Test Shaft 09.

[Nick The Canadian Core]

Okay, I am wanting to hear everyone else and their opinion on this, so read on!
First, at the Tartaros 09 area, how is it possible for fires to be ongoing still even when there is noone to start the fire, and everything there was motionless for, lets say 20-30 years?
Next, when viewing the bottom of test shaft 09, there are a few small spheres in the water? Are they more spheres, because I remember a sign on a door saying test chambers 1-100 or something. But, the spheres could be something else, because Aperture put signs by the railing, warning not to fall in the water, so, that could mean that, once they finished the salt mining(or part way in it), there could have been a flood, or leak, etc. that caused the water, them then noticing and doing nothing but putting warnings. Next, I hear a lot of people talking about this: which enrichment shafts are cleaner/organized. In the first sphere, there is water in the sphere, and in the last sphere, there are pieces of the sphere that have fallen off. Are they supposed to be like that?
In addition, Cave Johnson states something about asbestos in the spheres, and that getting covered in the blue gel is bad, but no serious effects happen to Chell. Is she more advanced than everyone else?
Furthermore, the drydock for the Borealis is below ground level... HOW?!?!
And how do they make it go to the surface?
Another interesing thing to consider: The bird took PotatOS in the tartaros area, but then appears in the 1970 era control room area. And if I remember, there are only 3 ways to get into shaft 09: the two hatches at the beginning and end, and the elevator access, which is "Out Of Service".

Feel free to ask other questions or to answer questions.

[Lunatix]

It's just a game...

[unclebuddy1]

There could be other hatches that were used to get the Borealis into the mine that were sealed later. There would of been mine shaft air ducks for air circulation that the birds got into or maybe the birds were brought down on purpose for test or just pets. The newspaper in-game says U.P. which stands for upper pennisula of Michigan and Aperture is in a salt mine. I live in the U.P. of Michigan and as far as I know there is only Iron Mines up here, no salt mines.

[unclebuddy1]

And don't listen to lunatix either, some of us love to discuss Portal 2. Besides with a name like lunatix it sounds like someone who is trying to hard to be cool. Who cares right? Right!

[Nick The Canadian Core]

lol. Still wondering some other thins, will try noclipping some areas, maybe uncover some answers. Continue to ask questions

[unclebuddy1]

Excellent idea, let me know what you find.

[MustardJeep]

It's a garbage dump and the power is still on. (Google 100 year coal mine fire for plausable)

Sign : In case of Flooding Seek Air Pocket, as for small spheres imagine something cool and your probably right.

The Spheres go from Astronaut grade test subjects to Bums aperture scooped off the street for $60.00. Need I say more?

Chell has also been in Hypersleep for nine..nine....nine....nine...nine...bzzzzz, lugged around a neutrino emitting portal device, spent considerable time jumping through semi-stable wormholes, and survived GLADOS.... not saying she is more advanced but at the least seriously driven. Ratman Comic

The Borealis was part of a teleportation experiment like the original black mesa experiment. There was a miss-fire. (For more information please play HL2EP2)

There are hundreds of thousands of interconnecting passages, elevator shafts, testing tracks, laboratorys, emmiter farms, enrichment spheres, test chambers, offices, abandoned offices, nerotoxin pipelines, nerotoxin storage tanks, potato planters, potato vines, lobbies, pumping stations, and well you get the picture aperture is a pretty big place where behind every wall there is another corridor and that is just in the 1940's aperture.

[unclebuddy1]

Do they ever mention why they were making nerotoxin to begin with? At this point I can only assume it was for military application.

[MustardJeep]

Take your daughter to work day.

Glados put in a rather large order for a schrodingers cat experiment, turns out it was to see if test subjects are alive or dead in relaxation vaults, with the control being everyone else in the facility.

[unclebuddy1]

Thanks again MustardJeep. Didn't GLaDOS want test subjects (for portal gun tests) then? Or did she figure she could get more test subjects somehow? I mean knowing the experiment could kill them all? Or didn't she use the toxin on all test subjects just on all employees?

[unclebuddy1]

It nice nice to know that, I thought she did that to stop them from trying to control her.

[unclebuddy1]

Why was Wheatley put in charge of test subjects? Was it by a A.I. that knew the tests subjects were dead anyway and figuring that was a good job for a moron?

[Nick The Canadian Core]

please try to keep the conversation only on test shaft 09, any further comments unrelated to it and they will get deleted, most likely, unless a theory is related with test shaft 09 in it

[Tilu]

For any sort of underground mining there has to be multiple air shafts for air to get in and out, and also in case of cave ins which can and will happen while mining. So that's how the bird possibly got in, and also a possible reason for the water/sludge at the bottom of the test shaft. Or at least that's my theory on it.

And like Unclebuddy said, there could have been passages that got sealed off that they could have gotten the Borealis out of.

And with the blue gel, it could take a while for any effects to happen is what I've always thought.

[z34chris]

few questions I have: 1. each pump station shows six enrichment spheres for a total of eighteen but we visit a third of that 2. in enrichment sphere two test chamber one, the test chamber is destroyed and fallen against the wall. what was the original test here? i tried rebuilding it but became more perplexed 3. in the same sphere below the second test chamber are various painted areas on different columns. other than providing a place for a portal what other used do these have? 4. in enrichment sphere three test one there is a room at the end of this test. in the room is a boarded up door but the location of this door is against the inside of the enrichment sphere. why is the test chamber pushed so far back? was there more to the test chamber beyond the door? just before the second test chamber are some more painted areas for placing portals requiring us to bounce fling into the next test. the other painted areas nearby are less obvious and look as though propulsion gel may have been require but is not yet available. once arriving at the second test things are normal except for a few walls with portal surfaces placed in odd locations 5. enrichment sphere six does not use music even though it is labeled as an intro test. above, enrichment sphere seven can be seen with what looks to be conversion or cleansing gel pipes. what tests could have been inside?

[The Weeb Café]

This thread is old, but I have an answer and questions.
Answer: The drydock is below groundlevel because the Borealis is supposed to be part of a test where they tried to create bigger portals, with the purpose of "portalling" the ship up to the surface.
Question 1: How did the birds manage to get four and a half kilometres below the surface?
2: How can the birds survive? As far as I know, it should be incredibly cold that far under the surface. (Edit: I researched a little and found out that the temperature at -4,8km lies at about 23°C.) Also, there shoudn't be any food or materials to build a nest out of.
3: How can the elevator, Chell and a potato fall at the same speed?.