Another Test (Portal 2 Fanfic)

Aperture Labs

"Welcome to the Aperture Enrichment Center! For future test subjects, food groups and much-needed drinks will be handed out on the daily-this does reduct the pay-if there was pay at all. For everyone else, you need to provide for your own food. We need to keep as much money as we can for these tests-we need to have a move one if we ever are going to get our money back."

"Welcome to the Aperture Science Relaxation Center! Here, test subjects-and sometimes none test subjects-are here to stay and to be "relaxed" before testing. If you are a tester here and you are not relaxed, please content with your surroundings and suck it up. Thank you."

Your eyes flutter open. The warm, silk-like sheets beg you to stay in the comfort in their embrace. Nothing too much out of the ordinary, once someone was in suspension, it was like a long restful sleep you never want to wake up from. It was also like your entire memory was completely replaced with dreams. You felt hazy with over-rest and lack of movement.

"Good morning," Announced a robotic intercom, "You have been in suspension for FIFTY-EIGHT-days."

You heard fifty-eight and immediately the announcer's lines blur together. Come to think of if it was also hard to breathe in the lonesome room. It seems like only the basic preprogrammed things were still working. Those who needed the overseer's support didn't live through. Oxygen wasn't properly-being pumped into the room as it should, but damnit it tried.

"Please look at the ceiling." The voice calmly repeated. You've ignored it for lone enough you didn't even remember why you needed to do this but you need anyway. "Good-"

The voice cut out. Everything got dark. You felt like you were going to die within the few seconds you've been alive. You didn't even get to flesh out the brand new story you where going to create with your life. It was cruel and unforgiving. The door creaked open, revealing bits of yellow light. This immediately drew your attention.

"Hullo?" A small Canadian voice reached out to you through the doorway.

Maybe it was an angel-no one you really knew of but an angel never-the-less. You open your mouth to call back to the angel but you were stunned. No puzzle fit correct, why where you here in the first place? Why did you wake up just to die? Who is this voice?

The lights slightly flickered on. You saw the angel in their full potential. She was round and metallic, with one eye with a cat-like yellow eye. This was not what you'd expect of the afterlife.

"I needed to see what the last care-taker left of this place-everyone said everyone here was dead. You don't seem to be dead, ay? Maybe you are! Maybe you're a not-so-spooky ghost. Did you know ghosts don't eat? More like they cant-" she started to ramble about meaningless things. One word went in one ear and out the other. You shook your head, knowing reality is needing you by its side.

"Who-or what are you?" You softly spoke, still dazed with long rest and confusion.

"Oh! Arm. You can call me Spade-yeah! As in the card! Card games are pretty fun don't you know!" She closed her eye and nodded to herself "I could go for a few rounds of cards myself if I had hands" she stops "I want hands...Oh! And a cat-or maybe a dog. Dogs can be loud though and I just need-"

You cleared your voice to politely get her attention.

"Oh yes! My name is Spade-I'm a core! Built for support and distraction." The core eyed you up and as if a unicorn jumped right out of a TV and stood in front of her. "I haven't seen a human around before-are you sure you arent a ghost-"

"I'm sure..." you politely told her, half not knowing if it was true or not.

"Ah. I'm glad! That would've been a problem ay? Anyways I haven't caught your name yet, may I know what it is?"