Prelude: Episode 1

Author's Introductory Note: Hello, Lloyd999 here again. So, this is the second thing I've written for this site. And, this fanfic is a bit of an experiment. What I'm actually planning is, the story I'm writing here is what I'm planning to make into some kind of game mod for Portal, based of Portal: Prelude. At first, I wanted it to be some kind of story centering around Wheatley in the early days, around his creation, and you'd play as the engineer that created him. Then I kind of realized, if you were to play as the an Aperture Employee, there isn't actually much you can do gameplay wise. Maybe there is a lot of story-wise things you can add, but not really gameplay wise. I'm still going to try and focus on Wheatley as much as I possibly am able to. And you still play as the 'Engineer' that created him. But this engineer isn't any engineer. He is "The Engineer", if you catch my drift. Though, as for what the gameplay is going to be like, let's just say it combines Portal and Half-Life gameplay. Actually, many portal mods I think up are like that. However, I could really use help thinking up the storyline in a way to make a stable gameplay, rather than a random one.

This chapter is not going to be included in the gameplay. This chapter sort of summarizes the end of the mod Portal Prelude, along with whatever happens up to the point where the my 'mod' starts. So without further explanation, here's where we start. Forgive me for not figuring out how to put these divider lines or whatever.

Oh yeah, for my disclaimer. I do not own the Portal series nor the Half-Life series, nor ever helped out with them, they are made by Valve. I do not own nor helped create the mod for Portal titled Portal: Prelude. In fact, I don't even own the main character of this story, he belongs to a game by Valve, but I'm not going to spoil it for you.

File 0: "Prelude"

It was supposed to be the greatest day for Aperture. On one unspecified date, an Aperture Science human test subject was going to be the first in decades to have made it to the end of the testing track. And, coincidentally, it happened to be on Aperture Science's Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. Also, coincidentally, it was on this exact same day the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System (GLaDOS) was to be finally powered up, as part of the celebration, making the enrichment center into the Computer Aided Enrichment Center.

However, apparently, the Morality module, a Personality Core, needed some repairs, and so they didn't install it yet, but powered GLaDOS up anyway. Many of the Aperture Scientist Employees and their daughters got to witness the event. Even the test subject, who had finished the testing track minutes before as able to see it, and got to turn it on. However...

It was said, well, more than said really, that the computer went crazy and tried to kill everything in the facility. Many, many lives were lost that day. However, because of an unknown person's brave work, the Moralty Core was successfully installed onto the computer, preventing it from being able, or wanting to kill. Because it was still in repair, it could only thinly prevent it from doing these homicidal actions. They say that this action had cost this brave person's life.

However, it's rumoured that this one Core may not be enough, and it's effectiveness may not last forever.

As of recently, a man from the Programming Department had come to attention.

This young programmer walked into the CEO's Office. Dr. Joshua Mitchell was in there waiting for him. Because the former CEO, or who was supposed to be the current CEO, right now is super-intellectual, homicidal, artificial 'reincarnation', somebody had to take charge. Dr. Mitchell was the highest in command of the GLaDOS project (who was still alive) and had managed the 'cleanup' of the incident.

There was a knock on the office door.

"Come on in," Dr. Mitchell said, then continued talking on the phone, "No, I'm not in charge of that, you want to talk to my CEO? Sure, we can arrange you a meeting with her, you can discuss it after death. What, no I'm not threatening you, she will though!"

The young programmer walked into the office and just seated himself. He tried to ignore the conversation. With one annoyed sigh, Dr. Mitchell hung up the phone.

"Damn layers," he grumbled.

"Dr. Com Exburna sir, from Programming," the young programmer introduced himself, and reassuringly added, "We aren't the only science company that has screwed up recently."

"True," Dr. Mitchell confirmed, then went into conversation. "Well hello Dr. Exburna, about time you got here. You came highly recommended. I've read your file, says your a slacker, but, says you designed the Version Four Personality Construct, correct?"

"Yes, I'm kind of flattered sir," Dr. Exburna responded.

"Says here you like doing things differently, well, you certainly work at the right company,"

"Yes sir, though, I have gotten into some trouble,"

"Yeah, as it says here, you are quite highly recommended for testing as well, but, you've been begging to dirrectly work on the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, that's correct as well, right?"

"Well, yeah, you could say that,"

"Consider it done," Dr. Mitchell announced, "You, Dr. Exburna, are to work on creating a solution to getting GLaDOS on the right track of mind. Now, every Core installed onto GLaDOS was a V4 Core. The Morality Module however, was still in the middle of repairing, so right now, it's only barely working. We need to find a way to take it off without Her, going crazy. Every time we make an attempt to do so, however, she attempts to kill everything in the facility in a sixteenth of a picosecond. We want you to find a solution."

"Why sir..." The young programmer sat up, "That'd be an honour, but, I'd need an assistant, an engineer would to do."

"Feel free to choose whoever you want from the files, login is cjohnson, password is tier3."

Com spent all day flipping though the files. The files of all the employees currently working at Aperture, that were still alive. Speaking of still alive, a radio sat next to the computer Com was working on, playing a rock tune that many Aperture Employees seemed to enjoy.

Com continued to flip through the files. None of people in Engineering seemed to have any outstanding qualifications, nobody in Hardware, nobody in Mechanics, nobody in Chemicals, nobody in Quantum Physics, nobody in Testing. Then, Com got creative. What about people in extended relaxation?

"I've never seen this man's files, they seem quite old," Dr. Mitchell said, reading through the printed file, "This guy must have been born sometime before the sixties for Christ's sake."

"Cryosleep sir," Dr. Exburna explained, "He's been in extended relaxation ever since the seventies, in the human vault in some of the older parts of this facility, like Test Shaft 09."

Dr. Mitchell looked up at him. "And how would you have learned of something like that?" he asked, for he himself had only really heard about it, but has no knowledge of it otherwise at all whatsoever.

"I'm a slacker sir," Dr. Exburna said proudly, and continued to explain, "Though, from my knowledge, extended relaxation without mandatory wake up can cause brain damage, and for the amount of time he's been asleep, it will take a bit for him to recover. So, I suggest to help him recover, and for us to manage his recovery, we should put him through one of our testing tracks, I suggest the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device testing, for those require puzzle skills."

"...And what makes you think he's most qualified to be your partner?" Dr. Mitchell ask, "I mean this file is quite impressive, as an engineer and a test subject, but..."

"I have a feeling sure."

After a long pause, Dr. Mitchell decided. "Alright, have Dr. Dell Conagher be part of the Aperture Science Hanheld Portal Device Testing Track."

Author's Afterward Note: In case you were wondering, Dell Conagher is the name of the BLU Team's Engineer in Team Fortress 2. Might as well reveal it. I've actually had this chapter written for about a week. I actually have a ton of different writing projects to do. One of them is my other fanfiction "The Pyro Wakes Up". Another is a little book I'm writing. And another is a script I have to write for a friend of mine for some short movie type thing he's going to make. I apologize if my grammar isn't very strong, but keep in mind, I write these fanfictions on my spare time, which frankly, is inbetween 11:00pm and 2:00am.

Also, I apologize if the writing in this chapter isn't very well done. I can do better, it's just, this chapter wasn't even thought up properly, I kind of just went freebird on it. Well, it's not really an important chapter anyway. I mean, with Portal games, you only need to have a general idea of what happens before.

Lloyd999 signing out.