Aperture Science / ASCI

Cave Johnson Era

In 1947, Aperture Fixtures was founded by Cave Johnson as a shower curtain manufacturing business. The name was chosen to make the curtains appear more hygienic.

In 1956, the Eisenhower Administration signed a contract with Aperture Fixtures to manufacture shower curtains to all branches of the US Armed Forces, excluding the US Navy.

From 1957 to 1973, the company produced mostly shower curtains and had a great deal of success, making Cave Johnson a billionaire. Up to 1973, Aperture Fixtures used a bulletin board system.

At this point, early work on the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device began. The early version, called the Aperture Science Portable Quantum Tunneling Device, proved to be too bulky for effective use, and poor surface conductors for the portals often caused disfigurement or death to the test subjects. Repulsion Gel was first developed around this time with the intended use as a diet aid. At first, only the brightest and best of society were chosen for testing, but after being connected to a string of astronaut disappearances in 1968, Aperture Science focused on recruiting homeless people for testing instead of wealthy, renowned people. Cave Johnson began suspecting Black Mesa of industrial espionage, and blamed them for Aperture’s bankruptcy (Propulsion Gel was released around this time too).

In 1974, Cave Johnson was exposed to toxic Conversion Gel, made of ground up moon rocks.

In 1976, both of Cave Johnson’s kidneys failed. Brain-damaged, dying, and incapable of realizing that time is not now flowing backwards, he laid out a three-tiered research and development program. The results, he said, will “guarantee the continued success of Aperture Science far into the fast-approaching distant past.”

1. The Heimlich Counter-Maneuver: A reliable technique for interrupting the life-saving Heimlich Maneuver
2. The Take-A-Wish Foundation: A charitable organization that will purchase wishes from the parents of terminally ill children and redistribute them to wish-deprived, but otherwise healthy adults. It counters the Make-A-Wish Foundation, designed to grant wishes to terminally ill children.
3. The “Portal” project: As described by Johnson when it was first proposed, “Some kind of rip in the fabric of space… That would… Well, it’d be like, I don’t know, something that would help with the shower curtains, I guess. I haven’t worked this idea out as much as the wish-taking one.” This is what will become the “Portal” project, involving the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device and its creation of portals.

After Cave Johnson Era

In 1981, Aperture Science engineers completed the Heimlich Counter-Maneuver and the Take-A-Wish Foundation initiatives. The company announced products related to the research in a televised ceremony. Unsurprisingly, these products were wildly unpopular. After a string of highly-publicized choking and despondent sick child disasters, senior company officials were summoned before a Senate investigative committee. During these proceedings, an engineer mentioned that some progress has been made on Tier 3, the “man-sized ad-hoc quantum tunnel through physical space, with possible applications as a shower curtain.” The committee was quickly and permanently recessed, and Aperture Science was granted an open-ended contract to secretly continue research on the “Portal” and Heimlich Counter-Maneuver projects.

From 1981 to 1985, work progressed on the “Portal” project. During this time, several high-ranking Fatah personnel choked to death on lamb chunks, despite the intervention of their bodyguards, showing that the US Government has apparently put the Heimlich Counter-Maneuver to work.

As of 1982, the Enrichment Center, where test subjects undergo tests, was functioning. The Enrichment Center Test Subject Application Process, a 50-question questionnaire designed for selecting test subjects, was also in use at this time. It is unknown if the Enrichment Center was already computer-assisted in 1982. The Enrichment Center Test Subject Application was later operated by versions 1.07 (later 1.07a and 1.07b) of GLaDOS.

In 1985, the Aperture Image Format (AIF) was created and maintained by Doug Rattmann.

In 1986, word reached Aperture Science management that Black Mesa was working on a similar portal technology. In response to this news, Aperture Science began development on the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System (GLaDOS).

In 1996, after a decade spent bringing the Disk Operating System parts of GLaDOS to a state of more or less basic functionality, work began on the Genetic Lifeform component. During this time, the Aperture Science Red Phone plan was implemented in case GLaDOS became sentient and Godlike, requiring an employee to sit by a red phone on a desk in GLaDOS chamber’s entrance hall.

In 1997, GLaDOS reached version 3.11.

In 1998, Aperture Science released the Propulsion Gel to the public as a diet aid, serving as a dietetic pudding substitute comprised of liquefied, slightly less non-toxic fiberglass insulation (i.e. slightly more toxic), and was marketed under the name “Propulsion Pudding”. Unfortunately Propulsion Pudding was a complete failure and was pulled from shelves. Later that year a new formula, Repulsion Gel, was released and was also a total failure. Both gels were subsequently recycled for use the the ASHPD in test chambers instead. Aperture also released the Excursion Funnel, a tractor beam-like funnel made of liquid asbestos, the Thermal Discouragement Beam, a laser to be used with a Weighted Pivot Cube to destroy Sentry Guns and activate some buttons, and the Pneumatic Diversity Vent, a variant of the Vital Apparatus Vent used for distributing objects to test chambers were also developed in 1998.

In May 1998, the untested AI of GLaDOS was activated for the first time as one of the planned activities on Aperture Science’s first annual bring-your-daughter-to-work day. Upon activation, GLaDOS almost immediately became self-aware, took control of the facility, locked everyone inside, and flooded the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin. GLaDOS was partially halted when she was quickly fitted with a Morality Core. She then began a permanent cycle of testing, aimed to beat Black Mesa in the race to develop functioning portal technology. A few days later, on May 16, the Black Mesa Incident occurred at the Black Mesa Research Facility, allowing aliens to transport from Xen to Earth, eventually leading to the Combine invasion, stopping GLaDOS’ race against Black Mesa.

GLaDOS’ control

As seen in the hacker message found on ApertureScience.com, referring to the lockdown, the remaining employees continued working, as they were asid to be working on 20 year old equipment. The construction of an Enrichment Center was also mentioned, suggesting that the Aperture Laboratories house several of them. The number of Aperture Science employees also likely diminished, until only a few of them remained. The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device was likely already complete at this time, but it is unknown if it preceded GLaDOS’ activation.

During this period, Portal Storms continued to rage on Earth and spread chaos, eventually leading to the Seven-Hour War, resulting in Earth being defeated and subsequently occupied by the Combine. Later, approximately 20 years after GLaDOS’ activation, Gordon Freeman was awakened from his stasis by the G-Man, and arrived in City 17, which greatly disrupted the Combine’s grasp on Earth.

Portal Era

Some time after GLaDOS’ takeover of Aperture Laboratories and shortly after the Combine Invasion of Earth, the Enrichment Center seemed to be long abandoned, and GLaDOS seemed to rule it alone, although some people were supposedly still trapped somewhere within. The scribblings left by Rattmann also seemed rather odd, showing that the Enrichment Center had been partially abandoned for some time. A calendar named “The Girls of Aperture Science”, dated 1983, was also rather worn-out. Chell was awakened in her Relaxation Vault in the Enrichment Center, and was guided as a Test Subject by GLaDOS, utilizing the completed ASHPD, while the AI showed signs of instability. When GLaDOS attempted to murder Chell at the end of her tests, she fled through the maintenance areas of the Enrichment Center, and eventually attempted to destroy GLaDOS, before being dragged away inside by the Party Escort Bot.

Before her partial destruction, GLaDOS hinted to Chell that things have changed since the last time she left the building, and that what is going on out there will make her wish she were back inside. GLaDOS also said she was the only thing standing between [GLaDOS and Chell] and an undetermined group, most likely the Combine.

Portal 2 Era

Portal 2 is set several years after the events of Portal. During that time, Aperture Science was really no more. It is assumed that GLaDOS and the Personality Cores overtook the partially-destroyed facility, and were still performing tests.

Post-Portal 2

Several years later, after the Combine were overrun, the Enrichment Facility was retaken by the Humans. GLaDOS was not destroyed, but temporarily deactivated so that she could be saved for further development. Aperture Science is now run as an Engineering and Resource organization.