GLaDOS Introduction – Portal
Hello and, again, welcome to the Aperture Science computer-aided enrichment
center. We hope your brief detention in the relaxation vault has been a
pleasant one. Your specimen has been processed and we are now ready to begin
the test proper. Before we start, however, keep in mind that although fun
and learning are the primary goals of all enrichment center activities,
serious injuries may occur. For your own safety and the safety of others,
please refrain from-- [bzzzzzt] Por favor bordón de fallar Muchos gracias de
fallar gracias.
Once the city used to pulse with energy. Dirty and dangerous, but alive and
wonderful. Now it's something else. The changes came slowly at first. Most
didn't realize, or didn't care, and accepted them. They chose a comfortable
life. Some didn't. And those who refused to conform were pushed to the
sidelines, criminalized. They became our clients. We call ourselves Runners.
We exist on the edge between the gloss and the reality: the mirror's edge.
We keep out of trouble, out of sight, and the cops don't bother us. Runners
see the city in a different way. We see the flow. Rooftops become pathways
and conduits, possibilities and routes of escape. The flow is what keeps us
running, keeps us alive.
The History of TranStar – Prey
In 1958 the Soviet Union launched the Verona I satellite to secure their
lead in the space race. The Verona entered stable orbit around Earth-moon
Lagrangian point two and began transmitting deep-space telemetry back to
earth. But after communication ceased, a manned mission was sent to
investigate. When the repair team found no external issues, Soviet
leadership ordered the cosmonauts to breach the satellite. In the moments
that followed, the cosmonauts encountered something unprecedented: A
nonterrestrial life-form. All members of the mission were lost. The footage
was labeled a state secret and buried. After two years of silence, the
Soviets contacted the U.S. and pleaded for help with containing the threat;
Kennedy agreed. In 1963 the U.S.-Soviet collaboration resulted in the Kletka
program, a permanent installation to contain the nonterrestrials. But the
historic partnership was short-lived. Following a failed assassination
attempt, an emboldened Kennedy returned to office and seized control of the
joint program, and in the two decades that followed, the U.S. evolved the
station into a fully functional R&D facility. American teams studied the
nonterrestrials, now labeled Typhon, but were unable to harness their
enigmatic abilities into military or commercial applications. After an
unfortunate containment failure led to the death of an entire research team,
the U.S. shuttered the project in 1998. The station was abandoned. The
Transtar corporation secured the derelict station and transformed it into
Talos I, a cutting-edge Innovation Center. In just five short years, the
team aboard Talos I has achieved a greater understanding of the Typhon
organisms than three decades of government research. And soon, innovations
from our Psychotronics Division will redefine what it means to be human.
Hiss incantation – Control
You are a worm through time. The thunder song distorts you. Happiness comes.
White pearls, but yellow and red in the eye. Through a mirror, inverted is
made right. Leave your insides by the door. Push the fingers through the
surface into the wet. You've always been the new you. You want this to be
true. We stand around while you dream. You can almost hear our words but you
forget. This happens more and more now. You gave us the permission in your
regulations. We wait in the stains. The word that describes this is
redacted. Repeat the word. The name of the sound. It resonates in your
house. After the song, time for applause. We build you until nothing
remains. The egg cracks and the truth will emerge out of you. You are home.
You remind us of home. You've taken your boss with your boss with you. All
hair must be eaten. Under the conceptual reality behind this reality you
must want these waves to drag you away. After the song, time for applause.
This cliché is death out of time, breaking the first the second the third
the fourth wall, fifth wall, floor; no floor: you fall! How do you say
“insane”? Hurts to be happy. An earworm is a tune you can't stop humming in
a dream: “baby baby baby, yeah!” Just plastic. So safe and nothing to worry
about. Ha ha, funny. The last egg breaks now. The hole in your room is a
hole in you. You came and we let you in through the hole in you. You have
always been here, the only child. A copy of a copy of a copy. Orange peel.
The picture is you holding the picture. When you hear this you will know
you're in new you. You want to listen. You want to dream. You want to smile.
You want to hurt. You don't want to be.