So without further delay, enjoy chapter 1 of The Resonance Debacle, a crossover fanfiction including the Doctor Who and Portal/Half-Life universes. Please feel free to leave a comment below to let me know your thoughts; further improvements in my style I could make; inconsistencies, confusions, or other errors that need correcting; or comments of approval. ^_^ Everything is useful.
(Disclaimer: The Doctor Who, Portal, and Half-Life universes belong to their respective creators. This is fan fiction only. The characters present in this story are taken from the above, and are not my own.)
1
Amy opened her eyes, blinking back the haze that hung at the corner of
her vision. She sat up as best she
could, and looked around. It was
dark. A sudden spark lit up the
emptiness for a split-second, revealing the TARDIS console. Then she remembered where she was.
“Doctor?” she called out,
trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
She was sure this had happened before a few times. Nothing to be worried about. The Doctor had likely just hit the wrong
button and crash-landed them somewhere by accident. But he always got them on the right track
again.
“I’m over here, Amy,” she
heard him answer from the other side of the console.
“What happened, Doctor?” came
Rory’s voice from the direction of the door.
Amy glanced suddenly in his direction, trying to see him, making sure he
was alright.
“I’m, uh…” The Doctor stood up, flipping a switch that
brought a dim lighting to the room. “I’m
not sure. I think...” He began fiddling with various controls, then
looked at an overhead screen. “Oh,
no…that’s not good. That’s not good at
all. Amy, Rory, get over here.”
Amy stumbled to her feet,
leaning heavily against the railing as she got her legs back under her. Rory came up the stairs, walking around the
console to where the Doctor was standing.
Amy joined them. “What’s wrong?”
The Doctor looked at them both
carefully, wearing the expression he usually had when they were in a very bad
situation. “Listen to me carefully. We’ve, eh…well, we’ve sort of fallen through
the universe.”
Amy looked confused. “What, like that bubble universe with all the
wrecked TARDISes?”
“No. We’re, um…we’re in an alternate
universe. And that’s not supposed to
happen.” Sighing heavily, the Doctor
began to work the controls again, occasionally checking the screens. “There was a big, well, I don’t know what it
was. Sort of an explosion, if you like,
an explosion that somehow opened a crack between universes, and the TARDIS fell
through it. I can repair her, and we’ll
be able to fly right back through, but that leaves the breach wide open. We have to seal it.”
“And…how would we do that,
exactly?” asked Rory, looking as lost as Amy felt.
“I don’t know, but I’ll figure
it out. At the moment, though, I need to
find out where we are. Which…” He flipped a switch, and the TARDIS hummed
loudly. “…I just did. Oh,” he said, pointing at some words on a
nearby screen, “fancy that. We’re on
Earth. Twenty-first century.”
“We could go meet ourselves,”
suggested Rory.
“You could. Except, according to the sensors, there’s a
major deviation from our universe’s timeline that starts…right about now.” The Doctor looked at them both, a hint of
uncertainty in his eyes. “Now, also according
to the sensors, there’s nothing dangerous in the immediate area.” His voice dropped to a hushed murmur. “But, I have a very, very bad feeling about
this place. Be careful. Please.”
He patted his companions’ shoulders and smiled reassuringly, walking
past them toward the TARDIS’s exit.
Grabbing the door handle, he said, “Mr. and Mrs. Pond, welcome to…”
“…Earth…” he finished quietly
as they stepped through the door, and found themselves in a sterile, white
room. “Hmm.”
Rory tapped him on the
shoulder. “Uh, Doctor? This looks like…”
“Yes, Apalapucia, I know, but it
can’t be. The TARDIS says we’re on Earth. Who knows, maybe in this universe Apalapucia
is Earth and vice versa, but I doubt it.
But wherever we are, it’s…white.
Very white, obviously. And…no
doors. Blimey.” He scratched his head.
Suddenly, a robotic female voice rang
through the room. “Hello, and welcome to
the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center. Your arrival is unexpected. Please state your identity.”
Amy spoke up. “Um, I’m Amy, this is Rory, and that’s the
Doctor,” she said, as steadily as she could, trying to tell herself that the
Doctor’s concerns were unfounded, but not quite succeeding.
“You will be taken to the
welcome center for orientation,” said the voice. The floor under them shook, and Amy felt as though
they were moving forward. At least, she
thought it was forward.
“I have a question,” said the
Doctor. “Who are you?”
Without hesitation, the voice
said, “My identity is of no consequence.”
The room they were in shook again as something collided against the
“front” of the room. The front wall
opened, revealing another white room.
Apparently, the walls were made of panels. “Please do not attempt to leave the welcome
center. Welcome again to Aperture
Science. We hope your stay is a pleasant
one.” There was an electronic chirp, and
the voice went silent.
Amy moved forward uncertainly,
looking around the newly-arrived room.
There was a row of plastic chairs against one wall, and a large window
in the other, from which a bright light was shining. In every other aspect, the room was as
featureless as the first. As the Doctor
and Rory followed her into the room, the wall began to close behind them.
“No, no, no!” cried the
Doctor, rushing to the opening, but he was cut off as the wall sealed
shut. Frantically, he tried to use his
sonic screwdriver on the wall, but nothing happened. There was a loud buzzing sound from the other
side of the wall, and the voice spoke again.
“Unknown vehicle identified. All
unidentified technologies will be removed for study. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
There was a metallic rumbling
noise from the other side of the wall, likely the TARDIS being carried off. The Doctor stood against the wall, his head
down. Amy glanced once more around the
room, looking for anything helpful. She
noticed that on the wall opposite the chairs was a screen, that showed a
looping animation of a company logo, advertising “Aperture Laboratories”. Seeing nothing immediately useful, Amy sat
down in one of the chairs, and started to think, though she realized the Doctor
would probably figure out a solution long before she ever would. Rory sat down beside her, and the time passed.
The Doctor was pacing the room
slowly, screwdriver in hand, and arms behind his back, clearly deep in
thought. Rory sat twiddling his thumbs,
eyeing the screen suspiciously. Amy was
staring blankly at the wall, thinking hard but coming up empty.
Rory blew out a breath
loudly. “Maybe they’re…filing our
paperwork?”
“For two and a half hours?”
Amy said in exasperation.
The Doctor smirked, but said
nothing. Suddenly, he stopped, and
looked in the direction of the window.
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?” asked Amy, looking toward the
window, wondering what had caught the Doctor’s interest.
He said nothing, simply
staring through the glass. Amy squinted
through the bright light, but saw nothing except a computer on a desk, with an
empty office chair beside it. Although… She squinted, and she thought she could make
out the silhouette of a tall man, except he almost didn’t seem real, as if…
From behind them, Amy heard
Rory ask, “Um…what…are you two looking at?”
“Hello?” the Doctor whispered. The silhouette suddenly became clear, and Amy
saw it was indeed a man, wearing a dark blue suit and tie, and carrying a
briefcase. His hair was thinning, and
gray around the edges. He smirked, his
long, thin lips curling into an almost mocking expression, and he adjusted his
tie. He and the Doctor stared at one
another for a long moment, and then the man’s gaze shifted. A chill ran down Amy’s spine as the man
locked eyes with her, and he smiled coldly.
Amy felt her breath leave her, and she found herself desperately wishing
she could look away, yet unable to, as though she had lost the ability to control her own body.
The Doctor turned to look at
her, and the man’s expression changed to one of mild annoyance. Regaining control of herself, Amy turned
away, clutching her head in her hands.
“Amy, are you alright?” asked
the Doctor.
“You might want to take a look
at this, Doctor,” Rory said, and Amy and the Doctor turned. Amy glanced toward the window again, but the
man had disappeared. She frowned and
shook her head, turning her attention back to Rory, who was pointing toward the
screen. Amy realized that it had
changed, and was now playing a video.
“Welcome, test subjects, to
the Aperture Science Enrichment Center,” a voice was saying. “You have opted to or have been chosen to take
the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device testing course.” The screen showed a sleek, rounded white
device, with a set of claws on one end.
“The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device is a small, short-ranged,
and highly experimental device that is used to create two linked portals,
through which objects can travel.” The
voice went on to detail the technical specifications of the device, which the
Doctor listened to intently, while Amy and Rory sat once more.
“What were you looking at?”
asked Rory quietly.
Amy shook her head in
confusion, still wondering the same thing.
“I dunno, it was…weird. I thought
I saw…” Suddenly, the Doctor broke from
his deep concentration, and turned to them.
“I’ve figured out what this
place is.”
“Apart from claustrophobic and
really creepy?” Rory said sarcastically.
Ignoring the comment, the
Doctor went on. “This is a testing
facility for that…portal device.” He
gestured to the spinning animation on the screen. “If we play along, they might let us go, and
we can find out what’s going on.”
“Play along. Right.
Simple.” Rory stood dramatically,
shrugging. “So, what now?”
“I think we’re about to find
out,” said Amy, nodding toward the screen.
The video had once again
changed to show an animated diagram of a two-dimensional man standing in a
chamber, and the voice was narrating, the man’s robotic, cheery voice seeming
completely in contrast to what he was saying.
“…should you have a fear of heights, possible drowning, or various other
methods of death. However, using the
portal device, you will be able to navigate these seemingly-impossible
obstacles with relative ease. We
recommend that you take the time to carefully examine each course before
proceeding, as a miscalculation may result in your untimely demise. We thank you for your willingness to test for
the sake of humanity. Apply all caution,
and best of luck to you.”
A set of metal bars emerged
from an empty space in the wall, and they began to glow with a soft orange
light. Between them, the wall seemed to
bend and curve, and suddenly it vanished, leaving an oval-shaped hole rimmed by
an orange border.
The Doctor walked forward,
looking carefully at the sudden hole in the wall. Through it, a short hallway could be seen,
with a round door at the end. “Well…that’s
interesting.” He turned to his
companions. “Play along, eh?”
Rory nodded. “Play along.”
“Play along,” Amy agreed.
“Right,” said the Doctor,
turning to face the portal, “here goes.”
Looking back at them one last time, he smiled. “Geronimo,” he said, and stepped through.
Please don't be afraid to share this with others if you enjoyed it! Constructive criticism is useful as well. Thanks for reading! (Chapter 2 to be posted ASAP.)
What a great 1st chapter. More! please.
ReplyDeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for chapter two! - Hugs, Grandma :)
ReplyDelete