Author's notes: Warning, this chapter is a little bor- focused on development; it's not the chapter where the hero escapes from the bad guys' base with the beautiful woman in hand. So if you were expecting something like that…
~X~X~X~X~X~
Caroline nervously led Alan down another concrete hallway. "My, would you look at the time!" She said, showing him the face of her watch. "I don't want to keep the other subjects waiting on us."
'OTHER subjects? Wait, does that make me a subject?' Alan thought as the two soon reached an elevator much like the one used to bring them down.
Caroline took a key out from her pocket, and inserted it into a special opening in the elevator. When she turned the key, another slot opened, revealing a button that said "CTI". "I hope you're not too tired Mr. Walker, you'll be doing strenuous physical activity, as well as mental." She said, pushing the newly revealed button.
"Oh don't worry about that," Alan said, swaying his hand. "I'm sure I can handle it."
Caroline nodded as the elevator began to move. "They really didn't tell you much did they?" she asked, checking her watch to see how long it took for the elevator to go all the way down.
"Who?"
"The people at the Ohio offices silly…"
"Oh yeah… well…" Alan began his routine of coming up with utter BS. "All they really did was tell me that the Enrichment Center needed my knowledge on quantum fields. Since they probably wanted to get rid of me anyways, I think they didn't care much to inform me properly. The facility, the directions… the book." he said, grabbing his left arm with his right hand. "They hardly told me anything…"
"Hmm, interesting…" Caroline's hand grazed the side control panels of the elevator, seemingly ignoring Alan's story. "Mr. Walker, what sized shoe do you wear?" She asked, pressing one of the many bizarre red buttons.
"Twelve and a half."
"Oh my." Caroline backed away from the control panel. "I'm sorry, but we don't do halves here at Aperture, we're required to use proper integers." She said, striking a strange sense of confusion throughout Alan's mind. "I'm afraid you'll either have to go with broken ankle or circulation loss, it's your choice."
"Wh… What?" The slight implications drew Alan to believe they were going to fit him with Aperture shoes. He didn't know what Aperture shoes were, and it sounded like he didn't want to find out. Maybe they were specially made so that they could detect a Black Mesa spy from a mile away. Or maybe it was just one of those silly Aperture inventions.
Caroline giggled, and returned her hands back to the control panel. "I'm just kidding. Our boots come in all sizes; I was just wanted to see your reaction."
"O…k…"
The elevator soon stopped, and its folded doors opened up, exposing an area with two carpeted rows; one leading towards a test area, and the other leading towards an observation area. The room was lit by evenly placed white tiles, all giving off a luminous glow to the floor below. The observation area had a few people idly standing by, while the testing area appeared to by empty. Caroline rushed over towards the windowed entrance to the observation area. She sped back towards Alan with a pair of black and white boots. The boots were primarily white, with black lines running down the indented spaces. Caroline handed the odd looking boots to Alan.
"Put these on." She said, Alan immediately following her orders and replaced his rough, brown boots with the smooth, white ones. "We're already late, so let me fill you in with what you're going to do." Caroline led Alan to the empty row that preceded the testing area. "You'll be evaluated by going through a series of tests. These tests are meant to accurately depict your physical as well as mental awareness, along with a thorough understanding of Aperture equipment."
Alan sighed as he looked over towards the circular door that presumably opened up into a madhouse of insane scientist working with different glowing chemicals and performing with them on poor unfortunate test subjects.
"I'll be watching you as you move along. Fortunately for you and your associates, you won't have any of the more… troubling obstacles to worry about." She spoke the latter sentence as if she was a politician trying to hide an unfortunate truth. Her brief pause meant that she changed its intention midway. "You'll be alone for the first part of the test, being familiarized to your equipment with straight focus. As you progress, you'll meet up with other test subjects we've determined are physically and mentally perfect for the job. Just remember, each chamber has been passed before; and if you want a hint…" Caroline walked over towards the observation area. She moved further and further until she reached the upper floor, and was now looking down on Alan.
Alan could see her fiddling with various forms of sound devices. "If you want a hint, just listen to the other subjects, I believe they know what's going on…" Caroline said over the loudspeaker. "Now then, let's get straight to testing!"
Alan rolled his eyes as he faced the circular door in front of him, waiting for it to open up into a horrifying room of despicable creations.
"Its an automatic door, you need to get close in order for it to open…"
Alan rolled his eyes, and proceeded towards the door. It opened with ease, as a quick puff of air was all that was needed for the doors to push the two slits apart. He was surprised to find a small room with a red button on top of a pedestal positioned in the center. What an odd theme for a room to have.
The room was paneled completely with white surfaces; the only places where it was different were the doors each sitting on both ends of the room, as well as a glass window over to the left.
'That must be the observation area…' Alan thought, walking towards the button. 'Now what happens when I give it a good pre-'
The smooth, plastic-like button sunk into the pedestal under the weight of Alan's hand. Alan raised his head in order to see segmented lines leading from the button to the door change its color from blue to orange. The door on the opposite side of the room opened as well, giving Alan the implication that maybe the test subjects didn't need to be that smart in order to move on. But maybe that was just a test, a test of button pressing skills.
"Excellent job…" Caroline's voice made its way through the room's hidden sound system. "That, was an Aperture stationary hand button. You'll be observing more of those further along the way. I think you've got the hang of it, so I'll leave you alone as you proceed."
'Now let's see, In New Mexico, you go to work every day to study the complex mechanics of how the universe works. In Michigan, you go to work to press buttons.'
Alan shrugged as he headed towards the next door. This was going to be too easy. The next room looked very similar to the last one, but instead of having the button positioned on the pedestal, this time it was positioned oddly enough on the floor.
Alan figured the only way to move on was to put some sort of pressure on the button. Without needing to think any further, he proceeded to stand on the circular red button. As expected, the door opened at Alan's initiative, but he soon figured out that posed another problem. If he stepped off the button, the door would close. There was no way he'd be able to be at two places at once.
He searched the room from top to bottom. All there was besides the button he was currently standing on was a large rounded tube projecting from the ceiling. The glass tube looked large enough to fit a person; perhaps this would be his means of escape.
Alan carefully advanced towards the room's unique feature, only to leap back once it released something he would've never expected. Out from the tube came a black and grey cube that looked symmetrical from all sides. Alan slowly approached the soft edged cube, worried that it might explode if he handled it wrong.
"What are you so afraid of? Its not like it's a dangerous alien technology or anything, its just a cube." Caroline commented over the loudspeaker.
"Right…" Alan picked the cube off the ground. It felt surprisingly light, yet at the same time weighed him down pretty good. If only there was a way to transport them easier. He placed it on the button, and the door once again slid open. This time, a strange, blue flowing field was visible a few feet behind the door.
"That's an Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grill. It's meant to vaporize any unauthorized equipment that passes through it." Caroline said, describing the strange pale current standing in front of Alan.
"Am I authorized equipment?" Alan asked.
"Yes, you're authorized to pass through. Just remember not to take anything along with you as you go."
Alan cautiously made his way through the Emancipation Grill. It felt like walking through a thin film of syrup, and gave off a funny tickling feeling throughout Alan's skin. The feeling only lasted for about a tenth of a second, and once he tried sticking his hand back through, the sensation wasn't nearly as strong as it was the first time.
Alan soon lost interest in the mysterious blue threshold, and returned his attention back to testing.
The next room was much different than the previous ones. Instead of having a complicated button riddled puzzle, this one had a division of glass on the right side of the room. There wasn't any visible way over towards that side of the room, as there were no doors or openings in the glass. The door exiting the chamber was kept on a ledge approximately fifteen feet in height; there was no way Alan would be able to reach it following conventional solutions. Inside the glass area was another pedestal based button, just waiting to be pressed. At first Alan thought the best solution was to break the glass somehow, but his train of thought was interrupted once again by Caroline's voice.
"Hold on a second, we're having a small delay with the tunneling system." She said, directing Alan's eyes over towards two black lines at the end of the room, each containing glowing rectangular points parallel to each other. There were more of these things, one on the other side of the glass and another positioned near the exit.
Alan tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for something interesting to happen in order for him to move along.
"Ah there, we are…" Caroline said in a relieving tone. "It should be up within a few seconds."
The two black parallel bars emitted a bright orange flash, and out came something Alan had only speculated with his peers. The white wall changed from its flat looking surface into something that had much more depth. It looked like these two bars had just done something impossible; they'd created an opening in the wall that led to another area. Alan quickly figured out the area he could see through the strange rift led to the space within the glass.
"Now that your button pressing skills have been proven to be top notch, we'll see how you do when faced with a more complicated task."
Alan made his way over towards the orange opening in the wall. So it was true. Aperture did have a fully working quantum tunneling system in their possession. How long could they've been using this? Whatever it was, it didn't look good. It would most likely prove to be a major boost for Aperture.
He was soon standing directly in front of the orange oval.
He put his hand through.
It came out the other side.
He put his leg through, and it did the same.
As he began to move his entire body through the portal, he felt the same tickling sensation he received when he passed through the Emancipation Grill.
Before he knew it, he was in a completely different area. He could see the orange portal from behind the glass. In a matter of no time at all, he'd reached the other side with ease. This was especially interesting for Alan; he now wanted to study the mechanics of how these things work, perhaps find a way to make one himself. Of course, he wasn't at Black Mesa, instead he was in a much different environment.
Wait a second; Aperture had a fully working quantum tunneling system? But how could they have developed one? How could they not have released it? How come nobody knows about it?
This was bad, REALLY bad. Not only had Aperture succeeded in producing a breakthrough technology, but they also acted as if it was completely normal! Back at Black Mesa, everybody was told Aperture was just a company that constantly released failed products, and weren't a competitive nuisance as long as they stayed below Black Mesa in terms of technology. But this, this was immensely surprising.
"Mr. Walker, I know you've never seen one firsthand, but could you at least act like you have? I'm sure you're familiar with how they work, after all, that's what all of our scientists in quantum studies have been working on recently. " Caroline said, snapping Alan back into reality.
Alan answered giving a thumbs up, and continued on his way. 'why do I have to look so stupid?'
During the remainder of the test, Alan found himself pushing buttons in order to switch the portal destination. After the tedious trial and error, he finally reached the end of the course.
"Mr. Walker, I'm afraid we've run into a bit of a detour." Caroline announced once Alan had passed through the Emancipation Grill. "Instead of running through the mandato… suggested courses, we're instead shoving you straight into the Co-operative courses." She said as Alan joyfully skipped into a padded elevator.
The elevator lacked cheery music, much to Alan's disappointment. "Are we almost there?" He asked, speaking towards a screen with an Aperture logo. "Figures, they can't hear me. And even if they could, they'd be able to shove me in a room with a 50 foot drop and tell me to jump. I'd most likely have no say in… oh you've gotta be kidding me…" Alan found himself staring at the edge of a ledge peering over a decently sized chasm.
"Here's the last part of the individual test. We like to call it the non terminal non terminal velocity test." Caroline said as if Alan was about to go through a series of advanced hopscotch courses on her mark. "Your Aperture Science Long Fall Boots should keep you safe during your descent, just make sure you don't purposely try landing wrong."
'So that's what the boots are fo- SHOULD keep me safe?' Alan thought as he inspected just how vast a drop there was before him. 'Well I don't see any skeletons lying on the floor, so… I guess nobody's died here…'
He was about to just jump for it, but a lurking thought crept from the back of his mind. Was there something he was supposed to know about using the boots? Would he be using them horribly wrong? Were they really size twelve and a half?
"Alright, no more thinking about it; I'm already getting sleepy." Alan's muscles tensed as he shifted back in preparation for the jump.
"UHAAAH! "
…
He felt all around for anything broken; bones, boots, brains… nothing… at least that's what it felt like. 'Hmm, I wonder what it feels like to have something broken. I've had stuff fractured before, but never broken… maybe the pain just needs to catch up to me or something…'
Alan leaned down to get a better view of the boots. They obviously had some sort of incredible shock absorbing technology, because it made a forty foot drop seem like it was from four feet. Any boot that could do that was fine as long as it came in different colors. The smooth white feel to the entire facility was feeling a bit overdone at the moment.
"Excellent landing Mr. Walker. Now proceed to the CTI, your colleagues are waiting."
The door opened, revealing another elevator.
"Remember, I won't be able to communicate with you once you enter the CTI, proper protocol and all."
"Yeah whatever." Alan remarked as he stepped into the elevator. 'I wonder who they're going to put me with. Maybe they'll put me with an antelope herder… or a government conspiracy theorist…'
After a good five seconds, the elevator came to a stop. On the opposite side, Alan could see another elevator parallel to his. Approaching it slowly, he decided to see who was inside. "Hello? Anyone in there?" He asked, reaching his hand to meet the soft surface of the folding doors.
The doors flew open, but instead of being greeted by a test subject, Alan was instead greeted by a load of air mixed in with an Aperture background. "I… guess not." Alan backed away from the empty elevator. "But… if you're not in there… where are you?" Alan searched the room for any sign of life. The room was practically featureless, save for the platform on the right side that rose up and down near the entrance to the upper floor. The second floor was hidden behind a dark wall, with the only entrance above the moving platform. The only other thing inside of the room was a small button standing up on a ledge over to the left.
"Anybody? Hello? Caroline, if you can hear me I think something went horribly wrong!" Alan's yells echoed through the wide chamber.
Hopefully Caroline would hear and clear up this whole debacle, but judging by her track record, she was more likely to enjoy his confusion and take copious notes.
Alan slumped down into a sitting position. 'Stupid Aperture. I wish I was back home, where nobody told you to jump from immense heights, press buttons, or walk through openings in space.' He thought as he lifted his head up to face the rising platform. 'And then they show me a book, a book! But it's not a normal book its an… Aperture book.'
Alan figured he should be moving on instead of waiting for somebody to tell him otherwise. He headed over towards the lift, folding his arms. 'I bet this is all some sort of Aperture test. I bet they've already developed a quantum tunnel printing machine, and soon, they'll be publishing comic books that include… no, that would be to expensive…'
The lift soon reached the upper floor, showing Alan there was much more to the chamber than previously expected. He could hear a strange sound coming from the other side of the black wall. Alan sprinted towards the opening on the other side.
The sound slowly began to grow louder as Alan approached the gap in the wall. He rounded the corner, and his eyes caught something that made him stop in his tracks. In front of him was a cube dispenser hanging from the ceiling. The dispenser was suspended over an orange quantum portal lying on the floor. He looked over to the right, and there he saw a woman flying through the air at high speeds.
The woman seemed to have something lying in her hand, and by the looks of it, the device was shooting portals out in front of her. The woman landed on a ledge, and used the gadget to somehow pick a cube up without even touching it. She dropped the cube into an orange portal she just placed on the ground. The cube flew over towards the far end of the room, and luckily landed on a button surrounded by glass walls. "Finally!" She yelled once she saw the exit door open. "Now I can get out of this pla- She spotted Alan observing the scene at the edge of the room.
'She sees me! Ahh! Panic!' Alan stood completely still as the strange woman drew nearer. Now that she was closer, the first thing Alan noticed about her was that her dark, black hair shifted to a blue-like hue the moment she was in the proper lighting.
"Thanks for staying out of my way and doing absolutely nothing." The woman said in a smooth, flowing tone. "It's especially interesting when you try running through a co-operative course while going solo. I was wondering if you were ever going to arrive, that's why I decided to ditch the protocol and start without you; after all, it's not like they're watching." she said, pointing to a broken camera lying sideways on the floor. "Anymore."
"Wait… you went on without me?" Alan asked, wondering if his lengthy staring sessions at the quantum tunnels was the cause of him missing out on the first test. On the other hand, it did cause him to miss out on the first test. "And what is the deal with the jumping test?"
"You have no idea how boring it is to wait for an elevator's doors to open. Eventually, I got tired, and used the emergency door control to get out." The woman started to grin as she examined Alan from head to toe. "Courses such as these tend to take a while even with two people, but I somehow managed to do it alone. If you were with me while I was going through the routine, then you'd probably send a stream of endless annoyances at me; however, you appear to be more of the quiet type, as well as an external employee, so I'll no longer have to worry about shutting you up anytime soon."
Alan was shocked. This woman had just told him why she didn't need him, and yet somehow still be able to make him sound as if he were important. He wasn't expecting the test subjects to be this commanding.
"So, are you going to move on to the next course? Or are you just going to stand there like an idiot?" The woman asked, waving her hand out towards the open exit. "You do realize they're only putting us through two of the testing chambers; something about bonding…"
'Only two tests? Thank goodness!'
"Uhh that's great…" Alan froze mid-sentence. "I don't even know your name! By the way, I'm Alan Walker." he said, placing his hand on his chest. "Pleased to… meet you."
The woman stared blankly at Alan as if she had just been ordered to wash dirty dishes by hand. "Well Dr. Walker, you may call me by the same name your peers insist on, or you could call me by my real name. If you prefer the first, my name is seven eight three two five, but if you prefer the latter, you may call me Slaney. My last name isn't important." She said in a tone that suggested she was holding her tongue from implying anything that didn't need to be mentioned. She knew who Alan was, she'd probably been informed beforehand. She'd also called him Dr, something that needed to be remedied. "Let's… just move on." She lifted the strange portal creating device up onto her shoulder.
Alan watched as she walked off towards the emancipation grill with the black and white colored device still in hand. He followed her footsteps through the blue field and into each of an area with two different elevators. "Do you think I can get one of those?" he asked in the same way a little kid begs for an ice cream cone to his parents.
Slaney stopped, and slowly examined the portal gun. "I guess… this is the only one I was able to find though. If we do find one, just remember to ignore the warnings," she said as she pointed the gun towards Alan's face. "They tell you not to point the operational end of the device at anyone. But that's just a load of BS. I've been doing it ever since I first touched one, and my eyes are fine." She said, heading over towards one of the parallel elevators. "Just don't submerge it in liquid, that's a valid warning…"
Alan moved over towards his own personal elevator. If they tried, they could both squeeze into the same one, but of course that would be foolish since they both had their own to stand in.
"So what do I do when I get one?" Alan asked before the doors managed to close on him.
"It's made by Aperture Science; you should know how it operates." Slaney said, just as the elevators began to move.
~X~X~X~X~X~
Author's notes: Was that boring enough for you? Well good! You guys deserve such a crappy chapter.
Naa, I just wanted to introduce one of the characters and set the correct pacing for the story. So I hope it wasn't that disappointing for you guizez. Anyways, I know this chapter had little to do with the last one, but Who cares. Really, the guy over there named Who really does care.
I still have a box of cookies… and they're getting pretty stale…