Funny Title Pending (tonight a puppy DIES) [Closed]

[donttestme]

Who: Jack Wynand whatseparates and Chell donttestme (with special guests Mark Meltzer paper_knight and Mirror!Chell testmetestmetestme!)
Where: Chell’s room, basement, and then god knows where else
When: Sometime during the christmas event
Rating: PG-13? (we're not kidding about the puppy thing)
Summary: Chell and Jack talk about their weird keys and the weird doors, and then Chell shows off a weird gun, and then maybe they’ll explore some weird memories.
The Story:

Of course, the moment Chell found a stocking with her name on it, she checked it. It held nothing but a miniature Aperture Science Personality Construct a Personality Core. It fit neatly in her palm, and moved like it was 'alive', eagerly looking around and burbling in a muted, computerized voice.

She definitely didn't like it, or the implications. Whatever those implications were.

She sat in her room, just looking at it. And then she sends a message to someone else with the same sense as her:

Have you found a key yet?, she writes to Jack.

Comments

[whatseparates]

sort of
its a hack tool

[donttestme]

[Chell didn't know what a hack tool was, but he probably didn't know what a personality core was, either - the fact that they both were functionally 'keys' was the important part.]

Apparently there are doors to match. Have you found any?

[whatseparates]

not yet

[donttestme]

[Chell thinks about this for a moment.]

I've got my key.

We should find our doors.

[That's as close to she's going to get to asking someone to join her at something]

[whatseparates]

ok

[whatseparates]

He follows her into the Mansion, the delight on his face slowly giving way to apprehension--his mind is turning back to that hack tool, and what it could mean.

And where it could lead.

[donttestme]

The basement is... surprisingly plain, in Chell's opinion. Finding her door or Jack's should be no problem, then. And her door may actually be down here, too - the core in her pocket is getting louder and... chittery-er.

But it's not her door they find first...

[whatseparates]

It's Jack's.

You can tell it's Jack's because he stops dead as soon as he sees it.

It's a big steel thing, industrial yet elegant in an art deco sort of way. It's set deep into the wall, and it looks thick, heavy. Across the top, it reads 'SECURIS'. There's a small control panel on the wall beside it, and beside that there's a small, green-lit glass case with a series of four numbered panels inside--a dial-lock.

Jack doesn't have the number, of course, but he does have a hack tool.

Still, he stands in front of it without moving for a long moment.

[donttestme]

Yep, Chell can recognize that body language. To be sure, and to snap him out of it, she asks:

"... That yours?"

[whatseparates]

He nods slowly, almost dazedly.

[donttestme]

Chell contemplates her key for a long time.

She knows where her door is now, and she knows what it's for. She doesn't know what's behind it. The question is: Does she want to?

... To prevent herself from acting on impulse, and to prevent anyone from nosing in on her business... She thinks of an irritatingly hard lock box and pulls it out of the closet. There.

She tests to make sure the password was exactly what she was thinking of - and it was - and then, in goes the key.

She sets the box down in her room. She needs to think; she needs to walk. Or jump.

She leaves her room...

[testmetestmetestme]

... And returns twenty minutes later.

Or so it seems! In reality it is not Chell, but her presently identical mirror!

There are however, some very big differences between her and Chell. The largest one of course is she doesn't know the password, shit!

After an unsuccessful attempt to get someone else to open it, Mell slips away and tries another route.

The puzzle guy seemed to think knowing her Real would help with the puzzle, which was dumb because she was her mirror! How could she know Chell better than that?

So maybe it was something Chell said. Communication between them so far had been limited to Mell writing on Chell's mirrors and Chell breaking or covering them. So, not much to work with there.

Buuuuuuuuut, Chell had talked to someone! At least one person! She had to have!

Her friends list was short, which was a good thing because that meant less chances of a dead end for Mell! Or... ... Something about eggs in one basket?

Whatever! The bottom line was, Mell was heading to the only other person as crazy and broken and full of issues as her Real -- well that they knew at least. (God, could you imagine if she met more of them? Yikes!)

Anyway, she makes her way over to Jack's room and knocks on the door.

[whatseparates]

Jack peers into the peephole and oh, look, it's Chell. Maybe she wants to give her door another try. Maybe she even wants to talk. Who knows?

He grabs for the nearest mask--this one has some burgundy highlights, and a spray of feathers on one side--and opens the door.

He doesn't say hi, because that shit is for normal people. Opening the door is totally greeting enough, right?

[testmetestmetestme]

Oh wow he's somehow bigger up close. Mell clears her throat And tries to find a delicate balance between her own cutesy personality and Chell's surliness.

"Hi, Jack, how's it going?"

That's what you do when you talk to people, you ask them how they're doing to make it seem like you're interested in them, and then they'll be invested in what you're doing in return, and what Mell is doing is trying to get into this puzzle box! So -- yeah, conversation!! She-- she manages to make herself not smile because she's pretty sure Chell doesn't smile because she's a grouchy mean antisocial wreck.

Okay maybe the corners of her mouth are upwards a little because it's hard to completely look like you're not smiling without making it really obvious that's what you're trying to do so whatever!!!! She keeps it cool though, so nothing to be suspicious about, Jack!

[whatseparates]

Something seems...off, but he can't quite put his finger on what.

"...Fine," he says, a little confused.

And we're back to staring.

Meanwhile, in Mirror-World...

[donttestme]

Chell notices the switch instantly. She paid close attention to a building's layout, and could spot when it changed pretty quickly. It was kind of a necessity, where she was from.

Also, it wasn't decorated garishly.

She is instantly on edge, on guard, and very glad she kept holding on to that portal gun. It's not paranoia if you're right.

She stalks through the hall, on the look out for anything hostile, or, less likely, a way out.

[paper_knight]

And here's Mark, walking in the opposite direction, looking for someone--anyone--whose eye he might be able to catch with some writing.

However, this means he's watching the realside, not the hallway itself, and he doesn't see Chell coming.

[donttestme]

Chell sees him, and unfortunately for Mark, he's the first one she's met on this side. With no robotic voices to taunt her or guide her, she's left to find information on her own - and she's ticked off. She is sick of getting moved around by - buildings, machines, whoever was in charge - she's tired of the disorientation, the sudden, unfamiliar surroundings, and the unknown potential for danger.

She doesn't speak until she's close enough to grab a fistful of the man's shirt.

"Where am I?" She snaps.

[paper_knight]

Wow, rude, Chell.
But Mark is pretty sure he recognizes her, and is quick to put two and two together.

"On the mirror-side of the mansion. In Wonderland."

Despite the recognition, his tone is chilly--not a lot fazes him, these days, and he's not exactly happy with his situation either.

"Let go, please."

[donttestme]

She might not be great at communication, but she tries her hand reading this guy. He doesn't look happy, and it might not just be because of her introduction.

She does not let him go, because she still has questions and he is still suspicious.

"Mirror-side," she repeats. She'd be more incredulous if she hadn't had someone write to her through the...

... Wait.

She looks at the mirrors in the hall - but they don't reflect her. They're like windows into a different hall...

So this is where they watch her. Her look hardens, and she moves her glare back to Mark.

"Who brought me here."
Translation: Who do I need to kill to get back?

[donttestme]

Chell stands in front of her door, the miniature personality core held in one hand. She made it clear she wanted to get through with this as soon as possible, before her mirror could come back and do whatever she had planned for her key. But she hesitates, now that she's here.

But she's being ridiculous. She saw Jack's past, it was only fair he saw hers. And besides, if it was a memory, it wasn't like she there would be any surprises for her.

So, she crouches down and plugs the little core in. It chirps happily, spinning it's little eyeball around before freezing up. It eye turns in robotic movements, like a dial, and then it bulges out, and closes its shutters. The panel beeps and sinks into the floor, as the white disk moves up to reveal a lift made of black metal and glass.

The doors slide open, and Chell steps in.

[whatseparates]

Jack hesitates momentarily, then follows her. He rests his own hand briefly on the butt of his revolver, but it's more for comfort than anything; nothing he or Chell did had any effect on his memory, and he has no reason to believe it will be different with hers.

[donttestme]

The doors slide shut, and the lift goes down.

And down.

And down.

It opens up, eventually, to dimly lit, abandoned room - there are desks, cardboard boxes, chairs, and a thick layer of dust coating all of it. There's also a voice - male, accented, word, and definitely not Chell.

"Alright, now she can't use her turrets. So let's go and take care of that neurotoxin generator as well!"

Chell recognizes it, by the subtle look on her face, a slight turn down at the corners of her lips and a faint sigh.

She knows where they're going - this memory is fresher than Jack's. She leaves the lift as her past self enters the room and begins to cross it.

[whatseparates]

He follows her, looking around for the source of a voice--but of course there's nothing human here besides himself, Chell, and...the other Chell.

He doesn't ask, though.

[donttestme]

They round a corner, entering a hall lined with bristol board projects on one side, and windows on the other. They look out to the bottomless nothing between Aperture's walkways and rooms, and above that, a rail. Hanging from it is a bigger version of Chell's sphere, with light coming out of its blue 'eye' and lighting up a sign printed on old paper and strung across the wall.

"Bring Your Daughter To Work Day," says the sphere - that's where the voice is coming from.

"That did not end well," he continues, turning slightly as if shaking his head.

"And..." The light, and past-Chell's gaze moves to the lines of science projects, bristol boards listing the research and hypothesis and procedures of building and testing:

"Forty potato batteries," continues the sphere, distaste tinting his words, "embarrassin. I mean, I realize they're children, but still, y'know, low hanging fruit and all that. Barely science, really, is it?"

Chell, past and present, smiles a little, but while the past one is hiding her amusement, the present just... has less. She knows what happens later; this is just a nice reminder of what it was like before.

She checks over her shoulder to see what Jack's up to, but she keeps walking, much like her past self.