Chapter 2

Sarah awoke with a start in the dead of the night. She was back in her spotless glass cubicle lying on her hard uncomfortable bed. She leaned over and vomited into bucket Frank had provided for her. All he said was that she would need it but Sarah hadn't quite understood why. Now she did. This was her fifth time waking up and spewing into the bucket. Her dreams were filled with nauseating memories of the first levels she had completed the day before. Falling down, flying up, passing through portal after portal. She had nearly died twice and tried to commit suicide once. Overall her first day of testing didn't go so well.

Her first test was easy, simple. She put a cube onto a button, not so bad she thought to herself. Some doors opened she stepped through some weird hologram and into an elevator. "That hologram will fry anything except you." Explained Frank "So don't you try to sneak any boxes or other items from one test to help you with another."

The elevator was nothing special, just a small circular room that brought Sarah from the first test to the second. And when the doors slid open, a new puzzle would appear before her. In the beginning Sarah didn't understand. The first five or so tests were time consuming and wore down at her, but they were elementary. Nothing more than pushing buttons and opening doors. Frank said that she was testing a brand new technology but she saw nothing of it. But just as she was getting used to the low brain power puzzles the whole test changed. She stepped out of the elevator and there was a large sign to her right. On it there were many pictures that were hard to make out because none of them were properly lit. But what Sarah did see was a large square with the words 'Test chamber one' on the inside.

Sarah furrowed her brow and looked up to the fuzzy silhouette of her guardian angel. "Hey!" She yelled at him. "By my count I've gotten through five of the mind numbing 'test chambers' that you've trapped me in."

"Why arn't you smart." Replied Frank, ignoring her comments about being kidnapped. "But did you really didn't think all the tests were going to be that boring? Well then, I've got a surprise for you." An oval appeared on the wall directly in front of her surrounded by a glowing orange fire that seemed to draw her in. Through it was another room.

"It's not really as dramatic the second time you see it."

"Just walk through the portal." And she did. She stepped in to a room that looked remarkably like every other room she had been seen in this god forsaken maze. She stood still for a few moments without anything happening. Then a small hole opened up in the middle of the floor and through this small hole a small pedestal raised out, and on top of this small pedestal was a gun. It was shiny, white, clean, just like the walls and floors and ceilings. Sarah jumped back a little for the gun was aimed at her. After deducing that it was not going to shoot her she walked toward it and gingerly lifted it from its pedestal. As soon as she did the pedestal shot back into the ground and the hole closed. As soon as she touched the gun she got a very strong instinct. She aimed the gun at her head and pulled the trigger.

There was no deafening bang just a modest 'fumm'. Sarah heard Frank laughing from the observation room. She opened her eyes to discover that she was indeed still alive and the gun had done nothing more than provide a shower of blue sparks that fell to the ground and disappeared. "You have no idea how many people have tried to do that." Said Frank "Well, it was only two, because you're only the third one to have tested this thing out, but it was still funny seeing it a three times over." Sarah looked at the gun and then down at her shaking hands. She had no idea what compelled her to do that and it frightened her. "Oh don't worry, the other two succeeded in other ways. If you really want to do yourself in this is a pretty easy place to do it." Frank's voice turned grave. "Your life will be threatened in these up coming tests. Are you up to it?"

"As if I have a choice." Sarah aimed the gun at the wall and fired again. She didn't really know what was going to happen but she figured that if the gun didn't harm her she'd find out what it did to the wall. A small blue ball shot out of the glass container at the front end of the gun and when it made contact with the wall a blue portal expanded and revealed the open elevator doors. She hesitated for a moment, surprised at what the gun could do, and then stepped through the portal and into the elevator. If the gun hadn't of been the embodiment of her hatred for this place then she would have found it kind of cool.

So the test continued, with Sarah using her gun to make blue portals, and Frank using his computer to strategically place the orange portals. The worst testing chamber for Sarah was the one where she learned that the portals did not interrupt kinetic energy at all. "It laments terms" explained Frank "Speedy thing goes in speedy thing comes out." She immediately threw up after throwing her self into a portal at the bottom of a deep pit and being launched onto a platform where the elevator door was located. Frank told her that she would get used to it.

"That's your answer to everything but I have yet to 'get used to' any of this." Every opportunity she got Sarah tried to make Frank feel guilty for what he was putting her through. And every time she failed and continued on with the test. That's the one thing that surprised Sarah the most. Not the fact that she had been kidnapped by scientists, not the incredible piece of technology she had been given not even the elaborate puzzles that were created for her. What surprised her the most was how easily she got accustomed to her lab rat life style. Sure she would complain and scream and shout but then she got right back into the test. And she wasn't bad at it. She learned fast and spotted the patterns in the testing immediately. Frank would provide hints but she barely needed him. A thought that had occurred to her while she was lying in that bed is that maybe this place was her home. Maybe the things that they had erased from her mind were memories of the place she was in. Maybe she had lived here all her life.

Frank stood in the elevator, his arms at his sides and his jaw slightly agape. Mr. Gerald looked back at him. "Come Mr. Anderson, she's waiting for you" he said.

"You mean Gladys is waiting for me?"

"GLaDOS, yes."

"The computer?"

"If you don't move soon Mr. Anderson that elevator will bring you back up to your babbling friends and this opportunity will be given to one of them." Frank moved. "Now follow me." They walked down a long corridor and until they reached a door. Once again Mr. Gerald smoothly pulled out his ID card and swiped it past a mechanical eye that flitted back and forth. The door opened and Mr. Gerald stepped through, Frank close behind. The room they stepped into was immense in size. Frank's head snapped back and he looked up at a gigantic cluster of white metal festooned with black wires. Connected to the metal were white orbs and when Frank walked further into the room rings in the center of each lit up, revealing them to be mechanical eyes. Each eye was a different color and they were all moving around the room rapidly. Encircling the strange deceive were monitors each one flashing different random images. There were about thirty scientists in the room all of them starring at computer monitors or scribbling data on clipboards as they walked across the room.

"Is that-?"

"GLaDOS" Mr. Gerald cut Frank off loudly. "How are you?" All of the eyes in the room snapped towards Mr. Gerald and then slowly turned towards Frank, including the mechanical eyes of GLaDOS. The monitors now all displayed the single image unchanging image of Frank at that exact moment, who, at that exact moment, felt very small in comparison to the large artificial lifeform suspended from the ceiling and starring directly at him at him.

"Name" A clear feminine voice rang thought the whole room. Although it sounded very human there was no doubting its robotic apathy. "Frank S. Anderson. Date of birth: six slash one slash-"

"You'll have to excuse GLaDOS." Said one of the scientists, speaking over GLaDOS who was still rambling off facts about Frank that he didn't exactly want to be broadcast to the whole room. "She discovered her access the enrichment center's data base today." He looked up and marveled at the wonderful creature he had created, for he was the leading scientists in the genetic lifeform and disk operating system project.

"Mothers maiden name: Shepard. Gender: Male."

"It's quite all right." Shouted Frank, although he was clearly embarrassed.

"This is Mr. Anderson, the one we'll be using as the personality model." Shouted Mr. Gerald. It took a moment for the head scientist to take his attention away from his masterpiece.

"Hm? Oh! Yes. Good, you're finally here. We're all very impressed with your succession rate Mr. Anderson. The data that you've collected has helped us time and time again. My name is Dr. Magnusson, Norm Magnusson." Dr. Magnusson looked rather silly as he extended his hand and walked toward Frank who was half way across the large room. About a minute later their palms met.

"Marital status: single. Emergency contacts: None."

"Thank you, Dr. Magnusson." Said Frank "It's been a pleasure working here"

"Well, your work has certainly made our jobs easier." Said Dr. Magnusson.

"Fathers name: John Anderson. Date of death: two slash seventeen slash-"

"Let's get to business Dr. Magnusson." Said Mr. Gerald curtly. He glanced at his watch.

"Yes lets- Will someone please turn her volume down!" Dr. Magnusson shouted, for GLaDOS was moving on to Franks sexual orientation and the complexion of Franks face almost matched the color of his hair. GLaDOS's voice was reduced to a whisper. "Come with me Mr. Anderson. I want to show you something." They proceeded to follow Dr. Magnusson across the room. "Before we start, do have any questions? Any questions that can be answered briefly of course." Frank had many but he could tell that both of the men with him were in a hurry so he only asked the ones that came to his mind first.

"Where were we able to get the funding for this? I thought that the center was struggling for money."

"We were finally able to get some funding away from Black Mesa." Answered Mr. Gerald. "Isn't that right Dr. Magnusson?" Dr. Magnusson frowned and grunted. Mr. Gerald smirked. "Dr. Magnusson has some unpleasant family connections in Black Mesa."

"To say the very least" interjected Dr. Magnusson "But with GLaDOS we'll finally be able to show everyone what we can do with a little money." He said, before muttering something about a brother and the wrong decision under his breath. "Is there anything else, Mr. Anderson?"

"Not that I can think of at the moment" said Frank, in a far away voice. For, as he walked, his eyes were fixed on GLaDOS-who still had her eyes fixed on him- whose monitors were showing pictures of him as a child and his old house and his mother and his father and his sister. He didn't remember giving any of those to the center. And if he didn't already feel sad from seeing the life he left behind, the cold hearted machine started showing pictures of the terminated test subjects that he had overseen.

"Mr. Anderson?" Frank's tore his gaze away from the monitors and looked at Dr. Magnusson.

"Yes?"

"This is what I wanted to show you." He gestured towards what looked like one of the mechanical eyeballs that GLaDOS was decorated with. "This is you essentially, your personality that is, or at least it will be. With the proper modifications. After it is ready we will attach it to GLaDOS and she will have your testing methods at her disposal. You're very lucky Mr. Anderson, you should be honored." Frank was almost certain he heard a note of jealousy in Dr. Magnusson's voice with his last comment.

"I have other business to attend to. Continue without me." Mr. Gerald placed his brief case on the table and the hinges snapped open. He lifted the top open and Frank tried his hardest to refrain from looking inside. He had always wondered what was kept in that brief case. From it Mr. Gerald lifted a plump file and handed it to Dr. Magnusson.

"Here is the information on Black Mesa." And with that he snapped the brief case shut and walked away. Before he reached the exit he casually turned his head and looked up at GLaDOS. "Good bye GLaDOS." He said. Dr. Magnuson looked up from the mechanical eye he was tinkering with.

"Uh- Someone turn her volume back up." One of the other scientists did so. All of GLaDOS's eyes were all focused on Mr. Gerald yet she said nothing, and her screens were all black. It was as if she was looking for something but couldn't find it. At this moment Frank was starring up forlornly at the screens hoping that they might show another image of his past, but they remained black. But just before Frank looked away he could have sworn he saw a misshapen 'h'. It looked like a labda or a ladab, he couldn't remember, it was some science symbol.

"Goodbye" Said GLaDOS in her quasi-human female voice. "Today is a glorious day for science."

"That it is" Responded Mr. Gerald. "That it is." He stepped out of the room.

Bernard Kempsly sat at his desk spinning his pencil between his fingers. He was bored. Life as a distant angel was not fun. That was the nick name for his job. Distant angel. For he did not go anywhere near the testing chambers. He sat in his cubical and filled out reports, organized data the angels gathered and did general paper work. He and about fifty or so distant angels were all cramped into one room, that branched off into other rooms filled with more distant angels. But instead of filling out paper work or filing reports he sat there, starring at his pencil, evaluating his life. Bernard didn't have much going for him. He was short, stocky, with slicked back hair and beady little eyes. His job paid well but not that well, not well enough to keep him living in a community just five miles away from the center. He was constantly nervous and his stress levels were through the roof. But everything didn't used to be so. He used to be a regular angel, working with subjects to test the Aperture science technology. HE was happy and he was good at his job. He almost had the same succession rate as Frank. But then there was his fatal mistake.

His computer made a loud ding noise. He jumped slightly and dropped his pencil. Apparently he had a new message. He clicked on it and a small window popped up, containing only one sentence. "Your being reassigned, wait for Ford to come to you. –Mr. Gerald." This puzzled Bernard; he didn't see how they could put him in a lower position than he was already in. One thing he was happy about was that Mr. Gerald wasn't coming to reassign him himself. Bernard was always at his most anxious when around Mr. Gerald. It wasn't only his intimidating stature that frightened Bernard, but they way he talked as well. He always put awkward pauses between words and unnecessary emphasis on certain syllables. It just made Bernard even more uncomfortable than he always was.

"Kempsly!" Although Mr. Ford didn't exactly make him feel right at home either. "Kempsly!" screamed Ford again.

"Here, sir." Bernard raised his hand and stood up. Ford walked toward him. Marcus Ford was the head angel. He oversaw all of the overseers. He was an intimidating man as well, but in a much different way than Mr. Gerald. While Mr. Gerald was not a small man at all, he was no body builder, but Mr. Ford was built like an army commander and he controlled his angels like one.

"I'm told you're being reassigned." Ford got up very close to Bernard's face.

"Yes sir" Bernard spoke in a small, shy voice.

"Well I guess today's your lucky day, cause your getting out of this hell hole cubicle and back to testing." Ford spun around and strode towards the exit, while Bernard stood still, not sure what to do with him self. "Come on Kempsly!" Ford shouted back into the cubicle hive.

"Yes sir." Bernard shuffled quickly after him. "I-I'm afraid I don't understand, sir. Where are we going?"

"Anderson's been taken off his Portal Gun test, you're his replacement." Ford continued to walk down the hall, his hands folded behind his back, not even bothering to look back at Bernard while he spoke.

"With all due respect sir, I haven't overseen a test in years." Bernard struggled to keep up. "And Frank's Portal Gun subject? Isn't that an awfully important one?"

"That it is Kempsly! So you better not screw up." Bernard's face grew red with this comment. "All the other angels are busy with their own testing, and your track record ain't too bad." They sharply turned a corner. Bernard stumbled on his own feet then recomposed himself.

"But Sir, after my last testing I hardly think I'm fit-" Ford suddenly spun on his heel and faced Bernard, causing the small man to shut his mouth and jump back.

"Now you listen here Kempsly." Ford was speaking very close to Bernard in a very quiet voice. "What happened three years ago was not your fault. It was ours. We gave her too much power, we gave her to you, and we didn't monitor her closely enough."

"But Sir-"

"But nothing! I see you moping around with the other distant angels acting like you've been punished, but it was your idea to demote yourself! Get over the past, what's done is done, and no one's saying it was you who done it." They lingered there for a moment, Fords face practically touching Bernard's, and then Ford stood strait up again and began his stride towards the elevator. "Never the less Kempsly, you know how important this test subject is, so I expect you to get back in the groove fast. And work at your very best. Learn from mistakes Kempsly, that's the only way to get on with life."

After a day of training Bernard was ready to work with Sarah, or that's what his superiors told him, he wasn't so sure. But regardless, he ended up back in the observatory room looking down on his sleeping subject. He walked over to the desk and sat down so that Sarah couldn't see any part of him. He tapped a key on the computer and all the lights in her room turned on. He smiled, just a little.

"Wake up subject 4815SSF-P, the test will now commence." She rose out of the bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked around, making sure that this wasn't a bad dream. It wasn't.

"What happened to Frank?" Bernard's eyes snapped open and he looked down at her. He was quite taken aback by the knowledge that Frank had given her, appalled in fact. Thank god he was there to set this subject strait.

"'Frank' is no longer here, I am your overseer now." He tapped another button on his key board and the portal leading to the elevator opened. "The test is now starting."

"So you kidnap me, stick me into your little game, give me one nice person I can connect to and then replace him with an apathetic bastard?" Bernard was shocked. Frank must have been fired, the center would never allow him to connect with his subject in the way he had. Just the fact that she knew that they were called 'angels' disturbed Bernard. Regardless, he never faltered. He was already getting back into his role as an angel.

"I suggest you stop talking and walk to the elevator." He placed his finger on another key; the electroshock gun was lowered from the ceiling. "Promptly, Subject 4815." Frank smiled again; this was when he was at his most confident. He had missed this job and was slowly letting the bad memory of the incident fade into the back of his mind. Sarah glanced at the gun, unfazed. She turned back to the observation window.

"My name is Sarah." Bernard shot out of his seat and snatched her file off the desk. It couldn't be. The fool couldn't have told her her real name. He flipped to the subject information paged. He let out a sigh of relief, Sarah was not her name. But then why in the hell did Frank tell her it was. He calmly sat down and quickly ran his fingers across the key board. She screamed from the painful shock.

"I don't know how your last overseer treated you, but things are going to be different now."

Sarah was more obedient from there on in, they got through a good amount of tests, Bernard was very pleased with his effiency. She had just finished the current test and he looked to the computer monitor to see what was in store next for Sarah. He perked up. It looked like her next test was the one where she got the Portal Gun upgrade. Things were going to get interesting. She was now in the elevator so he presses the right keys on the computer to send her to the next level. He reached for a sandwich he had brought in. He was finally starting to relax; he was shocked how comfortable he felt after three years of being away. He leaned in to take a bite and piece of salami fell out the other end. He cursed under his breath. He placed his sandwich back on the table and ducked under the desk to search for the fallen piece of meat, he couldn't just leave the observation room all dirty. When he found it and reemerged Sarah was still not in the testing chamber. Strange, she should have been there by now. He looked at the elevator doors, they weren't opening. He panicked a little. He tapped on is mouse to bring up ten different screens, all showing parts of the test chamber. She was nowhere to be found. He waited another minute and she was still absent. "No!" he shouted aloud. "No no no no no no!" he stood up and pressed his face against the glass. Sarah was nowhere to be found.

Sarah stood in the elevator waiting; it had never taken this long before. Finally the door opened and she stepped out. This chamber was different than all the other's she had been in. All the walls were a shiny metallic black and the room was dimly lit. She waited for her overseer to say something but he didn't. She shrugged and walked forward a few steps then stopped in her tracks. She raised her hand to her mouth and gasped. The long black corridor she was looking down opened up into a larger room, and in that larger room Sarah saw a boy. He was wearing a jumpsuit similar to hers but it was green instead of orange, he had black hair and pale skin. His whole left arm was coated with the same black metal that surrounded her, and right before the metal reached his hand it broke off into spider like legs that attached to each of his fingers. He raised up his arm and started moving his fingers in a strange fashion.The air in from of him wavered and shimmered. A black box floated above his hand. Sarah could hardly believe what she was seeing. He raised his hand higher above his head and the box followed. He suddenly spread his fingers and the box broke apart into several pieces that remained above his head. He lowered his arm and aimed the metal strait in front of him. He snapped his hand shut and the shards flew out of Sarah's view.

Bernard's mind was racing, as were his fingers across the keyboard. "Where are you! Where are you!" He shouted. When he stumbled upon the answer he gasped. He jumped out of his seat and ran out the door. He sprinted down the hallway into an elevator and pounded on the buttons.

Sarah stood very still, not sure what to do. She wanted to scream at the boy, get him to notice her but she was so confused. Finally the boy looked in her direction and their eyes met.

Bernard burst into another room where a man was sitting at a desk with a computer in front of him. The man spun around. "What the hell are you doing! I'm running a test here!"

"Move!" Bernard shouted and pushed the man away from the computer. He pulled up all of the camera screens and saw Sarah standing very still, starring strait ahead. He looked to another screen and saw the boy staring back a Sarah. He swore loudly.

"Who the hell is that!" Shouted the other overseer. Bernard didn't answer, his hands were flying across the key board.

Sarah stood very still not knowing what to say to the boy. He started to open his mouth when a brilliant white light shone behind her. She turned around. Sun light was pouring out the elevator door, but there was no elevator door. It was a senic view of a park and trees and grass and flowers. Sarah let out a cry and a tear fell from her cheek. The image was acted as a catalyst stimulating her brain as nothing had ever done before. She felt the whole spectrum of emotions and memories flooded into her mind. She remembered everything. She moved towards the world she knew as her own and stepped through it. The picturesque scene vanished; in its place were the cold metal walls of the elevator. All her memories, all her emotions were gone in a flash. She spun around and got a last glimpse of the boy as the elevator doors slammed shut. A voice came over the loud speaker. "I think that's enough testing for today."

Once again, thanks for reading. And thanks to all of you who posted comments on Chapter 1. This is my first story so the suggestions were appreciated. As long as someone comments on my most recent chapter I will start working on the next one and try to complete it in a reasonable amount of time. So if you liked this chapter please comment on it. I also just want to say that my next chapter will probably be shorter than this one since this took a while to write. Thanks again.