Nothing Would've Ever Happened

Chapter 2

"Mr. Cortez."

"Hey Kate! Good to see you today!" Justin smiled as he walked into Aperture Laboratories.

"You're needed in the main lab, Justin." She said as she typed into her computer. "Room 37B."

"Thanks Kate!" He smiled as he passed the front desk. He headed left, down the long hallway towards the main laboratory. As he walked towards the swinging doors, he saw them swing open, David stumbling out as he headed his direction. Right as he got out, he stopped immediately, a shocked look on his face.

"Justin..." he smiled anxiously.

"Come on, David..." Justin smiled as he dragged him towards the main laboratory, grabbing his arm.

"How have you and Elaine been?" he asked nervously.

"Good, actually. Are you and Aly alright after last night?"

"Haha, yeah." David chuckled back. "She forgave me after I brought her out for dinner."

"That's good."

Their footsteps echoed as they walked down the empty hallway.

"So what's this surprise you suck at hiding from me?"

"Psh... It's nothing..." He laughed.

"Please tell me we get to work on the Portal Gun today..." Justin said as he pushed open the doors.

Inside was a huge room covered in hanging wires and tubing connected to computers around the entire room. In the middle of the chaotic mess of wiring was a metal chair with arm rests. The chair had a metal bowl attached to the neck part of the chair, lights and wires travelling behind it. As they walked towards the chair, scientists walked around, monitoring the data showing on the displays.

"Whoa..." Justin said in amazement, completely baffled.

"This isn't anything close to the Portal Gun, but it's something cooler..." David smiled as Justin walked over and examined the chair.

"What is this thing?"

"Well, Mr. 'I started the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device with Dr. Cave', this is my own project I've been working on: ReKall, the first dream machine!"

Justin walked around the chair and stood next to him.

"Not bad... Very interesting, David. Nice work!"

"Yeah, way better than your stupid A.I. you claimed to make when you were 17..."

"Hey, Regine was awesome and did more shit in one hour than you could ever do in one week! Since we've moved a couple months ago, I wasn't able to transfer her data anywhere..."

"Well, it's in the past, Justin. Come on! I want you to test it!" David said excited, walking to the chair.

David called over a couple scientists and whispered in their ear. They nodded, understanding the command and went to a nearby computer. He ushered Justin to sit down, giving him a creepy smile. Justin was hesitant at first, considering the amount of danger that was put in front of him.

"Did you try this on anyone...?" he asked slowly, making his way towards the chair.

"Oh yeah!" David said confidently. "Many of the scientists here have been in the machine and reported complete success!"

The scientist at the computer looked at them and nodded in agreement. Justin was still unsure on how reliable the results were, even with multiple test subjects. After a moment of thinking, he trusted David and sat down in the chair.

"Alright Justin!" David cheered. He placed the metal bowl over his head as other scientists placed finger scanners and heartbeat monitors on his arms and hands.

"As you're freaking out with why there's so many things being attached to you, let me explain what I've been working on, which explains why I ditch you sometimes while working on the Portal Gun..."

"So that's why!" Justin laughed.

"Anyways, this is ReKall, the first dream machine. The bowl on your head is the mind reader, a helmet which allows the neuron impulses to be translated into your head as peripheral images that you can easily see. The scanners on your arms and hands are to detect heartbeat rate and lets the computer know how much activity is going on through the brain, allowing the scientists to know when to eject you out of the dream, just in case anything bad happens."

"That's comforting..." Justin rolled his eyes as David lowered the helmet over his head. David walked over to one of the scientists at the computer. A whirring noise began to swirl around his head, the readings on the computer starting to escalate. Justin began to feel uncomfortable, starting to regret his decision on being David's test dummy.

"Uh, David, I don't think..."

"Justin, relax." David smiled. "That's normal, just close your eyes and let your mind sink into the deep sleep."

Justin closed his eyes and tried to relax. The whirring noise actually sounded soothing as the pulsating noise lulled him to sleep. He slowly felt himself reaching a deeper realm that felt like himself falling into a calm sleep. As he began to lose himself from reality, his body began to feel almost weightless, lifting off from his physical body. The noises around him dissipated into nothingness...