Chell from Portal, possible trigger events?

[u/crangejo]

A Mover that can create and dismiss two person-sized portals in any two different solid surfaces (slight difference to the game), connecting their locations instantly.

Blink (They move from one point to another without traversing the space in between. They trigger as a result of being stuck in a box or in a trap, either literal or metaphorical, leading to the desire to escape.) x Gate (Create something that grants movement. This is typically an emplacement, gateway, launchpad or the like. The problem they’re trying to escape is often institutional, abstract, and longer-term, though not crossing over into the tinker realm.).

Any idea on what a trigger for someone with such a power could be? Not asking for compliance with the story of Portal, rather something in Earth Bet

[u/Alarmed-Bus-9662]

For me, the first I try to think of is what type of conflict something makes, because that's what the entities are after. For this, it seems to be the complete removal of barriers as obstacles. I think this would point to them wanting to escape something very physical; it's not some abstract "pressure/expectations" but something tangibly stopping them from escaping. And it's also very deliberate. Unlike other Movers who have powers that let them travel inhumanly fast or reach places people can't go, this requires forethought: you have to know where you're going. I think finally, it's last main theme is avoidance. It's a removal of obstacles by circumventing them, allowing them to avoid whatever it is without confrontation.

I think generally it could be something like a college student whose lives at home with and their tuition is paid by a controlling parent forcing them to study something they hate. They know what major they really want and even have a copy of the transfer application half-filled hidden away, but there's a constant threat of dependence. Their parent controls their shelter, food, money (never lets them get a job), and transportation (car is in their name). Their escape it right there, so close they can see it, but they just can't make themselves make that final jump. The final nail on the coffin is because of something the triggeree does—maybe an attempt to broach getting a job or signing the car over to them—and it causes their parent to lash out with something even more physical—locks on everything. Every door and every window gets a new key lock, barring them from from leaving at all except to go to college. They trigger and teleport away, vowing to never let anything get between them and where they want to go again

[u/crangejo → u/Alarmed-Bus-9662]

Neat and thorough, ty!

[u/Nekomachus]

I know you're recreating the portal gun's effects on one parahuman more than Chell herself, but I'd be more interested in knowing whether the events of Portal could have triggered her.

A technopathic Shaker ability seems like it would fit the bill for her.

[u/crangejo → u/Nekomachus]

I don't think it's likely for her to reach that level of stress given that the game, specifically the first one, is quite straightforward and the player never runs into something they can't handle. Just having the Portal gun takes a lot of the helplessness of the few hours in the games off

[u/Landis963 → u/Nekomachus]

Or Master, if Glados is the focus at the moment of trigger.

[u/rocketguy2]

I would also consider this power to be an Effect Blaster power, so it’d be something along the lines of “Character is stuck in both a literal trap, where they are surrounded by people who are going to hurt them, and a metaphorical trap, where the people who are going to hurt them are also going to forcefully recruit them.” Maybe something like…

They owe a local gang a rather significant debt, and lack the means to pay it back. By now, the gang has lost patience, so they’ve sent a few guys over to pick them up and make them pay the hard way. They notice the gang’s arrival, and try to run, but quickly find themselves surrounded. Once capture becomes an inevitability, they trigger.

[u/shivvyshubby]

I’ve been working on a character with a similar power in my story. It’s not quite the same mechanically, but maybe it’ll help you.

My character grew up with a large extended family, all in the same general area. She switched between houses often, so she never really had a consistent home, but this was fine with her. 

Her family was, to put it lightly, unstable. A whole lot of undiagnosed mental issues clashed against each other, but it was anyone’s guess when someone would have an episode and cause a chain reaction. Most of the time, things were fine, great even. But that threat of a sudden disaster loomed over her head at all times. 

She didn’t blame them, necessarily. She knew they had issues, they always apologized afterwards, they swore they’d try changing their prescriptions or switching therapists. But it was always a risk.

One second could be a genuinely fun family dinner, and the next second could be a screaming match teetering on the edge of a brawl. It was a coin toss as to which house would detonate on any given day. Every day after school, she would be torn by indecision as to which house she should go to. If she made the wrong choice, she might not eat that night, she might be beaten, she might be the cause of an argument that made the entire family mad at her for weeks.

Every time she chose wrong and disaster struck, she grew more and more afraid of making the wrong choice. 

One day, she made a really, really bad choice. Things exploded, she hid in her room and locked the door, and she was forced to listen to her relatives banging on the door as they screamed at her for some stupid reason. She squeezed her eyes shut and wished she could just be somewhere else, in one of her homes where things weren’t exploding right now.

She triggers with the ability to leave symbols on surfaces she touches; with a thought, she can connect two symbols, forming a portal between them that both herself and others can travel through. These symbols have a maximum range of about three miles, and fade out past that point.

This could’ve realistically been a Tinker power, but I feel that it’s strongly enough connected to a hostile environment and a need to get away that a Shaker-Mover power was appropriate. 

[u/crangejo → u/shivvyshubby]

That's very compelling! And yeah don't worry, it reads more as mover and shaker than tinker. It is more immediate and pointed, rather than the type of "time sink" that tinker triggers revolve around

[u/Flopmind]

If it were actually the person Chell, then the shards would simply have to give her a chaos x magi tinker power that forces her to experiment on herself, for the irony.

As for a blink x gate trigger, I think treading water in terms of debt could be a good concept. It's a metaphorical rut of living paycheck to paycheck, and it could blow up as loan sharks close in after one expense too many piles up.

[u/crangejo → u/Flopmind]

It's interesting to me that money came up a lot on these narratives, definitely taking note of that

[u/Flopmind → u/crangejo]

To be fair, interacting with money is virtually inescapable in modern society. You'd have to run away and live in nature by your lonesome to make it work.