Aperture Science Extended Relaxation Center
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| Extended Relaxation Center | |
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The Aperture Science Extended Relaxation Center is a section within the Aperture Science Enrichment Center where Test Subjects are accommodated and sometimes put into long-term relaxation, shortly after or before their testing courses.
The Relaxation Center is the first location in the single-player campaign of Portal 2, where Chell is awakened by a distressed Wheatley in the chapter, The Courtesy Call.
Contents
Overview[edit]
- The Relaxation Center is a massive compound, consisting of thousands of docked "Relaxation Chambers", life support containers that can be moved along a rail, which on the inside, bear a striking resemblance to the interior of hotel rooms, circa 1950.
- Within the Relaxation Chambers, Test Subjects are encouraged by a PA system to stare at art, listen to classical music, and exercise at regular intervals, presumably to prevent muscular and intellectual deterioration between periods of stasis.
- Relaxation Chambers are also used to put Test Subjects in long-term relaxation (i.e. cryosleep), in which case they are named "Cryo-Chambers". They are managed by the Cryo-Control system, which regulates the cryo-suspension process and life support through Cryo-Units. The Cryo-Control system has a main power grid and a reserve grid in case of failure. When the reserve grid takes over the main grid if the latter fails, the wake-up date cannot be programmed.
- It appears that despite the propaganda slogan "The cryo-suspension process is both safe & fun!", a warning also suggests that the long-term relaxation is not fail-safe, and that Test Subjects may die in the process.
- The Relaxation Chamber should not be confused with the Relaxation Vault, used by Test Subjects while testing.
- Following the partial destruction of GLaDOS, Chell found herself outside the facility, and was brought back in by the Party Escort Bot, which placed her in a Relaxation Chamber. However GLaDOS' destruction had damaged the main power grid, and Doug Rattmann saved Chell by patching her Cryo-Unit in the reserve grid to restart her life support, putting her in long sleep for an unknown amount of time ("both alive and dead, until someone opens the box"). Several years later, Wheatley awoke Chell in her damaged but still functioning chamber, took control of the Chamber, lead it through the Center and lead her through the ruined facility by leaving the Center through a hole in the wall.
- All of the other Test Subjects besides Chell in the Relaxation Center have died, seemingly due to the main power grid being being damaged after GLaDOS' destruction.
- On the back panel of the Relaxation Center room, there is a label that describes the Test Subjects that are occupying the rooms by a barcode, their age, body type, gender, and height as well as the day the subjects were put into the room and the day that the Test Subjects "expire".
Behind the scenes[edit]
- The Relaxation Center was first glimpsed in the Portal 2 teaser trailer shown at E3 2010, then shown in its final state at PAX East in 2011, in a video showcasing the opening of the single-player campaign in Portal 2.
- Concept art also appeared in the game files of the video game The Ball, as part of the PotatoFoolsDay ARG.
- Several unused models related to an earlier version of Chell's Relaxation Chamber can still be found in the game's files.
- At the early stages of Portal 2 development, when the game was set in 1980s, the Relaxation Center was a decorative island, where the movement of Test Subjects was limited with automatic glass panels. It was shown at GDC 2012.[4]
Trivia[edit]
- When Chell first awakes, the mural depicts a man sitting on a beach. When she is woken up again, it shows a wolf on the beach howling at a full moon. The painting Chell is required to observe also changes its appearance to a nighttime version, complete with full moon. Additionally, that painting bears a striking resemblance to Lakeside Hideaway by Thomas Kinkade.
- It is unknown how exactly the Relaxation Chamber's bed puts its Test Subject into stasis, as it does not seem to contain any technology required to sustain the Test Subject's vital functions, unlike the Relaxation Vault bed. It's likely that it is the Relaxation Chamber itself that keeps the Test Subject in stasis.
- As Wheatley drives Chell's Relaxation Chamber in The Courtesy Call, information can be seen on other Relaxation Chambers, detailing the age, sex, fitness, height, and date of "packaging" and "expiration" of the subjects inside. All put the "expiration" date at exactly 20 years after "packaging". How Chell somehow survived dramatically longer in stasis is unknown.
Gallery[edit]
Portal 2: Lab Rat[edit]
Propaganda poster for the cryo-suspension process.
Chell just put to sleep in a Relaxation Chamber.
Rattmann restarting Chell's life support in the Cryo-Control.
Chell's Relaxation Chamber rebooting.
Portal 2[edit]
Pre-release[edit]
Concept art for 4 different Relaxation Chambers portrayed as photos in a designer's album.
Concept art of incomplete humanoid robots in a Relaxation Chamber.
Concept art of Chell in a ruined Relaxation Center.
Concept art.
Portal 2 original opening scene.
An early version of Chell's Relaxation Chamber, as seen in the Portal 2 Teaser Trailer.
Work in progress.
Almost complete.
Final version.
Retail[edit]
Aperture Science Extended Relaxation Center.
Glimpse of the Relaxation Center from Chell's damaged Relaxation Chamber, with other Chamber containers visible in the background.
Ditto, closer
The panels on the back of a Relaxation Center rooms that labels the Test Subjects.
Ditto, closeup. Apparently, this subject was an 'tall' and 'fat' adult female who was 'packed' February 3, 1976, and unless removed from stasis, would 'expire' exactly twenty years later.
Chell's room.
Ditto.
Painting which Chell is required to look at.
The same painting as Chell awakes.
The mural.
The mural as Chell awakes.
Aperture Science Extended Relaxation Center.
Aperture Science Extended Relaxation Center television as Chell awakes.
Aperture Science Extended Relaxation Center bed before Chell goes back to sleep.
Ditto, as Chell awakes, with her prints left into the bed.
List of appearances[edit]
Main games[edit]
Other[edit]
- PotatoFoolsDay ARG (First appearance)
- Portal 2: Lab Rat
- The Final Hours of Portal 2
- Lego Dimensions (Non-canonical appearance) (Relaxation Chamber only)
References[edit]
- ↑ Portal 2 - Portal Intro Study on The Valve Store (archived)
- ↑ Interview with Ivan Simoncini level designer and artist on Portal 2 at Game Artist
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Portal 2 Collector's Edition Guide
- ↑
Portal 2 original opening scene on YouTube
| Preceded by Central AI Chamber (Portal) |
Portal 2 journey | Succeeded by GLaDOS' testing track (Portal) |
