I do not own Portal
Hello everyone. I apologise for taking so long with this. I was concentrating entirely on university (which I did really well at, yay!) and now it's the holidays...in which I have a job so I'm not entirely free. I've also become obsessed with other subjects but that doesn't mean this story is dead. I like to finish things. But again, the updates will just be slower. A lot slower. Sorry.
Chapter 3 -The Return
TEST 9 –09/22
VITAL APPARATUS VENT PRESENT
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE STORAGE CUBE
MIND THE THERMAL DISCOURAGEMENT BEAM
DISCOURAGEMENT REDIRECTION CUBE PRESENT
AERIAL FAITH PLATE PRESENT
After placing her portals exactly where they were needed, Chell readied herself, then jumped onto the catapult. It pushed right up to the ceiling where a blue portal waited. The woman shut her eyes, wishing her mind wouldn't concentrate on that awful feeling of her stomach squirming in protest. The current test chamber had yet to show its true puzzle. One aspect of the puzzle was getting to the main one, which was what Chell was currently attending to –
"Hey! Hey! It's me! I'm okay!"
Chell's eyes snapped open. Before she could find the source of the familiar voice (and dash away any theories pointing to madness), her body fell back down towards the ground. The portal gun was waved around like a dolly as Chell frantically searched for the owner of that voice. She stopped when another cool voice returned.
"Well, I'm back. The Aerial Faith Plate in here is sending a distress signal."
So it was. It beeped in a real annoying way.
"You broke it, didn't you?"
Just to prove the robot wrong Chell stomped onto the plate. It didn't work unless you counted embarrassing a human being as its primary function. In that case, it worked magnificently. "There. Try it now."
This time, when Chell reached the ceiling, her mouth fell like a tumbling turret. Staring at her through the portals was the one and only Wheatley. While his round body was a tad dented the tiny robot was apparently fine, considering its big blue eye did not stop moving around as he rambled, "You'll never believe what happened. There I was, just lying there, you thought I was done for, but –"
Chell didn't make it through the portal. Her boots absorbed the impact when she landed beside the plate. The woman forced herself to keep her eyes off the blue portal. GLaDOS wouldn't miss Chell looking at something like some sort of idiot. Speaking of… "Hmm. This Plate must not be calibrated to someone of your generous…ness. I'll add a few zeros to its maximum weight."
Did…GLaDOS just…?
Chell blew a stray lock of hair out of her vision, amazed at the great lengths the demented AI went through. As a couple of friendly beeps rang through the speakers GLaDOS added, "You look great by the way. Very healthy." Chell wondered whether she should bother letting the robot know that 'subtly' calling her fat wasn't much of an insult
OR
Let GLaDOS continue on her rampage, unknowingly humiliating herself.
Oh, the choices….
"Try it now."
Up and up and up and, "A bloody bird! Right? Couldn't believe it either! And then the bird –"
Hearing that a bird had somehow managed to crawl its way into this place and fiddle around with the fate of moronic robots, actually gave Chell some confidence. It made her realise that perhaps she wasn't as far away from the outside world as first perceived.
"You seem to have defeated its load-bearing capacity. Well done. I'll just lower the ceiling."
The ceiling screeched as it came closer. Now certain that the Wheatley she had seen was real and not created from madness, Chell concentrated on the test chamber. If that robot was still alive then anyone could survive Aperture Science. Chell held back a determined smirk so GLaDOS did not recognise the confidence brewing inside the test subject. All Chell needed to do now was keep GLaDOS centred on testing her and making sad fat quips.
Wheatley had already huddled back into the depths of the science facility, luckily. Chell saw that the chamber was another slightly difficult one, handling the lasers and cubes. The biggest problem was using the beginning catapult multiple times which meant being slammed into walls, probably eating away precious brain cells at every bump.
When Chell reached the exit, GLaDOS said, "Look at you. Sailing through the air majestically. Like an eagle. Piloting a blimp."
~o0o~
TEST 10 –10/22
VITAL APPARATUS VENT PRESENT
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE STORAGE CUBE
PREPARE TO JUMP FROM HIGH LEDGES
PREPARE TO PROPELL FROM HIGH LEDGES
AERIAL FAITH PLATE PRESENT
MIND THE THERMAL DISCOURAGEMENT BEAM
DISCOURAGEMENT REDIRECTION CUBE PRESENT
"Enjoy this next test. I'm going to go to the surface. It's a beautiful day out. Yesterday I saw a deer." It felt like GLaDOS was prying through Chell's brain, stringing apart the brain tissue, all in the effort to figure out what boiled the woman's anger the most. This time, the AI hit the target. "If you solve this next test maybe I'll let you ride an elevator all the way up to the break room, and I'll tell you about the time I saw a deer again."
Chell sighed heavily at the newest test chamber. Onions had fewer layers than this beast. Catapults dotted the place here and there but their paths were occasionally blocked by raised platforms. Chell saw a Weighted Storage Cube higher up, only accessible through flinging. It was spinning around like a dish in a waiter's palm. Once Chell had her order, she allowed herself to be pushed from a catapult into a wall, just missing a laser. Inspecting her arm for any damage from taking that hit, Chell came to a realisation that her body was going to be blue and purple by tomorrow (whenever 'tomorrow' was).
Placing the storage cube to prevent the laser reaching its receptacle, Chell watched, satisfied, as the platforms lowered down to a flat surface. Using her portals, Chell went back to the starting point and was shot up, successfully moving to the next catapult pinned to the back wall. On the third level where she ended up, another set of platforms prevented the woman from shooting right into the open area. A switch was present and pressed. A Redirection cube fell to the ground, landed on the catapult and experienced the same roller-coaster journey as Chell.
Thinking for a few minutes paved Chell's following moves. She replaced the Weighted Storage Cube with the Redirection Cube, pointing the laser to a portal-usable wall. Chell impatiently brought herself and the Storage Cube back up to the third floor where all she needed to do was apply another portal on a wall to bring the laser to the second receptacle. The platforms on that floor lowered. Now, Chell's path was completely clear.
When she arrived at the exit, Chell gleefully settled the Storage Cube onto the Button and stepped on through. Chell wondered if GLaDOS was really going to bother informing her about a deer or just continue with the testing. The woman knew she could handle a story about a deer. It was just a deer, after all. Not a human or anything.
"Well, you passed the test. I didn't see the deer today. I did see some humans. But with you here I got more test subjects than I'll ever need."
~o0o~
TEST 11 –11/22
VITAL APPARATUS VENT PRESENT
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE STORAGE CUBE
MIND THE HAZARD LIQUID –INSTANT DEATH
HARD LIGHT BRIDGE PRESENT
Chell stared at the flat wide ray of shining blue light. She had seen some strange stuff in Aperture Science that would outright offend religious fundamentalists but this one took the cake. Hesitantly, the woman stretched out her arm and hovered her hand over the blue light. She felt warmth radiating off the oddity. Ripples shaped like DNA snaked down to the ray, spinning in a hazy comforting pace similar to a sleepy easy summer's day. A tiny smile, Chell would never admit to having, slowly crept upon her face. She reckoned summer must have been her favourite season, or maybe everything about the outside world seemed wonderful in Aperture Science.
Finally, Chell placed her palm onto the ray. It was like touching a hot plate; the heat was pleasant at first but gradually got too hot to hold. Chell lifted her hand. The ray looked so inviting, like a cosy bed. She pondered over what it would feel like to lie on it. "These bridges are made from natural light that I pump in from the surface. If you rubbed your cheek on one, it would be like standing outside with the sun shining on your face. It would also set your hair on fire, so don't actually do it."
The human instantly moved her head back. Just to be sure, Chell freed her dark brown hair to tie up into a stronger pony-tail to ensure maximum protection against combustion. Certain on the strength in her boots, Chell stepped onto the bridge, surprised to find the ray of light supporting her. It felt like walking on a normal steady bridge, as though made from cement instead of light. It also warmed the woman like bread in a toaster.
As one might expect, the bridge brought Chell to the chamber, as it is the purpose of bridges to transport something from one place to another. Compared to the previous test, this appeared far simpler. It just happened to have toxic goo, avoidable thanks to the light bridge. The bridge's path was blocked by a wall. Chell used portals to have the bridge stretch and cross to the other side, its newer path currently directly above her. Slipping through the blue portal, Chell gazed down where she was previously. Cautiously, she made it to the other side where a switch was. A wave of storage cubes dropped from a corner in the chamber, only accessible through a narrow winding hallway, with a stream of goo beneath. The light bridge helped Chell in catching a cube and making it back to the button which was located in another tight spot. Overall, simple. Too bad it involved Chell making leaps of faith by applying the bridge and then having to jump to it. The contents of her stomach nearly mixed with the goo a couple of times.
"Excellent! You are a predator and these tests are your prey. Speaking of which, I was researching sharks for an upcoming test. Do you know who else murders people trying to help them?" Chell was about to step onto the elevator but its doors shut and it shot away leaving a very unhappy human. "Did you guess 'sharks'? Because that's wrong. The correct answer is nobody. Nobody but you is that pointlessly cruel."
~o0o~
TEST 12 –12/22
VITAL APPARATUS VENT PRESENT
MIND THE APERTURE SCIENCE STORAGE CUBE
MIND THE HAZARD LIQUID –INSTANT DEATH
AERIAL FAITH PLATE PRESENT
HARD LIGHT BRIDGE PRESENT
Intrigued by the bridges of light Chell tried to observe a presentation on these inventions. Around the elevator, screens showed diagrams of the bridge and how the science behind it worked. It was a truly fascinating and interesting presentation that would have convinced Chell to become a scientist, despite her current conflict with it, and go on to discover cures to many numerous fatal illnesses that would save countless lives and families. All that unrealised potential was destroyed when GLaDOS switched the screens off, wanting the human to pay attention to her.
"Good news. I figured out what to do with all that money I save recycling your one roomful of air. When you die, I'm going to laminate your skeleton and pose you in the lobby. That way, future generations can learn from you how not to have your unfortunate bone structure."
Chell guessed that to be another fat joke but it was so poor she almost missed it. The woman halted when the access to the chamber was blocked by malfunctioning wall plates. She sighed and glanced up at the thin horizontal fuzzy windows to her right.
"Perfect, the door's malfunctioning. I guess somebody's going to have to repair that too. No, don't get up. I'll be right back. Don't touch anything." A bubbly click signalled the AI's leave. Chell groaned loudly and punched at the ruined chamber door. On one hand, it was fantastic that she was able to snatch a break but on the other, she wanted to discover a way out and being stuck in a plain boring corridor did not help.
"Hey! Hey! Up here!"
Gasping, Chell turned and found Wheatley. He was on the other side of the windows, his waving image distorted from the window's glass texture. "Wheatley," the woman acknowledged, keeping her voice low just in case.
"I found some bird eggs up here," Wheatley said. "Just dropped them into the door mechanism. Shut it right down –" Just as Chell allowed a smile, a crow swooped into the scene and began pecking at the little robot. Wheatley cried out and tried to dodge the bird's attack, failing quite miserably. "BIRD! BIRD! BIRD! BIRD!" He retreated.
"Wheatley!" Chell snapped. She called out his name again.
Panting with it non-existent lungs, Wheatley returned and continued casually, "Okay. That's probably the bird isn't it? That laid the eggs! Livid! Okay, look, the point is, we're gonna break out of here! Very soon! I promise, I promise! I just have to figure out how. To break us out of here." He almost whimpered at the glower he received from the human. Who knew humans could be so grumpy? "Here she comes! J-just keep testing! Keep testing. Remember: you never saw me."
Sometimes, Chell wished that was true.
Inside the test chamber, Chell's mind flipped back and forth between cracking the quiz and listening to the GLaDOS. "I went and spoke with the door mainframe. Let's just say he won't be…well, living anymore. Anyway, back to testing."
Near the beginning of the testing, Chell was strolling along a light bridge when she spotted a portal-usable wall in a hole of the ceiling. She connected that to the bridge and saw that it did not stream straight down into the goo but rather found a landing area inside the ceiling. She stepped through. Chell smacked against the floor, disoriented by the change of perspective. Getting back onto her feet, the woman observed another hidden den. A collection of empty dried cans were found below another artwork. It was of GLaDOS, looking straight at its audience asking with a speech bubble, 'Who are you?' Cartoony electric strikes zapped from her engine and an orange hue surrounded the robot's face. Unnerved by such a sight, Chell returned to the chamber and completed it.
"Well done. In fact, you did so well that I'm going to note this on your file, in the commendations section. Oh, there's a lot of room here. Did well…enough."
Chell had no idea whether GLaDOS was referring to the test or the discovery of the den and its art. Frustratingly, she found herself too afraid to ask.
~o0o~
And that is the beginning of Chapter 3 of Portal 2 and Chapter 9 of my novelisation. Sorry for any grammar or spelling issues. Review if you wish. Thanks for reading!