Reviewer responses:
ShadeWalker101: Don't worry, I haven't abandoned my other stories. I just like this plot bunny. It's a little slice of life mixed with me experimenting with writing multiple characters, which I'll need going forward with my other stories.
Nightmare723764: Sane compared to the games. She hates the Aperture scientists for basically torturing her, along with all the other Cores. To put it simply, the events of canon, with Chell, didn't happen. All will be revealed in time. Also, Taylor's Tinker ability allows her to innovate on other technology. It's the QA Shard, just modified to Tinker instead of Master; the caveat is that it needs to be something that Taylor feels she needs, rather than something she wants.
Edale: deadfic is dead. A good read, though, so I'll change the author's note. Thanks for the suggestion, m8! Have a biscuit!
Guest: yeah, haha, I walked into that one, didn't I? Still, she's in the under-facility, so still no chances for finding a lemon tree. And besides, that's not what this fic is about.
Jordisk: The first chapter just sets things up. This one is all Taylor and her post-Trigger trauma-induced actions, but we'll get back to the upper facility soon, and see how GLaDOS and her kids are coping with... well, you'll see.
Shadowdragis: remember that GLaDOS is, well, an AI overseer for one of the most advanced scientific facilities ever. She has a lot of resources and tools at her disposal, so she kind of gets a Tinker rating without even being a Tinker. Or is she? Only time will tell!
24 hours to write this chapter out. Wow. Not doing that again, but it looks good, so here you all go!
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Chapter 2
Condemned
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Aperture Laboratories, LTD
CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY
Handheld Quantum Tunneling Device [v14.3e]
Mass-Production Pattern
S#: ALQD00004421x0012
Congratulations, good insert pronoun here!
You are now the proud owner of one (1) Aperture Science Handheld Quantum Tunneling Device!
A product of Aperture's Portal-Based Enrichment Initiative, this device is worth more than the combined organs and incomes of everyone in recipient's hometown here. There is no limit of space between the intradimensional portals it produces; interstate, international, and intercontinental, it is the absolute best method of travel humanity has ever produced!
To operate this device, simply place your hand into the Aperture Science Ambidextrous Arm Mount, allow the Aperture Science Comfort Assurance Safety Lock to bind your forearm to the device, and you're all set to start creating portals! Lucky you!
To create portals, please note the three triggers inside the Arm Mount; the left trigger produces one portal, while the right-most trigger produces a second portal (portal colors may vary). Simply aim the operational end of the device at the nearest white wall (some shades may not work, please see Note 7 below), and place your first portal! Then find another white wall, anywhere in the world, and place your second portal!
Please take note, use of the central trigger will activate the Aperture Science Handheld Quantum Tunneling Device's Aperture Science Gravity Grappler; this will allow you, recipient's name here, to lift objects you would otherwise have difficulty lifting! Just like a superhero, but with more science!
For further tutorial information, or to practice using this Device in a moderately safe environment, please contact Aperture Laboratory's Enrichment Center and apply for an Enrichment Center Activity! This will prepare you for using your Aperture Science Handheld Quantum Tunneling Device in a wide variety of situations, and it will allow Aperture Laboratory to collect precious data on the Device's use, which will further our cause of bringing you only the most quality scientific products our science can develop! Persons who qualify for and complete Enrichment Center Activities will be rewarded with delicious cake and a selection of high-quality Aperture Science household products, so apply today, for science!
WARNING: The intradimensional gates produced by the Quantum Tunneling Device have been proven to be completely safe. The Device, however, has not. Do not touch the operational end of the device. Do not look directly into the operational end of the device. Do not submerge the device in liquid, even partially. Most importantly, under no circumstances should y…
The rest of the water-damaged document is badly destroyed, rendering the remainder of that warning illegible.
I look back at the item contained in the package, no small amount of nervousness thrilling up my spine: eggshell white, round, with three claws folded against the front, this… portal gun? Well, easier to say than its actual name; anyway, it was contained in a plastic shell that I had to use a shard of metal to pry open, then bubble wrap, then a vacuum-sealed plastic bag. High-level security for something that I'm pretty sure the PRT would kill to have, for Endbringer fights if nothing else.
Why the user manual wasn't in the water-tight packaging, I might never know. Maybe they didn't want paper touching it? It's basically dried wood pulp, so… I'm overthinking this.
I pick up the device and turn it this way and that; not a lot of light down here, but I'm pretty sure the claws are the 'operational end', so no touching or looking too closely at that bit. Zero-point energy extraction for power, holy butter, that's compact! I sure would love to shake the hand of whoever got this thing down to only five pounds!
Around a wry smile and dry cough, I give the arm-slot a close look; the arm-belt has a disengage button, so I won't be sacrificing my arm forever, just whenever I need to use this thing. Which will probably be often, I think as I slip it onto my arm, the device beeping happily and sending a carbon-based fabric/ceramic belt over my arm and tightening. I'm in an Aperture facility, after all, so using their tech should help me navigate this abandoned section…
Which raises a lot of questions, really. Beyond the whole, how did I get here, bit, there's the question of how a place that produced things, like this portal gun, to say nothing of the boots, hasn't gotten any publicity at all. Everyone who goes on PHO has heard of Toybox, and they're as clandestine as it gets; even I know about it, though I've never tried to contact or buy anything from them, given my meager allowance, and it's not like I'm obsessed with the internet or owning expensive Tinker-tech.
Books are better than internet. You can hold books. And my allowance is for food, just in case Dad forgets, not super-expensive Tinker-tech from a dubious source.
Besides, I can make my own Tinker-tech now! Still…
'How has no one heard of Aperture before?' I wonder, aiming the now slightly glowing white device at a wall; left trigger-
Bzzsh!
"Eep!" I jump at the blue pulse that flies out of the claws and hits the wall of the shaft, sending a burst of sparks through the air. Okay, so there's some recoil! Also, they were right about it not working on white walls; could've made the trigger a little less sensitive, though, sheesh.
I look up at the shaft again; nothing else has come down, but there were a few other useful pieces of trash lying around, along with a box of 15 Aperture Science Blueberry Granola Bars ("Tastes like real blueberries! Will never go bad, or else!"), which are now inside a zippable pocket on my now zipped up Aperture jumpsuit.
A computer monitor, and some cleverness, got me a night vision-ish LCD layer for my goggles (blink-click to turn off; nothing fancy, though, that's all I can do with what I've got), and a small LED light affixed to the upper-left, all of which I've worked on over the last ten minutes, while reading the portal gun's papers. Good thing there's a little more power than needed coming out of the EM-field harvesters; now I can see in the dark, and have a flashlight for more detailed work.
I'm as ready as I can be, given what little I have to work with.
Right. I can't get up this shaft. No white walls, and I don't have enough material to create a rappel gun for my left arm; a grocery tote bag, slung over my shoulder, has some of the essentials, computer parts, less-rotted tubing and cables, three rolls of tape – two electrical and one masking – along with a few of the smaller white panels lying around, for making a working, modular arm.
The schematic calls for it to have a Tesla-inspired arc reactor in the shoulder, a ranged Taser built into the palm, and a retractable three-claw magnetic rappel gun with a 20-meter cable, underslung on the forearm. Need the pulleys first, and some kind of air supply. Maybe there's an air canister down here somewhere…
I gulp, and look at the hole in the shaft's wall.
Deadly air. Brown, clearly toxic water. Scion only knows what else. And I still haven't made my moisture condenser.
That's… fine. I can build stuff as I go. First, exploration. I need to find out how big this place really is. I got down here easily enough, so maybe the exit isn't too far off. If nothing else, I'll be able to find the supplies I need for building my remaining essentials. Still don't want to die of thirst. Wish I had a weapon that wasn't a small, sharp piece of metal, though…
Feeling very exposed, and with one more dry and painful cough, I heft the portal gun into a ready position and make my way to the hole in the wall. Avoid that puddle of water like it has the plague… which it might. Wow, these boots are comfy.
More structures outside, but… yeah, off to the right. That way looks likely, all that toppled debris seems stable, and there's another light, just over the hill! Okay! Off I go…
And this path goes nowhere. Dead end, "Damnit…" Looking around, I don't see any way I can get onto these partially-buried walls. Not without dropping most of my equipment, anyway.
'I'll have to exercise more,' I think grumpily to myself, glaring at my twiggy arms, 'once I'm out of here, and have Panacea heal my lungs.' Surely she will; I'm a Parahuman, and, well, these are pretty unique circumstances. And she's a hero, too, so everything should go smoothly… I hope.
Irritated at not finding an easy way out, I look up; maybe there's something I'm… not… seeing…
…
This place is a lot bigger than I expected. Far above me, at least half a kilometer up in the air, some lights illuminate part of the ceiling, a mass of metal-bracketed fiberglass insulation; well, what looks like fiberglass insulation. When you can put a zero-point extractor into a five-pound device the size of a toaster oven, all appearances should be taken with a grain of salt.
There are two support towers that I can see; from how the air is barely rustling my dirty hair – I'll have to do something about that, eventually – this cavern must be truly expansive. The toppled brother to the shaft I've just exited, the remains of which I just traversed, tells me I'm definitely not anywhere near the surface. A skyscraper-sized construction falls over and no one takes notice, in this day and age?
"I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore…" I whisper to myself, feeling like both Dorothy and Alice: down the rabbit hole into somewhere unfamiliar, after something truly traumatic. No tornadoes, at least, but I actually kind of wish there were munchkins. At least I'd have someone to talk to, or show me the way…
Shaking my head, I take another look around… oh! That ceiling panel, there, is painted white! And-and so is this wall, right nearby!
Oh, but wait, that ceiling panel looks kind of high. I might fall on my face if I…
I scoff at myself. The boots I'm wearing will keep me from getting injured, from falling anyway… more injured. Lungs still hurt. Hopefully the exit isn't too far off. Knowing my luck, though… yeah, I should get a move on.
Well… let's see how this portal gun handles.
Taking aim, I whisper, "Portal here," and press the left trigger again.
Bzz-ploop!
…okayyy… that kind of hurts to look at.
The swirling bolt of… energy, leaves behind an oval of blue… something. It moves with odd fractal patterns, almost like it's a liquid; given that it's produced by something that looks at the laws of physics and laughs mockingly – zero-point extractor, what the fuck – I suppose it shouldn't look normal… I wish it did, though.
I need something normal; today's been a bad day, and I really just want a cup of tea, a hospital room, and my Dad…
'Which I'll have once I'm out of here,' I remind myself, pursing my lips and nodding determinately. O-kayyy… now for the other portal.
"Portal there," I whisper again, pressing the right trigger, trying to keep my heart from breaking out of my ribcage.
Bzz-fwoop!
Different sound. Harmonics. Quantum entanglement. Hmm… yeah, with the power supply this gun's sporting, that would work, wouldn't it?
Confident I have the way these portals work figured out, as much as I dare to figure them anyway, I walk over to the blue portal and look through. I see what should be the floor of where I should be going, illuminated by another lamp… and I hear a ventilator going!
Oh, sweet, sweet water! If it has a filter attachment, I'll be able to build my condenser! I already have an air tank, the top cut off, the jagged edges shored up with tape; and-and if I can find an outlet, I should be able to get a soldering gun made, which will allow me to jerry-rig a simple OS out of the computer parts I found, and write a program for my HUD!
Wow, my head's starting to hurt. I can't stop grinning, though. Being a Tinker is awesome!
Now… I should land on my feet; if I don't… well, it's not that far to fall, if the boots are defective – no, no, I'm overthinking again.
The boots work; I know they work. My powers haven't steered me wrong yet. I'll trust them, and my gut, and my desire to survive, to see Dad again… and hopefully Sophia, just so I can give her a quick, hard kick in the shin for putting me in this situation. While wearing these wicked awesome, indestructible boots. Try running track now, you thug!
Okay, I'm hyped up… now, jump!
My legs swing under me, outside my volition, and I land upright with a small amount of disorientation from my perspective changing. Here's hoping I get used to that, if I have to use portal-travel often, which I just might. I don't feel the impact, though…
Whoa! No matter how far I fall, these boots will absorb and disperse the kinetic output of my impact. Sweet! Really, really need to shake a lot of hands, for making all of this sweet tech, once I'm out of this pit!
Now, where's that ventilator? Taylor needs a new water bottle!
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Aperture
Science Innovators
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"Ah!" I jerk awake again, the nightmare of... the locker blurring and fading as I take stock of my surroundings once more; unlike last time, I'm not in the shaft. I'm in the ventilator; or, where the ventilator was, before I, apparently, ripped it to shreds in a fit of Tinkering. At least I'm well rested…
Shaking my head to clear the last bits of sleep from my mind, I flick my eyes over my goggles' HUD; it looks a lot more advanced now. A targeting reticle in the center, and a menu option on the bottom left corner; blink-selecting it, it shows… oh holy crap, how long was I Tinkering for?!
I look at my left arm. Or, the black and white Tinker-tech armor covering my left arm, from fingertips to shoulder.
My knuckles are protected by black metal, taken from the plating inside the ventilator; I can feel the arc reactor humming against my deltoid, shielded by those white pieces, one of which has a faded Aperture logo painted on. The upper arm is a mess of cables and tubing (power and pneumatics, both of which are for the hydraulics) under some more slapdash black plating, then more white panels on my forearm.
Under those forearm plates, I recall vaguely, are two devices, the first grabbing my attention as I blink-click the menu icon that deploys it: a two-pronged, underslung Taser rifle, which can shoot a 12,000 volt burst of electricity over… six hundred yards.
Before I can become properly shocked at this innovation, I remember how I came to it: playing with the portal gun. The claws on the front use positron saturation to keep the portal energy shots from dissipating over distance, which they should do, according to the laws of thermodynamics and electromagnetism. So, figuring I can probably do it too, I replicated the effect, except using a 4.2 megawatt Tesla-coil instead of a zero-point quantum foam extraction module. Said Tesla reactor was now also powering my mask and goggles.
It isn't a true Arc Fusion reactor – I don't have nearly enough tungsten, hydrogen or copper for that to work – but the magnetic field harvesters seem to be working just fine, seeing as I haven't exploded into a ball of plasma and charcoaled Taylor, and it seems fairly stable… oh, a reactor stability program.
I guess that semester of coding – where I managed my first "Hello World", along with a few other little things to make my computer experience more personalized – has finally paid off! Now, the rappel gun…
Pretty simple, actually; I took the radiator that was in the ventilator, ripped out the coolant tubes, and repurposed them as cyclic air canisters. That is, they'll expend and refill with air every time I use the rappel gun. Wink left to activate in a pinch, a sensor module – used to be a webcam from a computer monitor – between my ring and middle knuckles calculates the distance, then wink my right eye to fire.
Not the best firing mechanism, but some practice should get me used to swinging around. Okay, that's two out of three inventions done in… oh man, four hours?!
Well… at least the filters in my mask aren't clogged yet; ooh, another sensor for that too. Thanks, power!
And the condenser looks pretty much done; also, Tinker-me decided to use the first ounces of water it collected, an hour into my Tinkering, to wash and tie up my hair in a bun. Too bad I don't have my hoodie. I'll just have to be careful, and use my water sparingly.
Standing carefully – low ceilings bad for tall girl – and gathering up my tools – 'A soldering gun that I can hook directly into a power line?! What kind of Tinker am I?' I think numbly while removing the copper-pointed tool very carefully; don't want to touch a live 440 line – I check the stabilizing straps for my Tinker-arm, make sure the condenser is secure on my right hip, collect the portal gun, and head back into the unknown.
Weird how I don't really remember making all this stuff, I muse while carefully making my way down another alley, glancing suspiciously at the towering monoliths holding up the distant, dark ceiling. And it's really too bad that I'm stuck down here, because I can't ask anyone how Tinkering works.
Is memory loss during work a thing that happens to everyone, or is it just me? Should I meditate, or preform some other mental discipline, so I can remember what I do while Tinkering something?
Another dead end… or is it? Haha! Portal here, portal over there on that building – oh please, please be the way out! – run over to the blue portal and… and…
'Oh my god…' my eyes are wider than they've ever been before, seeing the simply incomprehensible sight before me, just on the other side of this gateway. This can't be possible. Something like this shouldn't exist, shouldn't be possible to construct without someone noticing!
Don't panic. Remember Adams. Remember Dune. Your lungs aren't in the best shape, hyperventilating might kill you. Fear is the enemy. Take stock, and don't panic. Okay. Calm again.
What looks like a city of massive support struts marches outward from my viewing platform, in every direction I can see, except the wall of stone to the left, which is illuminated by stadium-esque lights. The number 09 decorates some of the struts, while other shaft-constructions, like the one I woke up in, are suggested further into this forbidding, cyclopean catacomb of twisted metal, cement and other, esoteric materials and constructions.
Also, more on the point of the impossible-ness of this place, how in the Simurgh did they get a tower crane down here?!
Finding a way out might be harder than I previously thought… well, nothing for it, really. If I want out, I need to keep moving, keep innovating, and – I gulp nervously, then jump off the ledge and move carefully over to another toppled tower, trying to get to that wall – try not to be afraid.
The people who built this place, Aperture Laboratories, are probably scientists. Scientists, by definition, do things in a concise and logical manner. They built this place, so there is a way out, a way up.
Fingers crossed, don't fuck with me on this one Murphy, I have a Tesla-powered Taser.
Stay out.
Do not enter.
Keep out.
Yeah, I'm not taking the advice of someone who let this cityscape of supports fall to pieces. I keep moving… oh, well that's not ominous at all.
CONDEMNED TESTING
…if they put things here, then sealed it off, and didn't leave an obvious exit back the way I came, then the exit is on the other side of this wall. Warning signs, good. I can see what I'm in for…
WARNING:
This Enrichment Shaft may contain unsafe quantities of
COSMIC SPALLATION RAYS
…The hell is a 'spallation'? Is that even a word? Spallation… spall… impacts, I think; thanks, Mom... Oh. Impacts.
Scientific facility. Impacts. Atomic collisions – shit.
Crap, there's probably radiation in here. Good thing my boots, mask and jumpsuit are radiation-proof, but I'll need to find some gloves and make a helmet, sooner rather than later. Not enough materials on me right now.
Okay. I can deal with radiation. What's this other sign say?
CONDEMNED
VITRIFICATION ORDER
6/15/1961
Do not look at, touch, ingest, or
engage in conversation with
any substances beyond this point
1961?! This place has been abandoned for fifty years?! Holy crapbaskets, I'm really in for it, aren't I?
Also, engage in conversation? With substances? Um… yeah, that seems fairly dangerous. Also more than a little insane. Crud, I really need to find some propane – wait, no, I have no idea what's gone into building this place. If I set the wrong thing on fire, everything might go boom, and if this place isn't an EPA violation and a half, I don't know what is. Not letting anything get into the groundwater, if I am under the Bay. Not on my watch.
Speaking of the EPA, I'll have to notify them once I'm out of here. OSHA too. Dad would have a fit if he could see all the safety violations I have, and that's just in the last ten minutes.
Will have a fit, once I get out of here… and have gone through a very thorough decontamination process, before hugging him.
'Here's hoping Panacea will be available,' I think with one last gulp, before targeting a metal strut and rappelling it. Up and over!
Thump. Really, really good boots, these! Totally keeping these.
I look up and forward, and my smile slips from my face.
Because, yeah, a deep black chasm with an electrical tube heading into it, with a walkway on one side, isn't ominous either.
I've come this far, I muse with pursed lips and a determined expression. I'm not backing out now.
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Aperture
Science Innovators
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On the other hand, that's a really big door. Like, five or six stories high, maybe three feet thick; what the hell were they doing in here?!
Not that I have much time for worrying about it; my filter monitoring program says I've got another hour before I have to change my current set out, which will leave me with nine filters, and I still don't know how big this place is… or how dangerous the things waiting for me are.
Torn, I look at the big red button in front of me, then turn around, looking through the portal on the wall at the other red button. It's both three meters and two hundred feet away from me. Insanity, thy name is now Aperture.
Used to be Simurgh, but now… yeah, for all I know, there's an Endbringer behind that door. Or something worse. Conversation with substances, the hell were they doing down here?!
'Only one way to find out, Taylor,' I think with another, less painful than earlier, cough, 'Only one way to get out of here, and see Dad again,' I reach a shaking, Tinker-tech-clad hand toward the button, 'Only one way forward.'
I press the button.
TICK. TICK.
Timer. I turn and dart through the portal.
TICK.
My hand comes down on the button.
Then the Endbringer sirens go off.
My heart leaps up into my throat so fast I'm surprised it doesn't fly out of my mouth. I duck down and huddle myself into a corner of the button room; as most of the stadium lights that lit this chamber go out, replaced by yellow flashing lights and a loud clanking and creaking, I swallow and focus on my breathing and try not to outright die from a heart attack!
'1961, Taylor,' I remind myself, peeking over the sill of the window; the massive door moves with the screeching of a long-disused hydraulic hinge, revealing the vast, black emptiness beyond.
Eyes widening in renewed fear, I duck back down and keep trying to calm myself, 'This place has been abandoned for fifty freaking years, Taylor! Anything living should be dead by now, if not from radiation, then from starving to death! You're prepared, you're armed, you've got superpowers, and you're determined! You have got this!'
The lights come back on with a loud CLANK.
My lips purse again, and I take a firm grip on the portal gun; I don't hear any scuttling, or roars, or anything ominous that would indicate my letting something terrible out. Which is good for my fear, which I'm trying to replace with purpose.
'Now, get your skinny butt up, square your shoulders,' done, but my knees are shaking; none of that! 'and FACE THIS DOWN!' I turn, face set into a hard scowl and ready for… anything?
Fiberglass. A lot of fiberglass.
All that hoopla for a dead end?! I look down.
A small, unassuming, perfectly normal push door, like any you'd find in a school, or an office building's stairwell. With a security guard's chair and table next to it.
I blink. Twice.
I want to scream. Or cry. The small but persistent tingling in my lungs stops me from doing either.
Instead, I just let out a disgusted grunt and run – nope, lungs don't like that. Jog instead. Yeah, that's better – toward the door, wondering if there's a government institution dedicated to monitoring the sanity of scientists. Because this place needed it fifty-plus years ago!
Pushing the door open, I take a peek. Small hallway, another door on the other side. An acrid smell comes through my gasmask, but no notifications pop up concerning the filters, which means it probably just smells bad. Hopefully.
I glance over my shoulder, back the way I came, then forward again.
"In for a penny," I grunt, and go through the door into the unknown.