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#old aperture science
hb-but-portal · 3 months
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Have an aperture science inspired poster i made for a school assignment.
[all original pictures used belong to their rightfull owner]
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Portal Drawtober 2023: Day 10
Passage of Time
Old Aperture used to be teeming with life and activity. They started from the bottom and built up, but with the further up they built, the less they needed the bottom. Till it was nothing more than an echo.
[Find the Portal Drawtober Prompt List here]
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alpacacare-archive · 8 months
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inside you there are two wolfs
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internetskiff · 14 hours
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something something It's very interesting to me how Aperture is consistently a sort of mirror to the Combine Citadel. Two buildings built by entirely different hands, one not even of earthly origin, yet both fulfilling the same purpose - dehumanize, control, conceal.
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Both facilities treat humans as a resource. As some kind of cargo to be stored as efficiently as possible, later to be processed and discarded. They both cram people picked off the streets into tiny boxes where they're then preserved for god knows how long, denied even the dignity of death.
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They both shift restlessly, uncaring for who or what their many writhing arms may crush They build themselves out of themselves, countless corridors and chasms built seemingly for no one to ever traverse. The buildings feel as if they weren't even built with humans in mind, sparse catwalks scattered about as a mere afterthought.
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Even the people who are meant to be in control are barely accounted for. Offices feel like either the bare minimum, or a strange alien approximation of an environment a human could work within. In neither cases were they built for comfort. Only for utility.
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Aperture as both a company and a facility shows that humanity, under the right conditions, would have come a little too close to becoming a perfect mirror image of the Combine. If things hadn't gone wrong, it's safe to say humanity was on track for exactly that. Black Mesa wanted to exploit Xen, just like the Combine wanted to exploit Earth. Hell, while those two were at it, Aperture was too busy exploiting itself, and doing a damn good job at it. Both Aperture and the Universal Union are systems where literally no one was benefitting from the status quo, because they were too busy slaving away maintaining it. The Combine is just what Humanity would have become if it wasn't stopped at the very first hurdle. Flesh and machine, living and functional - both turned synonymous.
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whirligig-girl · 2 years
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Rutherford is like, one Portal Device misfire away from some really funny Boimler slapstick.
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"Cave Johnson here. Just figured I'd update y'all on my newest personal project: Wirewolves! Werewolves, but electronic. Basically we took the DNA of our wolf-men and injected it into the wires in some wolf-like robotic bodies. Turns out? Bad idea. In a few hours a dozen bloodthirsty and vengeful wirewolves were swarming outside my office making a bigger fuss than those OSHA enforcers that like to pester us. In a 'shocking' turn of events *chuckles*, Caroline took care of 'em all. Took off those pretty high heels of hers and used 'em to impale those pesky wirewolves right through the head. I'm safe, my office isn't messed up, less than twenty people died, and cold water'll take care of the blood that got on Caroline's dress in no time. We're moving that test to a more highly-regulated area. We're on to something! Cave Johnson out!"
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ossyflawol · 1 year
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How does chell survive the fall into old aperture when she hits a bunch of planks on the way down and (seemingly?) blacks out before reaching the bottom? Also how does potat0s not just, get mashed either
I mean she was falling at terminal velocity for a good while there, the Long Fall Boots are great at protecting her from breaking her legs but not exactly the tool to prevent all the blood from rushing into her head.
The potato that makes up PotatOS though, that shit gotta be petrified as hell, tougher than a mfing rock, it old as FUCK.
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ngeruma · 29 days
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"Propulsion" | Perpetual Testing | Portal 2 Community Maps & Mods
By BEN77
Some classic Portal gel physics problem solving through a science sphere of yesteryear. Once we work out how to actually get into it that is, the maintenance on this place really went downhill after the whole neurotoxin thing and the old enrichment spheres were already badly neglected.
youtube
Full Video
More Test Chambers
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glitchcipher · 17 days
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I wanna passionelty make out with Cave Johnson rn
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twentythir-teens · 2 years
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Still tha best song evr
The cake is a lie >:DDDD
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strawberrycircuits · 7 months
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thoughts on portal stories: mel? (not a canon game, but)
i love portal stories mel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! virgil is SUCH a fun character the mod is INCREDIBLY MADE and i grew up w harry101uk so knowing he was a big part of the project just. <333333. really captured what i love about so much of the series. i might play it again once i replay portal 2 but im not sure just yet .....
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hb-but-portal · 2 months
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portal 2 concept art for a mod idea im working on
Click the image for higher quality & bonus under the cut
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unblurred version and a happy accident i made by hiding two layers :D
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theweirdweb · 4 months
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she looks really young on my last drawing so i felt like i had to repent for my sins and make another drawing. she is a mother of at least two kids, she is an old old lady who only signed up for aperture science experiment thingy to get a full night of sleep. she doesnt even have a name but i really like her for some reason, the tiny crumbs we got were enough to make me obsessed
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the-friendliest-freak · 6 months
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Ok, so, in the Portal 2 Developer’s commentary, they mention a thought experiment they would try when designing some of the elements of Old Aperture - they created a character named Bob, Old Aperture’s sole janitor, who didn’t know Jack about science but could fix anything with duct tape, and they’d ask themselves “how would Bob do it?”.
And I was thinking to myself, “man, being Old Aperture’s sole janitor’s gotta be rough. You gotta be pretty stubborn to get all that done…hang on. Who else do I know who’s stubborn and canonically has a parent who works at Aperture-“
So, I present to you: Bob, Aperture Science’s sole janitor, and Chell’s adoptive father.
(Also the orange core is Cilla, from the mod The Office Prank)
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internetskiff · 4 months
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Portal 2's Turret Opera still hits soooo hard as a closing point for Chell and GLaDOS' story dude. Right after a monologue about how after everything they've been through she realizes she's incapable of killing Chell, GLaDOS has actually.. set up a perfect, inescapable death trap. She could've easily had the turrets shoot through the glass, sent the elevator all the way back down to Old Aperture or simply gassed her without letting the elevator even leave her central chamber. She basically had her. She could've obliterated her while she was still out cold from fighting Wheatley, but she doesn't. Instead, she has them perform an opera about walking as far away from science as possible. An opera that's implied to have been rehearsed even before Chell broke out with Wheatley - was she considering doing this long before Chell went out to try and kill her again?? This is very blatantly me steering into headcanon territory, but I like to think this whole room was the "REAL surprise with tragic consequences" GLaDOS spoke of. I imagine this is exactly what she originally planned to do - give her false hope by having her ride an escape elevator only for it to stop right in the middle of a massive turret ambush. She would literally treat Chell like a fish in a barrel. Quick, easy and delightfully painful. Each instance where she escaped was either due to oversight or third party intervention - so she created a situation where none of that is possible. All that would arrive to the surface and see the sun is a bullet-riddled corpse. But that's not what the elevator brings to that dingy faux shed in the end. I wonder what she's done with this room after the elevator made its ascent. Do the turrets still stand there, waiting on the off-chance the elevator goes back down with a familiar face within? Do they still sing the same song, over and over, hoping she'll hear it up there? Do they think of her, does she think of them, does she think of her? If Chell were to step back in, would GLaDOS even have the heart to let that elevator go back down? Either way, they'd still be down there, gathered for someone that may never ever come back. They'll all be faithfully standing at their usual spots in the chambers, ready to lovingly shoot her again should she be back to test forever.
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idkfitememate · 5 months
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I ran into a bit of a dilemma in writing this. I realized that a lot of you probably would be able to get into the role of you were called “GLaDOS”, so here’s the plan. I tried my hardest to not have to use (y/n), but me thinks I’m gonna have to. The actual operating system will be called “GLaDOS”, but you yourself will be called (y/n). You’re replacing Caroline & GLaDOS. There will be a little surprise - since this is my ver of Portal (AKA throwing Portal into Genshin), so you’ll be introduced as (y/n)! If this ruins the experience, please let me know, and I’ll come up with something different! ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა
Also! GORE WARNING!!!! THERE WILL BE GORE!! I’ll post a warning right before it starts and a little thing for where it ends!! ☆૮꒰ˊᗜˋ* ꒱ა
Finding out one of your islands is being used for things unknown is not something you want to wake up too.
But unfortunately, that was what Miss. Raiden Ei was subjected to this morning.
The apparent “island” wasn’t even actually an island. It looked like a small plot of land, with it’s only inhabitant being an old bot that resembled a Fontainian Meka - which was still active and very dangerous - and what looked to be some kind of small, one person hut. But when the fishermen who had found this island somehow managed to enter the hut, they found it actually housed a long, winding staircase that plummeted into the earth.
So of course this news was sent straight to Ei. As the Archon, anything that went on in her Nation’s boundaries that wasn’t documented was immediately brought up to her for investigation. In any other case she would have told the Tenryou Commission to take care of it or otherwise, but seeing as this was seemingly more than just a “island descending into the depths” - the fishermen also reported strange noises coming from below - this seemed like it would need to be handled with a more… direct touch.
Gathering her wits, she made a small “exploration team”. This team consisted of:
1. The Traveler, because why wouldn’t it
2. Kujo Sara, her loyalty will be of use
3. Maillardet, she had heard of his helping with the Icewind Suite Meka. His expertise may be needed.
And finally, though unfortunately,
4. Dottore.
As much as she may have detested the Fatui and their methods, she couldn’t deny they got results. And on top of that she had heard of his experiments on that of Ruin Guards, which again may be needed.
After making her plans and sending off letters to all she believed she may need, the Shogun began to wait.
₊‧ʚ・︵︵ ₊˚๑ ᕱᕱ ꒱✦ ₊ ︵︵・₊﹆ɞ‧₊
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
It was dark in the Aperture Science building. Though it wasn’t silent. After word from the singular guard at one of many openings alerted human sightings after… years of nothing, you had to admit something inside you was excited.
It was in human and monster nature to be curious of the unknown. And with all the years since your last… nuisance test subject, you figured that Aperture may have been - more likely was - forgotten by those above.
You rapidly repaired test room after test room, rebuilding the facility to the best of your current abilities. Which wasn’t much a problem, because due to the lack of human error, you were able to keep the place up and running with extreme precision.
It looked just like when Aperture was first built.
With different power sources from every nation, keeping powered on was never an issue. The location that had been found by humans was the one that was powered by the never ending lightning storm that surrounded the nation of Inazuma.
The strikes of Electro traveled through the water into sensors placed on the ocean floor, that changed the pure Electro into actual electricity that was then used to power the specific part of Aperture Science that was stationed below it.
The real facility spanned all across Teyvat.
This was only the beginning.
And your cold heart was more than ready for this coming future.
₊‧ʚ・︵︵ ₊˚๑ ᕱᕱ ꒱✦ ₊ ︵︵・₊﹆ɞ‧₊
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
“I am shocked than and Archon such as yourself has called for me.”
All heads in the room turned to face the masked male.
Kujo immediately summoned her bow and pointed it at the man, while Traveler did the same with his sword. Poor Maillardet only ran behind the armed female, clutching her skirt.
Kujo glanced at him before pushing all attention back on Dottore.
“Please lower your weapons.” Heads whipped to look at the sullen voice of Ei.
“I asked him to be here. Please do not make this experience more difficult than it already may be.” Even she seemed… less than enthused by her actions, but the sudden silence- to soak up her words - was interrupted by the man in question’s laughter.
“And how shocked I was when The Tsaritsa said the Electro Archon herself had asked for my assistance in a ‘pressing matter’! Please, do listen to her and try to not make this difficult?” His grin unwavering. Aether scoffed and Kujo only huffed a small ‘Yes, my Shogun’, before turning to her backseat passenger who hadn’t moved since Dottore’s appearance.
“… What?” The brunette asked. Then he sighed. “Just because I build fighters doesn’t mean I myself can fight, Madame.” He quickly pushed himself off her and dusted both her and him off.
With one more sigh, Ei stood.
“Let us not waste anymore time. There is an odd island off the coast of Amakane Island. On it is a single individual that resembles a Fontainian Meka, and a hut. The odd thing being that this hut holds a staircase that “plummets into the earth”, so say my sources.” She then looked at the Doctor.
“Have your men done anything to this island?” It was a fair question.
It wouldn’t be odd for the Fatui to have a lab or something of the sort in a Nation without the Archon or Nation’s knowledge. In fact, it wouldn’t be the first time. Though - again - Dottore only laughed again.
“No, Miss. Ei. We haven’t any labs that “plummet into the earth”, as you say.” Kujo flinched at him not referring to her Archon by her title, but before she could do anything, she was stopped by a look from said Archon.
“Thank you for being honest,” she hummed, “Then we best be off. Who knows what we shall find and who knows how long we may be.” And she started off.
Following behind her was everyone but Maillardet, who looked confused.
“No equipment? No food provisions?” He glanced a guard who was stationed at a door nearby who shrugged. They both sighed and spoke in unison.
“Vision holders…”
₊‧ʚ・︵︵ ₊˚๑ ᕱᕱ ꒱✦ ₊ ︵︵・₊﹆ɞ‧₊
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
Making their way to Amakane Island was easy enough. Making their way to the unnamed island was also easy.
The Meka that was guarding the small hut was… tall, to say the least.
“It looks vaguely like a Suppression Specialist Mek mixed with an Assault Specialist Mek…” Maillardet muttered, causing Dottore’s head to whip in his direction.
“So nothing you’ve seen before?” He mused, causing the Fontainian to glare at him.
“No.” He huffed, “It isn’t.” Dottore smirked at that answer.
“Then we have an unknown Meka on our hands? Perhaps made by someone outside of Fontaine-“ “No.” Maillardet interrupted.
“It still has hints of Fontainian handiwork. The way you can see some gears and cogs, as well as the fact that it’s utilizing Fontaine gun tech. It very well could be imbued with Arkeh energy. If I had to guess, Ousia.”
Everyone stared at the man, who blushed.
“What I’m trying to say,” he breathed, “Is that while it’s not any Meka I’ve ever seen, it’s definitely made by Fontainian hands. Sir Aether should know how to deal with it effectively.” Dottore stared at the man.
Aether nodded and jumped off the boat they all currently inhabited, and began to attack. The others stayed back and watched as he gracefully dodged attacks and fought back.
Though, in a sudden switch of attack, the bullets firing from the cannon on its arm changed to Electro-Charged pellets of water. The sudden swap shocked Aether and the Mek was able to land a few solid hits on the man.
Getting fed up, Kujo stood to fight, but Ei held her back.
“Those are Electro-Charged attacks.” “I understand Shogun but-“ “No. We’d only make things worse.” With a huff, the tengu sat down, glaring at the Doctor who dared to chuckle.
The fight continued on for a few more minutes before Aether came out triumphant. As the Mek collapsed, a voice rung out from its destroyed body.
“Warn…ing…Intruders At….Inazuma Ent…rance…Access Not Given…Send Warning To GL…a…” Before finally collapsing. Aether stood overtop its corpse before turning to the others.
“Well… I suppose we can continue onward?” Maillardet questioned, only to be met with everyone else in the boat jumping out onto dry land, once more leaving him behind.
The man grumbled as he slowly pulled himself out the boat, soaking his boots and pants.
By the time he made it, everyone but Dottore had made their way into the hut, on their way down.
“After you.” The bluenette grinned, and Maillardet shuddered.
And then they all made their decent.
₊‧ʚ・︵︵ ₊˚๑ ᕱᕱ ꒱✦ ₊ ︵︵・₊﹆ɞ‧₊
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
While the staircase itself was long and narrow, surrounded on all sides by pipes and cogs, what they found at the bottom was truly a sight; though they had been going down for a while.
A large open space - like a courtyard. There was artificial sunlight that streamed in from the panels on the ceiling that simulated a blue sky. False grass and trees swayed in a deceptive breeze. A ‘building’ sat before them with glass doors. It was grey and unassuming, the words “Aperture Science Laboratories” was in big lettering above the doors in big, illuminated lighting.
“Incredible…” Dottore mumbled as the group began to make their way down a path that led from the staircase to the building.
Just then, a sharp creaking noise was heard, and the staircase they had just traversed began to retract. It slowly made its way upward, lifting off the ground. Without flinching, Kujo summoned her bow and knocked an arrow, looking for a place to shoot. Finding a button near the staircase labeled ‘emergency shut down’, she shot, hitting it head on.
“Sudden Power Surge Detected At: Inazuma Docking Station. Rerouting Power Surge To Backup Power Supply’s. Emergency Dock Closing System: Initiated.”
And with that, the stairs shot up, effectively sealing the group inside.
“Sorry, Shogun…” was the only thing that left the now embarrassed Kujo’s lips.
“Worry not, I am sure we’ll find another exit eventually. Let us continue forth.” And onward they went.
Walking down the path, Dottore noted that there were hills far beyond the little building before them, fading off into the distance.
“I wonder how long this facility stretches out?..” He wondered aloud. Maillardet grumbled under his breath.
“Hopefully not that far…”
Entering the building they were met with something none of them - minus Dottore - had experienced.
Fluorescent lighting.
The light outside had at least been convincing, but the buzzing overhead and the slight flickering was enough to get under everyone’s - again, minus Dottore’s - skin.
“Whatever is this awful-“
“Welcome, gentleman, to Aperture Science. Humans, Vision Holders, War-Hero’s, Hybrids — you’re here because we want the best, and you’re it. Now, who’s ready to make some science?”
Weapons were immediately drawn from hearing the unusual voice.
“Who dared cut of The Shogun-“
“Now, you already met one another on the boat ride over, so let me introduce myself. I’m Cave Johnson. I own the place.”
Kujo growled.
“Well, Mr. “Cave Johnson”, I recommend you reveal yourself before we-“
“Mr. Johnson! I believe you’re forgetting something..? Or rather, someone..?”
All heads turned to the wall length screen that turned on with the new voice.
They were met with a cartoonish figure of a person, though their head was replaced by the grey, circle logo of Aperture. They were dressed in a white button up with a black vest overtop. With pure black dress pants and black dress shoes. A snow white lab coat over their shoulders and pure white gloves on their hands. The only hint of color or their person was an orange tie.
Dottore was the first to walk over, pressing a gloved hand to the screen.
“This is all absolutely incredible…” he spoke with a grin.
Nobody noticed how the figure flinched away.
“That eager voice you heard is the lovely (y/n), my assistant. They were added as a safety protocol in case some of you get lost. There are screens all of Aperture where they can keep a close eye on you, to make sure you stay in one piece, or at least as close to one piece as we can get you. Now, rest assured, they have transferred your honorarium to the charitable organization of your choice, isn’t that right, (y/n)?”
The figure on the screen - now known as (y/n) - nodded. Or… nodded as best a 2D model may be able to nod.
“That’s right, Mr. Johnson.”
“Since their addition, they have been the backbone of this facility. Pretty as a postcard too. Sorry fellas, they’re married. To science.”
They watched as you walked over on the “screens”, trotting all the way over to a pair of double doors. With one arm behind you, you held an open palm in the direction of said doors.
“Now, if you just follow them, they’ll take you right to the testing sites.”
With that small tidbit of information, the group reluctantly walked their way over to the doors. Pushing through them, they watched as you faded on the other side. Only for the walls of the hallway surrounding them to light up with bright white light, and for you to be on their right side, walking down the hall on your screens.
“There’s a thousand tests performed everyday here in our enrichment spheres. I can’t personally oversee every single one of them, so these pre-recorded messages’ll cover any questions you might have, and respond to any incidents that may occur in the course of your science adventure!”
You continued walking down the long hall, it slowly dipping further and further into the earth, but not to an alarming degree. A tune played throughout the hall, your head bobbing to the beat.
“Recorded..?” Ei asked. She turned to Kujo and Aether, who both shrugged. She then turned to Maillardet who muttered a quick ‘I’ve heard of it… that’s all…’ then looked away. Finally she looked towards Dottore.
“… Recordings are a rather new technology I’ve discovered. It’s a lost technique from long ago, the act of taking the waves of one’s voice down onto a physical form - such as a disk or a vinyl - and relaying those waves through a certain machine to recreate noises. I’ve been able to get my hands on a few, but to find one of such large scale, with moving images to boot! If I can get my hands on whatever is relaying these recordings…” His voice toned back when he realized he was walking alone.
Turning back he noticed that everyone had stopped behind him, confusion written all over their faces. He groaned, slapping a hand over his eyes before dragging it down the side of his face.
“It refers to something hearing noise, then relaying it at a later time when prompted.” And on they continued. It took a moment to catch up to you, as you had continued on your merry way while they had been stopped.
When they made it, Cave Johnson began speaking again.
“Your test assignments will vary, depending on the manner in which you have bent the world to your will.”
They finally made it to the end of the hall, with double doors greeting them. The doors opened automatically, opening to a large space, akin to an auditorium. Doors led off to different halls, each closed off by double doors that were identical to the ones they just came through. The room was surrounded by the Aperture logo, with small tables set up with small experiments on them. Walking past, Maillardet’s eyes glanced at a potato battery.
The most obvious thing in the room were the blue and yellow lines on the floor that each led to another room. You popped up again on a few overhead screens, though now you were sitting at a desk, typing away. You occasionally took a sip from a grey cup.
“Those of you helping us test the repulsion gel today, just follow the blue lines on the floor. Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”
Lights lit up over the blue lines and your figure changed to a looping recording of you walking on the lines and through the door.
“Injected with praying mantis DNA… why would you ever..?” Maillardet wondered with a grimace, while Dottore only smirked.
“I think me and this Mr. Johnson may have something in common. Anything in the name of science.” His grin made Aether shiver.
“Can we please just move on?” The blonde growled. He turned to the two females, only to find Kujo trying to open another door with Ei beside her.
“What are you doing..?” He asked. The General exhaled before turning back to the group.
“Trying to find another way out. Why are we even listening to this Cave Johnson person? We don’t know who he is, we don’t know where he is, we don’t even know what he looks like.” She walked over to another set of doors and tugged.
“She has a point.” Said Ei. “But in that same breath, we don’t know where we are either. The only thing pushing us forward is the voice of Mr. Johnson.” She placed a hand on the tengu’s shoulder.
“I feel it may be in our best interest to listen for now. When we find an exit, we’ll leave immediately.” Kujo sighed and muttered an apology before turning to the blue lines.
The loop of your walking through the doors still played above as everyone filled through the doors.
“Bad news, we’re postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we have a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men.”
“WHAT?!-“ shouted Maillardet. “WHY WOULD YOU EVER-“ A hand was slapped over his mouth as Dottore shushed him.
“I want to hear the rest of this.” he whispered.
“Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You’ll know when the test starts.”
“Oh Mr. Johnson…” Dottore swooned.
“Only a rifle..?” Maillardet whimpered.
Kujo groaned. “Don’t worry about that now. We’re following the blue lines. Not the yellow ones.” Ei grinned slightly at the banter.
“They say great science is built on the shoulder of giants. Not here. At Aperture, we do all our science from scratch. No hand holding.”
“I really do like this man.” Dottore grinned.
₊‧ʚ・︵︵ ₊˚๑ ᕱᕱ ꒱✦ ₊ ︵︵・₊﹆ɞ‧₊
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
Walking along the catwalks was a new feeling. Despite the no longer being really… anywhere… there were still screens nearby that depicted you walking along side the group.
Little to no effort was made to make any kind of conversation. Just the sounds of different kinds of shoes hitting the metal that made up the catwalks.
Though that all changed within a moment.
“Hello..? Hello??”
The sudden voice calling out made everyone come to a stop. Aether brandished his sword and turned to a pair of doors that led off the path they were being led down.
They waited with bated breath as the mechanical whirling of something moving towards them echoed in the open space. The walls themselves seemed to shift as whatever it was made its way to the door…
The doors burst open as a spherical robot with a bright blue eye pushed its way through the doors, pausing when it saw the group.
“Humans..? Humans?? Humans!! Wait… HUMANS?!?!” Its confound shock was extremely apparent, especially with the way it screamed out.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK HERE?!?! I haven’t seen a human since… since… her…” It’s tone grew somber within a second, but then it shook on its… bar??? Grip??? Dottore wanted to know.
“That doesn’t matter, what matters is that you guys are humans! Actual, genuine humans!” It rolled forward on its… whatever and faced them.
“… None of you have the portal gun though.. oh. Do you have those ‘vision’ things? Because I can assure you they won’t be of much help here-”
“And why is that?” Dottore jumped in.
“… Well first off all, it was incredibly rude to cut me off there, secondly, Aperture focused on the sciences that… well, had to do with those who lacked visions. Now don’t get me wrong, there were certainly tests for those who had them but uh… yeah these were mostly for those without.” It nodded.
“I see… now. Do you happen to have a name. Or would you tell us what you are?” The Doctor asked.
“A name..? Right! Oh gosh, I completely forgot about that. Wheatley’s the name and… yeah I don’t know where that was going really. And to answer the other question, I am what’s known as a core, but where are you lot off to?” He introduced. Though before the blue haired doctor could answer, a voice rung out.
“They’re off to test with the repulsion gel, Wheatley.” Your voice ring out, and there you were on the screen, facing them with a hand on your hip. The core seemed the freeze up at your voice, which didn’t go unnoticed.
“Oh! Uh… hey… (y/n)… hehe.” Wheatley seemed uncomfortable at now knowing of your presence, before something seemed to pop into his head.
“But… without the portal gun?”
“You don’t necessarily need a-“
“What’s a portal gun?” Maillardet questioned. You heaved a long sigh and Wheatley seemed to brighten up.
“We’ll only one of, if not the, best things Aperture has ever made, of course! It’s this nifty little gun that allows a person to go from one point, to another in just a snap!.. If I could snap I would to punctuate my point-“
“What he means-“ You interrupted, “Is that it is a special device that allows someone to manipulate space itself by opening up a doorway - otherwise known as a portal - and go from an unreachable point A to unreachable point B… or at the very least a vision-less ‘someone’. We weren’t able to test on those with a vision… or any non-humans with human intelligence; such as Oni from Inazuma or Adepti from Liyue. But even then our knowledge is… limited…”
Wheatley stared at you as you explained the Portal Gun in detail, before scanning the group.
“Oh! There is a vision-less with you!”
Maillardet swallowed nervously.
“Here, you won’t be at a disadvantage if you let us give you the Portal Gun! No need to feel like you may be falling behind… bloody hell you might even be able to go ahead and be advantaged in this situation!” The blue eyed bot explained.
“Wait wait wait… are either of you… alive or uh..” Aether stumbled over his words before you cut him off impatiently.
“Yes we are entirely sentient. Now Wheatley, we can’t make these decisions-“
“I don’t know why you’re complaining. You’ve been moping about for years! All because you ‘don’t have any human testers’ and ‘robots were starting to get the same results’ and ‘humans unpredictability made them unique’ and-“
“That’s enough, you idiot.” “HEY!-“ “Fine. Here’s how this will work, so be quiet and listen.”
Nobody moved.
“We will give your little friend access to The Portal Gun, you complete a couple tests for us, and we help you leave as fast as possible. Deal?”
“Well it doesn’t sound like we get much out of that deal besides our assured exit.” Ei stated, and you groaned.
“You’ll have access to technologies that those above this facility have not had access to for years. Plus, this will practically be free training. Now do we have a deal?” Your impatience was starting to grow clearer and clearer with each passing moment.
“Well-“ “YES!” Maillardet screamed. He didn’t care. This was his chance to truly make a name for himself. If he was able to get this ‘Portal Gun’ outside of the facility, the things he may be able to do with that tech…
Everyone looked at him with shock - though Dottore was more amused than anything - at how fast he agreed.
“Great! Wonderful even! Here, just follow me through here and we’ll get you right as rain, isn’t that right (y/n)?” Wheatley glanced at you as he turned on his rail. If you could, you would’ve rolled your eyes.
They watched as the screen you stood on blinked off, and Wheatley rolled away.
Maillardet followed behind and the others hesitated. Though after that moment of hesitation, they followed behind as well.
₊‧ʚ・︵︵ ₊˚๑ ᕱᕱ ꒱✦ ₊ ︵︵・₊﹆ɞ‧₊
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
Instead of the grey halls and metal walls they had become accustom to, they were met with greenage and foliage on all sides.
Flora of all kinds blossomed around them, tress that reached higher than any of them could see. They all followed behind the humming core, until he suddenly stopped.
“Now, this is a bit awkward, but my rail system ends here. I’m gonna let go, but I need someone to catch me. Do we have any volunteers..?” Wheatley informed and asked. He looked around the group only to make eye contact with Dottore. Who was grinning. Sharp teeth fully on display.
“Uhm… anyone..?” The robot squeaked. Though the only one who moved closer was Dottore.
He sighed, then ‘steeled’ his nerves.
“Alright, I’ll let go on the count of three- NO, ONE! If I do it on three I’ll chicken out and… mmmm I’m talking to much aren’t I? I’m nervous because of the very real possibility that you may drop me. Not to say you look weak or anything, you actually look quite strong. Has anyone ever told you that? I mean, personally I would prefer to be strong if I had a body… On that note I wished they gave us hands. That’d be nice. Or a way to move while not on the rail systems. They can only go so many places and so far, you know? And some of them end in the oddest of places. I found one that ended over a bottomless pit. Isn’t that just insane? I mean-“
Dottore grumbled something under his breath before moving directly below the blabbering bot. Then he cleared his throat, and screamed:
“ONE!”
The high pitched scream Wheatley let out as he fell would’ve been able to convince anyone that he was actually a girl. Dottore’s knees nearly buckled under the sheer weight of the still screaming robot in his arms. After finding his footing, they all stared at Wheatley, who continued to scream for a solid minute before realizing he wasn’t falling anymore.
“AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa…. Oh. You caught me. That’s a first- Anyway, directions! You’re going to want to follow the greyed out path through the green, and you’ll find a platform behind some broken walls and such. I’ll admit, when you get there it’s a bit of a jump, but I have faith in you lot!” He… grinned??? Well it was as close to a grin as a giant metal eyeball could get.
Everyone hummed in response and continued to trek on. Every now and then Dottore or Ei would ask about a type of flower or plant they saw, only for Wheatley to say he’s neither the flower nor plant core. Which led to Dottore asking about cores and Wheatley offering an explanation.
“Cores are… well to put it in perspective think of the basic parts of your personality. Of what makes you, you. Cores are basically that! We work as the pure forms of interests or emotions. Such as the flower core, who only ever talks about flowers. Or the anger core who… uhm… well. He screams? I guess?” Wheatley answered.
“So… what do you embody? Fear? Worry? Rambling?” Dottore asked, only for Wheatley to shout in objection.
“No! Absolutely not! None of those things! In fact, just for that, I don’t think I want to tell you.” He spun his eye around as to not look at the man carried him, causing Dottore to chuckle.
Maillardet suddenly shot ahead, causing everyone to quickly follow after. Wheatley seemed to understand why he shot ahead.
“There she is.” He muttered.
Just behind a wall, there it was.
Placed on a pedestal, vines and flowers grew all around in a mesmerizing pattern. A small hole in the roof let a halo of light fall onto the midsized device.
It was sleek. It was shiny. White and black mixed together in a perfect blend.
“Isn’t it beautiful? The pride of Aperture. What nearly all of our resources went into after its conception.” Wheatley mused. His focus was entirely on the gun in front of them.
Though his previous statement was true, there was a rather large drop from the platform they were on and the platform the Gun was on.
“You can drop me here.” The core suddenly spoke. Dottore looked down with a bit of a scowl.
“Weren’t you the one who screamed like a baby at falling only about four feet?” He asked. Wheatley scoffed.
“That was the make sure you’d catch me… anyway, I know I can survive this fall. I’ve survived worse. Just drop me and then jump down. It’ll be easier that way.” Wheatley’s voice suddenly got very serious. it lost its lively charm and became something more robotic… which was ironic.
The robot started acting more robotic, and they felt uncomfortable about it.
Dottore scoffed, then dropped the core without care. Though this time, Wheatley didn’t make a sound, just a small grunt when he hit the floor.
‘It can physically feel..?’ Dottore wondered.
Then one by one, they jumped down - Aether catching Maillardet - and began their walk over to the Gun after Dottore picked up Wheatley again.
“Hold on.” The blue eyes core suddenly spoke. His eye turned to a wall, and the panels suddenly shifted. A small control panel pushed itself out, presenting itself to the group.
“Plug me in there. I can make sure nothing hostile happens to pass by.” He explained.
“Hostile..?” Ei questioned and Wheatley, suddenly seeming very tired, sighed.
“Yes. Hostile. Just- Don’t worry about it, okay? I promise nothing will happen.” He glanced back at the group with a drooped eye. Dottore placed him on the panel.
Electricity shot out for a moment, then the core settled. He looked back, then without a word, got pulled back into the wall.
“It looks… so mesmerizing…” Maillardet whispered. He was the closest to the Gun. He hesitantly reached a hand out and touched it. Then, he picked it up and got a grip on it.
“I can’t say I’ve ever shot a gun but…” The mechanic pointed the gun at a wall, away from everyone as they watched.
He shot the gun.
And everyone watched as a pure black circle surrounded by blue latched onto the wall.
Everyone stood in shock.
He hesitantly shot right next to the blue and was met with a circle of orange.
Though now he could see through both.
And they reflected the room back to him.
He walked closer and looked through one and saw everyone looking back at him in silent disbelief.
He stuck a hand through the blue portal.
And watched his hand exit the orange.
He fell back in shock and everyone ran closer. They gathered around him, awe and shock written all across their faces.
“This is…” Dottore spoke.
“… A revelation.” Maillardet finished.
“Truly, isn’t it?”
The third voice broke everyone out of their stupor. They watched as the walls fluctuated and moved, opening the room up into another.
It was dark - pitch black, save for the screen that had only your figure on it. You stared at the group before moving your attention to the Portal Gun.
“Such an expensive piece of equipment it is… hopefully you understand what I’m about to do is only in your best interests.”
The screens blipped off, and a hole in the center of the room opened, a disgusting orange red glow emanating from it.
“Preparations Made. Systems Online. Ready For Emergency Long Fall Boot Insertion. Is Moderator Ready?”
“Yes.” Your voice rung out.
“Participant Ready?”
Before anyone could speak, you spoke for them.
“Participant is ready.”
“All Parties Set. Commencing Insertion.”
GORE WARNING! CONTINUE WITH CAUTION!
Metal wires suddenly shot out from the floor, causing everyone who could to summon weapons. Unfortunately, you had a plan for that.
Your wires shot out and gripped the visions on everyone who had one, but tightly wrapped around both Aether and Ei, quickly picking them up and throwing them into walls.
“Stand down, don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” You warned.
The wires quickly wrapped around the ankles of Maillardet, dragging him forward and making him drop the Gun. Kujo rushed forward but a wire wrapped around her and threw her to the ground.
“Last. Warning.” You said.
They were forced to watch as the vision less man was strapped down to a table that came up front the pit by those wires. Buzz saws and bone saws and needles and others rose from the hole in the ground.
Wires tore at his pants and ripped the boots off his struggling body.
“This is going to hurt. A lot. I don’t personally believe in anesthesia, but feel free to pass out.”
And with that, the first saw turned on and immediately buried itself in his leg, blood spraying and his screams ripping themselves out his throat. You could practically hear the tendons snapping as he cried.
It went until it hit bone, where you moved the buzz saw out of his leg with a sickening *squelch*, pressing the saw into his bone and quickly sawing through.
Everyone - of course, minus Dottore - did their best to look away from the scene, but Kujo couldn’t help the whimper that left her lips when some blood spattered on her face.
After bone, the buzz saw when back to work until the odd cut was completed. It was curved, leaving the front of the lower leg untouched, but the back - up to the upper caff - was completely removed, as well as the ankle and leg. Then the process started all over on the next leg.
“Did you know there was once a surgery with a 300% mortality rate? It was an amputation, much like this one, preformed by a Mr. Robert Liston over two hundred years ago. What happened was his patient died of an infection, his assistant also died of an infection after his fingers had been amputated accidentally, and a witness of shock after the knife came too close. Isn’t that interesting?”
Your words echoed through the chamber over the cries of Maillardet who just lost his other lower leg.
The two amputated leg parts were picked up by robotic claws which threw them into the hole below. Then, two odd looking boots were raised from said hole.
The class took the boots apart and began to assemble them on the man’s body. They were a solid white with black base and a weird black wire at rhetorical back.
The screams grew worse - then silent after Maillardet finally passed out due to pain - as the black wire - which was connected to the black base - was drilled into what was left of the bone. The wire was then shifted, then grafted into the muscle and bone.
The white part was reattached to the black, the straps tightening against what was left of the skin, before it was literally melted onto the boot.
The smell of burning skin, bones and blood filled the room.
“See, wasn’t that easy?”
His body was thrown off the table and next to the Gun.
The wires let go of everyone, and Aether landed on the floor, passed out.
GORE OVER GORE OVER! YOU’RE SAFE!
“Why aren’t my abilities working..?” Ei wondered aloud while helping Kujo to her feet.
“You think I wouldn’t recognize a God? News Travels, Beel. We have a few protocols in case a God were to ever wonder into our wonderful facility, but I don’t think I feel like telling you exactly what’s happening to you.”
She quickly looked up above the still open hole in the ground with a glare.
“Stop being a coward and reveal yourself.” She hissed.
“If you insist.”
The lights suddenly turned on, blinding all who were awake.
Dottore stared on in wonder at your body. It resembled that of a human who was suspended from the ceiling. Legs pressed together and arms bound behind them with their back to the floor.
It was the most beautiful piece of machinery he had ever seen.
You slowly turned to face them, the orange light of your eye glaring down at them.
“Let me formally introduce myself, this time without the assistance of a recording. This body you see before you has been dubbed the “Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System”. GLaDOS for short. Though if you prefer it, (y/n) is not off the table.”
“Where… is Wheatley?” Kujo suddenly asked.
“I figured you wouldn’t like him. How shocking you ask. But if you must know… You’re free to reveal yourself.” You mussed.
Silently, the core rode in on a rail in the background on a catwalk. He looks away.
“You’ve payed me back enough, moron. You no longer hold a debt.”
The room was silent.
He had… he betrayed them?
People he didn’t even know?
“… I still feel the itch, you know..?”
Your large head turned to face the blue eyed core.
“I know I’m not the smartest… but I still feel
The itch. It’s like it’s at the back of my brain… and you know what needs to be done to fix it. Please allow me to stay. I won’t… I won’t muck up as bad as I did last time.” His voice was barely above a whisper.
He felt bad and everyone could tell, but you knew that the need to test was able to push back all other thoughts. All other emotions.
It changed people. No matter if they were made of flesh or metal.
And addiction is an addiction. No matter what.
It wouldn’t go away with a bit of cold turkey quitting. That always came with side effects.
The silence was deafening.
If you could smile, you would.
“If you want. I may have final say, but my control over the cores is loose.”
Your gaze turned back to the group who had huddled themselves in a corner, glaring at you.
But you noticed Dottore was staring with less hatred and more… curiosity.
Like a child.
“You understand why I did what I did, don’t you?” Your voice was cold, yet still somehow held some kind of twisted warmth.
“It was to make him stronger. He can survive tests without a hitch now. As soon as he recovers, we’ll be able to continue testing without a hitch. You’ll each be given a relaxation pod while we wait. I’ll be holding up the end of my deal.” You turned away and focused on the screens behind you.
“What… are you..?” Ei asked.
“I thought I answered that question. I am GLaDOS. I am (y/n). I am the current head of Aperture Science.” You turned back to the group.
“And as long as you’re here under my care, I can assure you that we’ll have loads of fun.“
Everyone who was awake was suddenly knocked out by the gas you had been silently filled the room with.
It was time for testing to begin.
I hope this is good! Ima be honest, don’t know if any of the explanations for anything that was explained make sense lol. Also, don’t forget to tell me if you were okay with the whole (y/n) thing! ૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა
This is just in case nothing more gets requested: (y/n)’s transformation went like this: human (Cave’s assistant), mascot (first take on GLaDOS-like system, success), GLaDOS (Cave asked for them [they retained their human personality and memories as the mascot] to be GLaDOS while he was dying, like in the cannon)
Now I’m gonna spend some time on Requests! After which I’ll start on Mora!Creator! Again, I hope you enjoyed! ૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა˖⁺‧₊˚
And don’t be scared to request any Automation Reader (Executioner or GLaDOS) okay bye-
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