Thermal Discouragement Beam

"If permission to look at this diagram has been granted, please do so now, unless the box labeled "DO NOT LOOK AT DIAGRAM" on the "Diagrams Forms Sanction" form you should have received from your supervisors is checked, in which case you should remain at your workstation not looking at the diagram until such time as you are instructed by your supervisor to discontinue not looking at it."

- Thermal Discouragement Beam diagram

The Thermal Discouragement Beam is a testing element used in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center in Portal 2, several decades after Portal. The Thermal Discouragement Beam is the Portal 2 equivalent of the High Energy Pellet used throughout Portal.

Overview



 * The Thermal Discouragement Beam, a laser created from at least 1998, aims at "discouraging" threats such as Sentry Turrets, thus burning / destroying them with a laser, as well as apparently trigger moving floor plates, allowing access to a specific area.


 * The beam can be redirected using Weighted Pivot Cubes into awaiting receptacles.


 * The beam can kill/destroy a Test Subject but will do it slowly.


 * An Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube or any of its variants can block the beam without being damaged.


 * "Thermal Discouragement" is a registered trademark of Aperture Science.


 * Under the Thermal Discouragement Beam diagram can be found a rather confusing disclaimer directed at Test Subjects, suggesting that some of them are allowed to know how the Beam works, and that some are not: "If permission to look at this diagram has been granted, please do so now, unless the box labeled "DO NOT LOOK AT DIAGRAM" on the "Diagrams Forms Sanction" form you should have received from your supervisors is checked, in which case you should remain at your workstation not looking at the diagram until such time as you are instructed by your supervisor to discontinue not looking at it."

Behind the scenes
The Thermal Discouragement Beam was first introduced during the Portal ARG, in one of the ASCII art images given by the BBS, that later appeared to be a diagram depicting its use with a Weighted Pivot Cube, as revealed by the April, 2010 issue of Game Informer. An updated and moving diagram was revealed during E3 2010.

Trivia

 * So far it is unknown why while the Thermal Discouragement Beam was already in use in 1998, it is not seen in the first Portal, set over 20 years later. However, it is likely that Chell simply did not venture into Test Chambers containing the Thermal Discouragement Beam during this time.


 * While the Thermal Discouragement Beam animated diagram shows the beam able to cleanly slice Sentry Guns in half, in-game they burst into flames and explode instead.


 * The achievement "Undiscouraged" is received for completing the first Thermal Discouragement Beam test.


 * The beam is unaffected by the Hard Light Bridge or by windows.


 * At the advertisements seen in test chambers, it is seen that the Thermal Discouragement Beam is actually a giant laser device shooting a laser beam through the Aperture Science offices, which is then portalled into the test chambers.


 * The E3 demonstration video showed a thicker, more diffuse version of the Thermal Discouragement Beam, with different emitter/catcher models.

List of appearances

 * Portal ARG
 * Portal 2
 * The Final Hours of Portal 2