ALERT: TEST SUBJECT TERMINATED

That was the first thing Dan saw on the screens when he slid back into his office. Typical, he thought. I leave for thirty seconds and they choose that moment to land in a pool of acid.

Ah well. Nothing you can do. Would have happened either way. I'm sure the research team will get plenty of valuable data out of the three measly chambers that particular tester managed to complete. Or three and a half, depending on your measurements. Either way, there's no choice but to move on to the next assigned tester.

"Next!"

The screens lit up in block capitals.

NEXT TEST SUBJECT: K. BENSON (ID 51129)

TESTING TRACK: CHIMAERA

TEST INITIATIVE: MOVING PORTAL

Dan made the mechanical equivalent of a smile (which, for Aperture cores, generally meant widening the concentric circles in your optic by a few millimetres). 51129 was the best test subject in the facility, and had previously completed three testing tracks almost faultlessly. By pure luck of the draw, Dan had been assigned to here instead of the other three testing supervisors. If she keeps it up, Dan thought, I might actually use her name.

"Begin stasis emergence procedure."

ESTIMATED S.E.P. TIME: 53 SECONDS

Brilliant. Dan killed a few seconds by rearranging the images on his array of nine monitor displays, then spent a few more calculating the prime factors of various 12-digit numbers. 44 seconds to go and still bored. Then he checked the research notes for the testing initiative he would be supervising next.

THE MOVING PORTAL INITIATIVE

An investigation into the effects of being able to conduct portals on moving surfaces on experienced test subjects.

Relevant test track(s): Chimaera

Subjects entered: 0

Even better, thought Dan. New initiatives are always fun. At least, they are when you don't have to wait ages for the test subject to wake up. Should I take another quick break, or is the stasis booth going to fall into a pit of acid while I'm out? Nah, I'll just stare at this blank wall for 38 seconds.

BEEP

Ah, brilliant. Stupid stasis booth's finally done its job.

"Hello, and welcome back to the Aperture Science Enrichment Centre. Today, you will be taking part in the Moving Portal Initiative. Please make your way to the lift."

Dan couldn't quite work out why he'd just decided to use the generic script supplied by the mysterious monolith of Senior Management. It was hardly a compulsory measure, only an advisory one, and he was pretty sure that 51129 knew the drill by now.

These lifts. Another thing that took far longer than Dan thought they needed to. I'm sure they could go faster than 3.52 metres per second if the engineers just worked a bit harder. Lazy sods.

Back to staring at the wall it is, then.

BEEP

Finally.

"Welcome back to the central hub. Please locate and enter Testing Track Chimaera."

Let the games begin.