Subject 3281; Chell's Story

Let the Testing Begin

Subject 3281 opened her eyes. This was it, today was the day. After two long, repetitive days of training with Subject 3279—during which time both their aim and speed had greatly improved—the time for testing was finally at hand.

She drew away her sheet, donned her Longfall boots, and inserted her arm into its schedule printer. When the process of nourishment and schedule-printing had been completed, Subject 3281 took out her arm, and looked to her new schedule.

800: Hygienic break
840: Begin testing
2100: Hygienic break, sleep

She let out a small sound of satisfaction as she beheld the second order of business listed on her left forearm; Begin testing. Not training this time, testing. She looked over to her partner who had just finished strapping on his boots, and couldn't stop herself from wondering what testing would be like with another human being. He looked up, and she quickly directed her thoughts and gaze elsewhere. The clunk clunk clunk of the boy's boots could be heard as he made his way to the door, and the girl stood.

Her lips became as tight as she had ever felt them, and she fancied she could feel a slight warmth in her chest as she moved to stand alongside her partner. This would be her day, she could feel it. No more mess ups, no more disappointments, only tests. Logic tests. Tests of strength, speed, and above all, portals.

Her partner looked to her, and one corner of his mouth raised in apparent surprise. "What's the look for, '81?" At the sound of the despised nickname, her mouth once again relaxed, and she felt her momentary serenity fade. Even if the scientists that gave the two their orders saw fit to let her test, this boy would be right by her side, ready to slow her down at regular intervals. A distraction. A nuisance. A variable that made the equations of her world that much harder to solve, and her prolonged existence that much harder to guarantee. Oh how she wished she could test alone.

Alas, she recollected as the door in front of them opened, it is not to be.

The door opened—as usual—onto the two's Hygienic facility, and they used it accordingly. After they had finished in that room, they waited at the door, entered their sleeping room, and turned to wait before the door once more.

The floor trembled, and Subject 3281's legs tensed reflexively. She forced them to un-tense however, and waited with her partner in silence, trying her best to smother any thought that might then attempt to sneak its way into her mind.

They stood and waited there for what felt like ages, as if time was standing still despite the constant movement of the room, and the pressure that had begun to accumulate in the air. At any rate, the wait was longer—and journey deeper—than the two had gotten used to while participating in the Co-operative Testing Initiative.

After what seemed like an hour—though it was most likely no more than half that—the movement around them began to recede, and Subject 3281 gave her head a small jerk as if to ready herself for whatever may lie ahead.

She looked to the lock on the door, willing it to turn green, to plunge her into the only world she knew, that she would ever know. To satisfy the agitation and feeling of incompleteness that had occupied the past few 'training' days she had endured. To distract her wandering thoughts, and to get her wayward partner back on track.

At last, the room came to a full stop, and the lock switched from amber-red to green. Subject 3281 felt the corner of her mouth twitch. Here we go... The door slid open with a hiss, and Subject 3281 and her partner stepped out into their first test chamber. The first thing Subject 3281 saw was her portal gun lying on the floor in the center of the room beside her partner's.