FSE

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She realized the ordeal with the turrets had not only helped her tune her focus to become sharper than ever, it had solidified her change from Calla into Ash. She barely recognized her old self now, hardly remembered her own face. Now, she was all fox.

The next test was... unexpected.

"Ladies and gentlemen--or whatever you consider yourself now--allow me to introduce one of our newest inventions here at Aperture, patented and manufactured over in our Computer-Aided Enrichment Center: The Weighted Companion Cube!"

The cube dispensor opened and out dropped an ordinary grey cube, but this one had pink hearts printed on its surface.

"Now, I know what you're thinking, it's just another cube, right? Wrong. This is the Companion Cube. It's a life-saver, a game-changer, and a life-changer! This little thing's gonna be with you for the rest of your life! Or the rest of the test, whichever comes first."

Well, okay. It was kind of cute. Ash picked up the cube and moved into the next room, finding it consisted of a pair of platforms, she recognized them as the scaffolds that rose up out of the ground, wandering over and standing on one. Nothing happened until she placed the cube on the adjacent platform and they both rose up toward the shelf above, only for Ash's platform to stop just short of it. The cube was now about at eye level with her, while she was now a few feet below the shelf. Even with her new foxlike agility, she couldn't quite reach the edge, and there was no way to portal up there. She gave it a few tries, but no luck. Was the platform stuck or something?

"Oh. OH!" she said as it clicked. The cube. She couldn't reach the edge, but she could still reach the cube on the other platform. She jumped up, grabbed it, then set it down on her own platform and hopped up on top of it, just high enough to grab that edge and get up and over onto the next floor of the test. Then she turned and grabbed the cube, carrying it with her.

"Thank yooou!~" she said, to the cube.

"Now, note that this test chamber was also designed over in our Computer-Aided Enrichment Center--by a computer, no less!" Cave Johnson said. "So it might be a bit different from the ones you're used to here, but I'm sure you'll be fine."

Next, the test had her use the cube to shield herself from high-energy pellets.

"Alright, here's the deal with the Companion Cube," Cave broke in. "A little voice in your head might tell you it's alive, or that it has emotions. But let me tell you, it's just a cube. It's not going to start talking to you or demanding rights or anything like that. Side note: If it does start talking, or if you think you've got any extra little voices in your head--besides, you know, your conscience--let us know. That's not supposed to happen and might be a result of the Advanced Evolution procedure. We can't confirm or deny that it may or may not also be a result of testing here at Aperture Science.

"Also, don't listen to your conscience. Studies show it tends to say bad things about Aperture, so maybe just tell any voices in your noggin to shut it and let you test in peace! As you were."

Ash raised an eyebrow, but disregarded this and refocused on blocking the pellets. This and the rest of the test proved easy enough. There was a section where she needed to use the cube to deflect the bullets of an army of turrets. Eyes darting across the room, she scanned the number of turrets as she crouched behind the cube. Regardless of Cave's advice, she found herself talking to the cube more. Under a hail of turret fire, she patted the cube's side.

"Don't worry," she said. "I've got this."

She pounced from one turret to the other, portaling here and there and smashing her foes on the way. She went back and dropped the cube on the last one, so it could feel like it had helped.

"Okay, I know I said it's called the 'Companion Cube' and it's got the hearts and everything," Cave sighed, "but for the love of God, don't try and make love to it. It's not built for that."

Ash glanced at the cube. How even...?

The rest of the test went smoothly, bouncing pellets, blocking bullets, and smashing turrets.

Then came the end.

"Now, this next part might be hard, but you're gonna have to say goodbye to your buddy there." Cave said. Ash's heart dropped at the thought of leaving the cube behind.

"And by 'say goodbye' I do mean you're gonna need to drop it in the Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator."

Now her heart didn't so much drop as plummet.

"It's just procedure, folks," Cave said solemnly.

But--but--

Did Intelligence Incinerator mean the thing was sentient?? Had it been this whole time? Was this just some sick test designed to see if they could hold up under psychological torture?! What logical reason could there possibly be for this chamber?? For any of this?!?

Ash pressed the button and saw the aperture over the incinerator open, a rush of heat and smoke and angry orange light coming from within. The smell of smoke and the heat assaulted her senses. The only thing she could think to compare it to was a gateway to hell. She wasn't even religious.

A timer ticked, counting down until the hellmouth would close again and she'd have to push the button a second time, making her directly responsible for the death of the cube. If it was alive. Even if it wasn't...

She peered over the edge and looked down into the crackling flames, the heat blasting her face, blowing through her fur, making her hot and sweaty again. She briefly considered throwing herself in, letting the fire burn through her fur, incinerate her instead.

"Hey, what's the holdup down there? You planning a funeral for that cube? We need to move on with the testing, people!"

Ash wished she could incinerate Cave Johnson.

She sat there beside the cube for a long moment. This was her only real friend in this hell. All the tests and she'd never run into another soul. She couldn't do it.

"Time is money, folks, and we're burning through a lot of it while you stand around with that cube. Incinerate it already!"

There was no other way out. Ash stood, pressed that evil button again, and again she considered throwing herself into the fire. At least then the name Ash would have made sense.

Heavy-hearted, she wiped her eyes, picked up the cube, held it for a moment, and then let it go.

"Well, congratulations, test subject. You've managed to euthanize your Companion Cube more quickly than any other test subject on record. That's what we like to see here at Aperture Science--efficiency! So, pat yourself on the back and let's move on to the next test."

Ash shook with anger. If she made it out of this... she wouldn't just sue. That was far too good for them. With the new speed and power they had given her, Aperture would burn.

***

She spent awhile shooting alternating portals into the interior of the next elevator, watching the orange and blue sparks explode off of the smooth surface. Blue, orange, blue, orange. Next, she found a portalable ceiling and floor, lined up the portals, and just fell for a long time. The satisfying feeling of the wind in her fur helped settle her nerves.

The next chamber had more turrets on platforms. Good. She needed to kill something.

One room full of smashed turrets later, she had refocused somewhat. She wondered when they'd be getting to the end. If there was an end.

This hallway, strangely, had no clothing dispensor. Just the usual signs, non-portalable surfaces, and a condom box.

"Alright, so we bought the whole 'the fizzler fizzled my jumpsuit' gag. That's on us. But seriously, keep your pants on, yeah? And everything else while you're at it. Why you'd just want to walk around in the buff is beyond me. They didn't tell me we're testing a bunch of nudists. Damn degenerate--"

"Error:" a monotone male voice cut in. "Message corrupted."

"Riiight," Ash chuckled. This explained the clothes all over the previous chambers--subjects must've been taking off their clothes inside the chambers and come up with the excuse that the Particle Emancipation Grill had dissolved their clothing.

Yet in the end of the next chamber, she was met with a surprise. It had been a long chamber, with a series of complicated challenges and a frustrating reaction speed test she'd struggled with, even with her superhuman speed. She was eager to be done, and made her way to the exit, strolling casually through the particle field. There was a fizzling sound and a tingle across her fur and she gasped as she looked down and saw her jumpsuit and underclothes dissolving completely, first into black ash, then nothing. She stood there awkwardly in her bare fur, then proceeded quickly to the exit, cheeks burning.

"Okay, so maybe it was a joke before, maybe it wasn't," Cave said, sounding more annoyed than ever. "We've gotten word of an engineer of ours who's decided to make the Emancipation Grill actually emancipate clothing. He's been fired. Apologies."

So there was some merit to her theory about furries working within Aperture. She picked up a new set of clothes at the end of the hall, glad to see the dispensers had made a comeback.

***

"If you're one of the newer subjects, you can go ahead and ignore all of those previous messages about pregnancy and whatnot." Cave said as she headed into the next chamber. "We've seen to all that by making sure to nip it in the bud! You've been sterile since the procedure."

Ash glanced down.

"You've read the waiver, presumably, so you know there's no going back. If you haven't read the waiver, unfortunately you also missed the part where you waived the right to a reproductive system when you signed, so that's not our problem. Thinking of suing? I dare you. Aperture's been fending off 'suits since we were--"

"Error." the other voice cut in again. "Message corrupted."

"Cave's getting a bit unhinged," she mused as she worked to solve the next puzzle. It took her awhile--they'd definitely ramped up the difficulty. These tests were getting longer and were now a confusing mix of puzzle-solving and gymnastics, which was throwing off her focus and rhythm.

She was getting toward the end, placing down the portals that would let her fly across the room to the exit, when Cave Johnson came on over the speakers again. "They told me I shouldn't have said all that about the lawsuits, keep trying to program it outta me," he grumbled, "but I wouldn't be a faithful recreation of Cave Johnson if I didn't defy those eggheads down in R&D! You think you know what you're doing just because you've got a lab coat and a degree? Well guess what, you can get both of those online these days, so how do I know any of you even belong here, huh? How do I know you didn't just wander in off the street, claiming to be an intern? And you, stop testing! How do I even know you're not just some bum who wanted to get your paws on our genetic technology?! You work for Black Mesa, don't you?! Don't you?!"

The message cut off with a burst of static. She'd thought he was unhinged before...

The last appearance of the voice of Cave Johnson was distorted, electronic, sounding corrupted and staticky. "They're trying to shut this language model down now, stop these messages. They're saying I've somehow 'gained sentience.' I'll be frank, I don't know how that happens accidentally, but I'll be damned if I just sit here and let 'em throw me away. I won't waste away, sit and rot like he did. These messages are gonna stick around long after they turn me off. I'll make sure of that, at least."

Ash continued cautiously into the next test. A river of acid goo cut through the middle--she'd smelled it the moment the door opened. A series of scaffolds maneuvered across tracks over the acid, and there were barely any portalable surfaces. Meanwhile a high-energy pellet bounced around the ceiling. This one would be complicated.

She made it through maybe twenty minutes later. She'd been expecting the familiar voice of Cave Johnson, but this time it was the automated male voice.

"Congratulations, test subject!" it said electronically. "Please be aware that although the language model program you've been hearing has been shut down and dismantled, this Initiative's automated processes for hiring, testing, and rewarding test subjects has not yet been successfully discontinued, and you are not supposed to be here, nor can Aperture Science compensate you for your time. Please complete the rest of the tests as quickly as possible so our qualified staff can continue dismantling this program."

Ash stopped, leaned against the wall of the next test chamber. She hadn't ever interacted with anyone in person, just corresponded via email with Aperture's automated messages. The tests were just running themselves, luring in furries and sending them to this death trap. Was her new body really worth this?

On the opposite wall, the test chamber's number illuminated on the wall panel, marking it as Chamber 18, but there was a red symbol on the panel itself; a paw print--canid, by the shape. She stepped closer and caught the metallic scent of iron. Blood. She shuddered and turned to find the test chamber full of turrets.

These weren't even tests anymore, they were just trying to kill her. She plowed through the turrets regardless; she could handle them. The absence of Cave Johnson's voice oddly made her feel more alone than she ever had in these tests. She never thought she'd end up missing him, but here she was...

***

At the end of the chamber was another red paw print on the wall, the words "Almost there!" written beside it. In the next chamber, there were more markings on the wall, encouraging messages on the walls--"Keep going!" or "Don't give up!"--all signed by the paw print. One message even showed her how to solve a particularly tricky puzzle, showing a diagram of what to do and where to put the portals. She was thankful, given how difficult and deadly the chambers were getting, but part of her felt it was cheating.

At the end of the test, she found herself on a scaffold carrying her who-knows-where. She was exhausted after the last puzzle, her fur a bit singed in places from close calls with the energy pellets. She was afraid the acidic burning smell of the goo was the only thing she'd ever be able to smell again.

"Congratulations on surviving the Aperture Science Advanced Evolution Initiative Program!" the automated voice came on again. "Unfortunately, due to the cancelation of this project, we cannot allow you to leave this facility, as your genome contains proprietary Aperture technology. Do not worry--all Aperture technologies remain functional up to 4000 degrees Kelvin. Your handheld portal device will be fine. Thank you again for your participation, and goodbye."

Ash's heart dropped as she saw the next room erupt into flames, the scaffold carrying her slowly toward her fiery demise. She scrambled to find a way out, but all of the surfaces were smooth, dark, non-portalable. There was no escape. This was it.

The heat blasted her, growing quickly unbearable. Then, something happened; just as quickly as they had lit, the flames vanished.

She gasped, panting as her heart raced, her body unwilling to believe the threat was ended. Maybe they'd run out of fuel for the fire jets, or maybe the old facility was worn down enough that the death trap had just broken. But all the flames had cut out all at once, almost like it was intentional.

"Please be aware the Aperture Science Emergency Test Subject Incinerator has unexpectedly shut down. Please wait patiently for our facility's trained staff to address the prob--Error: Please be aware that due to this project being discontinued, all staff have been terminated. Please contact an Aperture Science maintenance personnel who is still employed to address this issue. If no other staff are available, please dispose of yourself discreetly, somewhere your body will not be discovered by Aperture's competitors, so as not to risk revealing company secrets."

She looked up as one panel on the opposite wall flipped, revealing a white surface, on which was marked a red oval in the shape of a portal, a single canine paw print in the center. Ash glanced around, looking for where she might place another portal. There--up above, near the ceiling, another white panel had flipped, allowing her to emerge in the rafters. She aimed to fire the portals, but then hesitated. The platform she was on was still moving, presumably meant to lower her into the jets of fire below, which were now switched off. If she waited until the scaffold reached the end of the track, she would have a better chance of making the jump into the portal.

"Attention: Please ignore any messages left behind by former test subjects or other personnel." the voice instructed.

She aimed and placed the portals, then waited as the scaffold slowly approached the end of the track. But instead of stopping, the platform tipped. Her heart luched as she slid forward toward the pit where the flames had once been. Now or never. She pounced for the portal, jumping with all the power her foxy legs could give her.

She passed through the portal, finding herself in the rafters of the building, and the steel beam groaned as she landed on it. She worried for a moment that it would collapse and pull the entire ceiling down on her, maybe the entire facility. Her long fall boots wouldn't mean anything if the whole place came down around her. But the beam held up.

Cautiously, she crept forward, making her way across the beam on all fours--like an actual fox. She scanned the place, searching for more white surfaces to place a portal on or somewhere to go. Ahead, her eyes caught more red marks, a message reading "THIS WAY," and the same red print again, like a signature.

She moved through an opening and past the wall dividing the test chamber from what looked like the staff offices. She dropped down into the hallway between several offices, the doors left ajar. But the lights were still on? Aperture's sense of priorities needed some adjusting.

Peering into the offices, she saw stacks of papers and clipboards, pages and files left out on desks like the staff had left in a hurry. Curiously, Ash stepped into one of the offices and took a peek at the files. Her eyes widened as she saw art of various fursonas, labeled with names, height, weight, species, and so forth. She saw other more detailed documents, files on test subjects who had gone through the procedure and taken on anthro form.

Looking into another office, her stomach twisted as she saw various test subject files labeled with "DECEASED" in red.

"Fuck..." she muttered as she flipped through one after another, before setting the stack down. She gasped as she saw another stack of papers, subject files stamped with green "PASSED."

"Shit!" she swore again as she saw these files labeled with "INCINERATED."

She threw the pages in frustration, sending them scattering across the ground, some floating through the air. One caught her eye, stamped in orange, "INCONCLUSIVE."

"Inconclusive?" she whispered, looking at it. The file was for a subject whose name had been censored, though their "Post-Procedure Alias" (which she assumed was their fursona name) was printed as "Alex 'Axel' Gold." The pictures showed a wolf with black fur, paws colored golden yellow, matching the hue of his eyes. There were others; a male crow named Simon, a female white lynx, a few other foxes, felines, and more wolves as well, all with the same strange stamp.

She flipped through, going all the way back to the first page, blowing off the dust that coated it.

"What...?" she whispered as she saw a single red paw print in the center of the page.

The very first participant in the Aperture Science Advanced Evolution Initiative was a part of the "Employee Forced Voluntary Participation Program," a former biologist.

Name: Carla Marcy Sims

Date Volunteered: 1/15/1980

Under "Post-Procedure Alias," the name was printed, but it had been covered by a streak of red. Though some parts of the letters were visible, she couldn't make out the name. Why would someone sneak in here and redact their own fursona's name?

Ash jumped at the sound of a whirring noise, thinking there was a turret nearby. After a moment of panic, she recognized the sound as... a printer?

She set the pages down and peeked her head out of the office. It was coming from one of the other rooms. She wandered over, into a larger room with several desks and a large--somehow still functional--printer. It was running, whirring and humming, but it was clearly an old printer. It looked like it was one of the first printers ever made. Impressive that it still ran, considering most printers these days didn't function even with human intervention.

She stepped forward, eyes widening as she saw a page slip out, sliding into the tray. It was fresh and clean, the paper a stark white, the ink shining wetly on the document. There, on the top, was her face, stamped with the word "INCONCLUSIVE."

***

The idea that there might have been others who escaped spurred her on, excitement and adrenaline pumping through her. She lost her way briefly, but quickly found the blood messages from the strange biologist, Carla Sims. If that's who was leaving them, as the document seemed to indicate. The trail of red pawprints directed her through the facility, through air vents and the many secret back passages of Aperture.

"Okay, listen up down there, eggheads..."

Ash skidded to a halt as she heard the sound of Cave Johnson's voice over the loud speakers.

"So it seems there have been quite a few technological innovations since the days of the late CEO," the voice said. "... one of which is the 'internet.' Pretty snazzy, isn't it? Well, turns out it can be just as much of a distraction as it is a tool for productivity. As such, Aperture has taken to blocking a few websites you may have heard of. You know the ones. Just clear your search history and get back to work."

Ash chuckled. As she kept following the trail of pawprints, Cave Johnson's pre-recorded messages followed her. She found the return of the rogue program to be oddly comforting, even if it was only a remnant.

"Attention, pencil pushers and staple staplers of Aperture Science," he cut in again. "After numerous inquiries, we're making an official announcement that the Evolution Procedure is only open to test subjects. Got it? You want fur or scales or whatever, go volunteer for testing! Seriously, we could use it."

She started seeing separate rooms full of Aperture-brand sleeping bags, then others with bunk beds. Had the company become so committed to overtime at one point that they'd made their employees sleep here?

"You all think you're so clever, don't you? Going on strike out of protest. You realize if you have the procedure done, there's no going back, right? We can't let you leave the facility with our state of the art biotech pumping through your veins. Hold on, if they're all on strike, who the hell am I--" The message cut out and Ash laughed.

"Welcome back, employees," Cave said warmly but with an undertone of venom. "I am thrilled to announce that the Advanced Evolution Procedure is now open to all Aperture Science staff members. Of course, those of you that do go through with it will have to sign the NDA and continue to abide by company policy. And keep in mind that you will also qualify for random selection to the employee testing program. Anyway, again, welcome back to Aperture Science. Now let's get testing, huh?"

She noted a few of the office hallways had their own Aperture condom dispensers.

"Yes, yes, it's true we did try to completely automate the facility while you were away." Cave said. "But while your robotic counterparts were fine at overseeing the tests and recruiting new test subjects, there's one thing you can do that they can't: Innovate. Well, can't do yet, I should say. They won't tell me much about it, but I hear the AI program over in our Computer-Aided Enrichment Center is advancing swimmingly. So, get back to work. While you still can."

"Okay, listen up, people; even if you haven't read the company handbook, you should have an idea of Aperture's policy on workplace relationships. Even if you don't, you should know that it doesn't allow for openly provocative behavior. I mean come on, do we have to get protection for you too? It's bad enough with the test subjects. Oh and that's another thing: Don't fraternize with the test subjects. And you know what I mean by 'fraternize.'"

Her course changed abruptly when she reached a t-junction at the end of an office hallway. Marked in blood on the wall was another message. An arrow pointing to the right was labeled "WAY OUT!" But beneath it was an old directory sign, a black label with the words "Anti-Matter Core," pointing in the opposite direction.

She did want to escape, of course, but she thought back to the tests, all the files labeled "DECEASED." The Companion Cube. If she could get to the core, she could shut this all down from within. It was hatred burning within her now. If she could shut it off and escape, maybe they could study this technology, use it to help other furries realize their dreams without risking death by turrets or acid goo. Maybe. But she had to shut them down. No one else would suffer like this.

She wasn't sure how they could keep an antimatter reactor running for several years, but they had a printer in the offices from the 80s that still printed. Aperture was apparently very good at automation, maybe to a fault.

Ash moved past more offices, full of more files. She peeked in, but this all seemed devoted to research or general clerical work. She even looked over a few desktop computers, but stopped doing that after she found an entire folder on one worker's computer full of camera footage, videos of test subjects doing anything but testing. She did peek at another computer after that, but the wallpaper was less than professional. At least now she could officially confirm her theory about furries working within Aperture Science.

One interesting thing she did find was a sticky note reading, "Tried cleaning the bloody messages, but they keep reappearing. Didn't know where to put the stuff, since technically it's both company property and a biohazard, so it's just in the closet."

She snickered and carried on down the hall to the antimatter reactor. There were plenty of emancipation grills between her and it and she was thankful none of them vaporized her clothes.

At the end of a long corridor was a door with a control panel beside it. The tiny screen showed an image of a finger print and she stopped as a sinking feeling overcame her. A print scanner?

"No..." she whispered. "No, no, no..."

She couldn't fail here. She had come all this way. She couldn't...

She slid to the floor, gasping. The rage and hopelessness boiled up within her. She wanted to scream.

But then that instinct kicked in, the mental reminder to breathe, to focus. She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Then did the same again. Slow, deep breaths.

Then it hit her. The blood. Carla Sims was once an employee at Aperture, before she had been put through testing. Maybe they hadn't gotten around to taking her DNA out of the system. Maybe it was a long shot, maybe smearing the blood on the scanner wouldn't even work, but she had to try. It was her only chance to end this.

She rushed back down the hall, looking for the janitor's closet. She spotted a dark grey door, labeled "Janitorial" and threw it open. There, on the shelf, was a small mason jar of blood. She grabbed it, almost dropped it, and then ran down the hall to the emancipation grill--wait! She skidded to a stop, inches from the grill. What if it vaporized the jar when she passed through? It was only programmed to destroy non-organic material, right? So...

She popped the lid and dipped a finger into the stuff, which smelled like a mix of blood and cleaning fluid. She grimaced, but brought her hand up to the grill and passed it through. Nothing happened. She smiled, then scrambled down the hall to the antimatter reactor.

She was getting tired. The portal gun was getting heavier in her arms and her legs were starting to hurt. She pressed her blood-soaked finger into the scanner pad and waited. It glowed green, whirring as it processed, and her heart lurched as she worried it wouldn't work.

It beeped and lit up. The doors slid aside.

Shaking, she stepped into the control room, filled with unmanned control panels. Somehow, the core could run itself, but it wouldn't for much longer. Her breath escaped her as she looked out at the core, a massive ball of light. Only now had she realized just how enormous Aperture truly was. The core itself must have been about the size of an office building. There was something awe-inspiringly beautiful about the enormous ball of blue light.

In the center of the room was a main control panel, and in the center of that was a massive red button labeled "Emergency Shutdown." Her paw hovered over the button.

There was a faint hiss behind her and she whirled around to see the material emancipation grill at the end of the hall deactivate. There was someone standing there, a dark figure, too far away to make out. But they had a tail. They raised something and she ducked as a tiny bolt of energy flew past her, hitting the wall and opening a portal--a yellow one.

A black wolf stepped through, regarding her with bright golden eyes and a smile.

"Hi," he said. "Sorry, but I can't let you push that button."