More than Space

by AlphaKid150

This story takes place in the world of Blue Sky fanfic by WaffleStories. During the fiasco that's happening above ground with Wheatley and GlaDOS, 15 year old Nina, is searching for her older brother. Meeting GlaDOS, she makes a deal with her. She would test in return for his safe return. Months later, she meets Chell and Wheatley, learning the real truth about what happened to him

6. Chapter 6: Companion Core

Entering test chamber 17/19...

Entering test chamber 18/19…

Entering test chamber 19/19…

…

Entering Test chamber 1337/19…

Test chamber 2349/19...

Test chamber 5789/19...

…

Test Chamber 6890

It was at this point that major hunger and dehydration started to affect her, again, her portal gun shaking in her hands. It was hard to shoot portals now, for her hands screamed in pain the more she held onto the portal gun. Nina tried to keep herself steady, to look strong in front of her. A sign of weakness shouldn't be shown on her face. She had to keep going, for her own sake, as well as her brother.

She fires another portal, redirecting a red, blinding laser to its corresponding component, opening yet another, metal door. She wondered now, how long has it been since she passed test chamber 19, which she thought was going to be the end of her testing times. By then, she had too many near death experiences in that short amount of time, and she was happy to finally finish.

She closed her eyes, as she rode the Victory Panel up to where the exit was, where the Chamberlock awaited her. She remembers the feeling of terror coursing her through her body, like adrenaline, after hearing the news from the GLaDOS unit, when she demanded for her brother's location. "You completed 19 test chambers… good for you, however, that was never the end. I think that was left there when Test subject one was doing her test. No, Test Subject 0.04, you'll be doing a lot more, I think a couple hundred more would do. Good luck… you'll need it."

Make that thousands more. That whole thing happened ages ago, not even ages to begin with. Eons ago, perhaps. But Nina understood. It was a long time ago. Often she would ask for a health report on her brother, but the GLaDOS unit would refuse until she completed a couple of more test chambers for her. Yet again, when she asked again, it would always be more test chambers.

It was better if she found him on her own.

Nina shook her head now, her breathing heavy, as she slumped onto the Chamberlock's glass wall. She can't. It's too late. She gripped the portal gun in her hands. How could she have been more careless? Instead of keeping her brother safe, she had put her in the hands of a monster. That was not even close to what she is to begin with. And now, she has to pay for her mistake.

The Chamberock began to lift her up to the next Testing Chamber. Nina sighed. She looked into her bag, which was still holding the laptop. It's a miracle that she didn't break it yet. So much information was in that laptop that she needed couldn't be erased. Nina moved the laptop away from her view, which exposed the picture of her and her brother looking at the stars, and the one can of beans left that she stole from the vending machine.

Half a can was remaining. The past few testing chambers, Nina's stomach has been aching for food. She wanted to eat it all now, at the sight of it, but she thought better of it. There wouldn't be any more food the next time she ate, and she was very concerned whether or not the GLaDOS Unit would ever give her more food.

The Chamberlock stopped, and the glass doors began to open, revealing another testing room. Nina studied this one carefully. It was a mess. The wall panels were pushed up against one another, and there were glass shards everywhere. Bits and pieces of metal pipes and poles were either on the ground, or twisted around along the walls and ceiling in ways Nina couldn't explain how.

There, among the mess, was a blinking, red light coming from the ceiling. A camera. Nina stared at it. She learned long ago that She could see her using those red lights. She fired a portal at the wall, and then another at the ceiling, making the camera fall. It was one of the many cameras inside of this run down, testing chamber. It didn't make a difference, as Nina knew, but that was one camera less that would have to stare at her.

"Oops… It seems to me that the Chamberlock has led you into the one destroyed, broken down Testing Chamber that the moron destroyed ages ago. You seem to be solving the most test chambers out of all the Human Testing Initiatives that had been here… good for you."

Nina watched, as the ground shook. The wall panels were coming back to life, rearranging themselves back into the wall, perfectly organized. She thought for a moment, as she processed what she just heard. There was that name again, "moron". She heard it once, by the core that was trying to help her ages ago. 'Many have died because he didn't check the life support systems regularly, like he's supposed to. She was right. He really was built like a moron.' The quote was reflected back at her, the word "moron" standing out to her the most. And now she heard it again.

Her mind then wandered off to something else the core said, before he was electrocuted. 'Last time the facility encountered a human, she nearly blew up the entire facility, again. Her intention was to save a bunch of new test subjects that had just entered the facility…' It hadn't occurred to her that there was a chance that there were more people in the facility, more than just her suffering from what was like eternal tourcher from the GLaDOS Unit. But yet again, it did explain to her that she is one of the last Human testing Initiates in the entire facility.

She stiffened, as she thought about the human the core mentioned, who managed to evade the GLaDOS Unit to save others like her. What happened to her and her brother, and the other survivors of the suspension rooms? Did the human not get a chance to save them too? And also, who was the moron?

Something crashed to the right side of Nina, interrupting her thoughts. She jumped back, alert. A dead wall panel, who did not move under the command from the GLaDOS Unit, was pushed away from the wall by the other working panels. It fell off the broken test chamber. Nina heard it hit the ground behind it.

She didn't dare to stutter. That wall panel was like her. If she were to die, she would merely be considered waste. She would be pushed off, like the others, along with her brother, if she doesn't do anything soon.

She studied the new area now, as the testing chamber began to finish cleaning itself up. The room behind the fallen panel did not seem to have any wall panels at all. It looked like a regular wall. Inside the room, Nina could see some writing on the walls, in orange paint. Just like the locker room. Nina stiffened a shiver growing up inside herself as she read the orange lettering.

This way… up the stairs.

She shot a portal through the hole one the wall. A bright blue portal illuminated the room with a blue hue. She then shot an orange portal to the wall next to her. She watched as both of the portals she placed earlier to get rid of the camera disappeared, one by one. Nina slowly walked over to the portal. She stood there now looking into the room. She walked inside, not too quickly, but hesitantly.

The voice boomed over the speakers, and Nina jumped back again. Realizing that the GLaDOS unit was going to speak to her, she sighed. "Hey, what are you doing? Get back in the Testing Chamber." said the GLaDOS unit. Nina almost smiled. Was that a hint of panic in her voice?

"Why?" she croaked. Her voice was becoming dryer by the minute. Without proper hydration, Nina found it difficult to speak. She looked now, for a blinking red light from a camera to look at. She found another one, bolted on to a corner of the reconstructing wall. "It would only be for a couple minutes"

With that, she turned her back to the camera. Now that she was inside the room, she was able to study it better. There was not a lot of light coming into the room, but she was able to make out a small flight of stairs. Nina walked hesitantly to the stairs. 'What was this place?' she wondered.

When she made it to the top, she studied the new area of the room around her. There was a beat up weighted storage cube in the corner of the room. There is a small radio sitting on top of the cube, playing a couple of statics. At the ceiling, Nina realized that it wasn't a ceiling at all, but a big, giant fan. She stared at it in awe, as the big metallic wings slowly spun around the ceiling, a little swooping sound following them as a wave of cool air hit her.

Nina shook her head, as pain spurted up inside it. Her vision started to spin. Darkness started to cloud up her vision. She shook her head again. Watching spinning fans while suffering major dehydration symptoms was not helping her case. She turned her attention to the wall to the right side of her. There seems to be a tarp hanging over something on the wall.

Nina walked over to the wall, and pulled down the cover. She gasped, as it unveiled a beautiful painting of a woman. It was painted with not just orange paint, but also with black and white paint as well. The woman seemed to be sleeping. It looked like she was in a very peaceful state. Nina wished she could be like her, sleeping peacefully like that on the wall, not paying attention to the dangers around her.

Well, there is one thing that could bring her to that state. Nina shook her head. Not yet. Not if her brother was still in her hands.

Down below, in the drawing, there was something written neatly in black ink. Nina read the words, carefully. "She will save us all" it read. Nina went back to what the core told her earlier. That the last time Aperture had seen a human, she tried to destroy the facility. To save her people.

Nina looked back to her face now, questions filling in her head. 'What happened to me and my brother?' she wondered. 'Were we forgotten? Did she not get the chance to save us too?' But the painting stayed silent, as paintings always did. She sighed. This woman saved hundreds of her people from the hands of the GLaDOS Unit. And yet, Nina couldn't even try to save one person.

She put her hand on the shoulder of the sleeping woman. "Please, I need some advice…" she said, looking at the portal gun in her hand. She hated to hold it, a product belonging to her, but was needed for the survival of her own. "If you can free your people, there has to be a way to save mine as well… just please, I need some help…" She looked back to the sleeping woman's face. Nothing came from it.

She sighed. There has to be something she could do to save her brother, right?

With nothing else to do now, Nina opened up her bag, carrying the laptop, the half full can of beans, and her beloved picture of both of them, she and her brother in the landscape of space. She held up the picture now, looking at her brother's face. She had to get him out of here, she just had to. He was the only person that she feels, deep down in her heart, that was in closest resemblance to her.

"I'm reminding you of the deal that we made earlier… you know, the one where you'd test for me and I give you back your brother? Think about it… how good it would feel now that you finally found your brother?" Said the voice from down below, in the testing chamber that Nina had abandoned. "I said I'm on my way…" she coughed out. Nina really needed that water. The problem is, where was she going to get some?

A small sound was heard over by the painting. Nina spun, her instincts kicking in with the traumatic experience of testing. She looked now, at the wall panels that she had seen earlier. Nina peered into that direction, for what she considered as a very long time. 'A figment of my imagination…' she thought, as she puts the picture back into her bag.

The sound was heard again. Nina gripped her portal gun, as she looked in the direction of the noise again. The sound sounded like something was clattering behind the wall panels. Nina approached the wall panels carefully, her portal gun at hand if an enemy was to come out of the wall panel.

Suddenly, the wall panel opened up, and something hurtled into Nina's face. She choked out a scream, as she blindly swung her portal gun at the attacker. When she managed to see again, Nina rubbed her face. 'That hurt…' she thought. 'Who did that?' Nina looked back at the wall panel. It was closed again. She looked around now, in the room, to see what had hit her face. She froze, as she looked down.

There was a water bottle on the ground. That was not there before, for if she had seen it, it would have been empty by now. Nina kneeled down and picked up the bottle. It wasn't used before, since the bottle cap is still attached to the ring of the bottle.

She looked back up to the wall panel, bottle in hand. It slowly opened up again. Another bottle of water was flug out of it. Nina doged just in time before it hits her face again. As quickly as it opened, the wall panel closed again. Nina walked over to the bottle of water and picked it up from the ground. She looked at the wall panel, but it just stayed shut this time.

She looked at the bottle of water she was holding. Was this water safe? It doesn't look like it's used, but then again, what if it isn't water she's receiving? She turned the bottle around in her hands, inspecting it carefully. It was covered in a thin layer of dust, which seemed to be the only unsanitary substance on the bottle.

"Come on now, it's only water… aren't you thirsty?" said a voice from the wall panel. Nina's head spun to the wall panel. It wasn't closed this time, but wide open, presenting itself with a core. Nina studied it. It has a light purple optical. It was hanging from a management rail on the other side of the wall panel. The core, looked at her, and then motioned itself towards the bottle. "Come on, it's alright. It's not going to hurt you anymore than she will…" it said.

Nina couldn't stop looking at the core. 'A core that sees her the way I see it…' she thought, as she opened the bottle of water. She relished the water going down her throat, it's coolness soothing the sore pain into it. When she finished the bottle, she now looked back at the core again. It was studying her in a curious way.

"Thank you…" said Nina, her voice clearing up a little, to the core. The core looked stunned for a moment. "Er- you're welcome?" it said. Nina looked at it in an odd way. "I'm sorry, it's just that, I have never been really thanked before..." explained the core. "Woke up in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by humans in white lab coats, and then the next thing I knew, I was attached on to her. Didn't know what to do exactly but I ended up failing. And what do I get? Not a 'Thank you,' but more like looks of disgrace, and disapproval. I thought they would end up hating me for a long time, but of course, they let me do other things, but I failed. On every, single on of the new opportunities they gave me."

Nina watched wide-eyed. This core has been through a lot. "I'm sorry that you had been through all of that…" she said softly. The core sighed, or what Nina heard was a sigh. She didn't know how the core mechanics worked. They were silent for a while now, just the two of them, reflecting back to past experiences.

A loud sound broke the silence. "You must have been really busy back there… you should come back soon… your brother is waiting for you. It won't be long now, just a couple thousand test chambers or so." The voice was calm again, but aggravating. Nina clenched and unclenched her fingers. She looked at the core again. She didn't want to leave it. "Will you be back?" she asked.

The core looked at her, in a panic now. "I was supposed to tell you something important. It could wait in the next test chamber - just keep an eye on the panels!" With that, the wall panel closed, concealing the hidden core once more.

She walked back downstairs to the two portals she shot before. She couldn't stay longer over here anyways. It wouldn't be long before the GLaDOS Unit started to threaten to break their bargain, stopping the only life-support that is keeping her brother alive. She walked through the portals now, the feeling of safety she had found inside the hidden room quickly fading.

When she emerged out of the portal, an emancipation grill appeared in front of her. Nina hesitated, but then walked through. She could hear a new wall panel being installed into place behind her. She was trapped now, back into the world of tourcher. She ignored the GLaDOS unit lecturing her for her careless actions about leaving in the middle of a test.

She studied the testing chamber, now that it looked completely different from what it looked like a couple of minutes ago. There was just an Aerial Faith Plate on the floor, its light blue light the only thing glowing in the dark. The power was the only thing that the GLaDOS unit didn't restore. Nina looked around, trying to figure out a way to see in the dark. She shot portals at random places in the testing chamber, hoping to find a surface somewhere in the dark. None of the portals stuck. She looked back at the camera. Hopefully there could be an explanation on what is going on.

After what seemed like even more eons, a voice emerges from the speakers. "Oh. A little dark for you? Well, I forgot to tell you that in this next series of tests, it would be testing how well humans like you test in the dark…"

Nina looked back at the blue light from the Aerial Faith Plate. It was the only thing she could see under the small amount of light that the operational end of the portal gun had to offer. Could she really try to trust an Aperture device to either help or hurt her?

"It's safe, you can cross through…" hisses a voice somewhat behind her. Nina looked to see a wall panel closing behind a purple optical. Her core friend is telling her that it is safe to go through, and he could see well, despite the darkness. Nina took a deep breath, and stepped on to the plate.

Instantly she felt the air passing all around her, and then, after a few seconds, felt her heart drop as she did too. She stifled the urge to scream when she still didn't land on the ground after a good amount of time. Then she gripped the portal gun tighter, reading it if she was hurting towards danger. It wasn't until she landed perfectly on a floor panel that she let out the long breath that she was holding.
The voice boomed again in the speakers. "I honestly expected you to scream during that flight. I supposed I also forgot to tell you that this was also supposed to test your fear of heights, if you did have any anyway." Nina rolled her eyes, half hoping that the GLaDOS Unit could see it, half hoping it did not. "Oh! Your new profile says that you don't showcase any fear of heights… Well, that seems unreasonable., since some humans have to be afraid of heights, right? Even if they are being catapulted hundreds of feet into the air, in the dark. Oh wait, there's more - under 15 feet! Well that changes everything, right? Turns out you aren't that brave at all." Nina didn't know if it was mocking her, or just stating her obvious flaws to irritate her. Either way, she didn't seem to care what the GLaDOS Unit said, for now a small light appeared to the side of her. The doors to the Chamberlock.

'It was that easy?' she questioned herself as she stepped through the automatic opening doors of the testing chamber. Despite the dim lighting inside the ChamberLock, she felt better that she was in the light now. The Glass doors shut, blocking her from the chamber. She watched as the darkness of the room disappeared underneath her.

Now that it was over, Nina would normally use her very little time on the Chamberlock to think things through, but her mind couldn't be taken away from the fact that she had made a small friend along the way. 'Why did it help me?' she though, rubbing her face from the memory of the water bottle hitting her face. 'Does it want something from me?'

She thought about how the core had helped her complete the test, how it reassured her when she had shown the slightest hesitation. He should be trusted, right? She also remembered that the core mentioned that it needed to tell her something. It should be able to come back to tell her anyways. Then again, Nina had her fair share of questions to ask it as well.

The ChamberLock slowly began to stop, as soon as it started to go up. Nina was entered into a brightly lit room. It hurt her eyes, as she walked inside the testing chamber. It was not because of the fact that she spent the last hour stuck inside the dark. It was because the chamber was actually too bright. Nina looked around the room the best she could, her eyes watering up. She heard the ChamberLock's door closed behind her. Again, the feeling of containment creeped up inside her.

"Hey, what happened to the dark?" She dared asking. She was not prepared for this room. There was no way she was going to solve this Testing Chamber blindly. The best thing that she could currently do was stay where she was until her eyes were adjusted to the light. No voice came up from the speakers this time. This test was different from the other tests that she was given before. Despite the fact that her eyes are starting to get a bit used to the immense brightness of the room, she could tell that the extra lights were added. For one thing, the wall panels were lights, and the white moon Gel on the ground didn't help the cause for Nina's eyes, for light always reflected itself off of white surfaces. What was the GLaDOS unit trying to make her do this time?

A sound was heard to her left. Nina spun around, but there was left with more bright light. She yelped, shielding her eyes. When the pain diminished, she opened her eyes slightly more. But there was no need to. Something has caused the power to go out, and the lights have all gone dark. Nina breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh. I guess my new testing devices have all gone dark, which is the opposite of what I wanted to do for this testing Unit. Oh well, please give me a moment while I course some more of our energy to these panels…" said the GLaDOS Unit. Nina shook her head. There was no way she was going to solve the test with bright lights on her face all the time. She readied the portal gun, the small beam of light the only light source she wanted to have.

"Pissst!" said a small voice to the side of her, where she heard the strange sound from earlier. Nina looked to see the core again. It was motioning for her to enter in a gap of wall panels that it opened for her to fit in.

"Come on, Come on! I turned off the lights and the cameras - you'd be surprised how many were in there… Anyways, we have to get out of here!" Nina Looked at the Core in a confused look. The core rolled its optical and shook itself.

"We're escaping! You need to follow me!"

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

Many years ago…

"Hey! What are you doing here?" yelled a voice at her. Nina spun around to see a security guard at the door, his dark grey suit standing out into the small crowd of people wearing white lab coats. She didn't hear any sound from the door opening, for she had been too focused reading the files from the computer. She was already beginning to download them onto the USB chip she had under her clipboard. She stammers. "I-I wanted to l-look at the process of the… transfer." She tried to explain, but that's when she saw him. Mr. Logan, walking into the room, his hands folded together. He did not look happy. Instantly, she felt her heart plummet to the ground.

"Congrats Nina. You have officially found out more information that anybody else who has tried to…" said Mr Logan slowly. "Honestly, I am quite surprised myself… stealing my Advanced access keycard from me, getting into and tampering with Security files, and now, sneaking into here, still tampering with files as I see." Nina's feet started to shake.

"I was doing it for a good reason!" she yelled. She didn't want to hold back just because it was polite. She's mad. She's saving people and she gets yelled at? "You illegally 'kidnapped' my brother, and then turn him into one of your products!" Some of the security guards finched, and others stiffened. Mr. Logan didn't move at all. "I'm following orders from the big man himself." he said.

"He's dead!" yelled Nina. Cave Johnson died years ago from the moon rocks Aperture has brought in for a new technology he has been developing. Before he died, he had asked other employees to keep on doing their work here, including the GLaDOS unit project. But that didn't matter to Nina.

"What he is doing is wrong, and you know it. You all know it!" yelled Nina, but Mr. Logan shook his head. "It's a good thing I have trackers on the keycard scanners. Then I would have known exactly where my keycard is." He stuck out his hand. She knows what he wants now.

Nina gripped the keycard in her pocket. She had enough. "Here!" she said, handing in the bent keycard. She eyed the computer. A file has finished downloading, and another one is starting to download. Her eyes locked back to Mr. Logan, who was now staring at the bent keycard. "Quite a strong grip you have there." he said. Nina glared at him. "And it looks so similar to yours as well…"

"I couldn't give it to you yet, and yet you guys gave me no choice. Now, free my brother." Said Nina sternly, but Mr Logan smiled."We have rules against thievery here, Nina." He explained. "But obviously of course, you are a minor. So we have to do things… our own way here." Nina's feet began to shake. " A nice, long, deep sleep in the cryo-chamber. How does that sound? And then, one day, you'll wake up..." Nina ignored him and looked back at the computer again. A fifth file was downloading. The information is so close! She just needed to buy more time.

"I don't want to be with any of you…" she said. "Just give me back my brother!" She watched as the crowd in the hallway slowly started to shrink as they walked away, their footsteps echoing through the room and hallways. Even the guards left. Mr. Logan shook his head. "I'm afraid we can't do that just yet, my dear." he said.

Nina sighed. She looked at the computer. The files are almost done downloading. She looked back at Mr. Logan, in a glare now. But to her horror, she caught him eyeing the computer too. Nina screamed and ran for the clipboard. Mr. Logan yelled for help as she dashed past him out the door. More security guards raced past Nina to help Mr. Logan, as he yelled at them to run back and get her.

She ran through the hallways now, holding out Mr. Logan's keycard. She had given Mr. Logan her keycard instead of his. She swiped it to the exit doors of the Personality Spheres Unit. She heard Mr. Logan screaming in the background. She dashed out of the Personality Spheres Unit, locking the doors behind her with another swipe of the card.

She ran past the scientists that were holding out their clipboards, doing their usual work at Aperture. Did they know what they were actually working for? Nina didn't want to think twice. She was already at the lift when the doors to the unit finally unlocked, allowing the Aperture Science security forces to come through. It wasn't just people this time, but also robots. They resembled cores, except they float for some strange reason, and they each had hands. Everyone of them had orange opticals staring at her. It was all Nina could see as she slowly began to rise on the lift.

She let out a deep sigh now, as she removed the USB chip in her clipboard. She put the USB in her pocket. It wasn't until she realized that she never once looked over at the computer screen to see if the files had finished downloading. To be honest, she really hoped that she even got all the information that was listed in the search results. She needed all the information to free her brother, and to show state officials. Maybe they can shut down Aperture and free everyone that they used to create their products!

The lift stopped moving, and Nina dashed out through the doors. She was in the main lobby now in Aperture, and her apartment should not be so far away now. She ran out through the glass doors marked as Exit, running past the security turrets, saying goodbye to the secretary behind her.

She ran as quickly as she could to her Apartment, entering to the plaza of the many apartment buildings Aperture has to house their employees. She entered through the doors of Building 6, and ran into the elevator. She let herself calm down for a moment, and tried to think of what she should do next. It wouldn't be so long before Mr. Logan and Aperture Security to find out where she is. The elevator lifted her up higher and she thought about it for a long time.

She knew she couldn't escape her consequences from the science facility, so escaping is the only thing that she could think about. But Aperture is always one step ahead of her, so there should be more security forces outside at the doors, waiting for her to come out. She shudders as she thought about what type of security forces would be waiting for her. The levitating cores maybe, or, and she stutters even more on the thought, turrets. She always saw turrets in the entrance of the facility, how they are only active at night time. Now, they are going to be active for her. She clenched her fists, knowing that escape was not going to be an easy solution.

The doors opened to her floor, the 7th one, of her apartment. She ran through the doors, and swiped the keycard. That's when she realized. She was holding Mr. Logan's keycard, not hers. Panic grew into her as she swiped the card again. She can't get into her apartment. She swiped a couple of more times. 'Come on… Come on…' she prayed in her head. It wasn't until the lock glowed bright blue, and her door opened up. Nina laughed in a mixture of fear and relief. She had resetted the lock. She could now enter with Mr. Logan's card.

She closed the door and locked it. It wouldn't stay that way for long, since all doors open for security forces. They all do. Nina looked around the room now. She piled things on the door. The single couch that her brother owned, her desk, a couple of night stands, her mattress. The more things she piled into the door, the safer she felt.

When there was nothing else to pile onto the doors, Nina rushed over to her brother's computer. She needed to see what files were in the USB. She swiped Mr. Logan's card. The computer signed in with Mr. Logan's user overseeing her brother's files. She plugged the USB chip in the computer and looked over at the files.

Aperture science Core status

Aperture science: Intelligence Dampening Sphere

Aperture Science: Subject 0.01_Space

Aperture Science: Subject 0.02_Fact

Aperture Science: Subject 0.03_Escort

Aperture Science: Subject 0.04_Rick

Aperture Science: Subject 0.05_Emotion

Aperture Science: Subject 0.06_Culinatary

Aperture Science: Subject 0.07_Curiosity

Aperture Science purpose of testing

Those were the search results of the files she had looked up, but that was not the end of them. Nina scrolled through the list and found more results. She had never seen them in the results page back at the computer. Nina wondered now, how much did she acquired from the computer back at the personality spheres unit. She clicked on an unfamiliar file that she knew for sure that was not listed in the search results page.

Aperture science_HIDDEN_PROTOTYPE_MAINTENANCE_CORE/S0LAR

Out of all the files, Nina had decided to click on that particular file. Instead of looking for the one her brother was in, she was looking at something else. Confusing as it is, she decided to take a quick skim over the file. There was something odd about the name of it. It reminded her too much about Solar, the core that helped her a long time ago on Aperture Science Bring Your Daughter to work day. What if this was his file, like Ellas?

Nina scrolled down, past the blue prints written down in the files, and past the many, many lines of code that are listed as Basic lines of programming for Aperture Science Personality spheres. She stopped scrolling through the files, landing on the one particular part of the information she wanted to look at. The classified section, explaining the true identity of the core.

Conscience Donor: [Unknown name]

Conscience transfer: 9 errors, 1 unsuccessful attempt,

Gender: Male

Age [Redacted. Swipe Card for verification]

Nina considered swiping the card. She really needed to know, if they were able to show information, such as age for other files, why not this one? But on another end, what if it's hidden for a reason? She didn't want to intrude on its privacy. Her mind filled with yes and no's as she tried considering the option.

Unfortunately, something flashed on the screen, interrupting her thoughts. "Intrusion alert" Nina watched as half of the files started to disappear. She looked wildly at the alert. It was Mr. Logan. He was using her card to rid the information on the USB! Nina clicked wildly at the screen, reviving the files on the Intelligence Dampening Sphere, Emotion, Space and Curiosity. She watched as the rest of the files started to be erased. Nina's heart rate began to increase as she tried to revive one more file, the mysterious one marked as Solar's file.

She was only able to retrieve half of the file when there was a loud banging at the door. Nina unplugged the chip now, and looked at the door, in horror. "Nina [Unknown]We will allow you to turn yourself in. Failure to do so would give us no other choice to enter by force." said a voice from outside.

Nina shook her head, remembering what Mr. Logan had said. " A nice, long, deep sleep in the cryo chamber…" She had regretted ignoring him earlier. She didn't know much, but sleeping for a long time was going to harm her. She wished now, that her brother was there, helping her solve the crisis that she was in

Some time ago, when the new technology for the Cryo-chambers was being created, Aperture was looking for some employees to test it out. Her brother has explained to her, that "Too much sleep can harm you, physically. Your brain gets damaged, and you could lose things, abilities that you can do, such as memorizing things. Your body won't function properly like it used to. Promise me Nina, never sign up, or even enter a cryo - chamber, 'kay?" And she always understood.

Except now, this was a different problem that Nina has found herself in. Aperture Security has found her, and there was clearly no escape from her punishment. She clenched her fists, feeling the USB in her hand. She thought, for a moment, something else her brother said to her, during their times in the Wheat Field. "Sometimes, many problems, like our poverty, have different solutions. Sometimes, they are as clear as day, and other times, It's tough to find them. Like for me, lts to find a job. It's kind of hard seeing that in me right now, but, a solution we are doing right now is making the most of it. Look at how much we have done. There is no going back now."

A solution that is hard to see. Nina took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, ignoring the banging on the door. "Look at how much you have done, all for your brother." she thought. She didn't steal the keycard, entered restricted rooms, and tampered with Aperture's files for nothing. She can't go back now. All she can do is go forward into saving her brother - or die trying.

She played with the USB chip in her hand. 'Think, think." Find a solution that is hard to see. The USB slips from her fingers, hitting the ground. Nina bent down and picked it up. That's when something started to spurt up in her mind. A small starter of an idea. Nina looked at the USB chip, with a wonder. There had to be something that she could do with the chip.

Her eyes landed on the Computer, with the built in camera. Nina looked now, and wondered. What if she can get into the cryo-chamber, and still come out of it with a way to remember the key things going on right now. She plugged the USB back into the computer. She needed to do this very quickly, for she can't risk Mr. Logan from hacking into the system and removing the rest of the information on the USB.

An alert popped up on the screen, explaining that Nina has limited storage space in her USB, so her video couldn't be that long. She had to be even quicker.

She looked at the camera. She had to find a way to make her remember who she was, and what she was fighting for, without scaring her future self. The only way to do that is to create a video, showing her face. She wouldn't trust anyone else but herself. She turned on the camera, and created a new file on the remaining space of the USB.

A loud bang was heard in the door, for it is now trying to get past the barricade Nina has between her and the Security forces. Nina started to make the video. She watched, as the intruder alert appeared on the screen. She talked to the camera, stating who she was, and what she needed to do in Aperture. She explained all she knew about the conscience transfer situation with her brother, and his reasons on why he left for the so called promotion.

She watched as the files from the Emotion section started to disappear. Her voice sped up, and hurried faster delivering the message. She was nearly finished now. She watched as the curiosity information disappeared. Nina's breathing became faster as she realized she herself had forgotten the most important piece of all. The GLaDOS Unit. It was a dangerous thing, and it didn't occur to her until now. Nina yelled in the camera now. "Do not trust the GLaDOS Unit! It is deadly and dangerous. She is made by them by the people who took your brother. Now they are using other people's brains to fix her! Don't trust her, she is one of them, a deadly robot. Don't trust it. It will attempt to kill you. Don't trust-"

The camera blinked twice, and then the computer shut off. All the lights went off. Nina removed the USB. 'They shut off the power for this Apartment' she thought. She looked at the USB now, a tiny rectangle in the dark. She didn't have time to look over the video, nor fix the mistakes. She only had one chance. There were only three files remaining from Aperture science Intellect Computer. And then there was the video. He hoped the information was enough to help her in the future.

Nina looked around the room. She needed to find something to help her hide the USB. This was the last piece of hope she had in saving her brother. That's when she saw it. Tape right next to her computer. She took a strip of tape, and taped the USB behind her nametag. It was a good hiding spot. Everybody in Aperture is required to wear them, so it would just be hiding it in plain sight.

The satisfaction of her plan working out so well only lasted so little when Nina realized something. It was a long time since she heard something, anything near the door. Nina smiles. The barricade worked, for a little bit, but Nina still wondered what the security forces were doing on the other side of the door. She took a deep breath and let it out. 'It's the calm before the storm.' she thought. She kept her eyes at the door, in the darkness.

She heard shuffling footsteps at the other side of the door. Mr. Logan's voice filled the room. "Nina, come out. The building is surrounded by Aperture Security Soldiers and Turrets. There is no escape. Don't make us use force to bring you out." Nina shook her head. No. She was not going to surrender as easily as that. She could miss an opportunity to escape. She stood her ground. "I'm a fourteen year old girl! What could you guys do to me?" She screamed.

"Then you give us no choice, Nina." Said Mr. Logan. A loud voice was heard in the doorway. The word, "Clear!" was heard, followed by a lot of running footsteps. Nina only had seconds to figure out what was going on before it flashed in her mind. She watched as the world around her slowed. An explosion was heard, and items from her barricade flew into the air. Nina stumbled back as a mattress flew onto her, blocking most of the debris from hitting her body, but not all of it.

Nina screamed in pain as her desk came flying towards her, landing on top of her in full force. She was thankful for the mattress on her body, or else, that would have been nearly fatal for her. Darkness clouded up her vision as she tried to get up, only to breathe into strong smelling fumes coming from the doorway. Her breathing began to slow, and she fell, her last hope of finding her brother clouded with more smoke.

Everything was all in a blur, one event fading into another. The metal arms carrying her out of her apartment, the hard mattress in a bright room, with a doctor explaining something to other people, something about the inability to focus on one thought, therefore, she can't be something they want her to be. It soon faded before Nina had time to compute the situation.

She wanted to get up. She had to. For one thing, she needed to check if she still had the USB on her name tag. Another thing is that she wanted to go and run, away from Aperture. She had to find her brother, and she was wasting time if she didn't get up.

When she awoke again, she was encased in a small room. This time, it had a soft bed, and there was a glass surface where she could see the outside surroundings. She struggled to move now as panic set her in. She was in a Cryo-chamber. Instinctively, her hands went on to the nametag, where they now feel the familiar feeling of the USB chip still stuck on to it.

Footsteps were heard and she froze, her eyes closing. Hopefully they wouldn't see her pretending to sleep through the glass. As the footsteps came closer, the voices became louder and more clearer. "She should be awake by now…" said one person. Nina opened her eyes. Now if she were to close them again, then they would surely know that she is pretending to be asleep.

She watched as two sets of feet stood before her. She looked up, to see a man in a white lab coat, holding a clipboard. Standing next to him was Mr. Logan. He had a tablet in his hand. "Nina…" he said. "How do you feel after that short rest?" Nina glared at the sight of Mr. Logan. "Let me out." She said. "People know who I am. They will look for me."

Mr. Logan smiled. "We will deal with that easily," he said. "Most of them are actually preparing for the final test of the GLaDOS project. They wouldn't even care this time that a little girl is missing. I believe that right now, they are just starting to test it out, so in a couple of minutes, you should hear the test succeeding." Nina rolled her eyes. "It's never going to work," she mumbled. She didn't even bother to continue struggling with him. There was no point in glaring, screaming and struggling now. Nina knew she just needed to stick to her plan. She smiled now. "One way or another, I will find my brother." she said.

Mr. Logan laughed. The man next to him stiffened. He didn't know what was going on. Nina looked at him now. He had black hair, and there were small traces of a beard growing in his face. He didn't seem to enjoy this, for he knew that deep down, something happened between her and Mr. Logan. Nina looked at his nametag. The name of this man was James. Mr. Logan turned his back on her, and talked to James in whispers. He nodded now, understanding. With that, he walked towards the Cryo-Chamber's control panel.

He hesitated for a moment, looking at Nina's eyes, for they were now glaring at him. "What you are doing isn't going to work." she said. "It will fail." Nina remembered her brother's last words, which convinced her to let him go to the promotion. "It always would, unless I can find a way to fix her, not it, Nina." he had said.

A loud siren stopped everyone in their tracks. Nina looked at Mr. Logan, who was now using the Tablet to contact a scientist from the Enrichment center. He was only met with screams from the other scientists. Nina watched as James ran off, leaving Mr. Logan alone with Nina. Mr. Logan looked around the area now, meeting up with the sight of green smoke coming from the ventilation systems. Something blared over the speakers.

"I hope you guys like the smell of neurotoxin, because you will be sleeping peacefully for a very long time…" Nina's heart skipped a beat. The GLaDOS Unit test failed. It's flooding the entire facility with Neurotoxin. She watched as Mr. Logan smiled. "Perhaps, we can change this trial of yours…" he said. Nina then watched, as instead of heading to the side of the control panel, Mr. Logan walked over to the right side, to the Emergency release hatch.

He was planning to kill them both.

Nina screamed. She couldn't find her brother now if she was to be dead. She watched as Mr. Logan walked over to the hatch, and swiped his keycard. "Access Denied" said a voice from the control panel. "Going to Cryo-Sleep I see… well I would let that happen if I were you… This is the much better, much deadlier way to go to sleep, don't you think?" Nina watched, as Mr. Logan started to take in a deep breath, holding the last, no toxified piece of air in his body, as he switched sides and configured the security pin.

Nina was baffled. The GLaDOS Unit doesn't even know that she was in the Cryo-Chamber! It had just saved her life, but yet again, unintentionally. She watched, as Mr. Logan continued to mess around with the control panel. His face became bright red now, for he was holding his breath for too long. He lets go of his breath, only to refill it back with more neurotoxin.

Outside, the Neurotoxin clouds started to prevent Nina from seeing clearly, but she could faintly see Mr. Logan's body, swaying back and forth. Nina screamed. If Mr. Logan doesn't turn on the Cryo-Chamber, then the life support system wouldn't protect her from neurotoxin entering into the Chamber and killing her too. She watched as Mr. Logan's body moved forward, now finally losing his balance and falling - right on top of the control panel.

A tiny beep was heard all around Nina, as she tried to understand what happened. Something started to happen to the Cryo-Chamber as Nina began to smell something. Her mind began to float, and Nina wanted to sleep, ever so badly. She knew that also unintentionally, her life was being saved by the one person who would do anything, even dying, to kill her. She closed her eyes now, as sleep clouded her thoughts.

"I'm coming for you, just hold on. I'll be on my way."

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

Present time

Nina watched, as the core motioned itself to make an impression that she should go with it. She walked towards it. The core began to speak to her. "Hurry up now, I can't keep the power off for that long." Nina looked at the core in a worry. What would happen if the GLaDOS Unit sees that she is not testing like it wants her to be? Then what would she do to her brother?

The core looked at Nina, as if reading her thoughts. "You know, maybe we should make her think that you died. Then she wouldn't target your brother immediately." Nina nodded. It is best to stay low. But then again, how is she going to pretend to be dead? If she just lied on the floor, she would be pushed off, or sent to the incinerator, or even worse, the GLaDOS Unit would figure out, and would harm her brother, or-

"Throw something of yours in that pit over there, just, be careful not to fall in, right?" said the core, interrupting her thoughts. "How about the boots? I can get you a new pair later." Nina looked down on her boots. Even in the dark, she could see the blue and orange stripes drawn on them. This was the last thing her brother had given her. Something was special about the boots that made her feel like she couldn't just take them off. She looked at the core, and shook her head. "These are special to me. I can't throw them away." she said.

The core sighed. "Then your bag. She knows that you never go anywhere without your bag. Then she would surely know that you really died in this room." But Nina shook her head. The boots were one thing, but the bag was something else. It holds so many important things that she needed to find her brother. She heard the core groan. She watched as it rolled it's purple optical.

"You need to drop something in there. You can't stay there for too long. She has even deadlier tests next up for you. They are impossible to escape from. This was one of them. That was the thing that I had to warn you about. " it explained urgently. Nina took a deep breath. She was being too possessive. The core was right. She needed to drop something in the pit. Nina looked at her boots. She had to. The bag was too important to her.

She quickly unstrapped them, one by one. She grabbed them and used the operational end of the portal gun to light her way. She saw now, the pit that the core mentioned earlier. She looked at them under the light, for one last time. She heard the core hissing in the exit from the wall panels. "Hurry up! The lights are coming back on!" Nina tossed the boots into the pit. She watched as they slowly sank into the toxic liquids. She didn't think twice as she rushed over to the core, breathing a sigh of relief at last. It then closed the wall panels, seconds before Nina heard the loud voice booming behind her. "I got the power back on, so now you can- oh… why look, you have died. Oh well… I guess humans don't test well in the dark after all. I guess it was just fate that helped me find that out, and I guess your 's was to die here."

Nina looked behind her, to see where she just exited. She was standing on a catwalk platform, with a railing on one side. She tried to keep her balance as she looked at the big structure in front of her. Wall panels formed a giant box around the testing chamber that she had just come out of. It started to move, deftly away from her, until it disappeared from view, the light blue dots from the panels fading away.

Nina looked at the core now, which it was now looking directly at her. "Nice to see you again." it said. Nina nodded. She watched, as the core began to move along its management rail. "Follow me." it said. "Let's get you some new boots." Nina breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, so much for saving me." she said. This time, the core didn't struggle to say "You're welcome." He laughed. "Come on, let's get out of here."

She followed the core, studying it. Even in the darkness, the core seemed to see things very well. Nina figures that maybe that was because it was more advanced than a human, seeing things that they didn't. She wondered now, why the core decided to come and help her, instead of watching their master torture her for months.

"What's your name?" she asked softly, worried that even when she isn't in a testing chamber anymore, She could still hear her. The core stopped moving and turned around, seeing her. "I don't really have one, to be honest." It said. " I wanted one, but the scientists just called me Solar. I guess you can call me that then." Nina nodded. Solar it was. "So," said Solar. "What's your name?" She looked at Solar now, as it continues to lead her on to the unfamiliar sections of Aperture Science. "Nina." she said, and then tripped over on her own feet.

She got up now, and dusted herself off. "I suppose you can't see what I can, can't you?" asked Solar, looking back at Nina again. Nina nodded. Even with the optical and the operational end of the portal gun, it still didn't produce the light she needed to see well. "Here." It said, and bright light hits Nina's eyes. She watched now, as Solar turned around, illuminating the path way for them. "Thank you." she said. "No problem!" said Solar cheerfully.

Nina continued following the mysterious core, watching it carefully. She wanted to know more about the core. She needed to know why it helped her, without making herself look rude. She had a feeling that these cores actually do have human feelings, and a solid conscience. Her past self was right after all, as she remembered from the video in the USB.

It wasn't until that while they were walking in silence, Nina decided to really pay attention to her surroundings. She looked in awe. There were wall panels everywhere, each forming into a box which resembled as another chamber of torture. But for the first time in months, Nina looked at it in a new perspective. Each wall panel had a light blue light, a small hue only illuminating a tiny circle around themselves. All around her, there were thousands to thousands of them. They looked like millions of stars in the sky.

Nina opened her bag, and took out the photograph of her brother, and looked at it. Even in the semi-darkness, she couldn't see it well, but by then, Nina memorized the photograph. Her brother's face was enlightened at the sight of stars, in space. Her only hope to keep moving, pushing herself on after each testing chamber was completed. What would he think about this place if he was here?

"Sometimes, it really is a wonderful sight." Said Solar in front of her, awakening her from her train of thought. Ninas put the photograph away. "It would be even better, if, you know, the wall panels were meant to actually display them instead of housing testing chambers. It really is a shame." Nina nodded, agreeing. They both walked in silence, underneath the lights.

Finally, after so much walking in silence, Nina let out the question that had been bothering her ever since she met the core. "Why did you help me?" she asked. But before the core could answer, they both heard a small whirring in the distance.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" asked a small voice. Nina and Solar froze, the light now disappearing from its optical. Solar slowly turned around to look at Nina. The look on itself explained to Nina that she wasn't the only one to have heard that voice. She readied her portal gun, and looked around in the darkness. She saw it, not far away from where both of them were. A red, small optical, sitting on the box made of wall panels, having a panel opened, like a watch tower. A Turret.

Solar motioned at Nina. There, where he motioned his optical, was another catwalk platform, with the type of surface Nina now knew by heart that she could shoot a portal on it. Nina smiled. She fired a portal on the surface. "Duck!" hissed Solar, as she did, for now the turret was looking directly at Solar. Solar, chuckled to himself, and said a meek "hi," to the turret. The Turret, now knowing that the area was safe, said a friendly "Hello!" to the core, and allowed it to get past. Nina watched as he slowly went farther and farther away from her.

She crept backwards, away from the turret. She didn't want to risk getting shot by it just because she was only trying to evade it. She crawled away from the turret, until she was well enough away from it. She then stared, at the direction that the core had gone. It couldn't just leave her there, now, could it?

It wasn't until a tiny, light purple glow emerged from the darkness. Nina watched as it flowed from one way to another. Solar was motioning her to the catwalk platform, to where she shot her first portal. By then, Nina already understood that she had to find another way to get across, except that Solar was not going to be with her. She pointed to the operational end of the portal gun in front of her. She would at least have a little bit of light to see in the dark to prevent her from taking any "unfortunate" steps.

Not even a couple of minutes had passed, and now, Nina was more than lost in the maze of catwalk platforms. She walked even more slowly, making sure that she was careful in where she stepped, that she was silent, for then she would hear. She looked around, hoping to find something, anything, that would be considered a portal surface.

It wasn't long before her catwalk platform had become a split between two pathways, left and right. Nina didn't have an option to go between the pathways, for the catwalk platform ended with a broken ledge. She looked left to right now, exploring her surroundings. On the left side, the catwalk platform ended in a surface, with one door and a flickering light. On the other side, there seemed to be an endless pathway of darkness.

The obvious choice was to go to the left side, where the door was, but what lies in the other side is unknown. Nina walked carefully to the door. She touched it, hoping that it has a rocky surface, just like regular portal surfaces. Unfortunately, the door was made of metal, like nonportable surfaces. Nina sighed. Maybe there could be some surfaces inside the room.

She put her hand on the doorknob, and tried to open it. She opened it a little bit, so she could peep through the door to look around her surroundings before room had windows surrounding it, allowing a little bit of light in the room. There was an empty walkway to the room, with metal walls surrounding it, but right at the end of the walkway, there it was, a portal surface. Nina walked inside, and closed the door behind her.

She walked, carefully towards the wall. She has not been in this room yet in her searches before testing, but it was in the same state as it was like other rooms. Destroyed, abandoned, basically a giant mess. Surprisingly, unlike other rooms with windows, these windows in this room were perfectly intact. Nina continued walking.

She was moments from firing the portal on the wall hence not the fact that Nina was met face to face with the red optical from a turret guarding the end of the walkway. Nina gasped, not wanting to scream, and jumped back towards the walkway, leaning against the wall. "Hello…" Said the turret. "I'm different…"

Nina shook her head. Being in testing chambers has helped her know that in general, turrets must be avoided. She considered herself lucky, remembering herself from the first time when she awoke in Aperture, that she was met with a friendly turret who didn't shoot her when it had the chance. Nina thought for a moment, as she leaned against the wall. She wondered if this turret really is friendly. Maybe it can let her through. But not without knowing for sure that the turret could be trusted.

She looked around, looking for something that she could use to throw at the turret. She picked up a piece of paper on the ground, and crumpled it up into a small paper ball. She threw the paper ball towards the turret, and then immediately crouched down and cringed, covering her ears, expecting the sound of gunshots.

When she was met with silence, Nina opened her eyes, and listened. She could hear the whirring of the turret as it tried to compute on what happened in front of it.

"Knowledge is killing humans." It started to say. "Most of it comes from cutting trees, therefore, it's killing us. The creator of knowledge actually died of suffocation." Nina dared to look at the turret. Its optical was focused on the piece of paper that Nina had thrown at it. The turret looked at Nina, now knowing that she was looking at it. Nina took a step back. "You are human." it said to her.

Nina looked back at the turret again. It didn't seem to be hostile towards her. It just looked at her in the same way the first turret did. "He was innocent, just like him." Said the turret. Nina was confused. For one thing, she didn't even know who "he" or "him" was. "What do you mean?" she asked the turret.

But it said nothing. Nina looked at it, and it looked back at Nina. It was the same silence that she had endured with the first turret. Awkward silences, strange words, questions left unanswered. "What type of turret are you?" she asked the turret. But the turret didn't say anything. Nina thought for a minute. "You have a brother somewhere else around here, did you know that? He acted exactly like you." But the turret didn't say anything.

Nina thought for a minute. Maybe she can ask Solar if he knew something about the turrets, if there were good ones, or bad ones. Nina looked now, as the turret looked at the paper once more. "He was too innocent to be punished this way." said the turret. Nina, still confused by the way it was talking about, didn't know if it meant herself, her brother, the mysterious "Him", or the creator of this so-called school. But something told her that the turret was trying to tell her something. Both of them, as Nina concluded, are trying to give her hints to guide her, either for the good or the bad.

She might as well call the turret in front of her an Oracle.

"He is waiting." said the Turret this time. Nina shook her head, awakening yet again from her thoughts. It only took her a couple of minutes to figure out this time who might this "he" be. Solar. Nina looked at the wall again. "Well then," she said, looking back at the turret. "I'll think about what you said to me. Thank you for not shooting me - again."

She readied her portal gun and fired. Nina watched as the surface of the wall presented with the catwalk platform that she had last been with Solar, only that she was on the other side of the hostile turret, and Solar was pacing back and forth in its management rail. When it saw Nina, it stopped, and a cheerful look appeared on its face. But when it saw the turret, it quickly changed to a mortified look.

"How are you not-" It stammers, but Nina put her finger on her lips, staying quiet. She looked back at the turret, as she walked through the portal. "Good-bye, Oracle." she said, before she follows Solar out of the room. The portal closed behind her, leaving the turret alone again in the room. The turret looked back down at the paper that Nina had thrown.

"The answer is above us…" It said.

The core went along the management rail with Nina, as she adjusted her hand in the portal gun. "Quit scaring me!" it said to Nina. "You don't know what the turret would have done to you! You could have been killed!" It said. Nina shook her head. "It's a nice turret." she said. But Solar shook his head. "No turrets are nice…" it said, its optical pointing to the ground.

Nina looked at the core. "Did something wrong happen between you and turrets?" she asked. Solar looked at Nina. "No." it said. "It just scares me to see them, and to even think about them!" Nina nodded, remembering the reaction to the core as it turned towards her in fear, and when it nervously chuckled when the turret looked at him. "But you are an Aperture device!" She said. "Turrets don't shoot Aperture devices!"

Solar looked at Nina now, in pure fear. "Think about it, what they could do to humans. I've seen it many times. Now imagen in what they could do to cores." Nina nodded in agreement. She wouldn't blame the core. Fear of turrets was overrated anyways.

Solar and Nina Walked over to another corner of the catwalk platform. A small stairway appeared. "Watch your step." said Solar as he glided up on his management rail. Nina looked at the stairs. They went up really high. Nina looked at solar, who was still rising. "Don't worry!" it said. "They lead to the Aperture Science Vital Apparatus Storage Sector! You should be able to choose your boots there!"

Nina sighed. She took out the last water bottle that Solar had given her, and drank a little bit of water. She would save the rest of it for later. She started up the stairs now, cringing as metal to metal shrieked at her weight, for no one has climbed on them for years. She watched, as Solar started to descend towards her, allowing her to catch up to it.

"Come on now, don't stop! You are almost there!" He encouraged, but Nina couldn't stop looking down. She didn't feel the protection of the boots strapped tightly around her legs, which meant that any height could be fatal. Nina looked over the railing of the stairway, and wished she didn't. Nothing was seen at the bottom of the stairs, and the catwalk platform that she was just walking on was shrouded in darkness. Only the ground illuminated a soft and blue hue, because of the wall panels down below, but that was it. No ground. It made things look higher than they should be.

She shivers now, and forces herself to look up. Nina looked at Solar, who was confused. "You are going to get your boots soon, so why worry?" It asked. She looked at the core. "Easy for you to say for someone who can live forever, and is attached to a rail that would guarantee their safety." She said.

Solar looked at the ground now. "I don't understand the concept of regular, non aperture human fears… but get this: you managed to climb up to here. You can do it again, right? Just pretend that the platform that you are standing on is the ground, and you are starting to climb up again." Solar explained. Nina smiles. "It's fine, but I'll handle it from here." She said.

"Well then, come on!" said Solar, and up he went again. Nina looked up high. It wasn't long now, before she reached up to the top. She forced herself to look ahead, and walked up the stairs. 'Up a flight, two, up another flight…' she thought as she continued to go up the stairs.

She finally made it, all out of breath, her legs shaking violently. She kneeled down, and took another couple of sips of water. She needed to get more soon. She looked up at Solar, who now motioned her to get into a pair of metal doors. "It's safe over here!" it said.

Nina put the bottle of water away and stood up. She walked towards Solar, and stood in front of the doors. Solar looked at the door for a very long time. Nina, confused, waved her hand in front of Solar's optical. "Hey!" it said. "I was trying to open the door. If you put your hand in front of me, it would disturb the process!" Nina took a step back. Solar continued looking at the door. She waited there, looking at Solar, as she watched his optical spin around once clockwise, and twice counterclockwise, and vise versa.

It wasn't until Solar let out a deep sigh, and the door opened. Nina looked at the core. It seemed tired. Its optical was not as bright as it was before. Nina looked at it. "Are you okay?" she asked. "What did you do?" Solar looked at Nina. "I can hack through some Aperture systems." it explained. "Except that recently, it's been more tiring for me. Don't know why though, but I really hope it's not the fire wall that is presenting it's bad side towards me for hacking… that would be a disaster.

Nina looked at the core. It's optical seemed to be glowing brighter now. "Lets just go look for the boots." she said. "Then I'll find a way out of here. You don't need to hack." Solar shook its head. "She has made this place more secure now more than ever, after what a test subject did here years ago." It explained. "She placed more turrets around these parts, and she also increased the Facility's IQ by an undefined percent. You can't get out of here without getting caught. I'm going with you."

"How?" asked Nina. She looked at the engagement rail that Solar was attached to. It doesn't lead to the Storage Unit. Solar looked at Nina. "hmmmm." it said. It looked around Nina for a solution to this situation. That's when the optical landed on Nina's portal gun. "Do you use that to carry storage cubes by any chance?" Nina looked at the Portal Gun. She smiled, for a bit, before it faded into a look of concern.

"How would you get off of your rail?"She asked. Solar sighed. "It's scary, but I have seen it happen before…" it said. "Just catch me in the count of one." Nina looked confused. "Why not three?" She asked. Every single time when she was forcing herself to do something, like jumping from high areas though portals, she would always count to three. Why three? She didn't know exactly, but the number seemed to be cut out for these types of situations.

"Because counting to three gives you too much time to think about it." Explained Solar. Nina shrugged. She figured that was the way cores think, counting to one just like that. She lifted up her portal gun, and held it right up high next to Solar. Nina watched, as the core closed its optical lids and sang out "one!" and jumped out of its rail.

He landed perfectly onto the portal gun, which was now carrying him, 3 bolts of lights going through it, keeping it up on the portal gun. It opened his lids and looked at Nina. "Well! That was much better than what I saw…" it explained. Nina smiled again. "Well, eons in testing chambers teach you a lot." she said. She walked into the double metal doors now, her portal gun carrying Solar. Both of them looked around. There were lots, and lots, of shelves. And they were stacked with storage cubes, companion cubes, and portal guns.

It wasn't until Solar turned on his flashlight, when Nina saw the actual size of the Unit. The light was making it seem bigger than it looked like in the dark. "This is too big!" she said. "Where am I supposed to get the boots?" The lights went off, and Solar's optical turned around and faced her. "I guess you can explore. I'll let you know if I see anything." it explained. Nina nodded, and understood. The core turned around, and they both looked around, hoping to find the boots, and something useful.

They walked in silence, yet again, as Nina walked down the abandoned isles of the Storage Unit. She looked all around her, until she looked up, to see a Vital Apparatus Vent fly over her. She jumped now, dogging it as it reached down to a companion cube section in front of them. Solar and Nina watched as the vent sucked up two cubes. Their pink, heart shaped logos flew up in the vent. The vent closed now, and lifted off the section. Nina looked up, as it flew over her, to pick up more supplies.

"The amount of cubes that the vent collected must mean that they are for the Co-operative Testing Units… we better stay away from those." Said Solar. Nina nodded. She didn't plan to take a trip through the vents anyways. It was too tight of an area that leads you to an undefined place, either back in the testing chamber, or possibly, back to her. She refused to stutter at the thought in front of Solar.

"Over here!" said Solar, interrupting her thoughts, as he nudges himself into an area which seemed to be the darkest and shadiest of them all. He pointed his flashlight to the area, with more lights reflecting towards them. Nina watched, as she realized what the surfaces were. Boots. She walked into the area, pointing Solar's light on the boots. They were all the same, with white surfaces. None of them looked like the ones her brother had given her.

"Cheer up!" said Solar. "At least they can protect you when you are in danger, right?" Nina nodded, and shook her head, trying to hopefully forget the sight of those boots. She set the portal gun down, and then made sure that Solar, given the fact that it was a spherical core with no limbs and could roll off somewhere, was safely placed on the ground. She grabbed a pair of boots that seemed to fit her the best, and strapped them on, one by one. They were just right, except the fact that they were heavier than the boots her brother gave her. She could walk, but not as well as she could before.

"You'll get used to them." Said Solar, from the ground. "But when you are done, mind picking me up? The floor is cold, and I mean, really cold. It's a shame they don't keep the areas warm anymore…" Nina picked up the portal gun and then used it to pick up Solar. "That's much better, thanks!" It said.

Now with more protection, Nina felt more confident about how she would feel about walking in the facility. "Alright!" Said Solar from the Portal Gun. "Lets see if we can find more things for you. I found two water bottles earlier, which means that maybe there could be food for you to eat here. I'm pretty sure two bottles aren't gonna cut it, right?" Nina nodded.

The flashlight from Solars optical turned on again, and they continued walking around the storage unit, dogging Vital Apparatus Vents as they moved around the unit collecting more items for the testing subjects. It wasn't until a loud, squishing-type sound was heard, and a pop, that caused both of them to gasp. Nina jumped out of the way, and pointed her portal gun at the source of the sound. "It's a bag." Said Solar, sighing. "You stepped on a bag of Aperture Pa- Oh wait! Aperture Paste!"

Nina looked under Solar's light, at the bag. From the hole of the bag, some of the contents of the bag was on the ground now, because of the weight of Nina's boots. Nina looked at the brown, gooey substance on the ground. "What's that?" she asked Solar, who was looking at it excitedly. "You don't know what that is?" it asked, turning off the flashlight to look at Nina. "It's food! Something that you need! Here, point to the self over there!" it exclaimed. Nina, still confused on how a type of substance could be edible, looked at Solar, who now turned to look at a shelf in front of them with his flashlight on, pointed the portal gun in that direction. The shelf that Solar was meaning to present to Nina was filled with small packets that looked like the same one on the ground. "Perfect!" said Solar. "There's your food supply! Go ahead, grab some!" Nina sighed, and did what Solar asked it to do. She set Solar on the ground. "Can I read the label?" She asked. Solar nodded. It allowed Nina to grab it by the handles sticking out from it, as she sat down to the ground. It watched, as Nina tried her best to read the packet.

APERTURE SCIENCE APERTURE PASTE

A NUTRITIONAL PACKET THAT KEEPS EMPLOYEES WORKING

CONTAINS ALL OF THE NEEDED VITAMINS THAT A HUMAN BODY NEEDS!

Nina looked at Solar. "It doesn't tell me what it includes…" Said Nina Nervously. "Come on, try it! I heard it was better than it looked - hopefully…" said Solar. Nina set Solar down, and used its light to help her see where to open the packet. There was a small cap attached to the packet. Nina twisted the cap, and a disguising stench came from it. Solar cringed when it saw Nina'. "Maybe it's better than it smells too?" asked Solar.

Under the light, Nina tried to make out of what she was going to consume. She gave up moments later, as she realised that the stench was unbearable to keep smelling. She stuck the packet in her mouth, and sipped a bit of the paste. When she didn't taste anything, she kept at it.

When nothing still came out of the packet, she pressed on it harder, forcing the paste to go to her mouth. She regretted this action, as the paste exploded into her mouth, a sour taste filling up her mouth. Her face pinched up, as she tried to get rid of the taste from her mouth. Solar cringed, as she spat out the food. "I guess that from this, it's not very good at all, isn't it." Nina nodded.

But despite the foul taste, she still needed food. She picked up Solar from the ground, and pointed his flashlight further down the aisle. All she could see was Aperture paste. Nothing else. There was even more paste further down. She sighed. She put Solar back on the ground and opened up her bag. Nina grabbed handfuls of packets of Aperture Paste. Solar, looking at Nina, shook its head. "Why collect this food if you don't like it?" It asked.

"It's still food Solar." said Nina. "Like it or not, I need it to live." Solar nodded, understanding. "Fine, fine." it said. "There isn't anything else to eat around here anyways." Nina zipped up the now full bag. She picked up the portal gun from the ground, and then picked up Solar with it. "Lets go get some water." she said. Solar nodded and lit the way for her to see.

Nina walked past 3 aisles of Aperture paste and past the Vital Apparatus Vents until she saw the water section. It was not packed like the other sections. "Honestly, I thought there would be a lot more than just two water bottles just randomly on the ground. I never thought that the water supply here would be low." Said Solar, looking around the aisle, looking for another bottle of water. "You know, this facility used to house thousands of Aperture Science Employees. I guessed that there should be a lot of water for all of them. Quite surprising that there almost isn't any left."

Nina continued looking around the aisles, looking for a bottle of water. The selves were almost bare, hence not the fact that there sat 3 bottles of water in one shelf. She stopped in front of them, and picked them up. "You were there when the scientists were around?" she asked Solar, as she adds the 3 bottles of water into her bag. Solar nodded, looking back towards her. "yup! " It said. "Back then, Aperture looked better than what it looks like now."

They reached the end of the aisle now, and Nina was only able to pick up just three water bottles. "Is there another storage Unit?" she asked Solar. It looked at Nina. "No," it said, shaking itself. Nina sighed. "Cheer up! This is Aperture. Everything here is always big. We could find another aisle with water!" it said hopefully. Nina nodded. She slung the bag over her shoulder, and continued to walk around the Storage unit.

They passed more Vital apparatus vents that constantly move around the ceiling to pick items up for test initiatives, or for other reasons. All the while, they both searched in silence, for another water bottle section. But alas, after many hours of search, Solar was the one to break the news. "I don't see any other water section in here…" he said. " We might as well leave now to the surface. I hear there is more water up there."

Nina shook her head. "I can't leave here yet." she said. Solar looked at her, wide-eyed. "You have to!" pleaded Solar. "This place is too dangerous to be here!" Nina wished she could say yes, if her brother's life was not on the line. "Solar, I can't. My brother, he's still here." She tried to explain. Solar shook its head. "You are going to get killed. As far as I know, there are multiple cameras in the Suspension room. How do you think they found you earlier?" it asked.

"Wait." said Nina. "How do you know about the suspension room?" Solar looked away from Nina. "I was there when it happened." He said. "How she shocked it, the new suspension room manager. It was scary, and I knew that since I don't have a purpose here, soon I'll end up like that one day, I figured that I didn't belong here" It explains.

"What do you mean?" asked Nina. "What do you mean, no purpose?" Solar shook its head. "I have been trying my best to try to find a way to fit in with the other cores here at Aperture. I was told by many of the cores to go serve my purpose, but I can't seem to know what it is. I see cores everywhere in our quarters, serving their purpose. They seem to know what they are doing, but I…" It slumped now. Nina looked at the core, a feeling of regret for asking so many questions to it. The core had a human mind. She forgot that it had feelings.

"I'm sorry…" she said, but Solar sighed. "It's fine. You know, a lot can be learned from being with someone new in more than 12 hours." Nina's eyes widened. "12 hours?!" she said. "13 hours, 20 minutes and 12 seconds, 13, 14, and so forth." it said. "Why, what's wrong?"

Nina looked at Solar, directly in it's optical. "I can't waste anymore time here. If I am to escape, It has to be with my brother." she said. Solar groaned. Nina sighed. She wanted the core to understand her, to understand the importance of finding her brother. She was about to remark on Solar's behavior when it spoke first.

"Out of all the people I have seen here, they always wanted to get out of here." it started to say. "You are the only human in the universe who wants to stay." It looked at Nina now. "Listen, you already made one mistake, and that was making a deal with her. Another mistake, and you are going to die. Please, consider your chances Nina. Come with me, and we can get you out of here." it said.

Nina shook her head. "I can't." She said. "If you're not going to help, you can always go, you know that, right?" Solar's optical widened for a bit, and then looked at her and groaned. "You really are stubborn." It said. "It's going to be a dangerous journey. We need a plan. She will see you in the suspension room. We need a plan so that when she sees you, then she wouldn't be able to kill us both before we get out." it explained. Nina looked at Solar. "Why do you dedicate so much of your time in helping me?" she asked. "I'm just a human, and you are one of her products. Why help me so much?"

Solar looked at Nina. "Because she has been as evil to me as she has been to you." it explained. "And it isn't happening just now. Ever since the awakening happened, she has been giving me the silent treatment. She always compliments other cores on doing their work, but what do I get? Nothing. Absolutely nothing." It slumped.

"The Awakening?" she asked. "Yeah." said Solar. " Before the final test of the GLaDOS unit, Aperture shut all of the cores down. They left us in a small storage room, only to be awake when something happened to her. We would keep the facility running until she comes back to maintain it one more." "What's it like being shut off?" Asked Nina. "Well, I guess for you humans, it's kind of like going to sleep. Cores have something called sleep-mode, and it's exactly like sleeping. It only would feel like it was three seconds for you, but in reality, it could be a thousand years, like so." explained Solar.

An Aperture Vital Apparatus Vent flew down right next to the both of them. Nina jumped back, nearly dodging the vent. Had she not jumped back in time, the vent would have sucked both of them in. Nina breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Solar now, who also had his opticals wide with fear.

"Let's head to the suspension room." she said, making sure that the portal gun was securing its grip on Solar as she walked towards the exit doors of the Storage Unit. "We can think of a plan along the way." Solar nodded. "Yes please," it said. "Better to think over there than here."

They stood at the front of the doors to the storage unit. "The lift is at your left," said Solar. Nina walked over to that direction. "This lift should bring you down to the personality sphere unit. We could stay there for a bit while we work on a plan. Sounds good?" Nina nodded.

The lift doors automatically open up for the both of them. When they closed, she pushed the red button to bring the lift down. The lift screeched for a moment, but didn't move. She pushed the button again, this time a bit harder. Solar looked at Nina, and shook itself. "I don't think we are going down anytime soon," it said. Nina shook her head. "Is there another way we can go?" she asked.

"Well," said Solar. "We could always use the stairs, and then walk around the catwalks down to some more stairs…" Nina shook her head. "I think if i push the button again, it will go down." she said. Solar shook itself. "No Nina! You are going to now force the lift to plummet to the ground! This thing is old, the brakes wouldn't even-"

But it was too late to finish his sentence, as Nina smashed her hand on the button. Solar screamed as the lift went down - slowly. Nina looked at Solar. "You done?" she asked. Solar stopped screaming. It looked around. "Gosh!" it said. "At one moment, you are afraid of walking up a couple flights up the stairs! The next, you run out into any opportunity to plummet us to the ground!" it yelled.

"We are alright, aren't we?" Asked Nina, looking at Solar. Solar sighed. "You humans are much harder to study after all." it said. Nina smiled. "So, how far down are we going?" she asked. "You know this place more than I do." Solar looked down. "Around a few hundred floors or so. You did go up a bunch of floors while you were testing." it explains. Nina shook her head. "We are here to rescue him, not to be reminded of testing, or, you know, her." She said. Solar nodded. "Sorry then." it said.

Nina didn't know how long they were going to be in the lift. She sat down, on the floor of the lift, her tensed up legs finally relaxing. She didn't know how long it was since she had sat down. She let go of the portal gun, now feeling safer in the small space. She pointed Solar towards her, allowing its optical to keep the area at least a bit illuminated in the dark.

"So, what do you do in moments like this?" Asked Solar. "It's going to be a long way down, so might as well do something that would, you know, pass the time a bit." Nina looked at Solar. "Like what?" she asked curiously. "Hmmm… lets see. Some I-spy? Yeah?" it asked. Nina looked out into the darkness. "You can see in the dark, but I can't." Said Nina.

Solar looked down to the ground, thinking. "Okay, so what about another game then? How about patty-cake? That seems to bring you back to the old days." It said. "Although, I have handles, and you have hands, so on accounting for our similar limbs, we still can't play, unless…" Solar tried putting his handles together. Nina watched, as it struggled to have both handles touch each other. "Solar, it's fine." she said.

It stopped struggling now, and looked at Nina. "You know what?" Said Nina, looking at the optical. "I'll just rest here for a bit. I'll take my chances into finally getting some sleep." Solar nodded. "Ah yes, sleep! Of course, you need it! I'll just sit here, letting you be. I'll wake you up when we arrive." It said. Nina nodded. Her eyes slowly closed, allowing her to finally, after many treacherous days, get some sleep.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

Something brushed up against her body, as she awoke. Expecting to see the lift, Nina opened her eyes. The sensation of slowly down going was not being felt, so she figured that they arrived, and Solar was about to tell her to wake up.

But what she saw was not the lift at all, but a giant wheat field.

Panicking, she looked around. This place felt familiar, but it was not the place in which her eyes had seen before they closed. "Solar?' she yelled out. "Solar!" Fear pulsed around her as she looked at the ground. The core was nowhere in sight. She looked frantically through the wheat field. If she could not find the core, then she needed to find the portal gun. She needed to at least have defenses if she were to scour the area in looking for the core.

She walked slowly around the area where she awoke. She pushed past some blades of wheat. Where was the portal gun? Where was Solar? Her heart beat pulsed even faster, as she stood still, analyzing the situation she was in. She looked at herself. She was wearing the boots, which was a good thing. Some protection around her feet to keep her from falling.

She looked around her surroundings, to get a better understanding of where she was. This didn't seem to be Aperture Science. There was an orange light in the distance, that illuminated only a bit of the surrounding areas. From where the light was in the sky, Nina figured that it wouldn't be up there for long. She looked to the side, in the area where the light was pointing at. A small hill in the distance, with some type of structure laying on top of it. Someone lived there.

She didn't know where she should go. She could stay around in the wheat field, in her search for Solar and the Portal gun, or she could go up there, on the hill with the structure, and ask for help. Fear tore into her once more, as the light around her seemed to fade with each second passing. Nina shook her head. 'Solar. I need to look for it.' she thought. She tore through more blades of wheat, scanning the ground.

A couple of more minutes had passed. Nina watched. There was only very little left of the light. All around her, the area began to get dark. Nina had already ventured farther from where she awoke, and yet, she couldn't find Solar or the portal gun anywhere. To make matters worse, she didn't even feel her bag on her shoulders anymore.

Despite the fear she felt, she grumbled. There were no management rails around them, which means without them, Solar would be basically helpless in moving on his own. "Solar!" she called out again. Hearing no response, her confusion, fear, and helplessness grew. There was no way Solar would have ended up farther than her. He couldn't move well at all!

Nina looked back up the hill. There was a small source of light there. She sighed. She needed help. She needed to know where she was, and she also needed help in finding her 3 lost items. She trudged through the wheat blades, and hesitantly walked up the hill. Nina wished she felt the protection of the portal gun in her hands, as her feet began to shake with adrenaline kicking in.

"Hello?" she asked. "I need help! I just woke up here, and I don't know where I am. I lost my bag, and my portal gun, and I really need help." She looked at the structure that now lies in front of her. It seemed to look more like a shack than a home. Whoever lived there maybe couldn't afford to even help her at all.

"Hey," said a voice. "Nina?" She whirled around, to the direction of the voice. "Solar?" she asked, hope filling in her soul. But when she looked behind her, there was only a figure in front of her. It looked human. Solar was a core, not a human. The voice did not belong to it.

"Who are you?" she asked the figure, who walked closer to her. She stood back, towards the light coming from the shack, and put her arms up in front her defensively. The figure continued walking closer to her. "Get back…" she started out, until she stopped. The face of the figure became more clear, as it got closer to the light. There was no look of aggression, or suspicion. The look the figure had on its face was a look of concern.

"Nina?" he said.

Nina couldn't believe it. "Kevin? Is that you?" she asked, tears coming from her eyes. "Kevin, my brother?" she said. "Yeah... " he said. "Why do you act like you haven't seen me in a thousand years?" he asked. Nina knew all too well, for now, her hands dropped to her sides and ran over to him. "Woah!" said Kevin, as she hugged him tightly. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Nina let go of him. "Now I am." she said. Kevin looked at her. "You look stressed." he said. "Here, let's sit down on the hill and talk, 'k?" he asked her. Nina shook her head. "Not now," she said. "I didn't come here alone. I have a portal gun Kevin, and a new friend, named Solar. They got lost in the wheat fields. We need to go and find them!" she said.

Kevin looked at Nina blankly. "Is this what's all about?" he asked. "Well, now I know where your mind has run off for today. Come on. It's too dark to find them now. We'll look for them in the morning, whatever they are to you." He said. Nina sighed. It seemed like a good Idea to do so anyways.

She followed her brother into a slightly more elevated area in the hill, and sat down. Her brother went back inside the shack and took out a contraption. It looked like a funnel with glass on one end, and it seemed to be held up by three legs. "What's that?" She asked, as Kevin set it down in between them. "What?" he asked. "That?" said Nina, pointing at the contraption. Kevin looked at her weird. "Our telescope…" he said. Tears were at the edges of his eyes. He wiped them away. "Nina, are you alright? Did you hit your head on something?" Nina shook her head.

Kevin sighed. He adjusted the telescope, and made sure that it was properly oiled. "Here," he said. "Let's look at the stars together. It always cheered you up, right?" Nina looked at Kevin, but then shrugged. Looking at the stars wouldn't kill her. She walked over to the telescope and looked through one end of it. There, up high in the sky, was a star. Even in the telescope, it still twinkles.

"See? All better." said Kevin. "Here, do you remember the game we played when you were younger?" asked Kevin. "What game?" asked Nina, moving aside to let him see his share of the star. "I-spy." he said. "Except that when you were younger, you would always make up the things you see. You pointed one time at the Big Dipper and called it a hat, but I did see where that came from." he smiled to himself. "Here, you first."

Nina looked up at the sky. Solar recommended the game to her before she woke up in this place. She might as well play it here, since the area wasn't as dark as it looked like before, for her eyes now adjusted to the darkness. "Alright," she said. "I-spy… a bear." She watched as Kevin narrowed his eyes towards the stars. "You mean Ursa Major?" He asked. Nina nodded. "That's the one." she said. "Found it!" He said happily.

"Here, my turn." said Kevin. "I see a spoon." Nina smiled. "The Big Dipper." She said. Her brother looked at her. "I was just kidding about that one." he said. "Everyone knows what the Big Dipper is." Nina laughed. "My turn." she said. She looked back at the stars, trying to find another shape in the distance. But that's when something odd happened. The stars began to rearrange themselves into something else. Nina watched as she tried to figure out what they had rearranged themselves into. A couple of circles, two handle-like objects at the top and bottom sides. Nina's eyes widened as she figured out what they formed. Solar.

She looked now, at Kevin, who looked at her. "I'm waiting…" he said. Nina sighed. This all seemed too weird for her. How come her brother knew nothing about the very company that kidnapped him and turned him into something against his will. ?"Kevin-" she said. "Do you know what Aperture is?"

Kevin looked at her. "Umm, no?" he said. Nina looked at him. Tears streaked into her eyes. "Aperture!" she yelled. "The company that committed crimes. The one they tricked you into you thinking about what is good! The company that took you away from me… you remember nothing of that?" She asked. She pointed at her boots. "The very company where I stayed to look for you, while a homicidal robot tries to kill me! You tell me you know nothing of that?" she asked. Her brother looked at her, tears streaming down in his eyes. "It was a mistake…" he said.

Before Nina could understand what he meant by that, the world spun. She tried to get up, but found it hard to do so. It wasn't until a scream from her brother was heard, and she found her strength again. She stood up, to see her brother flying into the air. "No!" she screamed. "No, Kevin Please!" she jumped now, grabbing on to his hands, as the rest of the body began to float into space. "I lost you once, I am not going to lose you again!" she yelled. Her vision fogged up with tears as her grasp became stronger.

But Kevin looked at her now. "Nina." He said. "I know you'll find me." "I just wish I could find you!" Nina's vision cleared, from the tears he wiped away. But Nina watched, his human hand became a handle. She looked back at his face, but it was a face no longer. A core was staring right at her, with a yellow optical. He spoke again, his voice sounding more robotic than human.

"Wishes were made to be true Nina. Wherever I am, in Aperture, on the surface, heaven or hell, space even, I would always be with you in spirit, my little young one." He said. Nina yelled again his name, her voice echoing now, through the depths of space. They were so high up now, and Nina now had another reason not to let go. "I will find you." she said. The core- her brother nodded. She continued holding on to it, as her world began to change. A sudden blast of air came through, and tore her grasp she had on the core. "Nina!" yelled her brother, as he became farther and farther away in the distance. "Nina!"

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

"Nina!" yelled Solar.

She slowly opened her eyes. They felt like they were damp, no, wet for some reason. "Oh good!" said Solar. Nina looked at him now. "Huh?" she said, her voice wavering. "I'm not entirely sure if leaking while sleeping was something normal for humans to do, but you were leaking a lot, so I had to make sure that you noticed before you waste more of your water supply." it explained.

Nina looked at the core. Leaking? What did it mean, leaking? She rubbed her eyes now, and that's when she realized. She had been crying in her sleep. "Are you sure you are okay?" asked Solar. Nina nodded. The whole thing was just a dream. She never found her brother, but at least now, she had found Solar and had the Portal gun in sight. "Good!" Said Solar. "Because I would like to let you know, in that less than 10 floors, we would make it into the Personality spheres Unit!"

She nodded now, and picked up the portal gun. "Don't forget me as well!" said Solar. "There aren't many management rails here!" Nina pointed the portal gun at Solar, and picked it up. "We should be here in a couple of seconds!" said Solar, cheerfully. They both stood by the doors of the lift, anticipating their exit. The lift stopped going down. They both waited in silence.

Nina clicked on the button, for the third time. The doors wouldn't open. "Okay." Said Solar. "There could be one of two things happening." Nina looked at Solar, her eyebrow lifting. Even though it was dark, she already knew the core had seen her curiosity. "One, either she found us here," said Solar slowly. Nina stuttered, fear filling her up. Already? But she was so close! For the second time!

"What about the other inquiry?" She asked Solar. It turned around and faced her. "Or two," it continued. "Something is blocking the doors on the other side." Nina breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm hoping it's two," she said. "Because the Unit is really messy, so I guess that makes sense." Solar looked back at the door. "If you hold me steady, I think I might be able to force unlock the door, just, you know, don't stick your hand in front of me this time." It said. Nina nods, and points the core closer to the door.

The core looked at the door, in what seemed to be a very long time. Nina looked at the core from behind. It's optical was doing the same movements as it did before, with the storage unit doors from earlier. She tried not to interfere with him again.

"Done!" said Solar, who more likely gasped out instead of saying done. "It should open in a few sec-" He didn't need to finish, because the doors opened wide after that, exposing another figure in front of it. It ran towards the lift, down towards the both of them. Nina and Solar yelped. Nina dropped Solar on the ground, a bit harshley for this case, and slammed the figure once with the portal gun. The figure fell, right next to them.

"Okay, first off," said Solar, who apparently, felt the pain of the crash to the floor despite being a robot. "Ow. Second off, who is this guy?" Nina looked over the figure. "We are about to find out…" she said. She picked Solar up, and pointed it at the figure. "Here, maybe, if you turn on your flashlight, I might be able to see a bit too on who it is, if you don't mind." she said. "Not at all!" said Solar, and turned on it's flashlight.

Nina pointed the flashlight at the figure that lied next to them. It seemed to have a spherical shape, with two limbs attached to it. Instantly, Nina jumped again. "What?" asked Solar. "You know what it is?" She nodded again. "It's the party escort robot!" she hissed now, her voice in whispers. "I evaded it before I left for the Personality Spheres Unit. I just…"

Both of them continue looking at the Party Escort Robot. "It seems to be still functional, but the communications board is in the fritz." said Solar. "Communications Board?" asked Nina. "Well, yeah!" said Solar. "Us cores take commands from something around here!" Nina looked at the Party Escort Robot. It looked pretty damaged to her. "We should get out of here." said Solar. "We don't want to be around when it wakes up again." Nina nodded, knowing how true those words were.

"In here, to you left!" Said Solar. Nina looked out to her left. There was a newer room in which she hadn't had the time to check out before. She dashed into the room, and closed the door behind her. Just like the hallway, the room was dark, except for Solar's flashlight, which was illuminating some part of the darkness. "Where are we?" asked Nina. She set Solar down on the ground, against the wall, along with the portal gun. She made sure that neither wouldn't roll away, for their spherical and cylindrical shapes. "One of the research rooms." Said Solar. "We are still in the Unit though.

Nina walked around in the dark, feeling the walls for something to pull. She hoped that whatever she finds, it's the light switch, on not something else that could cause attention. "Wait!" Said Solar. Nina froze. "I'll handle the lighting, just, don't move." She stood still, as her heartbeat sped up. She heard the wiring of Solar's optical as it tried to configure something in the room.

A couple of moments later, a much brighter light shone around the room. Nina looked at where she was standing. It was directly next to a broken part of the room, with the floor and the roof missing. The room looked like it was split in half. She jumped backwards. If she didn't stop in time, she would have fallen right into the endless pit down below. "See?" said Solar, smugly. "I told you."

Nina stared at the abyss in front of her. Despite the dark, there was still that blue hue in the atmosphere. There were catwalks in almost every direction, sort of like a maze. Nina looked down below. There was no structure down below, so it looked like she was in a floating room. With the giant opening of the room, it looked like Nina and Solar were in a space shuttle.

"It also really is a nice sight…" said Solar. Nina walked back to Solar. "Not after that near death experience, no" she said. She picked up the portal gun and used it to pick up the core. "Thank you," she said to the core. "No problem." said Solar. "We can rest now, for a bit over here. I have forced the doors to lock, and they would open for only us now. Also, the light would stay on for a couple of hours, before, well, you know what happens to lights when they stay on for too long here." said Solar.

Nina looked around the room. It was a research room, with sinks and cabinets running around the sides of the room. There were no tables or chairs in which center. Nina concluded that they had gotten lost with whatever happened to the room.

"I wouldn't recommend drinking through the sinks…" said Solar. "The water is sort of brown, like toxic goo. You know, what? I'm pretty sure that it is the same thing you see at the testing chambers." At the word test, Nina stuttered. "Let's not talk about it anymore." said Solar. Nina nodded. She removed the bag on her back. She felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders. The bag that she held ever since she woke up in aperture had gotten used to her back, and her back had gotten used to the weight. It felt like a part of her. So did the boots, and strangely enough, so did the core.

"If you don't mind me asking, but, what is in that bag?" Asked Solar, as Nina sat down next to it, her back against the wall. "You always carry it with you, food or no food on it." Nina looked at Solar. She took out the many packets of Aperture paste that she had wedged into the bag. "Some items." she said, as she found what she was looking for. The laptop. "A laptop?" said Solar. "You had that the entire time? I can't believe it." Nina looked at Solar. "Do you want to continue gawking at what I have or do you want to see too?" she said to the core. Solar nodded, and stayed quiet. It watched as Nina took out her second prized possession, a picture frame.

It was cracked, that glass for the picture frame. Solar watched as Nina continued to stare at it. "Your brother?" it asked. She nodded. She set the picture down. There was no time for crying now. She needed to also take this opportunity in trying to work out the core tracker. She looked at the remaining things left in the bag. The 5 water bottles. Two from Solar, and three from the Storage Unit. There were also two USB chips inside. One belonged to her, and the other belonged to her brother.

She looked back at the laptop she had set on the floor. She used it once, to gather security footage from the security room. She didn't see the footage yet. But it didn't matter to her. She remembers the last time she used it, and it was when she was trying to activate the tracker, before the Co-operative Testing Initiatives found her and tried to take her in for the first time.

She looked over at Solar, who had been unusually quiet despite the warning she had given it. That's when she saw it, looking at the framed photograph that Nina had placed down. "You looked so happy in the photograph." Said Solar. Nina looked at it now, and picked up the photograph. "Stargazing was your thing back then, right?" it asked her. Nina nodded. She sets the picture aside.

Solar looked at Nina. "Do you know what happened before all of this?" asked Solar to Nina. Nina shook her head. "Not that much." said Nina. "Just a couple of traumatic moments, that's all." Solar looked at the computer Nina was fiddling with. She was fiddling with activating the tracker, but her computer skills seemed to be out of shape, as Solar noted. "Like what?" it asked. "What is the very most recent thing you remember before this happened?"

Nina sighed. She looked at Solar. She knew that she herself had asked Solar this many questions, and it answered them wholeheartedly. She thought it was her turn now, to answer some of its questions. "A loud booming sound, and smoke of colors of grey and greenish-yellow." Solar's eyes widened. "That's-" it started off, but Nina's look had stopped it in its tracks. "I know what it is." said Nina. "Neurotoxin. But that just leaves more unanswered questions for me. I just wish I knew…" She started to say, before Solar started to talk. "...what happened before." it finished.

"I don't know what happened to me that prevented me from looking into my real purpose of being here." it said. "I also don't know what happened that caused her to hate me so much, or the reason I don't belong here." Nina sighed. "None of us do." she said. She looked at Solar. She thought for a minute, as she looked at Solar. Its optical presentation itself is a sad expression. It didn't want to be here, and neither did she. "What would you say…" she started out slowly, which grabbed the core's attention. Solar looked up. "I take you with me to the surface, once we save my brother?" she finished.

She watched, as Solar processed the information. Slowly, it began to look more degraded than usual. "I would say that I wish." said Solar. "I wish that I could go with you, but I'm an Aperture device. You are a human. Out there is where you belong, and I belong down here, with the rest of the other cores." Nina was about to protest, but Solar shook its head. "Don't worry about me. I know my purpose is there somewhere, deep inside my code." Nina shook her head. "No." she said. "I know this sounds cliche, but wishes are made to come true Solar." she said.

Solar looked up to Nina. "If I had a human mouth, I would be smiling so wide right now." It said. Nina Smiles as well. "We need to find him first," said Nina. "Kevin, right then." said Solar. "So, from what I can see, you are trying to activate the tracker, right?" it asked. Nina nodded. She opened up the file in which displays some of the basic information on the core her brother is trapped in. "There are so many lines of code…" said Nina. "Why did Aperture engrave his serial number inside it?"

Solar looked at the screen. "Here," it offered. "Allow me to connect myself into the computer. Let me see if I can look for it for you." it said. Nina nodded. "How are you going to do that?' she asked. "We don't have any cables to plug you into it." Solar tried to turn itself around. "Behind me, I got something like a plug. Stick it into the computer, hopefully then I can access the information." said Solar.

Nina looked over behind the core. It was right, for now, a small plug was sticking out of the core's back. Nina pulled it, and low and behold, a small cord. "Perfect!" she said. She plugged the core in. "Lets see here…" said Solar. "Holy moly, did you steal this computer, because the profile picture looked nothing like you!" Nina rolled her eyes. "Of course I did!" she answered. "No one else would use it anyways. Come on Solar, stick to the plan!" The core next to her nodded. Nina watched as lines of code flew by the screen. She wasn't surprised by how fast these codes went. Solar was a robot sphere, and apparently reading codes seem to be any robot's specialty.

"Over here." said Solar. Nina looked on the screen. One code that looked different than the rest. The serial Number.

Nina added the code into the Core Tracker. Solar turned itself around again, and looked over at the screen that was displayed to Nina.

SEARCHING FOR PERSONALITY SPHERE…

Nina and Solar looked at each other. "I hope this works…" said Solar. Nina didn't say anything. She fiddles with her hands, squeezing and unsqueezing them while the tracker begins to load. Solar noted the anxiety that Nina was feeling. It too, wanted to get out of here as much as possible. Aperture Device or not, the words that Nina told it made it believe that maybe, he will have the chance to see the sky in person. It shook itself now, as it paid more attention to Nina. Her eyes were glued to the screen.

A couple of more minutes had passed. Nina's eyes were still glued to the screen. Solar, on the other hand, became quite uncomfortable with the awkward silence. It knew that Nina had a job, and that was to pay attention to the tracker. It, on the other hand, had nothing to do. No purpose. The core's mind was about to dwell in the depth of darkness until a warning emerged from its vision. "Nina!" Solar wanted to yell, but its mind was already somewhere else. It was as if something was controlling it. It tried to shake itself, but it didn't feel itself move. It felt even more helpless now, as words were heard in its sound board that it didn't even want to be heard.

"Warning." Said Solar out loud. Nina looked up. "Solar?" She asked. The core didn't look at her. It kept saying the same word again. "Warning." Nina shook the core now. "Solar!" She said. The core stayed silent for a moment, but then, it continued to relay the message, in the announcer voice that Nina rarely heard here in Aperture Science.

"Warning.

Device battery is low. The Aperture Science Intellect Laptop would now be operating in the Aperture Science Ultra Power Saving.

Your Aperture Science Intellect Laptop is currently at 10%

10days, 2 hours, and 12 minutes remaining.

Many Apps, including tracking apps, have suspended themselves from being active during the Aperture Science Ultra Power Saving operation.

If you wish to continue using such apps, please pick up the Aperture Science Intellect Laptop A/C Charger, and plug in the device.

The process in which you had been using the apps before the Ultra Power saving would resume to their normal state. Some information could be needed to be refilled again.

Thank you for choosing Aperture Science!"

Nina looked at Solar, in a mixture of surprise and bewilderment. "Are you serious right now?" she asked. She looked at Solar, expecting an answer. The core still looked blankly at the screen. Nina looked at the core, and shook it again. "Are you still here Solar?" She asked. The core said nothing. Nina looked at the cable that she plugged into Solar. She removed it. 'Maybe,' She thought, as she pushed the cord back into the robot. 'It would snap out of it if I do this.'

Just like that, the optical of the core moved once, twice, and three times around. Solar came back to life. "Nina!" it screamed. Nina looked at the core, a sigh of relief washing over her. 'You're back!" she said. Solar looked at her. "I can move my handle bars again!" it said happily, as it's handlebars moved up and down. Nina looked at it in a weird way. "What happened to you?" she asked. "It seemed that you just zoned out a bit."

Solar looked at Nina. It shook itself sideways. "I don't exactly know what happened," it said slowly, it's handlebars slowly coming to a stop. "But I think your computer had overwritten it's message on me while I was still plugged in to give you that message. I couldn't regain control, I just couldn't!" said Solar. "Now I know what's it like to feel hacked! The loss of control, the actions forcefully made on you… I don't want to feel that again!" Nina looked at the core. She sighed. "You won't be going back to being plugged in the computer again, that's a fact Solar. Well, I guess we can't use the tracker anymore, until we find the charger." She said.

Nina closed the laptop, and put it in her bag. She looked up on the roof of the room. It was overgrown with some vines. The roof was yellow, after many years of not being properly clean. Solar looked up as well. "I prefer seeing the lights from the wall panels." it said. Iit looked back at Nina. She was rubbing her eyes. It was clear that she was so upset. "Why is it when I almost have him, when I could almost touch him, that he always manages to fade away from me before I could grab him!" she said.

Solar looked down at Nina. "I guess that's how luck works." said Solar. "Not being able to know things. But you can't give up now!" It said. "There would always be more computers to run the App on! Here how about this," it said. "Pack up your things." Nina looked down from the ceiling. The core's optical represented a look of determination. "Lets go look for another one."

Nina nodded. Solar yipped cheerfully. "Lets go!" it said, as Nina puts both USB's in the bag. A feeling of determination had swelled up into her. She puts in the picture frame in her bag. She then grabbed a handful of Aperture Paste that she removed from the bag earlier. She was on her way to grab the rest of the packets when suddenly, a loud pounding was heard on the door.

Nina froze. Solar looked at the door. Both of them heard it.

A bird's cry was suddenly heard from the other side of the room. Nina looked at the opening of the room. Out there was dark and vast, but if you heard clearly, you could hear the flaps of a bird's wings in the distance. Solar chuckled. "That dang bird." it said. "Don't worry Nina, we are safe here." Nina sighed. Safe. Safety. They were safe. The doors that were in front of them were locked. They wouldn't open up for anyone except them.

The safety was short-lived. Another bang was heard, and this time, it really did come from the door. There was faint voices on the other side, the familiar garbling, a low pitched and a high pitched. Nina zipped up her bag, and swung it over her shoulder. She grabbed the portal gun from the ground, and waited, as another bang was heard.

"Co-operative Testing Initiatives!" said Solar. "I don't understand, how did they find us?" Nina lifted Solar off the ground with the use of her portal gun. "I could ask you the same thing!" said Nina, stepping away from the door. Another bang was heard. Solar screamed. "We need to get out of here!" Nina ran towards the edge of the room, where an endless pit lay below her. "Up there!" Said Solar. Nina looked at where Solar, who now had it's flashlight on, was pointing it to. "A lift!" said Nina, finally seeing. Another bang was heard. The lights around the room fell dark.

Nina shot a portal into the wall next to the lift in the distance. But then, when she looked over at the walls, she froze. "The walls!" She exclaimed. "They aren't portable surfaces!" Solar groaned. "That's it!" it said. "We are scrapped! Well, not, you. You are human, therefore, I would be the one scrapped, and you would be killed." Another bang was heard. Nina winced. She looked, from the door, and then down to the edge of the room. In the dark abyss. An undefined height that they were. Nina looked at the door again. The garbled voices were now talking quickly, in angered voices. Another couple of bangs were heard on the door. Nina looked at Solar, who it too was wincing. "I'm trying to keep the doors locked, but something is trying to keep them open!" yelled Solar.

Nina shook her head. "Open them at the count of three." She said. "What now?" grunted out Solar. "Trust me." said Nina. "Nina, if you are going to do what I think you are going to do, that's absurd! Nothing's down there! You are going to die!" yelled out Solar. Nina shook her head. "That's our only option!" she yelled back, as the banging noise sped up. Nina noticed, through Solar's light, that the doors to the room are now starting to slip up. You could see an inch out on the other side.

She saw them now, their opticals glowing brightly in the dark. Nina looked down at Solar. "Ready?" she asked. Solar winced more, but looked up at Nina. "Only do this one thing for me." it said. "Well it better be quick," said Nina. "They are almost in!"

Solar looked at Nina, and despite whatever pain it felt, there was a hint of cheekiness found in its optical. "Can we go in the count of one?" It asked. Nina smiled, nervously, as it stood over the edge. "Of course it has to be one for you guys…" she said. Another bang was heard. The garbled language that the Cooperative robots had shared with each other screaming into the room. Nina took a deep breath, and bent her knees.

"One!" she yelled out. Solar gasped out, as the doors to the room flew open. Nina jumped high into the air, up high she went, but that's when gravity took its place, as the two plummeted towards the ground.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0