Subject 3281; Chell's Story

The Co-operative Testing Initiative

Subject 3281 got a good grip on her newly acquired portal device, and stepped towards the center of the floor, which appeared to be capable of supporting portals.

She aimed her gun at the dusty-white floor before her, and pulled the trigger that she knew would activate the light blue portal, as the two triggers her fingers rested on inside the gun's cold embrace marked this as a dual portal device. An unearthly fwooft that she had heard many times before emanated from the gun's muzzle, as a light orange bolt of light shot forth and hit the floor, opening a portal of the same color.

Subject 3281 raised an eyebrow.

That's new.

She pulled the other trigger—the one that would usually activate the orange portal—and aimed the gun right beside the first portal. A dark, reddish-orange light came from the muzzle, and a portal opened that was the same reddish-orange hue. Subject 3281 furrowed her brow, and stood there for a second, looking at the two portals.

Her momentary stupor was relieved however, as she heard a camera turn her way, and a human voice from above said, "You may begin testing, Subject 3281."

Subject 3281 drew in a deep breath, told herself not to think about the strange new portals, and took a look around her. What could she use to complete this test? There was the circular door she had come from but, as all others did, this had shut behind her with a resounding chu-click. There were various "Portal-able" surfaces around, as well as numbered doors. She decided to focus on her end goal, which was most likely door #1.

She scanned the wall around the platform below door #1, and was rather surprised to find that, right above the door, was a white wall that looked portal-ready.

Despite the apparent ease of this test, she only questioned the solution for a second, before raising her gun, aiming at the spot above the first door, and firing her darker portal. It appeared on the wall, just as she had intended. Subject 3281 then walked to the lighter portal that she had made on the ground, jumped through it, and found herself falling back to the floor of the chamber before she could blink.

Her brow furrowed. Of course. How could she have forgotten about the issue of force? Subject 3281 looked up at her dark orange portal for a moment. She had fallen through that portal with far too much speed to make it onto the small platform. Subject 3281 allowed herself a quick sigh, and then jogged back over to the portal on the ground.

She stood at the foot of the portal on the floor and circled it, attempting to analyze all of the possible ways that she could get from point A to point B. At last—after about a twenty seconds of deliberation—she came to a conclusion. Subject 3281 grabbed the bottom of the light orange portal, and lowered herself down and through. She dropped to the platform with a satisfying clunk, and waited for the door to open.

Within five seconds, door #1 had opened and she had stepped inside, only to be greeted by an emancipation grill; and beyond that, Subject 3279; who was also holding a portal gun with two parallel stripes, though his were blue. Subject 3281 stepped through the emancipation grill, and heard her portals pop out of existence behind her as the gun in her hand shook slightly. The door closed at her back.

The two test subjects eyed each other warily. The boy was about a foot taller than her and lean, though not particularly muscular. He had short brown hair, olive skin, and amber eyes that observed his partner with a mixture of unease and apprehension. His companion stared right back at him, her face unchanged, though inside her hard-wired mind she was a bit uneasy as well.

She had thought that maybe she would be working with a Core, or maybe a human—any human other than him—but she realized now that their being partners had been relatively obvious, if she had just taken the time to look. She berated herself for her negligence in reasoning, and vowed to do better in the future.

The two continued to stare at each other in silence, until a tired-sounding voice came out over a speaker that was hanging from the wall above the closed door.

"Welcome to the Co-operative Testing Initiative," it said, and they both looked up to the source of the noise. "Over the next two days," the voice went on, "you and your partner will undergo a series of trust-related exercises essential to this wave of testing." The boy cast an uneasy glance at his companion as the voice continued, "Please enter the lift at the far end of the room, and await further instruction."

Subject 3281 looked to her partner, and headed for the lift. He followed suit, and soon the two were inside, and the doors were closing.

This will be interesting.