away at college.

Brian Johnson: I got a call from Fred, Brian's dad, that Brian's kidneys have failed. They sent him home from the hospital and he's waiting for me at home. My dad picked me up, and we drove back to our hometown in silence.

Brian Johnson: He dropped me straight off at Brian's house. I called our other really close friend from high school to come over so we can say goodbye together.

[Music in: Blake Ewing - Ghosts in the Stories [Night Cycles Version]]

Brian Johnson: And Brian's on a gurney in the living room, waiting for me. And man, it is so rare when you actually get to say goodbye to a loved one. You know, most people never get that chance.

Brian Johnson: And this is another opportunity, Brian gives me. I held his hand, told him, you know, it'd be okay. And I'm not a very mature college kid, so I don't know what to do. It's really hard.

Brian Johnson: Our friend doesn't know what to do either. He calls Bungie. And he actually gets a hold of Marty O'Donnell on the phone.

Brian Johnson: I can't imagine what was going through Marty's mind when he gets a call that, “There's a kid on his deathbed, and he wants to talk to you.” I couldn't hear the whole conversation, you know, ‘cause I'm just hearing Brian's side, but Marty makes a promise to Brian that he's going to be in every Bungie game released forever. That he had made an impact on Bungie, and he'd be in all their games. And Brian is… You know, he's touched. He's finding out he's going to be immortalized.

Brian Johnson: And, uh, Brian's dad comes over. He says, "Just stay with us. Stay the night, take Brian's room." And so I tell Brian, I'm going to see him in the morning. And, we go to bed. And Fred wakes us up in the morning to let us know Brian has passed, that night, in their arms with his family and they held them all night. And, uh, You know, we're stunned. thought Brian… We thought maybe he'd make it through the night, so we didn't want to think that that'd be the last time we would see him.

Brian Johnson: His funeral was in the same church we had our big end-of-chemo LAN party. You know, the church where his mom played organ, and we all, all of us, we played in his service. So it felt like our last concert with Brian, of many concerts we played together.

Brian Johnson: And it was clear that there were a lot of other people Brian had a huge impact on in the short time he was with us.

Brian Johnson: There wasn't an empty seat. People are standing in the aisles. They're going out the back door. And um… we're just playing our instruments, just belting out these songs for him that he would have loved.

Brian Johnson: I remember at the time it just felt like this was the end of his battle that had lasted ages. But looking back now, and I realize this was all 26 months since he was diagnosed. He had lived this entire lifetime of highs and lows in this short 26 month period.

Brian's mom Dawn formed a charity in his remembrance called the Brian Morden Foundation. It raises money to fund research into Ewing's Sarcoma, and helps support patients and families dealing with childhood cancer. They also give scholarships to students from Brian's high school.

Brian Johnson: Dawn made Brian a promise she'd do everything she could to make sure no other kid had to go through what he did.

[music in: Jordan Critz - Valse de L'eau [Piano Only]]

Over the years, Bungie has kept their promise too, and put Brian somewhere in every game.

Brian Johnson: Brian's family received what were essentially periodic small payouts for Brian's single line of dialogue, because it was being included in other games. Bungie and Marty and Jay were sneaking it into every Halo game, and even Destiny.

And it went beyond just that single line.

Brian Johnson: So they snuck his image, and references to him, and they have other voice actors in the games even mention him in some really obscure parts of games that were only shared with me and his family.

Brian Johnson: Some of these things, I can't control when they happen. They might have a one in 10,000 chance of triggering. So they had let me hear them trigger them, and I know where I can go if I want a chance to hear them. It's something just kind of for us and for Bungie.

After his friend's passing, Brian Johnson goes back to music school. Then, he sets his sights on the video game industry... but it's an uphill battle.

[music in: Jordan Critz - Beaté [Piano Only]]

Brian Johnson: Fast forward to 2014. I'm kind of at a low point. I've given my 20s to trying to get into game audio. I'm almost 30. You know, my friends are in careers, they're having children, they're starting families, and I'm really struggling. And I'm starting to feel kind of foolish for how hard I've held on to this vision of working in a game studio.

Brian Johnson: So I would do my best to embrace my inner Brian Morden. To be an optimist through to the end, ‘cause that was the one thing cancer never got from him. And I can say that, ‘cause I had the privilege of being there with him through the end. So I was going to hold out hope.

Brian Johnson: I felt like if someone, anyone would just give me a chance to show what I could do, I would be able to seize on the opportunity. Brian had given me so much in life, given me my friends, my passions, I wanted to carry his legacy with me into games.

Brian Johnson: It was that year, 12 years since his passing, that I found something really unusual. I found a job listing for a paid sound designer apprenticeship at a post production house. "Hello, this is something new."

[music in: Trevor Kowalski - Focus on the Moment]

Brian Johnson: This was a post house that worked in television, film, and occasionally video game projects. “Uh oh, that's two out of three.” And then amazingly, it was only a few hours South of me in Washington, DC. So this is three out of three. This is rare. You know, sound design, video games, paid internship, nearby.

Brian Johnson: So I immediately send them my demo reel, and I am ecstatic to receive an interview. And the studio owner, he comes on Skype. He’s incredibly warm, made me feel at ease. He recognized the university I went to for school on my resume, and he's a musician himself.

Brian Johnson: And by the end of the interview, he just asked me, "Hey, do you want to come down to DC in like two weeks? You can start work." And I'm getting my chance. So I'm 30 years old, and I'm going to become an apprentice sound designer.

Brian Johnson: So I have this six month contract at this post house. And I'm meeting the team. Outside of the Bungie trip, these are the first professional sound designers I've ever met. So I become like a sponge. I'm learning everything I can. I get to work on lots of projects and I even get to work on a trailer for a video game. My first game work.

Brian Johnson: My contract is winding down, And I remember the owner telling me about an idea he has that he's really excited about, he had an idea to start a podcast about sound. If you haven't figured it out by now, this idea would become the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast.

Brian Johnson: So my big break came from this podcast's own Dallas Taylor, he was the owner of Defacto sound, and he is the one who plucked me out of obscurity, and his team mentored me and I will forever be grateful for the chance that he took on me.

Brian Johnson: I finished my apprenticeship with Dallas. Within the month, I'm interviewing at four different studios, and I accept an offer. And before I know it, Activision Games has movers packing up my belongings and moving me to a new home near their video game studio. And I'm going to be a sound designer for Call of Duty, the biggest game in the world.

[Music in: Anna Landstrom - Remembering the Days]

Brian Johnson: On my first day at work, I got that feeling of being like a 15 year old again, walking into Bungie, except I'm not the guest there. I'm walking to my office where I'm going to be making the game this time. And so when I get into my office, all I can do is sit down, take it in, look up, and tell Brian, "Hey, we did it. We made it buddy. We're here."

Brian Johnson: So I'm now a principal sound designer for cinematics at Blizzard Entertainment. And it is a dream come true to help tell stories of some of our video games through sound. I get to help tell the stories of World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Hearthstone… And I love, love, love going to work every day.

Brian Johnson: And Blizzard Entertainment is a studio inside Microsoft. So I feel like I've come full circle from Brian's Microsoft Make-A-Wish visit. I'm the one able to give young people tours all around our Blizzard campus, maybe see their heroes, maybe give them some inspiration, help them find their North Star.

Brian Johnson: So I help out aspiring and upcoming game audio folk as often as I can. In the course of a week, I'll get dozens of questions from the sound design community, awesome group of people. But the most common one is, "I want to work in games. How did you get into video games? And when did you know that's what you wanted to do?" And I get to reply, "Let me tell you about my best buddy, Brian."

Brian Johnson: It's funny because when I was young, and I would share parts of the story, it was, you know, kind of all about the heroic lengths Microsoft and Make-A-Wish took to make Brian's wish come true.

Brian Johnson: But I was—I was kind of getting the story all wrong. You know, it's been 20 years, over 20 years since Brian has passed. And it's not Bungie that I'm in awe of. It's, of course, Brian. He's the rock star, he's the hero, he was the generous one. And all the good things that came out of the horror of Brian's cancer battle was simply his goodwill and nature kind of being reflected back onto him.

Brian Johnson: Having Brian as a friend is one of the best things to ever happen to me. I am grateful for every minute I got to be with him. I wish I had told him that more. But now I can kind of share it with the world on your podcast, what a special young guy he was. And the impact he had on everyone he met.

[music out into music in: Trevor Kowalski - The Grassland]

Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the sound design studios of Defacto Sound. Hear more at defacto sound dot com.

Thank you to Brian Johnson, for sharing such a deeply personal story. I want to remind you about the incredible work being done by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Brian Morden Foundation. Make-A-Wish has been fulfilling the wishes of kids with critical illnesses for almost forty years. Meanwhile, the Brian Morden Foundation supports kids and their families in their fight against cancer, and helps fund research into treatments for Ewing Sarcoma.

We’ve donated a portion of this episode’s ad revenue to these two groups, and I encourage anyone listening to make a donation as well. You can find the donate links in the show notes of this episode.

[make the donate links the top line in description]

Other Voices: This episode was written and produced by Daniel Semo and Casey Emmerling, with help from Grace East. It was sound designed and mixed by Graham Gold and Colin DeVarney.

I'm Dallas Taylor. Thanks for listening.