Still don't own Portal.
~o0o~
TEST 11 –11/19
APERTURE SCIENCE HIGH-ENERGY PELLET DEVICES PRESENT
MIND HIGH-ENERGY PELLETS –INSTANT DEATH
MIND THE HAZARD LIQUID –INSTANT DEATH
DO NOT DRINK TEST CHAMBER LIQUID
The poisonous liquid was back, cooking away and sending tremors of fear through Chell. She could see another portal gun down below. It rotated and shot orange portals across the place at specific locations. Chell recalled a test previous and similar to this one, using timed portals to reached separated locations in the test. She turned on a blue portal and waited for the orange portal to appear at a safe location.
There. Chell could see a pellet catcher on her left with a shut grey door above it. Ahead of her was another shut grey door that led to a room behind a glass wall. Inside was a pellet deliverer. A stationary scaffold was stuck by the block where the portal device was. Chell realised how to power the scaffold and use her portals to do so.
"The Enrichment Centre promises to always provide a safe testing environment. In dangerous testing environments, the Enrichment Centre promises to always provide useful advice. For instance, the floor here will kill you –try to avoid it."
Where Chell was, was a switch, a small red button. It was attached to a thin podium. When Chell pressed it, the grey door ahead of her opened. Chell grew a portal inside the glass room with the provided opportunity. When the orange portal came to her place next round, she made it through. She crouched down when the golden pellet bounced close to her figure. She disrupted the tennis match, snaking the pellet through a portal. It re-emerged outside and into the receiving catcher.
Perfect timing was on Chell's side. The now un-stationary scaffold touched the wall where the orange portal made its appearance so she could land on it. As the scaffold brought her closer and closer to the orange portal gun, Chell felt excitement brewing inside. Soon she would have possession of both portals. Perhaps then, even if it was due to the Centre's plans, Chell could figure a way out of this crazy prison.
When Chell finally laid her palms on the device, glad it included the blue portal she ditched her old gun and fitted the new to her arm, feeling like an oddity, a cyborg of sorts. Her fingers traced the two triggers for the two coloured portals. "As part of an optional test protocol, we are pleased to present an amusing fact: The Device is now more valuable than the organs and combined incomes of everyone in [louder] Subject's Home Town here [/louder]."
Another switch opened up the last grey door. Chell made a blue portal there, then caught the scaffold across to a wall and opened up an orange portal to get by. Chell smiled victoriously at the extra power in her hands.
That extra fact provided by the speaker, while overall unimportant, had added an extra spoonful of ego.
~o0o~
TEST 12 –12/19
PREPARE TO JUMP FROM HIGH LEDGES
PREPARE TO FLING FROM HIGH LEDGES
VITAL APPARATUS VENT PRESENT
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE WEIGHTED STORAGE CUBE
Chell reluctantly strolled into the newest test chamber, unhappy at the metal walls. She uselessly shot at the walls. The hand-size blob of energy bulged. Then it morphed into a beam that would counter off the metal surfaces before dying in flickers. It grated Chell's nerves seeing her only valuable item made hopeless. Her mood didn't improve when the sound of static invaded the silence through the speakers. Chell hoped the Centre would repair those recordings already.
"[bzz garble] f-fling [garble] fling [garble bzz]."
Stairs sloped down to a low floor but there was also a section of a wall usable to propel herself. Chell sparked the orange portal there then jumped down, soaring through her bloomed blue portal. She reached the second floor and did the same action again in order to get to the third. A red button greeted her in its lonely cube-less state. Turning around, Chell found the apparatus vent on the upper fourth floor, only obtainable through another round of flinging.
Once the cube and button were reunited like long-lost lovers, Chell gave them space and propelled back to the fourth floor where the exit was. As she did, she heard the speakers give a click and the female voice go, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee [bzzz]."
Faintly amused but more befuddled at the voice's enjoyment, Chell proceeded to the elevator.
~o0o~
TEST 13 –13/19
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE WEIGHTED STORAGE CUBE
APERTURE SCIENCE HIGH-ENERGY PELLET DEVICES PRESENT
MIND HIGH-ENERGY PELLETS –INSTANT DEATH
A tray of food met Chell once she left the elevator. She was provided a set of steaming vegetables, a good-sized loaf of bread and a steak. A cup of water was the icing on the cake. Chell's stomach soon felt as content as the completed tests. Not knowing what to do with the empty tray, the woman simply removed it from her sight, tucked it away in a corner.
"Now that you are in control of both portals this next test could take a very, VERY, long time."
Chell snorted, betting she could make that voice eat her words. Chell placed her weight on the red button and saw its power line leave the room, out beyond the glass wall, to a larger chamber. It opened the exit to reach there. Above the woman was a balcony, holding a Storage Cube hostage, which was easily defeated through portal usage so Chell was able to make it into the larger chamber in less than a minute. Chell was feeling darn confident in quashing the voice's proclamation.
"If you become light-headed from thirst, please feel free to pass-out. An intubation associate will be dispatched to revive you with peptic salve and adrenaline."
Despite the test chamber's slightly complicated appearance Chell recognised that there was always a simple solution to these quizzes. Two raised platforms. Both had a red button to provide a cube with. A delivery machine at the back wall and a catcher on the floor –easy handled through transporting portals. This caused the stationary scaffold to begin its horizontal journey back and forth, giving an enthralling ride to a Storage Cube. Chell placed a portal above to land on it, then above a button to bring the cube to its rightful throne.
Now to collect its queen. Chell recalled the original cube. Once the king and queen were ruling their miniature and downright unpleasant kingdom, Chell migrated onto the elevator. "As part of a previously mention required test protocol, we can no longer lie to you."
"Then tell me this, where am I?" Chell answered back loudly. "Who are you? And why am I here? Let me out!"
"…When the testing is over, you will be missed."
~o0o~
TEST 14 –14/19
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE WEIGHTED STORAGE CUBE
APERTURE SCIENCE HIGH-ENERGY PELLET DEVICES PRESENT
MIND HIGH-ENERGY PELLETS –INSTANT DEATH
PREPARE TO JUMP FROM HIGH LEDGES
PREPARE TO FLING FROM HIGH LEDGES
DO NOT DRINK TEST CHAMBER LIQUID
MIND THE HAZARD LIQUID –INSTANT DEATH
It was a long dark hallway, dimly lit and irritating at first glance. The exit was so close yet so far, too high even for Chell's height with only a motionless scaffold. Naturally a catcher was going to energise the machine once it was given its prey. It just happened to be past a large gap in the floor. As Chell hopped over to the other side she realised just how appreciative of the portal gun she was. It made life in this dull place so much more bearable…and survivable.
"All subjects intending to handle high-energy gamma leaking portal technology must be informed that they MAY be informed of applicable regulatory compliance issues. No further compliance information is required or will be provided and you are an excellent test subject!"
Instantly, Chell's mood went foul. She still did not forgive the voice for ignoring her. There was no question, there was a conscious person at the other end of the speakers. These 'recordings' were not at all of that nature. People were watching. Chell had not said anything but she could see the windows. Obviously, she could not see past them but she was certain people could see her: looking, peering, observing, noting, theorising… everything about this place was wrong. And just like these test chambers, Chell was going to solve this mystery.
Another door that was to lead to the delivery machine was locked by a lonely super button. Past the gap, to the left was extra space. On top a hill of metal was a Storage Cube accessible only by portal flinging. Feeling her patience thinning, Chell ran through the non-exit door, down a corridor and found where all the poisonous goo was. Raising and lowering scaffolds gave Chell a nostalgic gaming experience as she skipped across, releasing a surprised gasp when leftover liquid stung her bare feet.
Having found the delivering machine, Chell was not looking forward to leaping back. And it was not as though she could use the portals. She had attached one to where the high-energy pellet was bouncing off in order to make a door to the catcher. So, after a few minutes passed, Chell grudgingly made like a frantic chicken, and crossed to the other side. "Very, very good. A complimentary victory lift has been activated in the main chamber." Chell arrived back in the main chamber to find her scaffold moving like it was performing a victory dance in her honour.
~o0o~
TEST 15 –15/19
APERTURE SCIENCE HIGH-ENERGY PELLET DEVICES PRESENT
MIND HIGH-ENERGY PELLETS –INSTANT DEATH
PREPARE TO JUMP FROM HIGH LEDGES
PREPARE TO FLING FROM HIGH LEDGES
DO NOT DRINK TEST CHAMBER LIQUID
MIND THE HAZARD LIQUID –INSTANT DEATH
After a much-needed toilet break, Chell readied herself up for the upcoming test. She inspected the test sign and noted with eagerness that she was nearing the final test. Hopefully then she could obtain some answers. Apparently calling out to the voice was a lost cause but if there was one thing Chell was certain of, even in her memory-less state, was her stubbornness and that she did not give up easily.
The key to breaking someone was letting them believe they had won.
"The Enrichment Centre is committed to the well-being of all participants. Cake and grief counselling will be made available at the conclusion of the tests. Thank you for helping us help us all."
Chell perked up at the mention of cake. Something in her mind kicked and screamed like a toddler. It was crying for attention, as though pleading to be heard. Chell could not recall why something as simple (and delicious) as cake could form such an active response in her crinkled organ. Like most things, the woman could do little else but advance.
Flinging herself past an enormous Emancipation Grid was her first step. Once over Chell would have a hard time returning since, meeting the Grid halfway up, was a glass wall. The portal blobs reacted to glass like the metal, producing a bothered scowl from Chell. Moving along, two smaller Emancipation Grids split a room into three. In one was a pellet deliverer, and the other had a catcher. Chell hummed thoughtfully, watching how her portals died away once crossing through a grid. After much thought, the most she's had to apply so far, she figured it out.
An orange portal collected the high-energy ball and the blue sent it towards the catcher, which of course, missed because it was on the floor. It bounced off the wall and back to the blue portal. However, Chell moved through the grid, destroying the portal, bringing back the ball. So Chell activated a new orange portal where the ball would hit and then the blue portal on the ceiling. She succeeded in channelling the ball to where it belonged.
The next challenge felt like dealing with screaming children, it was beyond frustrating. Chell tried to fling herself once again to fly through the Emancipation Grid but the floor was metal. The springs under her feet protected her bones from snapping. Luckily, before Chell could snap herself, she peeked through a tiny corridor which led to a dip –where she needed to drop in order to fling.
A growl emitted from the young woman. Another high-energy ball puzzle was waving for attention. The only issue was that the receiver and deliverer machines were right next to each other. The high-energy ball floated through another Emancipation Grid to where two slabs of wall were pushed out and angled. The ball hit the left one, was slammed into the side wall, losing its calm momentum before scurrying above in a clueless daze, eventually dying in a miniature explosion.
Boosting over to it, Chell knew what to do. A piece of memory supplied the knowledge that she used to play with physics toys like this when she was younger, encouraged by her father who was a physicists. Chell stilled. She could not bring up the image of her father's face nor any other facts pertaining to the man but she knew his one occupation. That was something.
She made a blue portal on the side walls, relying on the high-energy pellet to hit the first angled wall, go through the magic doorways and have its direction changed by the other angled wall to shoot straight into the catcher. When she returned to where the high-energy machines were, she saw the hazard goo frothing cunningly in the narrow hallway. The energy pellet had activated a scaffold to bring her through the cornered corridor. The only problem was, it was going the wrong way, as though leading some random person from the other end to Chell's.
A blue portal was made at the far end and an orange portal on a nearby wall. Chell waited and peeked through the orange, waiting for another scaffold to emerge. And it did. She leapt on, making a new portal at the freshest corner in her experience so that when she returned to the original orange, she could advance further. The last part of the test involved leading a high-energy ball to its catcher behind a grey door, while required pressing a switch. With a time limit, it took Chell a few more minutes than regular to solve it.
As she caught the victory platform up, spying the blue particles of the Emancipation Grid soaring casually, the conscious voice said, "Did you know you can donate one or all of your vital organs to the Aperture Science self-esteem funds for girls? It's true!"
At this very moment of her life Chell was certain that all her vital organs were staying where they belonged, snug tight inside her body.
~o0o~
TEST 16 –16/19
Chell knocked on the blank screen, hoping it would charge it up. However, the test chamber warning screen still remained asleep. She called out for the voice's attention. "Due to mandatory scheduled maintenance, the appropriate chamber for this testing sequence is currently unavailable. It has been replaced with a live-fire course designed for military androids. The Enrichment Centre apologises for any inconvenience and wishes you the best of luck."
VITAL APPARATUS VENT PRESENT
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE WEIGHTED STORAGE CUBE
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE SENTRY TURRETS
Her heart beat throbbed painfully in her eardrums. Chell leaned her forehead against the screen, feeling the beginnings of defeat trickling inside. The tests had been hard enough, pushing her knowledge, observation and planning skills, and athleticism to the ultimate peak in order to avoid death –death by high-energy pellet, death by poisonous goo, death by height, and death by simple stupidity. And now, death by bullets was being added to the mix.
However, her fear flipped and revealed its other side, like a coin and like the portals: there was bravery. There was, as well, the will to survive. Breathing steadily and stretching her limbs, Chell patted her portal gun soothingly before facing the newest test chamber.
From first appearances, Chell gathered that the chamber was similar to a maze. The only obvious difference was that some particular walls were see-through glass. So Chell was able to take a look at the Aperture Science Sentry Turrets. They were small, only reaching the height of Chell's knees but it was clear that there was something off and deadly about them.
The turrets were almost diamond shape, with their top and bottom pointed but the sides flat and round to give the robot a slender shape. They were also tripods. Their 'legs' were black, long and sharp like spiders legs, forming a distinct contrast with their white smooth bodies. At the front, in the middle, was a single red 'eye' with which a red beam corresponded where they were looking. At least that aided in Chell on how to avoid their sight. The woman gave a short cry when one turret noticed her. Only the bullet-proof glass saved her. On the turret's sides were chassis, their 'arms' so to speak, which opened up to reveal a gun in each wing. Once the turret lost sight of Chell, it folded its arms back in.
Chell was thrilled to see that the first turret to cross her path had its back to her.
"Hello?"
The woman almost had a heart attack when she realised the turret spoke. Its computerised voice was also female but childish and innocent in its tone. Chell did not reply back to it. Instead she kicked it. The turret fell onto the ground and into a massive panic attack. It gave a whinging cry before shooting erratically all over the place, as though trying to get one last strike. Luckily, it was still not facing Chell, so the human was safe. "Why?" it sighed before deactivating.
Moving on, Chell found herself in trouble when the following turret would be able to see her. It seemed the corners of the maze were specifically designed to provide some safety network. "Search mode activated." By peeking out only her portal gun, Chell was able to create a portal doorway that would bring her behind the turret. "Target lost."
This time, Chell picked up the turret. Like a shocked cat, the turret's eye scurried about the place, a soft warning ring channelling from the weapon. "Put me down!" A puff of air seeped from Chell's nostrils due to her amusement. The turrets were a lot more entertaining than they were supposed to be, probably. She dropped it. It repeated its defeated sister's reaction, "Owowowowow!" It shut down. "Critical Error." Chell defeated a few more turrets easily.
Then two turrets were introduced, like terror twins. The turrets faced each other, both at one end of the hallway. Chell was protected, once again, by bullet-proof glass but if she moved too far right she would be easily targetable. Chell hummed with interest when she spotted three Storage Cubes huddled together. What was most peculiar was that the cubes were keeping a piece of the wall unattached to the main section. Chell could see inside. Believing she had found a way of escaping, Chell climbed over the cubes and crawled into the innards of the test chamber.
The walls were dark and rusting at their tips. Tubes and pipes dominated the area, filling up most of the space alongside abandoned crates. Sweat glistening on Chell's skin cooled her down thanks to the large fan above. Chell's mouth fell when she turned and saw a wall covered with drawings. Some of the images appeared to be made from dried blood, others, a black crayon of sorts. Someone had crazily scribbled images of the turrets, writing in scratchy letters, "HELP!" and pointing red arrows to a poster showing off a slice of chocolate cake. But most of all, the person had written dozens of times:
"The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie…" on and on it went, sending alarm bells off in Chell's head. She could not stop staring at the sentence, trying to make sense of such a claim. She recalled the voice mentioning cake earlier but was that truly related to this and, if so, why the fuss?
…is a lie…is a lie…is a lie…is a lie… Chell gritted her teeth. She explored the small room, seeing a pan, numerous empty cans of beans and cartons of water. She inspected the state, feeling the moisture of the bean sauce, and concluded that the person surviving here hadn't left that long ago. Chell felt a desperate need inside to see someone, another human being. She needed company. Chell glanced back at the deranged drawings on the wall –it seems the previous human was desperate too.
Despite Chell's frantic attempts at finding another way out, without going back to the test chambers, the woman had no choice but to continue through stage 16. The crazy human who had once roamed this place had left handy hints behind. They had scribbled a red X spot on the ceiling, directly above both turrets in the hallway. "Are you still there?" "Helloooo?" Chell dropped a cube with a portal onto both turrets, effectively shutting them down. She applied this tactic with the following turrets that gave each other plenty of company. "Ouch!" "I don't blame you."
A whole pile of Storage Cubes were discovered. Chell hardly knew what to do with all of them. She poked at the vital apparatus, to see it was broken in any way. Apparently yes. Another radio had been left sitting on top, king of the cubed mountain. It was still playing that fast-paced music. On the other side of the bullet-proof glass Chell saw three turrets. It took a lot of diving and dodging, near deaths and hits, before Chell got two turrets. Just as Chell moved out to activate a blue portal above the third turret, she slipped, slamming hard onto the floor.
"There you are," the turret chirped innocently…
…Before shooting. Chell tried to scurry out of the way but a bullet managed to lodge itself into her right thigh. She screamed at the invasion, trying to release as much pain as she could through biting her bottom lip, fisting her hands and simply not moving her leg now that she was out of harm's way. Chell was a mess, her body shaking as though stuck in below freezing temperatures. A terrible stinging pain was burning the hole in her thigh, as though sending waves of poison throughout the rest of her body. All the while, her brain was panicking, begging her to do something, to survive. When Chell finally managed to gain control of herself again, she eased herself up, gasping and crying out at every movement.
Blood poured freely from the wound, the jumpsuit soaking up the liquid. Thinking and acting fast, the injured woman tore a strip of material off at the bottom of her jumpsuit, around the ankles. She ripped material around the wound and then wrapped her extra around it, tightening the hold. This, hopefully, would limit the bleeding. She applied pressure to the wound, trying to contain extreme behaviour –don't go into shock, don't go into shock, don't go into shock.
Amongst all the pain and fear there was an intense fury frothing like a rabid dog in Chell. There was no way a pathetic little robot was going to defeat her. She had come too far. "H-hey! …Hey! Answer m-m-me! Now! Whoever you are, talk!"
"The Aperture Science Enrichment Centre apologises for any inconvenience."
"Don't give me that," Chell griped. "P-p-please, I-I won't be able to do more tests if I die. Please. Give me medical h-h-help. Please."
Only silence answered. But Chell waited and waited, staring at the video camera as it stared at her. The pain was unbearable, tears were prickling her eyeballs and threatening to trail down her cheeks. She needed help now. Just as Chell was about to shout again, a piece of wall clicked up and a white box with a red cross was shoved into Chell's side. The young woman gaped at the sight. Mumbling a "thank you" she opened up the box and took in the supplies granted to do.
While Chell wanted to regain her memories and understand more about herself, learning that she had a good level of medical training via near death experience was rather an unfortunate turn of events. She did not bother holding back her dirty tongue as she poked and prodded her wound, searching for the bullet. She plucked it out soon enough. It looking like a cherry. Tossing it to the side, Chell focused on bandaging her wounds. Once done Chell simply wanted to rest. However she knew that the test had to be finished.
Slowly Chell raised her body and limped to the doorway. "Are you still there? Would you come over here?" Exploiting the robot's reaction time, Chell activated a blue portal above it when she dropped a cube down the orange portal she purposely pegged the machine. However, Chell still had two more turrets to dispose of, sending portals through vents in order to reach them. There was no surprise trouble with the last bunch and using portals to travel through the chambers faster definitely aided in Chell's quest.
"Well done android. The Enrichment Centre once again reminds you that android hell is a real place where you will be sent at the first sign of defiance."
Without a doubt, that was a pre-recorded message. Chell was pleased to find, not a test chamber, but a bed, bedside table and a toilet the elevator brought her to. She was also gifted with food and water and more medical supplies. What especially rang a bell was some sort of gel with high-success rate healing abilities. Heals painful wounds in a matter of days it preached. Chell smothered the gel on, preventing herself from crying out as she did, and crashed into a fitful sleep.
Chell remained in the box that was her room for 3 days before being sent out –good as new.
…is a lie…is a lie…is a lie…is a lie…
….the cake is a lie…
To be continued...