Author's Note: What started as idle scribbling in my planner has now taken on a life of its own. That being said, none of this is meant to be taken seriously, and I sincerely appreciate you reading this in any case. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: All characters and references to the Portal or Half-Life games are not the property of the author, nor will they ever be. Any similarities to situations or persons living or dead is purely coincidental and highly unfortunate.
"This way, guy!"
Rick paused briefly to make sure that the test subject was still following him before continuing on the management rail. He had to admire the man's iron nerve, making it this far already - he had appeared completely unfazed when Rick had found him, amazingly, still alive after being in suspension for God knows how long (he secretly hoped the boss had been in suspension as well - it certainly would save him the trouble of being chewed out for slacking off on his test subject duties), and had followed the sphere without a word. That was another thing; the man hadn't said anything at all, which made him either unbelievably gullible, brain-damaged from the extended period in suspension, or the strong, tough-guy, silent type. Judging by the beard and the hard stare, Rick suspected the third option to be true.
"Right…now, if I remember correctly, the last poor sucker that came through here…" Rick squinted (or at least gave a passable imitation thereof) down into a gap in the catwalk at the gloomy mix of debris and foliage below. "…dropped his portal-whatchamacallit somewhere down there. Go ahead and jump down, and I'll meet you later-ish."
The test subject hesitated for a moment before dropping out of sight, landing awkwardly in his unfamiliar long-fall boots. Rick couldn't blame him, honestly; those girly things looked damn uncomfortable.
Several minutes later, the test subject rejoined Rick in one of the old test chambers, holding the portal device in both hands. The human's expression was difficult for Rick to decipher - as he entered, he appeared to be staring down at it as if it would break at any moment. His eyes were wide behind his hipster glasses, but his brow was knit in almost defiant triumph. If that and his broad grin were anything to go by, he must have been really looking forward to getting one of those.
Rick chuckled. "Found it, eh? Let's rock 'n' roll, then."