Rescue Operation
As we stand outside of the facility, I can't help but feel a jolt of energy running through me. Adrenaline rush, you've got to love it. Isn't such a powerful feeling?
ATLAS and P-body stand next to me clutching their own portal guns. ATLAS glances around nervously, as if expecting something to pop out of nowhere. P-body holds her portal gun readily, choosing to face the challenge head-on. I'm surprised at myself for how much I've actually bonded with them.
Over the past few days, we all kind of became friends. P-body was the most "talkative," trying to communicate with me through a bunch of beeps and facial expressions. Her partner was a lot shyer up until the last leg of our journey. He glanced back at me more and more before finally gaining the courage to walk next to me. At least he's not afraid of me now.
After we left Aperture, ATLAS wouldn't dare to look at me straight in the eye. I think GLaDOS might have told him a thing or two about me, but P-body didn't seem to mind the extra company. As we travelled through the wheat field, she kept pointing out the most random objects you could possibly think of, like a rock that looked kind of like a fish, or a small patch of rhubarb. ATLAS stayed quiet and simply watched his partner's excitement. He did take a liking to civilization though.
To tell you the truth, nothing really happened on the way here. There were a few run-ins with people, but nobody seemed to care that I was being tagged by two robots that were either my height or taller than me. Society, what are you going to do? I could walk out into the middle of the largest shopping mall in the world, hold up a brightly colored sign reading, "I'm a homicidal manic out to drink your blood" and people would just walk by and say, "That's nice, now where's the bathroom?"
The building complex isn't too large since most of it is underground. Unlike Aperture, there is more above ground than an old shed or a disguised tree lift. Black Mesa looks like a legitimate science facility with a pretty decent space program. If you want to get technical, it looks like a large office building with, where the parking lot should be is a launch station for rockets.
At first, it takes me a while to think of a way inside. My worker's pass is still in the pocket of my jacket, but how will I smuggle two robots in with me? My eyes widen and I motion for them to follow me. There's a back entrance not too far from where we are. We can just slip in without being noticed; nobody ever bothers watching the back entrances. It's Black Mesa, what else is new? P-body immediately follows as ATLAS brings up the rear.
The great thing is, nobody really notices you if you slip in with the crowd of workers. Nearly every employee at Black Mesa is either stupid, ignorant, illiterate, or a combination of the three. Oops, I forgot crazy. Oh well. Then again, Aperture had a CEO working with mercury poisoning that wanted to create combustible lemons. Everyone in this entire universe is crazy!
I manage to find the ill-lit doorway and scan my pass. With a soft beep, the door opens. P-body enters the building first with a "Let's have an adventure!" expression on her face. I go next and check around the hallway we entered. ATLAS carefully closes the door behind us while shifting his optic quickly. Great, we're all here.
A gasp reaches my ears and, to my horror, a standard worker is standing right in front of P-body. Before the guy can even scream (or before P-body can greet them), I whack them with the portal gun. P-body looks a bit disappointed, but I shake my head. Hey, the guy had a belt with some useful stuff in it. I snag it and put it through my own belt loops. Let's see…crowbar (what is it with Black Mesa and crowbars anyway?), random little pockets full of random crap; some money…good find.
Now, the only problem is finding a way onto the tram system, or finding a way to navigate the place without the tram. If we all just hop on, one of the very few smart people inside will notice something.
From my memory, I try to map out a sufficient course of action we can take that doesn't involve killing too many people. It'll get suspicious if too many people randomly drop dead and I don't need to have the word "murderer" in my file.
I hear P-body beeping loudly and I turn to her so I can shut her up. Honestly, we don't need anyone coming down here so soon! She does catch onto my "shut the Hell up before we're caught" gesture, but continues using a small pointing tool on the sign before her. Hmm…I'm just going to call that device a ping tool.
The sign reads:
Welcome to the Black Mesa Research Facility! This entire research center is worth more than all the Gravity guns, workers, and workers' paychecks combined since all walls are coated with a Moon Dust-based paint. We do this because we can! Have a nice day!
Remember to stop by the Black Mesa Gift Shop to buy all the useless junk you know and love! The directory is right below this picture of a dancing Poptart cat with rainbows. Enjoy!
Moon Dust-based paint? Well, our mission just got ten times easier. After I get both robots' attention, I quickly "explain" (aka, use a bunch of seemingly pointless gestures to get my ideas across) what I want them to do. It takes a half-hour or so, but they finally understand the basic plans and that I'm not going to use my portal gun for the rest of the journey.
I glance over the directory to find Wheatley's room. Let's see…no, not "Radioactive Waste," not "Tram Support," not "Donut Room," where the Hell is it? ATLAS notices my frustration and gives me a light tap on the shoulder. Once I face him, he points towards the top left-hand corner of the directory's map. Robotic Research/Testing. Yep, that's the ticket.
My portal gun emits a blue streak of light to the wall. The portal sticks and gives off that weird floating blue tint. P-body and ATLAS will have to use their portals now. We all head off down to our right. Let's see, it was right, left, left, left, right, and continue until a giant waste pit is present. Ok, simple enough…I think.
Even though I'm a technician, the corridors do not look familiar to me at all. Screams echo down the stainless steel from chambers farther up. ATLAS is probably in shambles by now.
Wait a minute, I remember someone telling me about this part of the place where you need the tram to continue…
I stop running abruptly and the others crash into me. Good thing I stopped early, the walkway we were travelling on just ended! What the Hell Black Mesa? What the frigging Hell? The walk looks broken; the other part of it is visible quite a ways away. There's a pit below us filled with toxic-looking liquid (GLaDOS would be happy to find that) below us hundreds of feet down. The tram rail goes in a different direction than we need to go, so hopping the tram is out.
ATLAS and P-body seem to take matters into their own hands. Aiming carefully, ATLAS uses his portal gun to shoot a portal to the opposite wall, and then shoots one at the wall closest to us. It works. Nice job ATLAS.
I let the robots climb through first. Following them, we take the walkway into a huge room. There are broken ceiling tiles all around us…with another walkway conveniently place a good hundred feet above our heads. We walk around the room for any sort of exit, but the only way out is up. It looks like we'll have to daisy-chain the portals or something.
P-body lets out a series of beeps and ATLAS, understanding her directions, walks onto a fairly large ceiling tile. P-body shoots two portals, one underneath him and one at the ceiling, to create an infinite fall. A few seconds pass before she shoots her bottom portal at the wall parallel to the walkway. With a small crash, ATLAS comes to the edge of the catwalk and waves at us. Cool, it worked again.
She then motions for me to do the same. Within five seconds, I am with ATLAS up on the ledge looking down at P-body. It looks like she's doing some sort of victory dance…it makes me smile. These robots are definitely more human than I first thought. They remind me of Wheatley…
ATLAS uses his portals next to get P-body up with us. Unfortunately, ATLAS and I both forget to stand back and P-body hurtles towards us. The impact sends us all rolling down the corridor until friction finally brings us to a stop. We stay in the awkward position for a few seconds before we burst out laughing. I laugh for the first time in…who knows how long! Both of them help me up so we can continue on the mission. Everyone dropped their portal gun on impact, so we all just picked one up and continued onwards.
We're getting really close, I can tell. The amount of computer monitors increases as well as the sounds of human discussions. I hold the portal gun closer and speed up. Wheatley's close, I can tell. Suddenly, ATLAS breaks the silence and tries to tell me something. I motion to him to shut up since there are actually people back here that will catch us. P-body taps my shoulder and points to a door.
The most terrible sound in the world reaches my ears. It makes all of us cringe in shock. The shriek is so inhuman, so pain-filled…Wheatley. It's definitely him! That was the same sound I heard back in the forest, except this one is worse. This time, he's really being killed.
Despite better judgment, I kick down the door in desperation. We've come too far to just lose him here! I spot a man in front of a table and, without hesitation; I slam the butt of the portal gun into his head. He slumps to the ground, revealing the small core that was blocked from my view.
Wheatley looks like he's literally been dragged through the nine pits of Hell twenty times. His optic twitches and turns frantically, kind of like what humans do when in extreme trauma. Not one piece of metal plating on him is silver, it's all scorched…there's nothing but black and slivers of gray. The once blue optic is more of a sickly blue-gray color, cracked once more. I bet you anything that he can't think straight right now.
I rush forward to grab him with the portal gun's tractor beam and bring him out into the corridor. He really does look worse up close. Oh no, what kind of internal damage does he have? I push the thought out of my mind.
Out of curiosity, ATLAS takes a look at the disheveled core. His expression turns angry as he lets loose a multitude of beeps and protests. P-body tries to calm him down, but he keeps "shouting" at Wheatley for some reason or another. What the Hell?
Wheatley looks up at ATLAS, and talks. "You two…I'm sorry…terrible monster I was. I truly…am sorry fo-or all of this." Both co-op robots pass a mutual understanding to one another and nod. ATLAS calms himself down, but still has a hint of anger still inside of him. P-body got over the whole thing quickly. She's a little too kind for her own good, isn't she?
An alarm goes off overhead and people come running out of their rooms. Oh shit, how fast did that whole thing get around? Shit ATLAS, why did you have to be so loud back there?
P-body lets out another series of beeps and points to a room. Through the glass, I can read a bit of information on the monitor.
Aperture Science Data: 100% transferred to disc.
God damn it! How'd they get that out of Wheatley? What did they do to him? I saw the guy shocking him senseless, but how did they get the information?
P-body motions something to ATLAS and both take off in a different direction. Before I completely lose sight of them, ATLAS tries his best to explain something to me. He points the portal gun he's holding, but another swarm of people cut him off.
We're surrounded on both sides with two teams. I hope ATLAS and P-body will be ok. What the Hell are they doing anyway? I've got Wheatley, so why don't we just go?
The rampage of people reminds me of the situation at hand. Without hesitation, I unhook the crowbar from my belt and throw it at them. They take the distraction, so they don't notice me running through them with Wheatley for dear life. A few startled cries later, they're right on my tail again.
Great, I'm going to have to use my portals, aren't I? Shit! I stop on the catwalk, turning to face the crowd again. They're not stopping for anything; this place really wants Wheatley back. Well, back off! I worked my ass off to get him fixed the first time, to break in here, and to get him back. I'm not letting him go now. Random thoughts pass through my head as I think of a new plan.
I guess I should thank GLaDOS for teaching me how to think with portals. I fire two and run through. There's no time for hesitations now, I'm getting out of here whether they like it or not.
A/N: Next up is the Chell and Wheatley escape attempt! ATLAS and P-body will be back later, don't worry. I don't have much to say this time around, so bye!