Personal Improvement Through Science: Aperture Laboratories Presents Physical Education (Wed/Per. 2)

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

The entry corridor was the same today as it had been at the end of the last class, starting with the Material Emancipation Grill that stretched across the doorway like a blue static curtain when the classroom doors slid open to let students in. The locker rooms were the same, too, except that each student's locker had a new addition keeping the jumpsuits and long-fall boots company: what looked like a small hand cannon.

Actually, there was one small change inside the locker rooms: beside the portal-generating frame that led to the classroom was a large lighted sign. Totally helpful, really.

Like last week, the blue portal at the end of the corridor appeared to let students into the classroom -- except this time, when they stepped through, they'd find themselves dropping ten feet to the floor, because the orange exit portal was in the wall facing the one with the entry portal, but not placed anywhere near the ground. Hope you had those long-fall boots on, kids. The classroom itself was configured like . . . let's just say it looked like what you'd get if a track and field stadium, a lab, and a bucket of Lego were organisms with DNA that you could splice and stick in an accelerated-growth environment. The resultant unholy spawn did not have a normal sense of scale, either, because the hurdles set up down the track's 100-meter straightaway were six feet high.

Actually, they were six foot high laser grids staggered around the lanes on the track like hurdles. Because that was fun!

"Oh," said GLaDOS, dryly, once the class was assembled. "You came back. I don't know if that's impressive or sad." No, there was still no sign of an actual teacher, just another pair of wall-mounted cameras.

"Well, since you're here, you must like testing. So let's get started. By the way, those portal devices you're holding are worth more than any one of your hometowns, so don't break them. Actually, don't worry about that. Those portal guns can withstand more physical stress than the human skeleton anyway. We have conclusive proof of that." The room began to shift a little bit: panels with opaque glowing ovals slid into place overhead -- just past each laser hurdle, actually, as the observant might note. "This next test applies the basic concept of movement through portals to a cardiovascular fitness exercise. Because I'm feeling generous this week, you won't be timed, so there won't be any consequences for being slow."

So generous, wasn't she?

"Contact with the Thermal Discouragement Hurdles, however, will result in your . . . disqualification." If GLaDOS had a face, she'd be smiling evilly right now; as it was, the brief pause pretty much sounded like an evil pause. "Good luck."

[OOC: OCD is up. But you still won't get any cake.]

Comments

Sign In [PItS, Week 2]

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

Running, or out of breath!

Re: Sign In [PItS, Week 2]

[failsatspirit]

Korra

Locker Rooms: Before Class [PItS, Week 2]

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

Change, talk, do all that stuff.

Re: Locker Rooms: Before Class [PItS, Week 2]

[failsatspirit]

Korra was no more happy about the jumpsuits this week than last week, though rather than pull the jumpsuit all the way up today, she just tied its arms around her waist. Hopefully that would make it easier to move in.

Re: Locker Rooms: Before Class [PItS, Week 2]

[genesishero]

Evan was way more easygoing about putting on the orange jumpsuity thing this week, since last week they had all played catch, after all. And the addition of one more piece of equipment had him grinning. The long-fall boots were amazing. What do you suppose this thing did?

Re: Locker Rooms: Before Class [PItS, Week 2]

[robinonadderall]

It was a good thing Stiles had a habit of changing behind convenient locker doors because he kinda couldn't stop licking his arms. Mountain Dew was delicious, he couldn't help himself.

Re: Locker Rooms: Before Class [PItS, Week 2]

[inaskinnyway.livejournal.com]

Right. This again. Susan was fine enough changing, even if she still didn't think the jumpsuit was really her color.

Re: Locker Rooms: Before Class [PItS, Week 2]

[exactlyaverage.livejournal.com]

"Okay, anyone here freaked out about a computer voice talking about releasing neurotoxins? Anybody?" Jack asked as he put on his jumpsuit. "Show of hands. Anyone?"

Re: Locker Rooms: Before Class [PItS, Week 2]

[new-it-girl.livejournal.com]

Hanna frowned slightly at the jumpsuit, but she changed into it without voicing any concerns out loud. She could learn to get used to orange?

In the Corridor [PItS, Week 2]

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

Where you can try to puzzle out the meaning of the sign before the portal lets you into the classroom proper.

Re: In the Corridor [PItS, Week 2]

[failsatspirit]

Korra would have been trying to puzzle out the sign, but she was too busy trying to puzzle out her gun-thingy instead.

Re: In the Corridor [PItS, Week 2]

[genesishero]

Evan wasn't entirely certain about what the icons on the sign were supposed to mean. The second kind of reminded him of the portal that had opened up last class, so he was going to assume it was something like that. And the third one... meant they were going to prison?

... That couldn't be right.

Re: In the Corridor [PItS, Week 2]

[exactlyaverage.livejournal.com]

Jack was scratching his head at the sign.

"Does this mean we eventually get cake?" he asked.

Re: In the Corridor [PItS, Week 2]

[fewer_explosions]

Liara... was an aspiring archaeologist.

So she was edging closer to the sign. "These appear to be pictograms displaying a variety of acts," she said, to no one in particular. "Clearly there's some semiotic reason for these--"

Re: In the Corridor [PItS, Week 2]

[upmysleeve.livejournal.com]

"Beware of speeding tree stumps, holes are for jumping in, and..." Ace couldn't make head nor tail of the last one. "Horizontal stripes even make stick figures look fat?"

During the Lecture [PItS, Week 2]

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

No, seriously, are those lasers?!?

Re: During the Lecture [PItS, Week 2]

[failsatspirit]

See Korra, see Korra rather frantically airbending to break her fall despite knowing the boots worked, see Korra glaring at the cameras.

Re: During the Lecture [PItS, Week 2]

[genesishero]

Oh, that's what the third icon meant!

Evan looked more pleased that it had been made clear so quickly than nervous about the lasers. The bathroom at his old school had been more likely to try to kill you than this.

Re: During the Lecture [PItS, Week 2]

[exactlyaverage.livejournal.com]

And that would be Jack screaming like a girl once he dropped to the ground.

Heights were not his thing. Even with the cool boots.

Activity: Laser Hurdles (OMGWTF) [PItS, Week 2]

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

Your portal gun only creates a single portal this week. Work together or on your own to figure out how to get past the hurdles.

[OOC: Basically: shoot a portal into the floor to make the opaque oval open up into a second portal in the ceiling, then jump through the hole to land on the other side of the laser grid, lather, rinse, repeat. If you come into contact with the lasers, they'll start to push you back a little bit, and they'll feel fairly warm and make crackly sounds. Nothing more severe than that. Crappy illustration for reference. (http://www.bunnysingularity.com/images/glados/hurdletrack.jpg)]

Re: Activity: Laser Hurdles (OMGWTF) [PItS, Week 2]

[failsatspirit]

So the thing with getting used to breaking your fall with bending was that you needed to bend the ground, water or air under your feet to do you. Which meant that naturally Korra aimed the gun at the floor under her feet as she fell.

...on the plus side she completed the course rather quicker than she might otherwise have.

Re: Activity: Laser Hurdles (OMGWTF) [PItS, Week 2]

[dollpocalypse]

Yeah, Topher was so very not a runner, it was kind of sad. Especially with his concern over the emancipation grills that had led to him leaving his inhaler in his locker. He started off at a light jog (read: breakneck speeds by his standards), but by the time he got the hang of how the portals were factoring in here, he was way too distracted being awestruck by the gun to bother hurrying up between hurdles.

Look, she'd said she wasn't timing them.

Locker Rooms: After Class [PItS, Week 2]

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

For your post-class locker room needs.

Talk to GLaDOS [PItS, Week 2]

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

Because talking to thin air is fun, right?

Re: Talk to GLaDOS [PItS, Week 2]

[exactlyaverage.livejournal.com]

"Hey! Big talking voice thing?" Jack called out when he had finished and collapsed to the ground. "Next week I'll take neurotoxin over jumping from heights."

Probably not a good idea to say that aloud, Jack.

OOC [PItS, Week 2]

[gladigotburned.livejournal.com]

OOC [PItS, Week 2]
I was going to create an actual test chamber for visual references, but Steam decided to eat itself so I couldn't run the Puzzle Maker, and I've spent all night just trying to reinstall everything. :/ So have a really crappy three-minute illustration instead.

(http://gladigotburned.livejournal.com/pics/catalog/354/1800)

Re: OOC [PItS, Week 2]

[dollpocalypse]

Excuse you, that illustration is adorable.