2 – Subject 2905
[Aperture Science Days Without Incident: 19 Days]
"Wake up."
The voice of GLaDOS sounded through the small, cramped room, but did not fully bring Subject 2905 out of unconsciousness. His brow furrowed, eyes still closed as a loud mechanical noise boomed just above him. All of a sudden, his eyes shot open, and he gave a startled gasp, looking immediately upwards. The ceiling panel disconnected from the ceiling, falling straight towards him.
He rolled off the bed as the smash-panel just barely missed him and crushed the bed. Having braced his fall with his forearms, 2905 scrambled to his feet with difficulty, still trying to fully regain consciousness. But immediately afterward, the Announcer spoke.
"Neurotoxin: venting."
Still unstable, 2905 almost tripped in his haste to the dresser across from his bed. With one hand he snatched his mask and pressed it against his face. The three oval shaped lenses, arranged in the center of the mask, shone bright white as the apparatus became active, and the filters whirred to life. The room rapidly filled with green mist, and became thicker and thicker.
With some fear he listened to the sound of his own breath, contained inside the thin shell that stood between him and the gas. He held his forehead and collapsed against the dresser, leaning against it, very careful not to offset the mask.
The Announcer continued, "Congratulations! If you're still alive, you've survived another wake-up call. If you're dead, please disregard this message."
In moments, the noxious gas vented out of the room, flowing up and into the ventilation ducts. His head lifted slightly, and the door opened with barely a creak, revealing an intelligence core waiting outside. The core was a white sphere, with three white optical sensors glowing. It hung from a railing, and looked expectedly in his direction.
Its eyes were white, an unwelcome daily signal.
"It's time to test." GLaDOS continued. This time the voice came from inside his mask. "Orange and Blue have been waiting for you. I've had them wait a-a-all six hours you've been asleep."
Subject 2905 stood to his feet, and walked shakily towards the core waiting outside. The hallway was dim, illuminated by lights on alternating sides of the management rail from which the core hung. There was no carpet, and the walls were dark, metallic, and worn.
"You will be testing on Level 4." GLaDOS continued. "Won't that be fun?"
2905 did not respond, and suddenly, the lights on his mask turned off, and he stopped midstride, unable to see with the lenses inactive.
"Are you ignoring me, Subject 2905?" GLaDOS asked irritably.
"…no."
His lenses reactivated. The intense isolation of Aperture left him starved for any social interaction, even if it was negative, but his mental exhaustion still clung to him like the mask on his face; a wearisome necessity. If he were not exhausted from testing, the only likely alternative in Aperture would be death.
"You still haven't told me the story of the only escape from Aperture."
"There was no 'escape'." She corrected, "Stop talking to Orange and Blue, you're not supposed to understand them anyway. I never thought I'd say it, but in the case of this so-called 'escape', I envy your ignorance."
"Gee thanks."
"But I'm curious to see if you'll succeed against Orange and Blue again. After all, you haven't been discarded yet. If it comes to that, I won't feel bad for long. We're having a party after you die."
He looked up at the core on the railing, whom he had nicknamed Calculus in lieu of any model name or function designation, and it stared back with a strangely sympathetic gaze, and he walked while Calculus slowly moved down the railing towards the elevator. That core had more than once been a lifesaver for him, sending subtle warnings or helping him find a way through an impossible puzzle.
Before he had reached the door, the elevator was automatically brought up to his level. He miserably detached Calculus, and stepped inside.
A rudimentary breakfast awaited him on a tray. It consisted of cold eggs, asparagus, crusty grain toast, and a few uncut, unwashed potatoes; a pretty generous meal for GLaDOS. He reasoned from the look of the eggs that they were going to be used for cake, but had become rotten. The asparagus was the most disgusting, and the potatoes were tangled in root limbs grown out from one another. Only the toast seemed the least bit appetizing, so he consumed it quickly, knowing he had only seconds going from floor to floor.
"Calculus, could you give me another excerpt from my file?"
The core began to play a recording: "Subject 2905, also known as [Blocked], continues to show proficiency in the more complex test chambers. Acrobatics and athletics are limited, however. Without the aid of his longfall boots he would surely have been mortally injured from falls, even from survivable heights."
Subject 2905 sighed. "Why won't you let me hear my name?"
"Your name." Said GLaDOS. "Is '2905'."
The elevator came to a stop, and opened. Subject 2905 immediately looked around; noting that he was not on Level 4. The narrow hallway with hazard placards to his left was quite different than the more spacious testing ground he had been expecting.
"Oh, by the way: in case you haven't noticed, I couldn't let it slip that you were actually testing on Level 7 today. I didn't want you to start planning ahead."
GLaDOS taunted with obvious elation in her voice, a behavior consistent with almost all of her testing career when she disoriented a test subject.
"I've been on so many floors this week I couldn't 'plan ahead' if I wanted to." He countered. "By the way, could I get some mouthwash with my next breakfast? It's getting hard to breath in this thing."
"You'll shut up if you want to have another breakfast. Place the core there." She ordered, using Calculus' now gold-colored eyes to point to a ceiling rail, "I will observe your progress beginning in thirty seconds."
He obeyed, connecting Calculus carefully to the rail and taking a step back. The core stared at him as it had before, and slowly began to climb the rail as the mechanism started up.
"If I win, will you tell me about the escape?"
"No. And I don't mean to pique your curiosity in hopes you'll keep asking. Stop asking."
Subject 2905 turned away and stepped into the test chamber. All around him were white panels, and elevated platforms created a multi-level obstacle course that filled the entire room.
To the left, there was an enormous glass wall, reinforced with metal trusses, dividing his half of the test chamber with that of Atlas and P-Body; whom he could see on the other side. Both turned in his direction, and gave friendly, enthusiastic waves. Before he himself could raise his hand in acknowledgement, GLaDOS cut their exchange short,
"Stop that! The purpose of testing against a human is to prove your perfection, not falsify it. You cannot embrace human habits and expect to succeed."
Atlas and P-Body glanced at each other, and hunched sadly. Originally, Subject 2905 never competed against robots, but after independently setting a better time record on a test in Level 8, GLaDOS had become obsessed with proving that he was inferior to her champions.
Subject 2905, hearing a hiss of air behind him, turned to see a small compartment extending outwards from the wall. In it, he found his portal gun. He readied himself, knowing GLaDOS could begin the test at any time.
Upon looking around again he noticed a small plasma orb bouncing back and forth quite a distance up through a small hole in the glass wall. However, he did not see the receptacle for the orb. On the very top of the ceiling, there was the door the receptacle mechanism opened, and the way out of the test chamber.
"Fifteen seconds remain."
The eyes of Calculus began to strobe, getting faster as the countdown drew closer to zero. He took a breath, and gripped his weapon through fingerless gloves. The test chamber was silent apart from the sharp sounds of the plasma orb impacting each wall. The glass prevented him from hearing Atlas and P-Body break out into a head-start, at the request of GLaDOS herself, and they began a quick ascension to the next level before entering his peripheral vision.
Prematurely, the eyes of Calculus flashed red, drawing his attention, and he noticed the head-start. With a sudden gasp he charged forward, ignoring the remainder of the countdown.
[Meanwhile]
Dr. Anabelle stood by amidst the swaying reeds as Cpt. Smithfield fastened a supply of explosives to the door of the shed. Despite its old, dilapidated appearance, just under the surface it proved to be as sturdy as a bunker. Even the captain's strength proved insufficient to pry the door.
Smithfield rose from the doorway, having placed a few blocks of explosives, and motioned quickly for her to retreat. The both of them hurried into the reeds and hunkered down away from the door.
"Greg." Said she into her radio, "Duck, in case the glass in the helicopter breaks."
"Can't make this old bird look any worse, but, you got it, ma'am."
There was resonating bang that echoed across the prairie. Anabelle and Smithfield rose from the grass and approached the now skewed door. There was a pitch black sliver that broke from the opening. Steam rose from the charred blast marks, and she could feel the heat against her dust spattered, sweaty face.
"Pry it open."
Smithfield used the stock of his weapon to pry open the airtight door. Anabelle looked inside, and an updraft of stale, repugnant air hit her nostrils that choked her. When the light finally broke through, she found a sleek, circular platform in the center of the floor.
"Looks like an elevator." Said Smithfield. "Should we go back to base to report?"
Anabelle was reserving judgment until she saw more, and stepped closer to the circle, kneeling on one knee. She was certain she'd heard something under the surface.