I recently bought and completed Portal and MAN. It was amazing. There's not as many fic opportunities for Portal as there are for other fandoms, but I was really itching to write one for it-and then i discovered a fanfic centering around the mysterious Rat Man, which you can read on my favorites. It totally inspired me to write this up, which will be a multi-chaptered fic detailing the Rat Man's entry to The Aperture Science Enrichment Center to his death (Hopefully i'll be able to get that far) Obviously alot of filler had to be put in this for his personality, the state of the Enrichment Center around the time of his being there, etc, etc. I did my best, and I hope you like it. I really enjoy writing for characters like him-so prominent and yet so unknown. It's interesting.

I'll try to get this fic updated weekly or so-i'm curious to see how it's recieved, if at all. Either way i'll keep writing it; I have to keep this obsession happy somehow.

"Ugh..."

The man's eyes slowly opened, blinking and furrowing his eyebrows. He could hear a faint, melodious sound coming from somewhere, but it was too hard to focus on it-his head was pounding.

Just as his vision began to sluggishly clear, there was a loud 'swish' sound from above and the melody from before now seemed much too loud and chipper. He felt hungover, almost, but he'd never been much of a drinker...

He sat up, eyes widening as he surveyed his surroundings.

It was difficult to comprehend everything when his head felt so heavy, but he was certainly positive he had no idea where he was-A cold, seemingly-pristine and clean room with a tile floor and glass walls..and no exit, obvious or not. There was a toilet next to the wall (Or that's what he guessed it was), and a small stool in the corner, on top of which a clipboard and radio sat. And he was sitting in..some kind of pod. He climbed out cautiously, glancing back at it.

He'd been in there, apparently, sleeping..?

He was getting a little frightened now, and angry; Where was he? Was this some kind of joke? Why wasn't he at home, in..

He froze.

Where..was home?

Where was his home? He'd had one before this, hadn't he?

He stared at the ground below his feet, his eyes wide. He didn't know. He didn't know where his home was, and he didn't know...who HE was.

His hands were shaking now, and he took a deep breath. Calm down. There had to be a reason to all this..Maybe he was in a hospital, a new, improved one? But then, why? How long had he been out?

Looking down at himself, he realized he didn't recognize his clothing, either-an orange jumpsuit that cut off just above his ankles. A white strip across the breast pocket read 'APERTURE'. And there were some weird contraptions on his legs-Metal rungs that dipped just under his heel and were strapped to the back of his knees. They didn't seem to hinder his movement at all, but he didn't know what their function was supposed to be, either.

He took a few steps into the tiny room, picking up the clipboard from the tiny table-maybe it would give him some answers.

APERTURE SCIENCE TEST SUBJECT PARTICIPANT FORM

TEST SUBJECT NAME: UNKNOWN

UID: #77864404856839207865432345758439485748372820...

AGE: 24

He frowned down at the yellow sheet. It didn't even have his name; just a ridiculously long number of 60 something digits. Twenty-four years old...

A dart of pain shot through his head and the clipboard clattered to the floor. He gripped his head for a moment as the pain faded, taking a few deep breaths.

"Hello, and again, Welcome to the Aperture Science Computer Aided Enrichment Center.."

The man jumped at the sudden voice that intruded into his small room, completely cutting through the radio's jazzy tune. He immediately whirled around, looking for the source, but he didn't see any sort of intercom anywhere.

"We hope your brief detention in the relaxation vault has been a pleasant one."

"Where am I?" He asked, assuming that as long as he could hear it, it could hear him. It didn't seem human-the voice was pitched like a female, but clearly computerized, so he wasn't exactly expecting for an answer, and was surprised when the voice paused and then replied:

"As I stated before, you are in the Apertu-"

"Yes, but where IS this place?W-Why am I here? In an...Enrichment Center?" his voice came out much more distressed than he intended. What WAS an Enrichment Center, anyway?

"You were signed up to be a test participant and are now the property of Aperture Science." the voice stated tonelessly, completely avoiding his question. "Once you have completed the tests, you will receive cake and grief counseling and be free to leave."

The man raised an eyebrow. Tests? What kind of tests? He couldn't even remember who he was, he doubted he'd be good for any test-taking right now..

And when was the last time he'd eaten? Cake sounded delicious right now. It felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks..

"Wait," he said, suddenly, hotly. "I'm not property, I'm a human being! I shouldn't-I mean-I didn't sign up for anything like this-"

"As previously stated, you were signed up for the Aperture Science Enrichment Center Tests. Your specimen has been processed, and we are now ready to begin the test proper."

Once again, the computer had completely failed to answer his question.

"What kind of test?" he asked suspiciously. He had all kinds of questions to ask, but he was fairly sure the computer wouldn't answer them-honestly, anyway. All he could do now was go along with it...What other choice did he have?

"Fun and learning are the main goals of Enrichment Center tests, however serious injury may occur. For your own safety, and the safety of others.."

The man furrowed his eyebrows, frowning. So there were others here..besides the computer. That was a relief..

"..The portal will open in 3..2...1."

He heard an undistinguishable sound next to him-like a...'bloop'? And turned just in time to see a bright orange oval appear on the wall next to the pod . It took up the whole wall.

He stared at it, then slowly took a few steps so he was peeking in it. Was it some sort of mirror...? He could see himself, trapped inside the room, a few feet away. Tentatively, he reached out a hand, touching the surface.

It went right through.

He grimaced, pushing his hand the whole way through and then bringing it back. Nothing had happened-His arm was perfectly fine, and pushing it through the orange oval was effortless.

Squaring his shoulders, he stepped through.

It was like walking through a door-nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Still, What was that thing...

What exactly was this place?