Chapter 1
The Article
Rain melodically tapped against the huge windows from which Lara was staring out of. Recently home from one of her numerous spelunking trips. It took a few days' sometimes even weeks before she regained her stamina from the action packed tombs. But such was her life and she enjoyed every minute of it and was thankful every day to make it out alive so that she could continue her efforts in search of buried treasures as it were.
Lara pondered her recent decent into the vast labyrinth of Egypt's breath taking pyramids. How she nearly escaped with her life after she found the amulet. Her heart rate quickened at the memory. Was she crazy? These were just soulless objects, nothing more nothing less and yet she was compelled to risk her life for the chance at getting her hands on them.
She was brought back to her senses when the door to her study clicked open and her butler walked in carrying the daily newspaper. Lara knew that it was so much easier just to turn on the computer and type in a search to read an article. But there was something about holding the ink covered paper in her hands. Ok so maybe she was nostalgic but what could beat the feel of flipping through a newspaper, or the pages of a book? She couldn't think of any and would be damned surprised if someone could prove her wrong.
"Thank you just set it on my desk." Lara said politely to her butler. Her only form company in this empty mansion. He nodded his head, smiled and then retreated from the room as not to disturb Ms. Croft.
Lara's brown eyes peered out into her yard, it stretched for miles. Shrubs and bushes neatly trimmed in different shapes. A fountain sat near to the entrance just before two big iron gates which served the purpose of keeping the world out. She wasn't a loner but Lara did love to spend a great deal of time just to herself in these big walls. Exercising, practicing for her next adventure, and reminiscing about the past. Her father had left her a great legacy. But she missed him so much and bitterness still lingered for the one who took his life. One day she would get her revenge and it would be bittersweet but for now that would have to wait.
Stepping away from the windows Lara turned around to face her giant oak desk and sat down in the oversized office chair which still smelt of her father's cologne. She tapped her fingers on the desk trying to clear her mind of the memories flooding in. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly a few times seemed to subdue them for the time being.
The newspaper sat folded next to her laptop which at the moment was closed. She picked up the paper and started skimming through story after story. Nothing seemed interesting. Weather reports, sports, celebrity scandals, Stocks…and then something caught her attention. One of the pages had fallen back on the desk; she gently picked it up as she read over the paragraphs. A picture sat just above the copy in it a man dressed in a white lab coat held something in his hand. The thing was the size of a small globe. It looked like something you'd see out of a science fiction movie. There were burn marks along its panels as though it had been through a fire. The caption below the picture read: Scientist-who chose to remain nameless stands holding an orb. He claims it fell out of space and that it belongs to a mega-corporation that was built back in the late 40's but was shut down due to human-testing.
Lara took a closer look, the machine had something stamped across its side panel a logo of some sort but she couldn't make it out. A circle comprised of triangles and a name, the only readable letters being A P. Lara studied the picture for a few more moments trying to gather all she could but as they say "A picture is worth a thousand words." But this picture wasn't saying much at all. The man in the white lab coat seemed smug. Like he'd just won a noble prize or what have you. She didn't know the guy from Adam but one thing was for certain and that was that Lara didn't trust him. But as fate would have it; that scientist had something she needed and to get it, Lara would have to find him.
"I am going to need all the information I can get my hands on." Lara spoke to herself in a curious tone.
She took the single page setting the others aside and went to sit down by the big fireplace in the great room. Mansions do not hold heat very well. At least hers didn't. Once on the sofa Lara quickly devoured every word on the page. Facts were vague it seemed neither the scientist nor anyone else for that matter could pin down where this orb came from. Except for the company name Aperture Science Laboratories.
Lara let the paper fall out of her grip and put her head in her hands. Her mind was swirling with so much confusion and want for some concrete facts that it was starting to bring on a headache. She stood up and walked toward a door that led to her personal gymnasium. A work out was a good way for her to clear her mind or at least divert her thoughts long enough to decompress and refresh. The hall was long and bland except for a few wall trimmings here and there. The whole thing was made of stone which didn't help with the heating issue. It seemed to go one for awhile until it ended at another door.
On the other side of the door was a room with floors made of polished wood. To the right of the entrance was a small pool with a tunnel to another part of the mansion which at this time was undergoing some renovations. Rock formations were built into the walls with hooks placed for her grappling gun. In front of her were two metal poles bent four ways on each so that she could jump and grab hold of them. This was her place of escape from the pressures of daily life. When she needed to get rid of stress this was the first place she came.
Sighing, she reached up in a sun salutation stretching her arms and legs. Finding her center she breathed in and out steadily. Finally she started in a walk to a blue mat that was slightly angled to give her momentum. Her walk soon turned into a jog and then a sprint until she was on the mat. Lara jumped as soon as she came to the raised edge of the mat propelling herself forward and almost instantly reaching her hands out to grab hold of a ledge in front of her. Griping the ledge firmly she perched before jumping sideways to a pillar of rock to the left. It had three groves cut out: One at the bottom, middle and top of the pillar. She grabbed for the lowest groove almost missing but caught herself. She continued jumping from rock to rock. Making it to a metal scaffold that hung from the ceiling she paused to catch her breath. At that moment the image of the anonymous scientist flashed in her mind. "Who was he, which laboratory did he work for?" How exactly was she going to find him if she didn't know any of these important details? And if she couldn't find him, then she would never know where that orb came from. At that thought Lara jumped up with a start almost losing her balance. Luckily the scaffold was above the pool, otherwise that would be a nasty fall. She decided jumping was the quickest way down. Water splashed over the sides of the small pool. She would have to mop that later. But right now Lara had much more important things to worry about.
Pulling herself up out of the pool she made her way back to the great room. On the other side of this big room was a small sectioned off area. Big panels of glass enclosed a room full of monitors, and keyboards. This was her research office; here she could gather all the information she needed about anything including artifacts, people, and no doubt Aperture Science Laboratories. There had to be more information out there. Those people just weren't looking hard enough.
On one of the keyboards she typed in a long password causing the big monitors hanging above to flicker to life. She clicked on the internet launch icon and typed Aperture Science into the Search Engine. Instantly the screen was flooded with Pictures and articles about this Mega- Corporation. Lara clicked on one of the more promising links.
"Aperture Science was founded in 1947 by Cave Johnson as a shower curtain production company. Through the years this salesman Cave Johnson began "playing with science". Soon he would stumble upon the technology needed to create the Aperture Science Quantum Tunneling device, a powerful but cumbersome contraption that could create disruptions in space time. The technology continued to improve and soon was designed as a handheld device known as the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device. Other technologies where discovered during this time by this company. Such as: Repulsion gel, its purpose was dietary.
Cave Johnson would later become ill after exposure to ground up moon rocks. Brain damage ensued as well as other health defects, and sadly death.
The Super-Computer known as GlaDOS was created later in preparation for bring-your daughter-to-work-day. Her sentience was gained almost automatically and GlaDOS not only takes over but releases a deadly neurotoxin into the enrichment center. Scientists are able to temporarily subdue her with a morality core. She then begins a life of testing.
This mega corporation has two locations in Michigan and Ohio. There is no known scientist working at aperture since its abandonment years ago. Most who have been questioned have come to believe that the underground testing chambers and caves have long since fallen apart due to corrosion and shifts in the Earth's surface."
Lara noted all she could on a piece of torn out notebook paper and stuffed it into her brown backpack that she then flung over her shoulder. First things first, she needed to get that orb from the scientist in the news article. How she was going to do that was uncertain but where there's a will there's a way. She wasn't certain that anyone could tell her where the entrance to Aperture was located and somehow she had a feeling that if this orb could be activated it might lead her straight to their front door.
She exited the research office picking up the news article as she passed by. Lara looked over the photo again. "I don't know who this man is but the only way to get that orb is through him and something tells me he won't be willing to just hand it over." She said as she walked up the grand staircase to her bedroom. Walking over to a knife statue that sat against the wall, she pushed down on the handle and a picture on the wall retracted. Behind it was a safe that she quickly opened to retrieve her guns. She secured them in the holster around her waist and walked back out of the room to find her butler. "Looks like I'll be heading to America first thing tomorrow morning." She said aloud. Of course, she would need a way to get there, and she knew just who could get her there.