Again.
Chell's chest heaves as she tightens the grip on her pole. For once, she's thankful for keeping her body in peak condition—she had left Aperture a changed woman, but those self-reservation instincts never truly went away.
The reflexes she gained in testing—combined with the help she'd eventually enlisted from GLaDOS—made Chell an invaluable addition to the Jaegar Program.
And now here she was, training future Jaeger pilots.
Again, Mako.
She gives the teenager a fleeting look—Chell doesn't have to speak for the girl to understand.
Mako nods, black hair dipping into her face as she moves to a starting position. Chell straightens and twirls her pole, flicking the tip and daring the other to make a move.
Thunk.
Mako flies at her in a flurry of strikes, wood cracking against wood. Chell ducks and twists, deflecting as many strikes as she can until the pole connects with her gut. The dark-haired woman stumbles. Mako strikes again, and Chell lands flat on her back.
"Not bad," says a familiar voice over the speakers. "For someone who was adopted, I mean."
Mako's expression twitches, and Chell glares at the camera. Unlike herself, the young girl in front of her actually is adopted. Just because the AI toned down on her sarcasm while running the Jaegar system didn't mean that anything had changed between her and Chell—especially during more private times like this.
The black-haired girl stretches out a hand and helps Chell to her feet.
"And you," she says. Chell can almost feel the narrowing of her yellow optic. "You're getting sloppy. I'm counting on you to create the next line of lunatics to take out whatever's out there," she says, voice dropping. "So you'd better not let me down."
Chell gives a small snort before readying her pole.
Again.
So I just saw Pacific Rim, and every time I heard Ellen McLain's voice the Portal fan within me couldn't help but wonder how GLaDOS (and by extension, Chell) might fit into that universe. I might expand this out into a slightly longer one-shot one day, but for now enjoy this :3