Chapter 6: Speeding Things and Flinging Doctors
Author's Note: I am skipping most chambers, if you may have noticed. Now, I can't wait to write for Chamber 17, which we should all know that one by heart, because it would be the time in which we see how the Doctor copes with the Companion Cube. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review.
The Doctor walked into Test Chamber 10 with excitement. He had nailed every test so far, and he felt that he was about halfway through. He had learned that his portal gun can lift heavy objects, and that the Thermal Discouragement beams would not disintegrate his hand if he touched it, but it hurt anyways. His cleverness was pulling off, and although the test chambers were increasing in difficulty, he finished each one at record times, to GLaDOS' amusement. She never commented on it, though.
"Hello again," she said cheerfully. "To reiterate, -garbled noises- forward momentum."
"How strange," said the Doctor curiously. "GLaDOS' recorded messages are malfunctioning. I will have to look into that."
The Doctor noticed the orange portal on an extended wall above and behind him, and a raised platform that was too high to get him up on. He placed his portal on the wall to his right and walked through. To his surprise, he actually found himself standing on the high platform. There was a staircase and door ahead of him, and he walked on through.
In the next room, the Doctor noticed two symbols on the ground. In the first one, it showed a person falling down into a portal. The second one depicted the same person flying out another that was originally above him. The Doctor quickly discovered the meaning. There was an orange portal above him, ready to carry his momentum. He placed a blue portal on a lowered platform, and jumped.
He landed on his feet. He was surprised of the distance and it didn't shatter his legs. He then realized the meaning of the strange boots. They protected him from significant falls.
"Spectacular! You appear to understand how a portal affects forward momentum, or to be more precise, how it does not," said GLaDOS happily, sort of.
"I thought it did. It appears my clever mind is too smart for your silly, easy tests," said the Doctor arrogantly.
"You won't be saying that for long, Doctor," replied GLaDOS coolly. "You have yet to see the upcoming tests, and you have a considerable way to go."
"Bring it on."
"As you wish, Doctor, but only after this test."
The Doctor pushed on. In the next room, he noticed the orange portal was no longer above him, but beneath him. He shot his portal on the newly extended platform, and jumped into the portal. He flew over the gap and landed on his feet.
"Momentum," said the recording. "A function of mass and velocity, is conserved between portals. In layman's terms, 'speeding thing goes in, speeding thing comes out.'"
"Yeah, yeah. I already knew that, GLaDOS," replied the Doctor annoyed by the stupid recordings. "And I didn't need 'layman's terms.' I do have a clever mind, you know!" There was no answer.
He noticed that the extended platform moved forward, and his portal disappeared. He reshot and jumped into the orange again. When he emerged from the blue portal, he was upside-down, but the portal automatically returned him to right-side-up. He did land right at the entrance to the gridlock, to his satisfaction. He stepped through the grid and into the elevator, ready for whatever challenge GLaDOS pitted him up against.
Meanwhile…
GLaDOS hung in her chamber, impressed by the Doctor's work. He had successfully navigated each chamber so far at record times. Now, he had wished for tougher challenges. Things were indeed going to get tougher. GLaDOS also fixed a few things since the Monster was here. There were no portal surfaces in the incineration room. She would not allow another escape and cause her death, again.
GLaDOS was using Orange and Blue to rummage through the Doctor's clothes. In the jacket was a wallet that looked like a badge. The two opened it up and showed it to her, finding a piece of paper filled with symbols and words that were constantly changing. Her transistors started to spark. They quickly closed the wallet and threw it down. Orange and Blue continued to search the Doctor's jacket. They couldn't find what she was specifically looking for. Where was it, where was it. They were unable to find the thing she wanted most.
GLaDOS, Atlas, and P-Body could not find the Sonic Screwdriver. The Doctor still had it.