Author's notes: Well, might as well continue with the madness. You all have room temperature I.Q.s anyways, so you most likely won't catch on to my horrible writing. Other than that, have fun when you read the chapter I guess… nothing really special to say.
~X~X~X~X~X~
Cave scanned through the company's record sheets once more. He was more focused on observing the recent decline of science Aperture was producing. He then switched his focus from the newer, cleaner reports to the older, typewritten statistics. He viewed the paper's steady progression from a proud company to mainstream science's favorite scapegoat for ridicule.
The weakened CEO coughed into his hands as he saw the door to his office open. There he saw the woman he'd met so many years ago; the one that saved him from a life of meager shower curtain designing. Caroline walked softly towards the debilitated man, and spoke with an equally flowing tone.
"Yes Mr. Johnson?"
Cave smiled, despite the frequent pain that arrived at each cough. His chest was now filled with a sweeping irritation that drove him crazy. He'd usually get these fluctuations every once in a while, but now it was different. This time the pills did hardly anything; they didn't relieve the pain, nor did they shorten its length by any measures.
"Caroline, I called you up here because… *cough* because I think we need to talk." He said, stuttering on the occasional loose syllable. "I'm… afraid we're going to need to begin the project as soon as possible."
"But sir…" Caroline paused with a slight wisp of uncertainty. "The subjects just met each other, and you're already proposing we send them in?" Caroline shook her head as she placed the clipboard in her right hand onto the desk where Cave was sitting.
"Relax Caroline… *cough* as long as they haven't tried attacking Dr. Walker yet, *cough* I'm sure they don't require any further testing. Besides *cough* those tests weren't designed to be difficult anyways; those were just *cough* 'sample' tests, they seem to be ready for the… the…" he halted his broken speech for a second, as he gazed towards Caroline's calm brown eyes. "the real one."
A confused look found its way across Caroline's face. "And where are you getting?" she asked, unsure what Mr. Johnson was implying.
"Caroline…" he spoke now with a much more reserved and serious voice. "To *cough* put it bluntly… I'm dying." Caroline nearly gasped when she heard Cave finish.
"No… don't say that…" The worried woman laid her hand on Cave's shoulder. "We'll… find a way. Our scientists are working on it now. You don't have to be so…"
"Caroline…" Cave interrupted Caroline's vocal routine. Every time he told her his health was declining she'd try desperately to find some way to comfort him. "We need to be serious. I… *cough* don't know how much longer I'll be alive… and…" his eyes were suddenly drawn to the portrait of him sitting proudly on a chair in front of his lovely assistant. "This… project, this book…. May very well be the greatest advancement in science ever achieved by Aperture. With this, who knows what *cough* we could accomplish? This could bring us out of the pits of despair, rip us out of the marshes of progression, it could…" he froze as he realized another important fact that recently eluded him. "Help us gain an edge on Black Mesa."
The two shared a smile after the uttering of Aperture's greatest rival. "And you… believe Mr. Walker is fully capable with the mission?" Caroline asked, placing her hand on the back of head as she softly stroked her hair with her fingers.
"Of course Caroline, I'd trust him with *cough* loads of this company's property." Cave answered, stuffing the remaining reports away within his desk. "Speaking of such, how'd he *cough* do with the test subjects?" his eyes were glittering with a veracious curiosity, his movement got more restricted, all he was focused on now was the task at hand.
Caroline whipped out her clipboard. "Right, well I managed to take copious notes at the solo part of the test. Overall, he scratched his head once, shrugged twice, and stared blankly with his mouth open for a total of 22 seconds." Cave nodded as Caroline read her notes aloud. "His speed was nothing out of the ordinary, his company trust is in tip top shape, and his fitness level is absolutely solid. But there was one little problem with further observation." She continued, drawing Cave's undivided attention to her future words.
"And what would *cough* that be?"
"Well…" Caroline gazed around the room as if she were unsure how Cave would react. "You see, once he reached the CTI, a strange thing happened. Somehow the cameras in that area weren't operational, its as if…" Caroline was interrupted by a steady laughter emitting from Cave's newfound expression.
"You don't need to worry." Cave said in a surprisingly cheery tone. "I specifically chose her because of the… unique qualities she carries; and because she works well with another subject I chose." Cave talked exactly like he did 20 years ago. He didn't take any short pauses in order to cough, and the rush he received when thinking deeper into the mission fueled his tolerance to keep going. "Mr. Walker's records look extensively well kept. It's as if someone made it up in order to look good!" he exclaimed, shocking Caroline with his excited uproar.
"Yes! That's the spirit Mr. Johnson!"
"They can do this… they can make it through the…" Cave froze, struggling to withhold something even though the two were speaking in private. "The greatest test ever known." The room fell silent once Cave finished. His hands were laid out from side to side, and his face grew pale green as he fell back into the sickened state. This time he couldn't hold it back. The coughs came with an intense convulsion, pumping through his chest with utmost force. He coughed and sputtered so much he almost fell out of his chair; and without warning he began to feel the periodical pain that gripped him every few days or so.
"Mr. Johnson!" Caroline ran over to the stumbling man. She laid her hands on his side as she helped pick him back up. He was now breathing heavily, much more than before. The panic ended just as fast it began; Cave was sitting back in his seat and Caroline was standing idly before him. They both knew why it came. Cave was just postponing the pain until he let it out through one strong burst of activity. His continuous talking coupled with the complete disregard for his pain echoed through his body, causing the intense feeling to erupt at the worst possible moment.
Luckily, Caroline was there to make sure he was alright, and that was enough.
"Caroline…" Cave was still breathing heavily, but the bad part was now gone. "Can you *cough* hand me my pain pills?" He laid his hand out towards the general direction, guiding Caroline's hands towards the uniform white box. He opened the box and took out a couple rounded capsules. "Go down and… make sure the test subjects *cough**cough* are… ready for the mission." He gripped his head with one hand and used the other to pop another pill into his waiting mouth. "They leave in ten hours…"
"Yes Mr. Johnson." Caroline nodded dutifully as Cave dismissed her. She left the warm, comforting office, and entered the sterile blandness of the white concrete expanse before her.
Cave sighed as he took in the situation. He was going to let the test subjects get a quick rest before he sent them off into the unknown. He planned for them to be briefed personally through him, but his impaired speech would surely make it more difficult than planned.
He glanced over at the message recorder that was sitting at the edge of the table, covered in dust. He pulled it closer to him and turned the power on. Instead of the commonplace red dot, there was a blinking crimson Aperture logo positioned over the white "record". He pressed the button down, until the secondary light flashed on, showing that it was in the middle of capturing the local sound waves. Cave leaned back and spoke into the machine.
"Over the forty –plus years at Aperture Science, I've come to *cough* realize one thing. Aperture hasn't produced anything that's significantly changed the world; it has offered practically nothing of conventional value to the world we live in. But now, *cough* as I sit here in my office, death will most certainly… arrive soon. I don't have any *cough* idea how soon but *cough* all I know is that when I'm gone, there needs to be a significant impact that I leave on the world. Now many of you *cough* don't fully understand where I'm going, so let me *cough* elaborate." Cave leaned closer to the machine.
"About a week ago, one of our scientists noticed something strange coming from a quiet area inside the facility grounds. It was especially significant because of its electromagnetic readings and *cough* strange pulses. Upon further investigation, we discovered it was but a simple *cough* book, in which we later found a dimensional rift held within the first few pages. There's so much *cough* more I'd *cough* like to tell you, but I'm afraid if something like this get's into the wrong hands, the effects could be disastrous." Cave fell into another string of intense coughs, but he didn't want to stop now and ruin the recording, so he kept going.
" Tomorrow at approximately ten-hundred hours, Aperture will be sending five able bodies through the strange rift; one of them being a scientist deeply involved with its discovery, and another one being a capable scientist from our Ohio offices that works extensively in the field of quantum studies."
"The future of Aperture will hopefully be one filled with advances in science; unlimited technological breakthroughs that help us knock the hell out of our competitors. If we're able to contain and possibly reproduce such fields, it'll help us soar past Black Mesa, and we'll be the greatest science company the world has ever seen. Alas, if I do not live to see any successful advancement… Caroline will be in command of the project until… until the GLOS* project is finally activated, then she can…" a tear slid down the side of Cave's aged face. "Live in peace." Cave grew silent as he stared at the blinking red light. "Since there's a large possibility this is my last message, I want to make sure you all understand this. If anything happens to me before we're able to reproduce a safe, fully functional, quantum field. Caroline will work alongside the likes of Mr. Walker in developing such a system." Cave moved his hand back towards the electronic recording device.
"But until then… this is Cave Johnson, signing off."
~X~X~X~X~X~
Caroline returned to the hallway elevator. Now she had to round up the test subjects and brief them on the mission. She figured they should be done by now, at least for the most part. Her communication radio sprung to life as she heard the familiar voice of one of the test chamber monitors.
"Excuse me, Miss Caroline?"
"Yes, is there something I should know about the test subjects?" She asked with an almost critical sounding voice.
"Well… yes, I… don't know how to present it to you."
"Why not?" Caroline asked, growing more worried from a lingering thought in the back of her mind.
"Its… never happened before, there's no code for the situation except… except…"
"What? What is it?"
"We've got a 451…"
"What the… how? They've escaped? Where are they? Did you shut down the elevators?"
"Uh… yes ma'am, its just that the cameras are broken, and the doors not closing properly. Its most likely some sort of malfunction, but… from the looks of it, the subjects left because of a door-button co-operation failure."
Caroline's felt a cold scratch inside her chest as she finally realized what was going on. The "rebel" had managed to find her way out of the test chamber, possibly with Mr. Walker. "Meet me outside the external entrance at once." She said.
"Uh… copy that, I'll be waiting… over."
"This is bad… bad bad bad bad." Caroline pressed the elevator buttons in frustration; anything to make it move faster. "Nothing's working… nothing's working!" She gripped her hands tight as she was forced to wait for the slow moving elevator to reach the CTI. The glass doors swung open as Caroline started to make her way towards the external exit. She'd never before experienced a 451 firsthand, and she obviously never wanted to. "Ok, let's see… 56E, or is it 56K? No… E would have to be on another floor and… K is… wouldn't that be G?" Caroline ran the testing chambers back through her mind. One wrong turn and she could jeopardize the entire mission's integrity.
She quickly rounded the corner, and the external exit was now in sight. "Hurry up!" A man with a blue jacket and a bunch of card keys motioned for Caroline to move faster. The man inserted one of the red key cards into a slot on the side of the door. He waited until Caroline was in spitting distance, then stepped inside.
Outside the chamber, it looked much different than it did inside; the black steel beams, the soft blue lights, and the padded yellow walls made it look like it needed serious renovation. "Over here." The man walked over to a hidden entrance within the test chamber's wall. Sliding in another one of his key cards, he opened the door that led into the fully white room.
Inside, the entire chamber was empty except for a few buttons and vital testing equipment. All the buttons we're surprisingly cube less, yet the door looked halfway open. The door was pried open due to a companion cube blocking it from fully closing. "Get that door open!" Caroline ordered. She usually wasn't this demanding, but if the subjects left the chamber without them knowing where they were, Caroline could be in big trouble. "Hurry please." She watched as the worker removed a panel next to the door. He messed around with a couple of wires, and before long, the door was all the way open.
Caroline pushed the companion cube aside as she ran towards the area with dual elevators. Both of them were sitting a few feet off the ground, as they'd been shut down the moment they started moving. "Alright… now… get these open!" Caroline pointed towards the elevators. She had to make sure they were full, or else she'd have a lot of paperwork to fill out.
"Fine fine…" The Aperture employee slowly made his way to the elevators. Not sharing the same amount of fear as Caroline, he scanned through the access cards until he came up with the correct one. "Stand back." He slid the card through a small opening hidden from plain sight. A green light flashed on as the elevator rebooted. "The door should open soon." The man said, heading over to the opposite elevator.
Caroline eagerly awaited as the doors opened at an unnaturally slow speed. This worried her for a few seconds until she was struck with an immediate sense of relief as she caught sight of Alan lying down against the back of the padded lift.
"WELL ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME! WHAT WERE YOU WAITING FOR? I'M TIRED!" Alan threw his hands out and complained. "Please don't tell me I'm staying awake for much longer." He said, gripping his head. He hadn't even slept since he returned home from Black Mesa last night. He wouldn't haven expected such a turn of events to arise when he got up that morning.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Walker we…" Caroline turned around to see the other elevator being turned on. "we ran into a little problem with the system configuration. The real problem was since the cube kept the door open, you somehow left without the test being 'finished', causing the system to go haywire."
'That would never happen at Black Mesa!'
"Oh, I see." Alan lied; in truth he had absolutely no idea why it would go crazy like that just because the door wouldn't close. But, since Slaney insisted on finding creative ways to get rid of the cameras, they'd certainly take unfamiliar testing anomalies to the extreme.
"Miss Caroline."
Caroline ran towards the other elevator. In a few seconds, the door would open, and the subjects would be under their control once more. She put her hands together as she waited for the door to open; and once it did, the two flaps flew apart dramatically, revealing two test subjects standing with their arms folded.
"Thirty minutes." A man with a large build stood next to Slaney. He spoke in a deep voice as he glared at Caroline and then over at Alan, who was still waiting as if he'd been sent to timeout.
"Eh… twenty-five." Slaney commented, leaning her head over to the side.
"Oh dear, you three seemed to…" Caroline looked back at the half opened door. "Manage on your own. How were you able to get the cube in the middle of the door?" she asked, watching both of the subjects smile deviously.
Slaney pointed at the exceptionally large subject. "Big guy." She then proceeded to hi-five the subject, as if saying 'yeah, we're awesome, what are you going to do about it?'
"Oh my… I'm so sorry for the delay." Caroline said, moving towards the center of the two elevators. "If it makes you feel any better, you'll be awarded with cupcakes to have during your brief-
As Caroline exchanged periodic glances at the opposite elevators, she was surprised to find Slaney's to be completely empty. She was able to catch sight of a silhouette scurrying off into the distance.
"Don't worry." The Aperture worker said, folding his arms. Without a pass, they can't go anywhere except for the briefing room, which at the moment, is most likely their destination.
Caroline quickly turned her head around to see Alan stepping off the elevator. "Test subjects love cake."
"Do you have carrot cupcakes?"
"Certainly."
"Let's go…"
~X~X~X~X~X~
"Alright everyone, class is in session!" Caroline stood in the desk dwelling subjects and scientists. Alan was sitting in the middle of the row, with Slaney over to his right, and Dr. Vernon over to the left. The big guy which he knew as Kent was positioned over to the right of Slaney, and to the left of Vernon was the eccentric girl that was asleep back at the limo.
"And today's subject is…" Caroline reached her hand up near the wall, and pulled down a large projector screen. "Inter-dimensional travel." A large figure you'd see on a polygraph found its way onto the screen. "These readings are taken directly from inside the book. As you can see, when we point a superconductor at it full blast, it emits an electromagnetic hyper wave that condenses ultra-waves through the form of, in this case life. Any electro-magnetic being such as humans should be able to pass through with ease, providing the superconductor has just done its work." She showed a bunch of different slides demonstrating the quantum figures coming from a central field. "Any questions?"
Slaney raised her hand.
"No seven eight three two five, we cannot just tie a rope onto you and send you in.** Think of it as more of a teleportation device than a quantum tunnel system."
Her hand went back down.
"Now then, let me go further into the details by saying this." Caroline proceeded to the next slide; this one had an Aperture logo on it. "Your mission is one nobody's ever taken before. Aperture Science is on what some may call a breakthrough if you will. This book is perhaps the most important scientific project Aperture's ever discovered. With the book, questions about the universe may be answered, philosophical discussions will be sparked, and most importantly… well let's just say that Black Mesa will have to lay off some employees in the future." Dr. Vernon gave an approving smile.
"Your mission is this: Once you enter the dimension, you will contact Aperture through the high frequency communication terminal we're sending with you. Other than that, we'll be giving you an emer- unfavorable condition escape terminal, something that should only be used if you're absolutely sure there's nothing of interest. Dr. Vernon has already been briefed on his objectives, and Mr. Walker will be properly informed of his tomorrow morning." The 'class' was starting to lose interest as if they were being taught at a local high school.
"For the rest of you, your missions are to establish yourselves onto the world, and explore it to see what may be hidden there. Your main job is to find an exit point once you've arrived. If there's a way to get there, there's certainly a way to leave there. Your other duties are to make sure the dimension doesn't pose any serious threat to this one; remember, dimensional security is highly important. And lastly, one of your duties is to find any sign that people have previously explored such a place. We don't know exactly where this book came from, and we might not want to meet its creators face to face. That's why you're objective is to meet them face to face. Any questions?"
Alan raised his hand up high. "Yes, are you sure we'll survive the transition, let alone be able to survive on such a world?"
Caroline smiled and nodded confidently. "We've scanned the environment thoroughly; it's vastly similar to something you'd find on earth. Worst case scenario, you might get a little light headed over the slightly heightened air pressure, but other than that, its perfectly safe!"
The strange woman that had been sleeping on the limo ride raised her hand as well. "Will our clothes teleport with us?"
"There's a 14% chance your clothes will not follow you. If such an event occurs, the person behind you will gladly try bringing it for you."
The woman cringed as she retreated back into her chair.
"Alright, that ends it for tonight's session. I hope you all study for the test next morning, you'll be prompted to write a full essay detailing the books magnetic qualities." Alan recalled memories of having to write those dreadful English papers back in high school. "No I'm just kidding. Before you enter, you'll each get a personal refresher from Mr. Johnson himself!"
"Yay!" Everyone cheered.
"Now, who wants to go to bed?"
"YES!"
"Your relaxation chambers are on the left."
"YAY!" Everone said. Kent and Slaney ran towards the door as Alan went over towards the strange woman in order to greet her.
The woman looked relieved that she didn't have write an essay. She just got up from her desk and was about to exit the room before Alan stopped her. "Uh excuse me." Alan said, scratching the back of his head. "I don't believe we've been able to properly introduce ourselves. I'm Mr. Walker, and you are?"
The reddish-brown haired woman smiled nervously back at Alan. "Roni… Just call me Roni." She said, watching Kent and Slaney retreat to their nighttime dwellings behind the glass panels. "I can't wait to… work with you." She said, as if she was trying to speak just for the sake of getting it over with.
"Yeah I… guess it will be."
"Yeah." The woman walked off without Alan being able to say anything more.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He watched as Roni trudged off towards an empty relaxation chamber, and closed the door behind her.
'NOOOO! EPIC FAILURE TO THE THIRD POWER!'
"Mr. Walker." Dr. Vernon broke off from his conversation with Caroline in order to speak to the fellow scientist. "Whatever happens tomorrow… I'd… just like you to know its all in the name of science." He said, waving Alan off. "If we don't make it, remember we'll still be pushing science onto a newfound level."
"Yeah well you too… I mean… for science." Alan said as both he and Vernon nodded to each other. They both occupied the last of the relaxation chambers, for now was the last comforting rest they'd receive for a very long time.
~X~X~X~X~X~
Author's notes: Next chaptaz when they… oh I'm sure you understand what's going on. Anyways, NO this isn't a Half-Life crossover, there may be a few elements here and there BUT THAT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE IN THE SAME WORLD. So have fun and drink three glasses of milk a day. Also don't let the munchkin tribes steal the sacred artifact from you again, they hate it when you don't give them a challenge.
*-Genetic Life Operating System
**-That one was for you Zero