mewtwowarrior (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mewtwowarrior) wrote2011-04-13 12:06 am
mewtwowarrior) wrote2011-04-13 12:06 am
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Portal Chapter 21 Part 1
Finally finished Chapter 21 of my Portal novelization! :D All I have left is the final GLaDOS battle and the epilogue stuff. Also lots of editing and making a nice source list. ^_^
LOL IT IS TOO LARGE FOR ONE POST. XD
Notes:
-Find out what level you fall into
-Find out what levels you look over from the offices
-One bit of subtitles is not present in the heard dialogue
-Need to look back through and see if Chell figured out she could push the turrets over herself without a cube
-It's been so long since I've worked on this, lol
-I need more words other than platform, other floor, and level. :|
-Cylinder = tank?
-WHOA, totally found a shortcut, you can bypass the catwalk after the fans. BUT, the offices are interesting, so I guess I'll poke through them anyways.
-I can hear a pellet somewhere, but I can't find it. :|
-The part after going down the elevator shaft sounds weird, but I'm not sure how to make it better.
-You just jump through the portal on the stairs to the top of the overhang, but I liked having Chell pull herself up and over instead.
-This - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX9Sc88qreg&feature=youtu.be - has a much nicer explanation for Chell popping through portals, need to use her bouncing around like a crazy ninja and go back through ALL the chapters to reflect the awesometude
-Also, might need to revise any sections with turrets to keep Chell from taking damage. Still debating on this.
-Never noticed the deadly floor under the 5-piston room. XD
-Should Chell just hop off the piston or cautiously ride it down?
-WHOOPS, jumped off in gameplay and fell through the portal. Needed to do that, it just was so nicely done, though. XD
-ARGH I dislike the crazy piston section XD
-Chell going through the ceiling portal and landing on the piston is the first real example of "spiced up" inspired from the Boots video. XD
-Was it too much or dumb or what, though?
-Bleh description before getting to the odd, rapid pistons. :|
-Have I gone overboard with the fancy moves? XD
-There's a part in the captions that doesn't have sound. However, I do have the sound for it, so I don't know if it's a glitch. Gonna put it in for more GLaDOS flavor.
-lol, missed a Ratman den, whoops, gotta go back and check it out.
-Before I post, I need to fix some of the quotation marks for signs and things.
-I feel like the first turret area is written badly, but it was a mess to write. XD
-Should Chell assume the broken turret is broken, or take utmost caution anyways?
-OH CRAP I MISSED THE FIRST RATMAN DEN IN ESCAPE. :|
-Went back and found it, there is no reason that Chell'd find it normally, moving on. XD
-This means I don't need to write the third one, YAY. :D
-Beginning of going into the 3rd Ratman Den:
"She looked back to where the other person had written on the wall and noticed an air duct-like opening to the right of it. Curious, she walked that way to investigate.
Chell crouched down to look inside. This spot was different from all the other ones the person had used before, this one had an orange glow and a silver pillar in it.
She crawled inside to take a look around."
-Maybe need to go back through and change some of the turret sayings.
-I decided to not go into detail about picking every turret up and dropping it. I may go back later and change this, but I found it repetitive. :|
-Might go back through and fix some of Chell's caution, based on that video; she has like zero fear of crazy portal antics. XD But, that is from the future so...I don't know. XD
-I am probably overusing somersaults, but I don't care, it's the best way to go through a portal on the ground to one on the wall. XP
Outside Resources:
- http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Aperture_Science
- Some parts inspired by http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX9Sc88qreg&feature=youtu.be
- http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Ratman
-The sound file somebody posted somewhere
The oppressive heat from the raging pit of fire Chell had just escaped made it difficult to concentrate.
She walked over to the wall in front of her, putting as much distance as she could between her and the flames. She didn't have much time to think this through, it sounded as if someone or something was coming to find her.
There was a door to her left, but it didn't have a handle, only a keypad. Chell walked over to it and tried to push the door open, but it didn't budge. She'd have to find another way out.
Well, obviously, she couldn't go back the way she came and she was now in something of a dead end. The only way to go was up.
Chell looked up towards the ceiling. As she did so, something caught her eye across the way. There looked to be a solid floor that had some cylindrical containers and pipes over there. It was quite a distance up, but as Chell turned her gaze higher, the ceiling above her was even taller.
It would be risky, but it was possible she could set up the portals to fling herself across the death trap and into some kind of safety. She didn't know what would be awaiting her up there, but it would be far better than standing around here and waiting to be caught or die.
Chell turned around and aimed a portal on the wall as close to the ceiling as she could. She'd need all the height she could get, if she was going to make it across.
She then placed a portal on the wall to her left. It'd be easier for her to see what she was doing if she could simply walk through it.
Chell made her way over to the portal on the wall and looked through. She could see the fire pit far below, and more importantly, the other level that could possibly hold the way out quite a lesser distance below.
If she got enough of a portal fling going, Chell thought she could make it to the other side. If she didn't make it, then it'd probably at least be a quick death as she burned to a crisp.
Chell inhaled, preparing herself for the fall, it was a long way down and she had to set this up just right.
She stepped out of the portal, as she fell down; Chell orientated herself so that she was falling front-side first towards the ground. Once she was in position, she fired a portal directly below her.
Chell fell into the portal and flew out right-side up out of the higher portal. She sailed across the fire pit and landed with a jolt on the other side.
It was much cooler up here, but Chell didn't have time to rest. Breathing deeply, she looked around to see if there was somewhere else she could go.
In front of her was the two cylinder tanks that stretched back towards the wall. The wall to her right was close and behind her was the pit of fire below.
However, to the left was a short hallway. Chell walked around the pipes sticking out of the wall and headed down towards another tank.
Part of the way through the hall was three stairs, Chell dashed up them quickly. If there was something coming after her, it might only take a short while for them to figure out where she had gone. She had to get outside as soon as possible.
The room that the hallway lead to had the tank on the left side. In the middle of the room was a rusted metal staircase that lead to a higher catwalk. On the right side of the catwalk was a grey door.
Chell rushed over to the staircase and started to make her way up it. The bottom two steps were falling off of the staircase, and when she put any weight on it, the entire bottom half simply fell off.
She exhaled a quick breath in irritation at this delay. It would have been quicker to use portals to begin with, but in her hurry to escape, she had just simply jumped to action. She'd have to be a bit more careful from now on.
She put a portal onto the wall right by where the stairs joined the catwalk. Then, she turned around and fired a portal onto the wall now in front of her and walked through.
Once Chell was on the catwalk, she walked over to the door and, taking her left hand off of the portal gun, reached out and tried the metal handle.
The handle turned and she pushed the door open to find another room on the other side.
She was greeted by the sight of another rusted metal staircase directly across from her. This one looked more stable, but she wasn't going to waste time trying it out.
The catwalk that the staircase seemed to lead to had another door with a keypad. Likely, it wouldn't open for her. However, to the right, there seemed to be an opening in the wall. Nothing to do but to try it.
Chell placed a portal onto the wall to the left of the door. Then, she turned and put a portal onto the wall directly to her left. Once it was in place, she stepped through.
She tried the door, but it didn't move an inch when she pressed against it. So, she turned towards the opening to the right and headed towards it.
Unfortunately, the opening was covered by a wire fence. On the other side of the fence was a door with a handle. There was a gate, but there was a padlock on it. Chell tried shaking the gate, but, unlike the stairs, it held in place.
However, she noticed that the wall to the right of the door was concrete. If she could place a portal there, she could easily get around the fence. It didn't hurt to try, anyways, and it was the only way out.
Chell aimed for the 'Caution' sign on the wall. The sign stated that 'The Equipment Stops and Starts Automatically.' She'd have to watch out for any machinery. The portal appeared on the wall, right where she wanted it, without any problems.
Once the portal was placed, she walked back over to the portal by the door and stepped through.
Chell turned slightly and put her hand on the door's handle. It turned, and she grinned slightly to herself. This was going well. She should be out of here in no time.
She opened the door and looked through to the room beyond.
The next room was more open, there was a large, rotating fan on a circular hole on the wall across and to the left of where she was standing.
Chell walked across the metalwork on the floor, heading towards the fan. There was a concrete wall behind it, so if there was anything beyond, she could use the portals to go around the fan.
As she approached the fan, the female voice once again spoke, "Hello? Where are you? I know you're there. I can feel you here. Hello?"
Chell hadn't seen any cameras around, not since that last test, so likely, the woman in charge had no clue where she was and was just bluffing. Now, it was Chell's turn to have the upper hand.
While she was standing there, a familiar and dreadful smell assaulted her nose. In between the rotating fan blades, she saw a sign on the wall, 'Danger Contaminated Area.' It seemed to her that this might be the area where they created that noxious liquid that was present in quite a few of the tests.
There wasn't any other way she could go, though. There was a metal floor on the other side of the fan, so Chell placed a portal on the concrete wall.
She turned to look around the room she was in. There was another fan on the left side of the room; it looked identical to the one she was standing in front of.
The only area she could put a portal on was the floor. That was a little annoying, but it was better than nothing.
Chell fired a portal onto the ground close to where she was standing and stepped through.
She fell out of the other portal feet-first and landed on her back. She picked herself up and started to glance around the room.
There was a concrete ramp that led right down to the surface of the deadly liquid. She didn't want to go that way.
Above the disgusting floor was a catwalk that seemed as if it stretched across the room.
On the other side of the room looked to have a stable floor that had a broken ramp going towards the floor.
There was a concrete wall across the way, so she could use that to get over there safely.
Chell fired a portal to the opposite side of the room, behind where the ramp was. She then turned and walked through the portal she had previously fallen through.
There was a door immediately to her left. She tried the handle, but it didn't move.
She exhaled in irritation, since the door was locked, she'd have to find another way out.
The catwalk had a small section that stuck out from the rest of it and it had no handrail right across from where she was standing. However, it was too far away for her to simply jump across. But, there was another way.
Chell turned around and saw that the ceiling was a bit of a distance above her. It looked like it was possible that she could fling herself out of a portal there and land safely on the catwalk.
It was quite dangerous, if she missed, she'd find out just how deadly the floor was.
But, it was her only choice at the moment, so she'd just have to try.
Chell put a portal as close to the ceiling and to the wall on the right as she could, then placed one on the wall right in front of her.
She leaned forward as she stepped through the portal, making easier to readjust and face the ground when she fell. As she fell towards the ground, she put a portal onto the floor beneath her and fell through.
Chell shot out of the upper portal and sailed neatly across, landing with only a little bump on her feet.
There was an open door to her left, so she pushed it aside slightly and made her way in.
This area was different from any of the others she had seen so far. The floor was a black and orange checkerboard pattern. The walls were still grey, but these were more scuffed and used than in the other areas.
To her right was a large glass window. The room beyond it had several tables and rolling chairs. There was a projector that was showing what appeared to be some kind of slideshow. But, nobody was in it. Curious, Chell read the slide that was up on the screen.
It read, 'Dollar$ and SENSE: Competing with BLACK MESA For DoD and Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts'.
Nothing too interesting so far, she wasn't familiar with a company called Black Mesa, but the rest of it was in line with this place being a testing ground for equipment, such as the portal gun.
The slide changed to a different one and this seemed like it could possibly explain her question, for it was titled, 'What is BLACK MESA?' The rest of it read in bullet points, '2.59% of ALL DoD contracts. 10 Billion in Federal Dollars Annually. 12% From Full & Open Competition. 88% From No-Bids or Excluded-Sources Bids. Not bound by Govt Performance & Results Act.'
It looked like Black Mesa was quite profitable, probably to the irritation of whoever owned this place. Chell was already liking this Black Mesa company.
The next slide appeared, this one had a chart comparing Aperture to Black Mesa, it was a 5 year review of GSA schedules. Aperture had proposed that it needed quite a bit more funding than Black Mesa. Black Mesa was awarded nearly, if not all, of the money they had requested, while Aperture only got a tiny portion of what even Black Mesa got. It was likely that Aperture was having some kind of financial difficulties because of this. That might explain why there only seemed to be one person working in the whole building, they may have fired everyone they possibly could.
The next slide clicked over. This one had quite a few bullet points and was titled, 'A Case Study: Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System." That must be their next project they would work on. Chell continued reading, "Defense Logistics Agency solicits bids for development of fuel system icing inhibitor (FSII). Black Mesa FSII proposal: Costly - Black Mesa personnel overpaid given limited skillset/ambition. Design inhibits ice, nothing more. Aperture Proposal: Less expensive, Bonuses to DLS: Aperture FSII inhibits ice but is also: A fully functioning Disk Operating System. Arguably alive.'
That was puzzling, Aperture had somehow managed to come up with something that cost less than Black Mesa's idea and had an extra feature. However, the 'arguably alive' part was a bit worrisome. Was it Aperture's seeming insanity at work, or had they come up with some kind of living robot? If she was lucky, maybe they hadn't been able to finish it and she wouldn't have to deal with it.
The next slide that appeared was the first one Chell had seen, so she turned back around to the room in front of her. She had learned a little from that slideshow, but nothing that was any value to her right now and probably had just cost her valuable time.
The room had desks, chairs and computer equipment. The wall to her right had shelves with seven computer towers on them. To her left were two chairs in the corner and two long desks that looked towards a window that had a view of the room she had been in previously. There were two chairs in front of one of the desks, one was upright and the other was leaning against the desk. There were computer towers, keyboards, and mice on the desk and above it were two monitors with a yellow readout scrolling past. Chell walked over to see if she could find any information that'd be useful for getting out of here.
The writing on the monitor was too tiny to read, so she didn't waste any time to trying to make it out. She turned back to the room. There was a door behind her with a chair in front of it. Chell walked over to the door and turned the handle. It gave way and she walked inside.
The room was tiny and felt crammed with things. There were two chairs and a desk with computer equipment and a clipboard. The clipboard had someone's records with a red FAILED stamp on it. The person in question seemed to possibly be a chicken. The computer screen here just showed the round symbol that seemed to be Aperture's logo. The back of the room contained a window.
Chell glanced out it and found a familiar sight. It was part of test 14, where she had had to wait for the platforms that rose up and down to cross a narrow room to get to where the pellet for that test was.
So, this is what it felt like to be looking down and watching people run through the tests was like. However, there wasn't anyone around and she hadn't seen anyone watching her behind this window as she had gone through.
Well, that was enough of that, she turned back around and left this room, making her way down the larger one.
A short distance down was an open door to her right. Chell walked in and found a room slightly larger than the one overlooking the 14th test.
This room also had a desk with computer equipment, but the chair was toppled over. To the left was another observation window, so Chell went to investigate.
This window overlooked another test, this time it was test 9, the so called 'impossible' one that wasn't.
Chell turned back around and left, there was only one other door, the one right across from the room she had just left. Likely, it was the one that was locked from the other side.
She walked past the two chairs in the corner, one of which that had fallen over, and tried the handle on the door. This time, it opened and revealed that it was in fact, the other room.
Having exhausted all possibilities from this room, Chell turned back around and made her way back to the catwalk.
The catwalk lead to an opening in the wall, so she walked across, heading towards another room.
The catwalk looked out across the left into the new room. A metal staircase leading down was a short distance away.
As Chell looked out over the room, she noticed on the wall on the opposite side was a drawing in red. There was an arrow pointing upwards above a sketch of a stick figure going through a door.
It looked like the person before her had made it this far. Odd that she hadn't seen any other signs of them until now, but it was good to have some kind of guide. Maybe they had escaped and this would lead her to freedom.
Her eyes followed the direction of the arrow and Chell looked up. Directly above her was another catwalk. Nothing connected to it, but there were concrete walls up close to the ceiling. Since the floor was concrete as well, she could use the portals to fling herself up there.
Chell put a portal up close to the ceiling then started to make her way down the stairs. She paused at the landing and put a portal on the concrete wall to her left. There were only two portions of wall that she could put portals on, and it made for more pleasant traveling to place them on the walls than the floor.
She walked through and fell towards the ground. She placed a portal below her and angled herself to pop through face-first.
Chell came flying out of the upper portal and landed on the catwalk. Right in front of her was a wire fence that had many pipes and an orange glow behind it.
The voice addressed her again, "What are you doing? You haven't escaped, you know. You're not even going the right way. Hello? Is anyone there?"
Whoever was there still didn't know where she was, so that was a good thing. She still had the upper hand.
Chell turned around and looked at the new room she was in. To her left seemed to be a dead end, but it looked like the other person had written 'Help' on the floor. To the right was a staircase that lead upwards.
She walked over and started heading up the metal stairs. It led to a dead end. On the walls, there were four grimy handprints and 'the cake is a lie' written four times.
Oddly, there was a whooshing of air and as Chell looked around, she found a broken tube below the metal railing. She watched for a moment and saw a cube go whizzing by. It was the system that the cubes traveled along.
She hopped over the metal fence and walked over to the hole. Once a cube passed by, she jumped in and let the tube take her where it would. The force of air knocked her off her feet and she slid along the glass surface.
The tube took her through several twists and turns along an orange pathway. The cube in front of her went on ahead, but she was taken on a different track.
Eventually she was deposited in a small room that had a hole in the bottom that led to an enclosed area.
It looked and probably was one of the cylinders that held the metal cubes until they were dropped into a test chamber.
Which chamber was it, though?
She stepped through. Likely, her weight would activate the mechanism to drop her into the room. Was this what had happened in the first test with the turrets? Had the other person ended up there and knocked out the cube system? This one wasn't broken, so it wasn't that chamber.
After a moment, the bottom fell out and Chell was sent falling into the chamber.
When she landed, the voice spoke up again, "Okay. The test is over. You win. Go back to the recovery annex. For your cake.
It was a fun test and we're all impressed at how much you won. The test is over. Come back."
Chell wasn't going to go back, even if she knew how. She was going to find her way out and leave this place. Since she was in a test chamber, the woman in charge could see her every movement now. She had to find her way back to the other areas, the ones without cameras.
Looking around, she discovered she was in test chamber 9. The elevator that brought her here the first time was closed, so she'd have to do the test again to make any progress.
Chell walked through the Grid and stepped onto the button, opening the door. There weren't any cubes this time, but unlike the time before, she had a fully operational portal gun.
She fired a portal through the open door, then stepped off of the button. She proceeded to place a portal onto the wall to her right and walked through.
Chell came out on the other side of the door and looked to her right. Where the elevator had been before, there was nothing.
With nowhere else to go, Chell walked towards it, making her way through the Grid.
Where the elevator was supposed to be was nothing but a round hole. Chell looked down. It seemed safe enough, though a bit far so she hopped through. As she landed, the voice spoke again,
"Uh oh. Somebody cut the cake. I told them to wait for you, but they did it anyway. There is still some left, though, if you hurry back."
Chell quickly got out of the way of where the elevator could come down and proceeded to look at the surrounding area.
There wasn't much to explore in the small area she was in, and there was a wire fence blocking the way to what looked to be a larger room with mechanical equipment. Looking closer, Chell could see that one section had a concrete overhang.
This was the only area of concrete that she could find in the larger room. Fortunately, the overhang was above a couple of stairs, so she could place a portal there and have enough room to get out of the portal safely.
Chell placed a portal right above the stairs, then turned back around to find a concrete spot on this side of the fence. One wasn't immediately obvious, but when she approached the circular area where the elevator would rest, she discovered that that part of the floor was concrete. She placed a portal on the ground and stepped through, landing on the metal stairs.
So far, so good. There seemed to be something beyond the overhang, but there wasn't enough room to get around it.
However, a few feet in front of her were two pistons that were raising and lowering. Making her way down the stairs, she waited until both were lowered, then cautiously stepped on the first piston. Then, she stepped over to the second one. It seemed to rise higher. Maybe she'd get a good look of what was on the other side of the overhang.
Once the piston rose up, Chell looked across. She couldn't see anything but the wall beyond and the flat top of the concrete overhang.
She quickly fired a portal and placed it on the top part of the overhang. She could get up there and get a better view of the place.
When the pistons had lowered, Chell stepped off and walked back over to the stairs. She looked up through the portal. It seemed safe enough, so she walked up to the highest stair and jumped up, reaching her arms through the portal.
Chell was able to grab onto the edge of where the portal was resting and from there pulled herself up to the topside of the overhang.
To the left, in between the overhang and the wall, was a large silver horizontal piston that went back and forth, pressing into the wall across from it.
The wall that the piston pressed into was holding up a section of floor. On the wall above the floor, the person before her had drawn an arrow pointing to the left and a stick figure going through a door in red.
Trusting the person that had so far not steered her wrong, Chell carefully stepped onto the piston and waited for it to move to the other side. The metal was smooth and curved, but Chell held her balance.
She walked across and stepped onto the floor, then followed the arrow's path.
Chell was met by a metal grill blocking her way. However, on the other side of the grill was a concrete wall. With nowhere else to go, Chell fired a portal onto the wall and made her way back to wait for the piston.
It didn't take long for the piston to come sliding her direction. Once she heard the thud of impact, she quickly stepped on and rode it back to the concrete overhang.
Chell walked off and went over to the portal in the floor and looked through it. It seemed safe enough, so she sat on the ground and dangled her legs through the portal. Then, she pushed herself through. It was a bit awkward, but she managed to land on her feet, which was what she had been trying for.
She found herself in a small room with a large ceiling. The only way out was an overhang that was too tall for her to reach.
Chell thought for a moment, then placed a portal near the ceiling, across from the ledge, then jumped through the portal in front of her.
She landed on the metal ledge and found herself in a rusted metal hallway that turned to the left.
Chell walked down the orange-lit path, turning to the right when it did. As she walked down the pathway, a familiar stench wafted through the air.
As she continued walking, making her way towards a more brightly-lit room, the female voice spoke again, "You're not even going the right way. Where do you think you're going? Because I don't think you're going where you think you're going. Hello?"
There wasn't any other way for her to go, and besides, the owner of the voice had no idea where she actually was. There hadn't been any cameras in these pathways.
Turning back to the matter at hand, Chell paused at a crossroads. There was another orange hallway to the right, it had a metal staircase leading up to a catwalk. In front of her was a room that had several large pistons that were rising and falling.
However, on the wall in between the two choices, there was, drawn in red, an arrow pointing to the room with the pistons and a stick figure walking through a door.
There was no reason to suspect that her mysterious helper would steer her wrong, so she chose the direction the arrow indicated.
Walking into the room, Chell watched the five pistons rise and fall quickly. There was a piston in each corner and one in the middle.
Looking around, she noticed that the floor was made from some sort of grating with a few sections that had large holes. Glancing down, Chell discovered that the area below her was filled with the deadly noxious liquid.
The holes were sizable, if she wasn't careful; she could fall all the way through, or at the very least, get stuck in them. Neither option was good, so she'd just have to avoid them.
Chell walked over to the hole between the middle piston and the one in the back right corner. She easily jumped over and continued on her way through the room.
After a few steps, she found another gap, though this one was thinner and longer than the first. She cautiously stepped over it and kept going.
She soon came across another larger gap in the floor, between the piston and the one in the front right corner and hopped over it.
Chell now found herself facing a tall wall. In the past, there had been rungs to create a ladder that went all the way up. However, many of the rungs were missing and most of the ones that were still there were close to the top.
That was the way out, but she'd have to get up there another way.
Chell turned around to watch the pistons to see if they could help her out.
The two pistons on the side of the room where she had come in went all the way to the top. There were stress cracks on the ceiling from their impacts. Those wouldn't be of any use.
The two pistons she was standing between didn't seem to be much better. They didn't hit the ceiling, but they didn't go close enough to the entrance in the wall.
That left the middle piston. It went a bit higher than the two pistons she was nearest, so Chell walked over and waited for the round platform to lower to the ground.
Once it was down, Chell quickly jumped aboard and rode it to the very top.
The piston paused for a moment at the apex of its rise and from there; Chell could see a concrete wall down the opening. She fired a portal at it and rode the piston back down.
Upon reaching the bottom, Chell hopped off to the direction she had gotten on. She fired a portal at the wall in front of her and stepped through.
She popped through the portal in the opening and saw that the hallway went to her right. Chell walked towards the rusted metal hallway and saw that it ended after several steps.
The floor continued several stories below where she was standing. Only one thing to do but jump down.
Chell leapt off the higher ground and landed below with a jolt. The springs did their job and kept her from dying.
She then continued on her way down the dingy path.
When she entered a larger room, the voice addressed her again. "Didn't we have some fun, though? Remember when the platform was sliding into the fire pit and I said 'Goodbye' and you were like," The voice grew deeper and slower, "'no way,'" and now it was back to normal, "and then I was all 'we pretended we were going to murder you'? That was great.
Is anyone there?"
Chell looked perplexed for a moment; she hadn't said anything during her entire time here. Obviously, whoever was in charge was just trying to bother her. It wasn't going to work.
Her attention turned back to the room she was in.
On first glance, it looked almost to be a dead end. To the left, there were pillars holding up the ceiling and there were pipes and vents on the wall. To the right were two pistons that rose up and down, going all the way to the ceiling. Beyond that was a wire fence that lead to a room with a catwalk, large wall fans, and a tube. There didn't seem to be any way to remove or open the fence and there were no concrete walls for her to place portals on.
Looking back around, she saw that there was an opening in the ceiling that showed a much higher roof beyond. Quite a few feet above the hole she was looking through was a concrete platform above a horizontal piston that would periodically slam into the wall.
Chell placed a portal on that concrete slab and looked back around for another one, this time on the level she was standing on.
Unfortunately, the only available place was the cracked ceiling where the two twin pistons bashed against.
If she placed a portal there, she could ride the piston up and through it, then come out and hopefully land on the horizontal one above.
Well, she'd just have to try it.
Chell walked over to the pistons and watched them, keeping an eye on the one above, watching to see if the movements matched. The two twin pistons had different rhythms, so she'd have to pick one and hope she didn't get smashed.
After watching for several moments, she decided that the one on the left seemed to give her more time to land on the piston above.
So, she fired a portal at the ceiling above her chosen piston and walked over to stand directly in front of it.
Once it was on ground level, she quickly stepped aboard and watched the ceiling as she rose up towards it.
When she was pushed through the portal, Chell tucked herself into a somersault and rolled out onto the horizontal piston.
It was slightly disorienting as the piston sped back to the other side, but she was safe. She then quickly hopped over to the concrete platform that was to her right.
Looking around, she tried to figure out where to go next.
Thankfully, the person before had left her another hint. On the wall to her right was a red arrow pointing up and the stick figure going through the door. Chell looked straight up and discovered another arrow higher up. This one was pointing to the right and was indicating a metal platform.
Chell looked over the upper area of the room, how would she get to that platform?
Close to the ceiling, there were two rows of concrete sections. It was right across from the platform. Since she was standing on concrete herself, she could use that to fling all the way across to where she needed to go.
She placed a portal across from the platform and one on the ground next to her. She then dove through the portal on the floor and came out face-first from the one above.
Flying back towards the ground, Chell fired a portal below where she would fall. Safely passing through it, she was flung out to the indicated platform.
Chell flipped herself around to land feet-first and came to a slightly bumpy stop.
The platform was connected to a short hallway to the right. Following it, she found that to the right of the wall was more hallway.
However, this hallway was blocked by four rapidly moving pistons. They didn't reach all the way to the end, but there were pipes holding them into place. Even if she wanted to risk walking past, she couldn't.
But, beyond the pistons was a concrete wall. Problem easily solved. Chell placed a portal onto the wall across, then turned back to fire one onto the wall near her.
She walked through the portal and ended up safely facing the pistons.
The voice spoke to her again, "You really shouldn't be here. This isn't safe for you. It's not too late for you to turn back. I'm not angry. Just go back to the testing area."
Even if Chell knew the way back, she wouldn't go. She had gone too far and had nearly been killed by the person running the place. She was going to get out of here, one way or another.
LOL IT IS TOO LARGE FOR ONE POST. XD
Notes:
-Find out what level you fall into
-Find out what levels you look over from the offices
-One bit of subtitles is not present in the heard dialogue
-Need to look back through and see if Chell figured out she could push the turrets over herself without a cube
-It's been so long since I've worked on this, lol
-I need more words other than platform, other floor, and level. :|
-Cylinder = tank?
-WHOA, totally found a shortcut, you can bypass the catwalk after the fans. BUT, the offices are interesting, so I guess I'll poke through them anyways.
-I can hear a pellet somewhere, but I can't find it. :|
-The part after going down the elevator shaft sounds weird, but I'm not sure how to make it better.
-You just jump through the portal on the stairs to the top of the overhang, but I liked having Chell pull herself up and over instead.
-This - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX9Sc88qreg&feature=youtu.be - has a much nicer explanation for Chell popping through portals, need to use her bouncing around like a crazy ninja and go back through ALL the chapters to reflect the awesometude
-Also, might need to revise any sections with turrets to keep Chell from taking damage. Still debating on this.
-Never noticed the deadly floor under the 5-piston room. XD
-Should Chell just hop off the piston or cautiously ride it down?
-WHOOPS, jumped off in gameplay and fell through the portal. Needed to do that, it just was so nicely done, though. XD
-ARGH I dislike the crazy piston section XD
-Chell going through the ceiling portal and landing on the piston is the first real example of "spiced up" inspired from the Boots video. XD
-Was it too much or dumb or what, though?
-Bleh description before getting to the odd, rapid pistons. :|
-Have I gone overboard with the fancy moves? XD
-There's a part in the captions that doesn't have sound. However, I do have the sound for it, so I don't know if it's a glitch. Gonna put it in for more GLaDOS flavor.
-lol, missed a Ratman den, whoops, gotta go back and check it out.
-Before I post, I need to fix some of the quotation marks for signs and things.
-I feel like the first turret area is written badly, but it was a mess to write. XD
-Should Chell assume the broken turret is broken, or take utmost caution anyways?
-OH CRAP I MISSED THE FIRST RATMAN DEN IN ESCAPE. :|
-Went back and found it, there is no reason that Chell'd find it normally, moving on. XD
-This means I don't need to write the third one, YAY. :D
-Beginning of going into the 3rd Ratman Den:
"She looked back to where the other person had written on the wall and noticed an air duct-like opening to the right of it. Curious, she walked that way to investigate.
Chell crouched down to look inside. This spot was different from all the other ones the person had used before, this one had an orange glow and a silver pillar in it.
She crawled inside to take a look around."
-Maybe need to go back through and change some of the turret sayings.
-I decided to not go into detail about picking every turret up and dropping it. I may go back later and change this, but I found it repetitive. :|
-Might go back through and fix some of Chell's caution, based on that video; she has like zero fear of crazy portal antics. XD But, that is from the future so...I don't know. XD
-I am probably overusing somersaults, but I don't care, it's the best way to go through a portal on the ground to one on the wall. XP
Outside Resources:
- http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Aperture_Science
- Some parts inspired by http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX9Sc88qreg&feature=youtu.be
- http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Ratman
-The sound file somebody posted somewhere
The oppressive heat from the raging pit of fire Chell had just escaped made it difficult to concentrate.
She walked over to the wall in front of her, putting as much distance as she could between her and the flames. She didn't have much time to think this through, it sounded as if someone or something was coming to find her.
There was a door to her left, but it didn't have a handle, only a keypad. Chell walked over to it and tried to push the door open, but it didn't budge. She'd have to find another way out.
Well, obviously, she couldn't go back the way she came and she was now in something of a dead end. The only way to go was up.
Chell looked up towards the ceiling. As she did so, something caught her eye across the way. There looked to be a solid floor that had some cylindrical containers and pipes over there. It was quite a distance up, but as Chell turned her gaze higher, the ceiling above her was even taller.
It would be risky, but it was possible she could set up the portals to fling herself across the death trap and into some kind of safety. She didn't know what would be awaiting her up there, but it would be far better than standing around here and waiting to be caught or die.
Chell turned around and aimed a portal on the wall as close to the ceiling as she could. She'd need all the height she could get, if she was going to make it across.
She then placed a portal on the wall to her left. It'd be easier for her to see what she was doing if she could simply walk through it.
Chell made her way over to the portal on the wall and looked through. She could see the fire pit far below, and more importantly, the other level that could possibly hold the way out quite a lesser distance below.
If she got enough of a portal fling going, Chell thought she could make it to the other side. If she didn't make it, then it'd probably at least be a quick death as she burned to a crisp.
Chell inhaled, preparing herself for the fall, it was a long way down and she had to set this up just right.
She stepped out of the portal, as she fell down; Chell orientated herself so that she was falling front-side first towards the ground. Once she was in position, she fired a portal directly below her.
Chell fell into the portal and flew out right-side up out of the higher portal. She sailed across the fire pit and landed with a jolt on the other side.
It was much cooler up here, but Chell didn't have time to rest. Breathing deeply, she looked around to see if there was somewhere else she could go.
In front of her was the two cylinder tanks that stretched back towards the wall. The wall to her right was close and behind her was the pit of fire below.
However, to the left was a short hallway. Chell walked around the pipes sticking out of the wall and headed down towards another tank.
Part of the way through the hall was three stairs, Chell dashed up them quickly. If there was something coming after her, it might only take a short while for them to figure out where she had gone. She had to get outside as soon as possible.
The room that the hallway lead to had the tank on the left side. In the middle of the room was a rusted metal staircase that lead to a higher catwalk. On the right side of the catwalk was a grey door.
Chell rushed over to the staircase and started to make her way up it. The bottom two steps were falling off of the staircase, and when she put any weight on it, the entire bottom half simply fell off.
She exhaled a quick breath in irritation at this delay. It would have been quicker to use portals to begin with, but in her hurry to escape, she had just simply jumped to action. She'd have to be a bit more careful from now on.
She put a portal onto the wall right by where the stairs joined the catwalk. Then, she turned around and fired a portal onto the wall now in front of her and walked through.
Once Chell was on the catwalk, she walked over to the door and, taking her left hand off of the portal gun, reached out and tried the metal handle.
The handle turned and she pushed the door open to find another room on the other side.
She was greeted by the sight of another rusted metal staircase directly across from her. This one looked more stable, but she wasn't going to waste time trying it out.
The catwalk that the staircase seemed to lead to had another door with a keypad. Likely, it wouldn't open for her. However, to the right, there seemed to be an opening in the wall. Nothing to do but to try it.
Chell placed a portal onto the wall to the left of the door. Then, she turned and put a portal onto the wall directly to her left. Once it was in place, she stepped through.
She tried the door, but it didn't move an inch when she pressed against it. So, she turned towards the opening to the right and headed towards it.
Unfortunately, the opening was covered by a wire fence. On the other side of the fence was a door with a handle. There was a gate, but there was a padlock on it. Chell tried shaking the gate, but, unlike the stairs, it held in place.
However, she noticed that the wall to the right of the door was concrete. If she could place a portal there, she could easily get around the fence. It didn't hurt to try, anyways, and it was the only way out.
Chell aimed for the 'Caution' sign on the wall. The sign stated that 'The Equipment Stops and Starts Automatically.' She'd have to watch out for any machinery. The portal appeared on the wall, right where she wanted it, without any problems.
Once the portal was placed, she walked back over to the portal by the door and stepped through.
Chell turned slightly and put her hand on the door's handle. It turned, and she grinned slightly to herself. This was going well. She should be out of here in no time.
She opened the door and looked through to the room beyond.
The next room was more open, there was a large, rotating fan on a circular hole on the wall across and to the left of where she was standing.
Chell walked across the metalwork on the floor, heading towards the fan. There was a concrete wall behind it, so if there was anything beyond, she could use the portals to go around the fan.
As she approached the fan, the female voice once again spoke, "Hello? Where are you? I know you're there. I can feel you here. Hello?"
Chell hadn't seen any cameras around, not since that last test, so likely, the woman in charge had no clue where she was and was just bluffing. Now, it was Chell's turn to have the upper hand.
While she was standing there, a familiar and dreadful smell assaulted her nose. In between the rotating fan blades, she saw a sign on the wall, 'Danger Contaminated Area.' It seemed to her that this might be the area where they created that noxious liquid that was present in quite a few of the tests.
There wasn't any other way she could go, though. There was a metal floor on the other side of the fan, so Chell placed a portal on the concrete wall.
She turned to look around the room she was in. There was another fan on the left side of the room; it looked identical to the one she was standing in front of.
The only area she could put a portal on was the floor. That was a little annoying, but it was better than nothing.
Chell fired a portal onto the ground close to where she was standing and stepped through.
She fell out of the other portal feet-first and landed on her back. She picked herself up and started to glance around the room.
There was a concrete ramp that led right down to the surface of the deadly liquid. She didn't want to go that way.
Above the disgusting floor was a catwalk that seemed as if it stretched across the room.
On the other side of the room looked to have a stable floor that had a broken ramp going towards the floor.
There was a concrete wall across the way, so she could use that to get over there safely.
Chell fired a portal to the opposite side of the room, behind where the ramp was. She then turned and walked through the portal she had previously fallen through.
There was a door immediately to her left. She tried the handle, but it didn't move.
She exhaled in irritation, since the door was locked, she'd have to find another way out.
The catwalk had a small section that stuck out from the rest of it and it had no handrail right across from where she was standing. However, it was too far away for her to simply jump across. But, there was another way.
Chell turned around and saw that the ceiling was a bit of a distance above her. It looked like it was possible that she could fling herself out of a portal there and land safely on the catwalk.
It was quite dangerous, if she missed, she'd find out just how deadly the floor was.
But, it was her only choice at the moment, so she'd just have to try.
Chell put a portal as close to the ceiling and to the wall on the right as she could, then placed one on the wall right in front of her.
She leaned forward as she stepped through the portal, making easier to readjust and face the ground when she fell. As she fell towards the ground, she put a portal onto the floor beneath her and fell through.
Chell shot out of the upper portal and sailed neatly across, landing with only a little bump on her feet.
There was an open door to her left, so she pushed it aside slightly and made her way in.
This area was different from any of the others she had seen so far. The floor was a black and orange checkerboard pattern. The walls were still grey, but these were more scuffed and used than in the other areas.
To her right was a large glass window. The room beyond it had several tables and rolling chairs. There was a projector that was showing what appeared to be some kind of slideshow. But, nobody was in it. Curious, Chell read the slide that was up on the screen.
It read, 'Dollar$ and SENSE: Competing with BLACK MESA For DoD and Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts'.
Nothing too interesting so far, she wasn't familiar with a company called Black Mesa, but the rest of it was in line with this place being a testing ground for equipment, such as the portal gun.
The slide changed to a different one and this seemed like it could possibly explain her question, for it was titled, 'What is BLACK MESA?' The rest of it read in bullet points, '2.59% of ALL DoD contracts. 10 Billion in Federal Dollars Annually. 12% From Full & Open Competition. 88% From No-Bids or Excluded-Sources Bids. Not bound by Govt Performance & Results Act.'
It looked like Black Mesa was quite profitable, probably to the irritation of whoever owned this place. Chell was already liking this Black Mesa company.
The next slide appeared, this one had a chart comparing Aperture to Black Mesa, it was a 5 year review of GSA schedules. Aperture had proposed that it needed quite a bit more funding than Black Mesa. Black Mesa was awarded nearly, if not all, of the money they had requested, while Aperture only got a tiny portion of what even Black Mesa got. It was likely that Aperture was having some kind of financial difficulties because of this. That might explain why there only seemed to be one person working in the whole building, they may have fired everyone they possibly could.
The next slide clicked over. This one had quite a few bullet points and was titled, 'A Case Study: Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System." That must be their next project they would work on. Chell continued reading, "Defense Logistics Agency solicits bids for development of fuel system icing inhibitor (FSII). Black Mesa FSII proposal: Costly - Black Mesa personnel overpaid given limited skillset/ambition. Design inhibits ice, nothing more. Aperture Proposal: Less expensive, Bonuses to DLS: Aperture FSII inhibits ice but is also: A fully functioning Disk Operating System. Arguably alive.'
That was puzzling, Aperture had somehow managed to come up with something that cost less than Black Mesa's idea and had an extra feature. However, the 'arguably alive' part was a bit worrisome. Was it Aperture's seeming insanity at work, or had they come up with some kind of living robot? If she was lucky, maybe they hadn't been able to finish it and she wouldn't have to deal with it.
The next slide that appeared was the first one Chell had seen, so she turned back around to the room in front of her. She had learned a little from that slideshow, but nothing that was any value to her right now and probably had just cost her valuable time.
The room had desks, chairs and computer equipment. The wall to her right had shelves with seven computer towers on them. To her left were two chairs in the corner and two long desks that looked towards a window that had a view of the room she had been in previously. There were two chairs in front of one of the desks, one was upright and the other was leaning against the desk. There were computer towers, keyboards, and mice on the desk and above it were two monitors with a yellow readout scrolling past. Chell walked over to see if she could find any information that'd be useful for getting out of here.
The writing on the monitor was too tiny to read, so she didn't waste any time to trying to make it out. She turned back to the room. There was a door behind her with a chair in front of it. Chell walked over to the door and turned the handle. It gave way and she walked inside.
The room was tiny and felt crammed with things. There were two chairs and a desk with computer equipment and a clipboard. The clipboard had someone's records with a red FAILED stamp on it. The person in question seemed to possibly be a chicken. The computer screen here just showed the round symbol that seemed to be Aperture's logo. The back of the room contained a window.
Chell glanced out it and found a familiar sight. It was part of test 14, where she had had to wait for the platforms that rose up and down to cross a narrow room to get to where the pellet for that test was.
So, this is what it felt like to be looking down and watching people run through the tests was like. However, there wasn't anyone around and she hadn't seen anyone watching her behind this window as she had gone through.
Well, that was enough of that, she turned back around and left this room, making her way down the larger one.
A short distance down was an open door to her right. Chell walked in and found a room slightly larger than the one overlooking the 14th test.
This room also had a desk with computer equipment, but the chair was toppled over. To the left was another observation window, so Chell went to investigate.
This window overlooked another test, this time it was test 9, the so called 'impossible' one that wasn't.
Chell turned back around and left, there was only one other door, the one right across from the room she had just left. Likely, it was the one that was locked from the other side.
She walked past the two chairs in the corner, one of which that had fallen over, and tried the handle on the door. This time, it opened and revealed that it was in fact, the other room.
Having exhausted all possibilities from this room, Chell turned back around and made her way back to the catwalk.
The catwalk lead to an opening in the wall, so she walked across, heading towards another room.
The catwalk looked out across the left into the new room. A metal staircase leading down was a short distance away.
As Chell looked out over the room, she noticed on the wall on the opposite side was a drawing in red. There was an arrow pointing upwards above a sketch of a stick figure going through a door.
It looked like the person before her had made it this far. Odd that she hadn't seen any other signs of them until now, but it was good to have some kind of guide. Maybe they had escaped and this would lead her to freedom.
Her eyes followed the direction of the arrow and Chell looked up. Directly above her was another catwalk. Nothing connected to it, but there were concrete walls up close to the ceiling. Since the floor was concrete as well, she could use the portals to fling herself up there.
Chell put a portal up close to the ceiling then started to make her way down the stairs. She paused at the landing and put a portal on the concrete wall to her left. There were only two portions of wall that she could put portals on, and it made for more pleasant traveling to place them on the walls than the floor.
She walked through and fell towards the ground. She placed a portal below her and angled herself to pop through face-first.
Chell came flying out of the upper portal and landed on the catwalk. Right in front of her was a wire fence that had many pipes and an orange glow behind it.
The voice addressed her again, "What are you doing? You haven't escaped, you know. You're not even going the right way. Hello? Is anyone there?"
Whoever was there still didn't know where she was, so that was a good thing. She still had the upper hand.
Chell turned around and looked at the new room she was in. To her left seemed to be a dead end, but it looked like the other person had written 'Help' on the floor. To the right was a staircase that lead upwards.
She walked over and started heading up the metal stairs. It led to a dead end. On the walls, there were four grimy handprints and 'the cake is a lie' written four times.
Oddly, there was a whooshing of air and as Chell looked around, she found a broken tube below the metal railing. She watched for a moment and saw a cube go whizzing by. It was the system that the cubes traveled along.
She hopped over the metal fence and walked over to the hole. Once a cube passed by, she jumped in and let the tube take her where it would. The force of air knocked her off her feet and she slid along the glass surface.
The tube took her through several twists and turns along an orange pathway. The cube in front of her went on ahead, but she was taken on a different track.
Eventually she was deposited in a small room that had a hole in the bottom that led to an enclosed area.
It looked and probably was one of the cylinders that held the metal cubes until they were dropped into a test chamber.
Which chamber was it, though?
She stepped through. Likely, her weight would activate the mechanism to drop her into the room. Was this what had happened in the first test with the turrets? Had the other person ended up there and knocked out the cube system? This one wasn't broken, so it wasn't that chamber.
After a moment, the bottom fell out and Chell was sent falling into the chamber.
When she landed, the voice spoke up again, "Okay. The test is over. You win. Go back to the recovery annex. For your cake.
It was a fun test and we're all impressed at how much you won. The test is over. Come back."
Chell wasn't going to go back, even if she knew how. She was going to find her way out and leave this place. Since she was in a test chamber, the woman in charge could see her every movement now. She had to find her way back to the other areas, the ones without cameras.
Looking around, she discovered she was in test chamber 9. The elevator that brought her here the first time was closed, so she'd have to do the test again to make any progress.
Chell walked through the Grid and stepped onto the button, opening the door. There weren't any cubes this time, but unlike the time before, she had a fully operational portal gun.
She fired a portal through the open door, then stepped off of the button. She proceeded to place a portal onto the wall to her right and walked through.
Chell came out on the other side of the door and looked to her right. Where the elevator had been before, there was nothing.
With nowhere else to go, Chell walked towards it, making her way through the Grid.
Where the elevator was supposed to be was nothing but a round hole. Chell looked down. It seemed safe enough, though a bit far so she hopped through. As she landed, the voice spoke again,
"Uh oh. Somebody cut the cake. I told them to wait for you, but they did it anyway. There is still some left, though, if you hurry back."
Chell quickly got out of the way of where the elevator could come down and proceeded to look at the surrounding area.
There wasn't much to explore in the small area she was in, and there was a wire fence blocking the way to what looked to be a larger room with mechanical equipment. Looking closer, Chell could see that one section had a concrete overhang.
This was the only area of concrete that she could find in the larger room. Fortunately, the overhang was above a couple of stairs, so she could place a portal there and have enough room to get out of the portal safely.
Chell placed a portal right above the stairs, then turned back around to find a concrete spot on this side of the fence. One wasn't immediately obvious, but when she approached the circular area where the elevator would rest, she discovered that that part of the floor was concrete. She placed a portal on the ground and stepped through, landing on the metal stairs.
So far, so good. There seemed to be something beyond the overhang, but there wasn't enough room to get around it.
However, a few feet in front of her were two pistons that were raising and lowering. Making her way down the stairs, she waited until both were lowered, then cautiously stepped on the first piston. Then, she stepped over to the second one. It seemed to rise higher. Maybe she'd get a good look of what was on the other side of the overhang.
Once the piston rose up, Chell looked across. She couldn't see anything but the wall beyond and the flat top of the concrete overhang.
She quickly fired a portal and placed it on the top part of the overhang. She could get up there and get a better view of the place.
When the pistons had lowered, Chell stepped off and walked back over to the stairs. She looked up through the portal. It seemed safe enough, so she walked up to the highest stair and jumped up, reaching her arms through the portal.
Chell was able to grab onto the edge of where the portal was resting and from there pulled herself up to the topside of the overhang.
To the left, in between the overhang and the wall, was a large silver horizontal piston that went back and forth, pressing into the wall across from it.
The wall that the piston pressed into was holding up a section of floor. On the wall above the floor, the person before her had drawn an arrow pointing to the left and a stick figure going through a door in red.
Trusting the person that had so far not steered her wrong, Chell carefully stepped onto the piston and waited for it to move to the other side. The metal was smooth and curved, but Chell held her balance.
She walked across and stepped onto the floor, then followed the arrow's path.
Chell was met by a metal grill blocking her way. However, on the other side of the grill was a concrete wall. With nowhere else to go, Chell fired a portal onto the wall and made her way back to wait for the piston.
It didn't take long for the piston to come sliding her direction. Once she heard the thud of impact, she quickly stepped on and rode it back to the concrete overhang.
Chell walked off and went over to the portal in the floor and looked through it. It seemed safe enough, so she sat on the ground and dangled her legs through the portal. Then, she pushed herself through. It was a bit awkward, but she managed to land on her feet, which was what she had been trying for.
She found herself in a small room with a large ceiling. The only way out was an overhang that was too tall for her to reach.
Chell thought for a moment, then placed a portal near the ceiling, across from the ledge, then jumped through the portal in front of her.
She landed on the metal ledge and found herself in a rusted metal hallway that turned to the left.
Chell walked down the orange-lit path, turning to the right when it did. As she walked down the pathway, a familiar stench wafted through the air.
As she continued walking, making her way towards a more brightly-lit room, the female voice spoke again, "You're not even going the right way. Where do you think you're going? Because I don't think you're going where you think you're going. Hello?"
There wasn't any other way for her to go, and besides, the owner of the voice had no idea where she actually was. There hadn't been any cameras in these pathways.
Turning back to the matter at hand, Chell paused at a crossroads. There was another orange hallway to the right, it had a metal staircase leading up to a catwalk. In front of her was a room that had several large pistons that were rising and falling.
However, on the wall in between the two choices, there was, drawn in red, an arrow pointing to the room with the pistons and a stick figure walking through a door.
There was no reason to suspect that her mysterious helper would steer her wrong, so she chose the direction the arrow indicated.
Walking into the room, Chell watched the five pistons rise and fall quickly. There was a piston in each corner and one in the middle.
Looking around, she noticed that the floor was made from some sort of grating with a few sections that had large holes. Glancing down, Chell discovered that the area below her was filled with the deadly noxious liquid.
The holes were sizable, if she wasn't careful; she could fall all the way through, or at the very least, get stuck in them. Neither option was good, so she'd just have to avoid them.
Chell walked over to the hole between the middle piston and the one in the back right corner. She easily jumped over and continued on her way through the room.
After a few steps, she found another gap, though this one was thinner and longer than the first. She cautiously stepped over it and kept going.
She soon came across another larger gap in the floor, between the piston and the one in the front right corner and hopped over it.
Chell now found herself facing a tall wall. In the past, there had been rungs to create a ladder that went all the way up. However, many of the rungs were missing and most of the ones that were still there were close to the top.
That was the way out, but she'd have to get up there another way.
Chell turned around to watch the pistons to see if they could help her out.
The two pistons on the side of the room where she had come in went all the way to the top. There were stress cracks on the ceiling from their impacts. Those wouldn't be of any use.
The two pistons she was standing between didn't seem to be much better. They didn't hit the ceiling, but they didn't go close enough to the entrance in the wall.
That left the middle piston. It went a bit higher than the two pistons she was nearest, so Chell walked over and waited for the round platform to lower to the ground.
Once it was down, Chell quickly jumped aboard and rode it to the very top.
The piston paused for a moment at the apex of its rise and from there; Chell could see a concrete wall down the opening. She fired a portal at it and rode the piston back down.
Upon reaching the bottom, Chell hopped off to the direction she had gotten on. She fired a portal at the wall in front of her and stepped through.
She popped through the portal in the opening and saw that the hallway went to her right. Chell walked towards the rusted metal hallway and saw that it ended after several steps.
The floor continued several stories below where she was standing. Only one thing to do but jump down.
Chell leapt off the higher ground and landed below with a jolt. The springs did their job and kept her from dying.
She then continued on her way down the dingy path.
When she entered a larger room, the voice addressed her again. "Didn't we have some fun, though? Remember when the platform was sliding into the fire pit and I said 'Goodbye' and you were like," The voice grew deeper and slower, "'no way,'" and now it was back to normal, "and then I was all 'we pretended we were going to murder you'? That was great.
Is anyone there?"
Chell looked perplexed for a moment; she hadn't said anything during her entire time here. Obviously, whoever was in charge was just trying to bother her. It wasn't going to work.
Her attention turned back to the room she was in.
On first glance, it looked almost to be a dead end. To the left, there were pillars holding up the ceiling and there were pipes and vents on the wall. To the right were two pistons that rose up and down, going all the way to the ceiling. Beyond that was a wire fence that lead to a room with a catwalk, large wall fans, and a tube. There didn't seem to be any way to remove or open the fence and there were no concrete walls for her to place portals on.
Looking back around, she saw that there was an opening in the ceiling that showed a much higher roof beyond. Quite a few feet above the hole she was looking through was a concrete platform above a horizontal piston that would periodically slam into the wall.
Chell placed a portal on that concrete slab and looked back around for another one, this time on the level she was standing on.
Unfortunately, the only available place was the cracked ceiling where the two twin pistons bashed against.
If she placed a portal there, she could ride the piston up and through it, then come out and hopefully land on the horizontal one above.
Well, she'd just have to try it.
Chell walked over to the pistons and watched them, keeping an eye on the one above, watching to see if the movements matched. The two twin pistons had different rhythms, so she'd have to pick one and hope she didn't get smashed.
After watching for several moments, she decided that the one on the left seemed to give her more time to land on the piston above.
So, she fired a portal at the ceiling above her chosen piston and walked over to stand directly in front of it.
Once it was on ground level, she quickly stepped aboard and watched the ceiling as she rose up towards it.
When she was pushed through the portal, Chell tucked herself into a somersault and rolled out onto the horizontal piston.
It was slightly disorienting as the piston sped back to the other side, but she was safe. She then quickly hopped over to the concrete platform that was to her right.
Looking around, she tried to figure out where to go next.
Thankfully, the person before had left her another hint. On the wall to her right was a red arrow pointing up and the stick figure going through the door. Chell looked straight up and discovered another arrow higher up. This one was pointing to the right and was indicating a metal platform.
Chell looked over the upper area of the room, how would she get to that platform?
Close to the ceiling, there were two rows of concrete sections. It was right across from the platform. Since she was standing on concrete herself, she could use that to fling all the way across to where she needed to go.
She placed a portal across from the platform and one on the ground next to her. She then dove through the portal on the floor and came out face-first from the one above.
Flying back towards the ground, Chell fired a portal below where she would fall. Safely passing through it, she was flung out to the indicated platform.
Chell flipped herself around to land feet-first and came to a slightly bumpy stop.
The platform was connected to a short hallway to the right. Following it, she found that to the right of the wall was more hallway.
However, this hallway was blocked by four rapidly moving pistons. They didn't reach all the way to the end, but there were pipes holding them into place. Even if she wanted to risk walking past, she couldn't.
But, beyond the pistons was a concrete wall. Problem easily solved. Chell placed a portal onto the wall across, then turned back to fire one onto the wall near her.
She walked through the portal and ended up safely facing the pistons.
The voice spoke to her again, "You really shouldn't be here. This isn't safe for you. It's not too late for you to turn back. I'm not angry. Just go back to the testing area."
Even if Chell knew the way back, she wouldn't go. She had gone too far and had nearly been killed by the person running the place. She was going to get out of here, one way or another.