001

[silentrunning]

[Something wasn't right. That was the first thought that filtered into her mind as consciousness returned. She focused, forcing her mind to work. What wasn't right? What was it? The floor... It was far too hard. And it didn't feel like the dirt and tall rippling plants she had been lying on. This could only mean one thing.

Scrambling to her feet, she stared around the room, confused. This did not look like any room in Aperture that she'd ever seen, and she had gotten to know the facility quite intimately over the years. Frantically she peered around, searching for buttons to push or cubes to move or...anything she knew. But there wasn't anything familiar here.

But there were plenty of surfaces here which looked like they would accept portals... She started to raise her right hand, fingers crooked into the firing position for her ASHPD... And then she remembered. Her portal device was probably floating somewhere up in space right now. She had no way to defend herself, no way to get away except for running. She was at an extreme disadvantage. And she had been stupid to think her captor would ever let her go.

Once again her eyes darted around the room, falling on a small leather-covered book lying open on a table. Was this her test? Was she supposed to pick it up? Would the whole room explode if she did? This sounded like something GLaDOS would do. Put her in a strange room, give her a seemingly innocuous book to pick up...

Knowing she likely shouldn't, she darted over to the table, snatching up the book, pulling it against her, still open, balanced in one hand. And then she waited a second with bated breath. No explosions. No alarms. No floods of neurotoxin. No sentry turrets. Only quiet.

She glanced around wildly again, eyes suddenly falling on a sofa, pushed neatly into a corner. Streaking over to it she shoved out an end, squished her way behind it and pulled it back into place. She curled herself into a ball, tucking her knees up to her chest, flinching as her right Long Fall Boot bumped something on the floor which rolled a bit, bouncing off the leg of the sofa with a click.

Curiosity flared again. Slowly, carefully, she reached down, trembling fingers closing around the object and bringing it to her eyes. She squinted at it for a moment, studying it. A memory trickled into her mind. A pen! This was a pen! She could use it to write... Carefully setting the book on her knees, she stared at the page in front of her. And then she began to write, completely unaware that the book she was holding could transmit her words to potentially thousands of people. And it wasn't even her best writing. The words were a scrawl, little better than a child's, some of the letters backward or up-side-down.]

What sort of test is this?

[OOC:: Feel free to creep into the lobby and bother her in person or over the journal. Isn't newbie confusion fun! Also, apologies for this post being so long.]

Comments

Action/dictated!

[wheatdos]

[A short distance away, were the footsteps of the lanky blonde man, dressed up in his usual attire; his Aperture Science labcoat, the typical blue work shirt,and his black tie and pants. The apparel of a scientist.

In his most unsuspecting of states, he was already in the midst of pacing the lobby, a clipboard clasped tightly in his hand as he scribbled down his mindless notes. Note taking. That was something that he often did nowadays. There was nothing that gave off the illusion of intelligence more than a man who was holding a clipboard and Wheatley, after all, was clearly a man of intelligence and character.

He was completely oblivious to the hiding woman, glancing about and counting. What was he counting? Oh, that would require a much closer look. He'd let his pen tap his jaw, squinting at the wall. Facing away from her, even if he wasn't in vision, one thing would be. The apparent logo of Aperture science on his back. In the meantime, he'd be mindlessly chattering to himself.]

Alright Castle... once I've got you all figured out, I'll... well, have you all figured out, for one. Can work out all the other details later. For now, I'll figure this out. Solve you up, no problem. Not an issue... now, let's see, hmmmm...We-We've got... what have we got here? We have a couch. Couch is there. Two couches... and a flower pot. Got that too. Noted. Wrote that down... oh- huh?

[At the same time, he got the notification from his journal she had written, which happened to be on the clipboard as well, under his stacks of notes. Pausing in his efforts, Wheatley hurried to sit down on one of the other couches, slipping his journal off the board and tapping it a few times as if it were a microphone. His voice would be clearly dictated in the most cheerful of tones:]

H-hello? Hello! Is this thing on? Can you hear me mate? Or love? Boy or a girl, whatever you are... Are you new here?... You know, you don't have to write! You can speak! Journal make's it real easy n' all to do that.

[That voice was familiar, wasn't it? Though he still didn't know she was incapable of speaking...]

Re: Action/dictated!

[silentrunning]

[From behind her sofa Chell heard him walk in. And she saw the logo on his back. She froze, drawing further in to herself and watched intently. An Aperture scientist? Hadn't all of them been killed by now? She hadn't seen one in all the years she was in the facility.

But when he started speaking, she nearly dropped her journal. That voice. She knew that voice. But this didn't make sense. Why was the voice of THAT particular core coming out of the body of an Aperture scientist. Dear God had GLaDOS figured out how to reanimate the dead and offload cores into their heads? What sick, twisted things would the AI do next? And more importantly what sick twisted things would she do to Chell. But still. Even if this scientist did sound exactly like Wheatley, maybe he'd still know what was going on anyhow. It was worth a try. And since he'd actually somehow gotten her message when she wrote, she did so again.]

You are an Aperture Science employee. What test is this? And how are you alive?

[She almost wished he were on the same sofa she was hiding behind. Because then she could poke him and see if he was really as human as he looked or if he was a cyborg or something.]

[wheatdos]

Wh-what?

[What test is this? Those words scribbled across the page were strangely nostalgic, causing him to go back into his memories. Right. Tests, space... her. The memories took him so far back, he had almost forgotten to respond. With another chuckle, he scratched his head, adjusting his glasses and bringing his legs up onto the couch.]

Aha-- no no no, this isn't a test. Well sort of. Actually it could be.
Not sure myself, if I'm honest. Been here a while...

[He trails off in his words and pauses. Wait a minute.]

H-hey! Wait a minute now! Wait wait wait! How do you know about Aperture!?
And how do you know that? A-are you watching me?

[He looks around, both frantic and comic, trying to stand up. He'd stand too quickly however, tripping on his feet, falling over and face planting the ground.]

[silentrunning]

[She's watching. Oh yeah. She's watching. Reading the writing as it pops up in her own journal, she actually starts penning a message back.]

How do I know about Aperture? Uh. It would be hard to not know about where you are currently sitting wouldn't it? And you are wearing an Aperture lab coat, so that would automatically make you an Aperture scientist. And yes I'm watching you...

[She looks up from the journal, just in time to see the scientist's gloriously embarrassing faceplant of doom. This elicits a small snort from her. Is she semisilently chuckling at his folly? You better believe it. After all, the occasional bit of schadenfreude can be fun. She doesn't come out and try to help him up, though. After all, she doesn't know whether she can trust him or not.]

[wheatdos]

Oh, well that's great.

[Peeling his face from the floor, he now wore a stylish pair of very broken glasses. Groans were muttered under his breath and he promptly pushed himself back to his feet. The guy was massive in his height, but his frame was unimpressive. He probably wasn't all that strong. You can take him, Chell.

After he read up those last lines, his paranoia skyrocketed. Hunched over, he looked everywhere: Neck straining back and forth to see if he could find the culprit watching him.]

Uhhhhhhhh.
Could you maybe, Stop?
Stop watching me, that is. It's-- well, it's rude. A liiitle rude for one.
Rude and a little creepy, too. You know, you just watching me. Makes me uncomfortable.

Hey, it's alright! Won't bite, Won't bite. Biting isn't my thing. We can uh... talk about it! Talk about it here. Face to face. Where I can see you.

Written!

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS had the most terrible headache. The cores babbling in her mind were making everything difficult, from sleep to even thinking properly. She was lounging in her room, flipping through the journal's pages, when all of a sudden, a certain scrawled message attracted her attention. What was that handwriting? The former AI had never seen it, but somehow, its contents were eerily familiar. Like Aperture. Like that rat who had evaded her grasp.

She ran a finger over the letters, curious, unsure how exactly she should go about this. So, she wished up a pen and wrote underneath it: ]

This isn't a test. Unfortunately.

[ Depending on the answer, GLaDOS would maybe discern if the owner of this handwriting. Her own handwriting wasn't very neat, due to lack of honing it, but it was the tiniest upgrade from Chell's. The letters were all in the right place, but it was obvious that her hand was unused to writing. ]

Re: Written!

[silentrunning]

[Chell squinted at the message. Before today it had been so long since she read anything... But she could make it out. and her answer came quickly enough.]

Unfortunately? Then... you would say that, if you are an employee of Aperture. I still do not understand how you are alive. I thought that all the scientists were killed during GLaDOS's last neurotoxin flood. If you survived that...
[The sentence would trail off with a line of periods. Sorry for reminding you of your past there, GLaDOS. XD]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS was intrigued. So this person knew of Aperture. And of her. ]

Are you a test subject? Or scientist? [ she wrote, simply, under Chell's words, wondering. Was it that man? Or maybe...

She let the pen drop and let out a barely imperceptible groan at a sudden stab of pain shot through her head. Ow. She wouldn't let out a word, though, wanting to gather all of the facts before speaking. If she even wanted to, in this mental state. GLaDOS wasn't going to let anything slip. ]

[silentrunning]

[Well of course an Aperture employee would know about test subjects. She shouldn't have expected any less. With a sigh, she put pen to journal page.]

I am a test subject. Who are you?

[You know there's something funny about spending years and years of one's short, miserable, human existence in a facility where you are constantly being fired at. It sharpens your hearing quite effectively, so when GLaDOS groaned, Chell heard, though it was very faint and probably not meant for her ears and wrote back.]

Are you all right?

[jammin_with_ed]

[Have an inquisitive small child's voice dictating through the pages, Chell]

Test? This isn't a test.

[silentrunning]

[Chell likes children. Probably since there weren't any in Aperture. And they tend to not pose any threat to her safety. After all, children don't tend to throw bombs at people. Sadly, since she can't dictate back...well she could, but it had been so many years since she had spoken that it might turn out worse than her handwriting...so she simply writes a message back.]

If this is not a test, then this is not Aperture. What is this place?

[And then on second thought, she adds another line of writing.

And thank you for replying. That was very nice of you.

[jammin_with_ed]

Aperture? Noooo this is Disa-Disa! [Oh god the cheerful. SO CHEERFUL]

Paaaaaaradisa. It's a castle that takes people from aaaaaaall different worlds and brings us all here! Welcome! Welcoooome!

[There's a pause as she giggles at the compliment] And yoooouuuuu're welcome!

[silentrunning]

[OMG the cheerful. Chell blinks for a minute. She's never ever ever in her life met anyone so cheerful. But ohhh is she ever one confused test subject right now. Her writing may reflect that.]

What do you mean? A castle? What's a castle? And it takes people from everywhere? Does that mean there are people...out there? And... And who are you:? And why would this Castle want to take people?

[Oh the rapid-fire questions!]

[mom_to_us_all]

[There is a white wolf entering the lobby, after patrolling the grounds a little bit and in need of something to eat. What stops her from beeline directly to the kitchen though, is a new smell.

Hmm, where is it coming from?

She sniffles the floor and the air and eventually the wolf is getting closer and closer to the couch.]


{{If you could fill her permission post it'd be awesome!}}

Ack ack DW is giving me a 404 on the permissions post

[silentrunning]

[For now the girl hiding behind the sofa would watch this wolf. She'd never seen an animal like this before. In fact she wasn't sure what sort of being this was. But she really, really wanted to creep out and pet it, whatever this creature was called. It didn't seem the sort of creature to like turrets and neurotoxin, so that was fine with Chell.]

[OOC: I'm going to ramble over to your journal and fill your post. :3]

Ah! I'm sorry! That was probably my fault orz

[mom_to_us_all]

[Oh? Hello there! So this girl is the source of that smell! She sniffles her closer, wagging her tail as she does.]

No worries! I found and filled it. :D

[silentrunning]

[Sloooowly Chell sticks a hand out from behind the couch to offer a pet. She liked this creature. She didn't know that tail wagging in canines was friendly, but she wasn't being snarled at, so she'd at least try to pet. She's friendly, if a little wary of new people, and completely lacking in social graces.]

[foughtfortheusers]

[There's a rumbling noise.] Not test.

Is castle.

[silentrunning]

[Chell leaps backward in utter confusion for a minute, but then the words sink in. She picks up both journal and pen from the floor where they had flown in her mad scramble backward and writes a message.]

Castle? What castle is this? I am confused.

[Yup. Asking strangers for help.]

[foughtfortheusers]

It is called Paradisa.

[silentrunning]

[Ah! Now she had a name for this place. As someone who had not had her own name for years, and had constantly been called "Subject Name Here" names were important to her. VERY important. To the point she picked up the journal and wrote this so-far helpful stranger a message back.]

What's your name? Mine is...

[She warred with herself over which name to give him. She would respond faster to Subject Name Here, but that wasn't her name. And she knew it. And this person had said this place was called Paradisa. So maybe Aperture rules really didn't apply here...]

My name is Chell.

[thebutz]

Hey man, it's not a test! You can speak into the journal too if you want, try it! My name's Larry, how about you? Welcome to Paradisa!

[SLOW DOWN LARRY GOSH]

[silentrunning]

[Chell's staring at her journal now. She could, theoretically speak into it. But who knew if anything would come out of her mouth. She'd known how once. But instead, she settles for writing him a message instead and giving him her name. After all, if this was some place called Paradisa, it wasn't Aperture.]

My name is Chell. It is nice to meet you, Larry. Do you always speak this fast?

[No social skills. Sorry Larry.]

[thebutz]

Er... No, no, sorry man!

[He laughs a little]

It's nice to meet you too, I hope you like it here! Everyone's really friendly. Usually.

[silentrunning]

[She grins, despite the fact poor Larry won't be able to see it over the journal.]

So far people have been very friendly. So many interesting people here.