Wheatley's Story: Part B
Chapter One


"Blast! I could've sworn he was in here!" I collapsed into a chair in the file room to let my circulation fans calm down.

One of the test subjects managed to break out of the testing track, and I had been searching around for him. I could hear Her talking to him, and it sounded like he was in the file room. But when I got there, he was nowhere to be found.

I called Her up on the mobile phone function implanted in my left arm. "He's not here. I've looked everywhere, and I can't find him."

"Hm. Well, no matter; he can't escape without me knowing it. Head over to the Extended Relaxation Center and bring in the next test subject."

"Right. On my way." I hung up and left to pick up the Relaxation Vault.


When I got there, I was confronted with something unexpected: someone had modified the test subject roster, moving one test subject from the bottom part of the list to the first slot, placing her next in line for testing. I brought this to Her attention, but She insisted I go along with it, which I did.

All of the test subjects had been dressed in orange jumpsuits and had had ankle braces attached to their legs to help them survive long falls. Craig Rupert had been in charge of getting the subjects into taking off their clothes and redressing them in the appropriate attire. He did have quite a dirty lust, which he tried to cover up with random trivia with equally random accuracies; the fact that he was the only one to embrace seeing exposed bodies was what had him tasked with getting the test subjects in the appropriate attire while they were unconscious.

I found the appropriate Relaxation Vault and got it on transport skids to be taken to the testing track. It was rather fortunate that the testing track started right next to the Extended Relaxation Center, considering how some of Aperture's designs seemed to ignore obvious problems.

I first needed to remove the old Relaxation Vault before I could get the new one into the testing track. I went through the same routine that I'd been through many times before: raising the old Vault up through the chamber roof, moving it aside, putting the new Vault in its place, and bringing it down into the chamber. The old Vault was then brought back to the Extended Relaxation Center for future use.

She proceeded to check all of the chambers to see that they were ready for use. I had been carrying out maintenance work on Test Chamber 16 during the previous test, and I still hadn't finished by the time the subject escaped. But She decided that that wouldn't be a problem for the test.

My job now was to follow through the test track and reset the test chambers after they were completed.


I watched from the Observation Room as the test subject stirred awake. The stasis pod opened up, and the test subject stumbled out, struggling to balance herself on the Advanced Knee Replacements she was wearing. It was never a surprise for test subjects to have initial difficulties with them. Though I did feel like they should have proper footwear to go with the ankle braces, and had been working on alternative designs on and off ever since She took over Aperture.

I took a sip from a cup of heated paraffin and balanced my chair on its back legs just as She came on the PA.

"Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center. We hope your brief detention in the Relaxation Vault has been a pleasant one. Your specimen has been processed, and we are now ready to begin the test proper. Before we start, however, keep in mind that although fun and learning are the primary goals of all Enrichment Center activities, serious injuries may occur. For your own safety, and the safety of others, please refrain from -"

My chair fell backwards and my foot pulled a cord loose from an outlet in the wall, causing Her voice to come out in garbled Spanish. (At least, I think it was Spanish.)

I got up from the floor and put the plug back in, and everything was back to normal.

"Stand back. The portal will open in 3... 2... 1..."

The portals opened inside and outside the Relaxation Vault, and the test subject spent some time taking in what was happening. Once she figured out the key to standing and walking with the ankle braces, she jumped through the portal and made her way into Test Chamber 00.


The door closed behind her, and I went over to the next Observation Room. The test was simply taking a Storage Cube and putting it on a giant Button on the floor to open the exit. She was quick to figure out what to do, and after about thirty seconds, she was able to get through the door.

"Excellent. Please proceed into the chamberlock after completing each test." The test subject vanished through the door. "First, however, note the incandescent particle field across the exit. This Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grill will vapourise any unauthorised equipment that passes through it; for instance, the Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube."

I listened for the doors of the lift to close before going in. I opened a secret panel in the chamber and brought the Cube out. Opening an access door on a nearby Pipe, I slid the Cube back in before closing the chamber panel and access door and heading for the next chamber.