Ian's Mind (CallMePickle)

"I wonder if I killed anybody... That would look bad on my record; if I murdered somebody. But it was unintentional murder- I didn't even know I was doing it."

- Ian after accidentally causing several huge explosions.

Ian's Mind is a mind series created by CallMePickle. It followed Ian, a man who had to travel through a big maze known as the "Hetzchase Nailway" while being stuck inside of the Aperture Laboratories.

The series features a variation of the ".5" format of episodes, in that there are a number of non-canonical "what if?" episodes that feature alternate scenarios based on choices made by the character. The series markets itself as featuring a branching narrative; however, the series structure is largely identical to that of traditional Mind Series and the alternate paths are essentially identical to .5 episodes; the 'branches' are never explored in any significant detail, and thus cannot reasonably be considered to be truly 'branching', as the primary narrative is the only one that is consistently continued.

Character's Personality
"That's a lot of rules. Where's the "I agree" button? I just click "I agree" on everything."

- Ian

Ian comes across as, most of the time, incognizant of the danger he's in and tends to brush off a lot of the things that occur quickly.

Ian's Mind Episode 1
Ian wakes up in the middle of the road after a car crash, he claims that he doesn't know what happened and that "things" just fell from the sky. After that he finds two batteries that are needed to de-electrify a fence, in this moment he questions why someone would put a battery inside of a sink and says that he needs Advil. After walking through a portal that appeared out of nowhere, he is trapped inside the Aperture Laboratories when it closes behind him, and is then scanned and prepared for testing. The episode ends with Ian completing his first test.

Ian's Mind Episode 2
An orange portal appears and a strange man throws a portal gun over to Ian before the portal then disappears. Soon after completing puzzles involving cubes and energy pellets, he witnesses a razor train crash into the facility and combine soldiers and scanners exiting the train. The facility then deploys turrets as a defence measure and Ian quickly goes to the nearby elevator.

Ian's Mind Episode 3
Ian finds out his portal gun is "low on battery" and he is unable to place portals on any surface, he manages to fully charge his portal gun after requiring to put a heavy object on top of a button. Shortly after, he almost falls into toxic waste after jumping off a platform but places a portal in time, he comments that is was fun though and gave him a good adrenaline rush. After almost being shot by combine soldiers who storm a hallway he was about to enter, he quickly solves a number of short, logic-defying tests in colourful rooms while almost being crushed.

He is then pinned against a wall by a levitating robot with a large screen as a face as it questions him about why he's in the facility and if it's because he's in search of answers or the direction Aperture is heading in, while doing this it flashes disturbing visuals on its screen. Ian says that he has no idea what it's talking about and that he just wants to put down, the robot then explains that if Ian completes the next test in under five minutes it will grant him the ability to place both coloured portals down, if not, then it will harvest his organs and bone marrow to provide assistance to even more capable test subjects. He manages to complete the test in two minutes and is granted the ability to place both portals. He finally has to escape a room with spikes that almost crush him and fire.

Ian's Mind Episode 4 Path A - Not canon
After being shot by a turret and completing a platforming test, Ian passes a relaxation vault and uses an elevator, where he goes to is unknown.

Ian's Mind Episode 4 Path B
After avoiding a turret, Ian crawls through a vent and finds himself in the maintenance areas of Aperture. He then manoeuvres his way through the area and walks onto a descending platform, he eventually pulls a lever down which malfunctions leading to large explosions occurring and part of the facility being in ruin. Ian says that he's not paying for it and that "they'll have to find somebody else".

Ian's Mind Episode 5
While parts of the area are still collapsing, Ian makes his way through an air vent and uses his portal gun to get out of the maintenance area and into an empty test chamber. He also sees some of the damage he caused and says that he did not do this and that his alibi is that he was in an air vent. After unlocking a test chamber door by placing a cube onto a button, he is almost burnt by a huge flame appearing out of the slightly open door. Seeing that the door is broken, he places the cube somewhere else as it is now useless.

Ian's Mind Episode 6 [With Cake!] - Not Canon
Ian uses the cube he previously though was useless to climb up a wall in a destroyed room, he is delighted to see that there is a cake there waiting for him and Still Alive starts playing. Before he is able to find any silverware he either wakes up or is mysteriously transported to outside of the room.

Ian's Mind Episode 6 [Without Cake]
Ian walks through a hallway in the area and stumbles upon a meeting room, he comments that the wall is "screwed".

Ian's Mind Episode 7
Ian swiftly moves on and walks into the observation room to the spike and fire test chamber he previously survived, noticing that there's a hole in the wall now. After that, he uses two cubes to make a bridge across a room full of toxic waste so that he can get under a grate and use his portal gun to teleport to the room above. The floor suddenly collapses below him and he then needs to use his portal gun to escape the walls slowly closing in on him, after a very close call he manages to place a portal below him on time and get to the next room. The series ends with the G-Man standing up from the elevator he was sitting in and approaching Ian.

Trivia

 * Ian is named after the mod's creator, Ian Boswell
 * While Ian is a male, the game still uses Chell's playermodel.