Test Subject #00001 - 7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.0

When I came to, I could see nothing but spots that slowly diminished until there were no more. My mind banged against my skull violently. My leg throbbed where I had been burned, but not as painful as before. Overall, I felt terrible.

"Ohhhh..." I groaned.

My eyes adjusted, and I recognised the surroundings of the chamber I was in. The chamber where I freaked at Siri. I was still here. In this imprisonment. I wish it was all just a dream I could wake up to and go, "Wow, what a weird dream! I'm going to forget all about it and continue my happy life!" But that's far too good to be true. I don't even remember anything about my life. I certainly remember the outside world, the world I should be living in, but not anything to do with myself or anyone I love or know. It's like a blank space in my brain, as if somebody had erased it clean.

Of course though, there was that horrifying flashback I just had.

And now there's a spark. A clue. A hint. A piece of evidence that somehow had crawled back from my wiped memory and shown itself before me while I was unconscious. It wasn't like I instantly recalled that moment when the flashback happened. It was like a story was playing in the eyes of someone else, and that someone else was me. It was me who'd been with that guy in Vegas, me who was kidnapped by that man in the suit, and knocked out before that van, with the name Aperture Laboratories displayed on the side.

The more I thought about it, the sooner I came to realise the connection. Aperture Laboratories...this is Aperture Laboratories. Siri had said it herself multiple times. My theory had developed. I knew I was a test subject, but not why I came here. With that flashback however, now I know. And the truth is terrible.

I'm being held hostage in a dangerous testing ground.

You'd think a kidnapper or some heartless computer woman would have just left me here to die or keep testing after I recovered. So I was surprised when my eyes caught the tin can and plastic milk bottle sitting neatly on a dish in front of me. Who had given me this? Someone obviously had, and I'm not going to say that it were these moving panels either. Nevertheless, I reached out and grasped the can around my hand, finding a can opener alongside it. Eagerly, I pried the can until the lid popped out and clattered to the ground, the sound echoed across the room. The waft of something ghastly invaded my nostrils and I saw what the contents were. Beans. The one thing I hate eating. Without a second thought, I put the mouth of the can to my own. The beans spilled down my throat. They tasted like they hadn't been opened in years, which was probably true. But it was edible, and that gave me reason to chow it down. Once the can was empty, I reached for the milk bottle and ripped the cap off before guzzling it down. To put in more better words, it was off.

After the meal was abolished, I stood and picked up the portal gun lying near the edge of the acid pool.

"Oh good, you're awake."

Uh-oh.

"We both know that we need to talk. Well, it will mainly be me who will be doing the talking. After you complete this test, I'm taking you to a different room. Refusal would be foolish."

Suddenly the mood had changed. Instead of an informative and a rather enigmatic identity, Siri had more...well, emotion in her voice. And so far it seemed to be tinged with cold resentment. I'd done something wrong obviously, and it wasn't in line with her plan or regime. But peeing in an acid pool can't be that bad, can it? It's not like the pool could get any worse than it already was. So why the hostility?

For once, it came to me that this Siri wasn't even close to the actual Siri on my iPhone at all, a monotone, yet cheery voice. No, this Siri, the Aperture Siri...was more human. As if it were an actual woman and not some computer voice. Because robots don't have emotions...right? Honestly, who knows.

And now she wants to talk to me. Somehow, I sense that 'different room' may be a lot like the one where all the 'uncooperative test subjects' are put. But I can't run away. It's the only way to go.

So to the chamber at hand. I recalled the problem where I had to stand on the panel while blocking the laser with the cube as the cube itself sits on the button which rises the panel. That's not complicated at all (not)! I couldn't control the cube from where I would stand on the panel though. Aargh! This is frustratingly impossible!

That damn bridge is in the way. Unless it miraculously disappears, there's no way I'm getting that cube on the button while on the panel. Or...what if...I think I got it.

Placing a portal on the far end of the bridge and placing the other below it carries the bridge straight back to where it came from, only at a lower height. Therefore, if I place the cube on the bridge directly above the button, stand on the panel, put the blue portal somewhere else, the bridge would vanish and the cube would...would...omigod I got it!

So I did it. A sense of triumph filled me up as I was in the final stages of that process. And when I made the lower bridge go away, the cube fell and directly hit the button and blocked the laser. Instantly, the panel rose, and the exit door unlocked!

"Woohoo!" I hollered in jubilation.

And then Siri spoke.

"I've had a rethink and I've decided that your testing is more important than consequences for contaminating the contamination pool further. We will proceed with testing. However, do not ever do something as vile as that again. Or I will make you wish you could die."

A shiver travelled through my body. Siri just gave me a death threat. It was a death threat wasn't it? Do something wrong and you'll want to die. And how she said that was frightening...so cold. I was being treated like a naughty child.

And naughty children get punished.

Now the happiness and joy I had before had vanished completely. In fact, I don't think I could ever regain any satisfaction in solving test chambers again. It doesn't help that I also have death threat bearing down on me if I screw up again. And it's all because of Siri.

No...she's not Siri now. I'm dubbing this mystery identity as 'her' and 'she'.

And she will be sorry that she ever made me feel like this. I will get my revenge, I'm going to destroy her.

The resentment boiled inside me as I limped into the elevator. My new goal is this: Once this is over, I'm going to find here, and kill her.

Of course, I'm going to find out who I really am too. But ending her...oh yes, that would be great. I really will live up to being the wild card. The plan was spectacular, I thought that nothing would stop me.

But as I was about to learn, She still had a few tricks up her sleeve.

•••••

The elevator dropped me off at the next chamber.

"Sentry turrets are a main feature of the Aperture Science testing programme. In this next test, you will be introduced to them. In advance warning, you may want to note that they have only one regiment: Shoot to kill. Good luck."

Sentry turrets...what are those? Aren't they like those side towers on castles? Either way, there's no denying that She just said 'good luck' to me. This can't be good. I passed the chamber information sign which displayed a cube and button sign as well as another, a different one. A stick figure deflecting lines from another random thing...weird.

So I braced myself and walked into the chamber. I was in a passageway was before me. It made a right turn in the space of about ten metres. Before me though was this white model, with three legs — two at the front, one at the back. And it's back was turned to me. What's this thing? Should I pick it up? Walk past it? Not sure what to do really.

Something tells me I should pick it up. And with my portal gun, I did.

"Put me down!" The object protested in a high voice as it was lifted by the grasp of my portal gun.

"Oh!" I blurted apologetically. "I'm so sorry I..."

Then when I dropped it, the object fell on its side and instantly began to shower a blaze of bullets.

"Nooooooooooo!" It screamed as it randomly sprayed bullets where it was facing.

Meanwhile, I had shrieked and dived for the floor. Then the bullets stopped and the object, as if it were saying it's final words, quietly uttered. "Whyyy?"

I stared in alarm, then in guilt at it. Had that thing that was shooting bullets...did I just kill it? I killed an innocent being. Sure, it may have been a robot or something, but...I felt terrible. That poor, helpless 'why' was so saddening. That thing was just doing it's job, whatever it was. And they sounded adorable! I'm sure it wasn't going to hurt me. It lay still on its side motionless. I hope She doesn't get mad at me, I didn't know what I was doing really. Never mind, I have to keep going.

I got up and limped down the hallway. The burn in my leg was really messing with my usual walk but it was slowly getting better. I looked down at it and noticed there was stitches where the burn had cut my flesh open. The realisation made me almost faint, but I kept myself up. Okay...so someone's stitched me up aswell as feed me. A computer couldn't have done that. So maybe She is a real woman...

I rounded the corner and saw that the passage actually made a u-turn. Then I stopped myself short when I saw a beam, red and very thin. It seemed to come from another thing down the hallway. What were those things...? Turrets! Sentry turrets. That's what She called them. I think that the beam comes from the turret somehow. Let's see.

I poked my head around the corner and saw the turret, face on this time, with a red little eye on the center of it's oval face.

"Hello!" It greeted, opening it's sides up.

Aww, what a cute little turret, I just wanna go over and give it a—

RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!

"Aaaaargh!" I screamed, falling backwards out of view.

...evil little creature, it just shot at me! Seriously, guns ablaze and firing with lightning bullets. I was this close to being shot. I resentfully looked at the beam, now roving around where it could see.

"Target lost." It murmured in the distance.

Oh so I'm a target now? I'm gonna show that little runt! It would help if I knew how though. That thing is dead to me as far as I'm concerned. Oh wait...I did remember seeing it standing around white panels. So if I shot an orange portal next to me...

I aimed the portal gun at the wall and fired an orange portal onto it.

Okay now for the tricky part. I have to fire a portal behind that turret. Maybe if I just poke the business end of the gun around the corner and...

"Who's there?" The turret questioned as I inched the gun past the edge.

Quickly, I fired the portal gun, and swept it back into my hiding place. Would it reach behind the turret? But a mere glance at the Orange portal before me answered my question, and there, standing unaware, was the turret with its back turned to me.

I have you now.

The next moment I made sure was merciless, and in a flurry of bullet shots and screaming, the turret shut down and lay dead on the floor. A crooked smile was warped on my face, as I half-limped past it. I'm a turret killer, and I like it. The hallway opened up to a room which had a button placed directly in the middle of it. The exit door was there too, only a few metres away. However, the button was being guarded by six turrets lined around it in a circle. Two of them could see me, and I was so glad there was a large window that partially separated the access to the room. The two turrets had there sides extended as they stared without word at me. I could see at least 4 nozzles on them each which I knew were blasters. Scary. But how do I get rid of them?

Before, solving puzzles in previous tests meant working out harmless things like 'How do I get over there?' or 'how do I get the laser into the porthole?' But now this was different. A careless mistake didn't mean starting over or fixing agar I'd done wrong. No, this time it was much more than that.

A mere mistake could mean instant death.

And now I was frightened to do anything! I was even doubting the fact that the window may be bulletproof let alone stepping out from behind it. What am I going to do?

Well, the whole room is made out of white panels. White panels mean they are portalable. Portal-able. Good word actually. White panels are portalable. Dark panels are unportalable. Anyway, so that means that portals can be made anywhere in here. What about on the floor?

I tried it and it worked.

Okay, so why don't I stick my gun out from the window blockade and shoot portals underneath the turrets, and shouldn't they fall in?

Ooh this is so evil yet so sweet.

I put a blue portal on the panel on the wall next to me, and edged the gun out from behind the glass.

The two turrets who were watching me swivelled their guns toward my own.

"Gotcha!" One tweeted with joy.

But before they could react, before any bullet was fired from their sides, I shot the Orange portal underneath one of them. The turret promptly fell backwards into it, screaming and splattering bullets everywhere dangerously close to me.

"Malfunctioning!" It squealed.

I planted myself against the glass, and even as the turret was dying, I was onto the next, and then to the next, and to the next, and the next still. And it was a pandemonium only metres away from me.

"Aaaahhhhh!"

"Nooooo!"

"Goodbye!"

"Self-test error!"

"Malfunctioning!"

As each one slowly died in a pile of bodies, shells and bullets, I couldn't help but grin gleefully at what I'd just performed.

So I thought that these turrets were merciless killers who were impossible to get past. But really? All they really are is talking tripods with guns. Destroying them involves a flick of the finger, and they're out of it. So although they are somewhat lethal, they're not as dangerous as before. Still, I can't be overconfident about this, who knows what might happen.

I stepped out from behind the window and looked at the button which seemed to trigger the door. Right, so where's the cube? That's when I noticed the small grating on the right wall. It was only centimetres wide, but beyond it was a secluded room with white panels also. That's where the cube would be sitting, I reckoned. So I shot a portal through the grating so that it landed on the wall of the closed off room and placed another on the wall beside me. I would get the cube, put it on the button, out of here. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

As cliché as it was, things DID go awfully wrong.

When I stepped into he room, I first directed my focus on the cube sitting in front of me. Too bad I didn't see the thin, red beam stretching across the room.

"Target acquired." A high voice said to my left.

In the instant when I looked up in complete shock, the turret sprayed it's bullets at me.

"Aaaargh!" I shrieked before desperately shooting a portal underneath it.

It fell through with a protest, but I was still struck with shock. Shaking even. I panted as my breathing slowly became easier, and the adrenaline was diminishing. As the shock stated to wear off, two new feelings rose up. Pain, and even more pain. My shoulder and my leg. When I looked down, the first thing to hit me was neutral realisation. Oh, I've been shot in my shoulder and in my calf. And then the sheer agony kicked in, and I helplessly crumpled to the floor.

I wailed as I clutched my shoulder, my leg. Tears welled up and flowed a stream down my face? I lay there crying, crying, the pain roaring as bad as when the laser burned me. And that instigated the angriness, the retaliation. My eyes latched onto the camera planted on the wall, staring down at me in almost wonder. And like a volcano, I erupted yet again.

"I HATE THIS PLACE SO MUCH, IT'S KILLING ME!"

I could've said more, but my tantrum was cut short by a new sense that enveloped me, and it was so easy to subside to. Helplessness. Giving up. Maybe I should say that to her.

"I give up!" I called, even through the pain. "I'm not doing this anymore. Please just heal me and let me go!"

Of course, it didn't happen. Why would she? Why would some nut science lady listen to a poor, wounded and helpless girl lying on the ground? Because really, I'm just a failure. A failed test subject.

And what happens to failed test subjects in this place of twisted science and torture?

It was then that I realised why I was in this chamber. She, whoever she is, had purposefully directed me to this chamber full of bullet-blasting turrets as some sort of punishment. And the shots did punish alright, hell that's why I'm lying here with this overwhelming pain! I can't do this anymore, I seriously can't. And if she won't let me go, well, what then? Really I have no choice but to end the torture for good. By ending myself.

Minutes passed, the blood trickled through my fingers, spreading like the Dead Sea. God it hurt. So bad...

Then my consciousness began to dip, and a new warmth grew inside me. Sleep, yes sleep sounds so good. I could sleep for two thousand years if I wanted to. My eyes drooped and gently began to close...

•••••

Test Chamber 05: Did good enough despite distraction.

Test Chamber 06: Completed test chamber, immoral violation offence. Rebellion hinted.

Test Chamber 07: —

*Processing results*

*Process complete*

Test Chamber 07: Punishment received. Effort made to stabilise test subject.

•••••

I don't know how long it had been, but I felt goddamn tired still. I stirred, rubbed my eyes, and felt the cold, stale air settle against my skin. Ugh...

When my eyes adjusted, I saw that I was still on the ground. In the room where the turret shot me. I looked down at my leg and to my surprise, noticed that the bullet had been removed, my leg stitched up. And it felt a little numb. So did my shoulder. Oh dear, I've had surgery.

Omigod, she fixed me. Well I assume it's her. But...but why? I'm a failure! I stuffed up her testing programme, destroyed half a chamber, pissed in her acid pool, went AWOL at her, basically refused to do this for any longer. I think that should give me licence to be killed according to her standards. But here I am...healed from bullet wounds...and still alive.

It was then that a I recognised a new side of her that I'd never think I'd see. She's being motherly.

She's purposely keeping me alive.

So perhaps she isn't as twisted as I thought she was? Or is there another reason for her compassion? It confused me so much.

I steadily rose from the ground, leaned against the wall as I did so. I picked up my portal gun and fitted my arm inside it. Somehow, I felt good with it on me, like I had some kind of power and defence. I portalled back into the main room with the cube and stuck it on the button, immediately opening the door,

"Gotcha!" A turret voice greeted.

I gasped and dived to the side as bullets erupted from the doorway. I landed heavily on my stomach but I was out of its sight.

"Are you still there?" The turret asked softly, it's beam roving around the room.

That. Was. Close. It was actually a strategic move. Having the triumph and victory of a test subject shot down by a turret stuck behind the door. Very clever. I still have to kill that thing though. And oh look at that, there a white panel beside it.

So that turret got a less than pleasant surprise as I burst out beside it.

"You managed to complete this chamber in five hours. 82% of it was spent being unconscious. Don't let that become a repeating habit."

When she said that, the sense of loving motherhood from her vanished as quickly as rising smoke. Ugh, never mind.

I walked through the blue grid, tingling me as it did always, and I walked down to the awaiting elevator.

And so, on the next chamber.