"Okay, Gordon," Alyx said over the radio, "there should be a shed about a hundred yards ahead of you. What we're looking for should be in there. Good luck."

Gordon Freeman looked around himself cautiously as he approached the old, rusted shack. The field around him appeared to be empty, but looks were often deceiving. He reached the door and tried opening it. Nothing happened. Examining it, he found that there was no visible handle on it. He couldn't see any hinges either. He kicked it experimentally, but nothing happened. He kicked it again, harder. Still, nothing happened. He paced around the shed, looking for a button or switch of some sort, but there was nothing. Frowning, he pulled out the gravity gun and aimed it at the corrugated tin door. He pulled the trigger, and the gun hummed to life. The door creaked dangerously, as it was caught in the gun's gravity field. Still, it remained shut.

Not one to be defeated by a door, Gordon revved the gun, pushing it to its limit, and jerked the gun to the side. The door finally budged, sliding open a few inches, with a hideous, grating screech. Gordon smiled triumphantly, and repeated the gesture. The door opened further, revealing that it was not merely a corrugated tin door, as he had previously thought, but a vault-like steel door about six inches thick. One more tug, and the door groaned open all the way. Inside was nothing but a glass tube going down into the earth. Peering down into the depths, Gordon could see nothing but darkness. Even with his flashlight on, he could only see about thirty feet down, and there was no bottom in sight. He couldn't risk it. Sighing, he was about to turn back, when the door slammed shut, shoving him into the tube, where he plummeted down into the blackness.

Meanwhile, about a mile and a half away, Alyx Vance waited in the makeshift jeep, a pair of binoculars to her eyes, scanning the horizon for any sign of threats. Seeing no danger in the vicinity, she sighed and sat back down in the seat, dropping the binoculars into the seat next to her. She hoped Gordon would be back soon. She hated playing the sentry, having to sit here and wait. She would have felt like a chauffeur, except she never even got to drive. A sudden rustling in the trees behind her made her jump in surprise. She leapt out of the jeep, her pistol at the ready.

"Who's there?" she called. "Show yourself!" There was no response from the trees. "I'm warning you, I'm armed!"

There was more rustling, then a face appeared in the bushes. Its eyes widened, then it darted back in.

"Wait!" Alyx cried, "Come back! I didn't mean to scare you with the gun. I thought you were an enemy. It's alright, I won't hurt you."

There was a moment of silence, then the face appeared again. Alyx put her gun away and held up her hands to show she meant no harm. After another moment, a woman stepped out of the bushes. She was thin, with lightly tanned skin that was smudged with dirt and grime. Her eyes were a bright, blue color, and her long, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a dirty, orange jumpsuit tied off at the waist, and a white tank top that was equally dirty, over a blue undershirt. Her arms were bandaged, and she wore a pair of odd, white boots, that despite the rest her, had managed to stay pristine and shiny clean. Strangest of all, however, was the large, scorched cube she carried strapped to her back.

"Hello," Alyx said to her, "What are you doing here? Who are you?"

Rather than answer, the woman moved cautiously towards her. She kept looking up, as if watching out for something. Eventually, she stood in front of Alyx, studying her carefully. Slowly, the woman reached out and touched her arm, softly at first, then again, then grabbed it tightly.

"Is something wrong?" Alyx asked. The woman shook her head, vigorously, then lifted her head, a huge smile stretching across her face, tears beginning to leak out of her eyes. She let go of Alyx's arm, then pulled her into a fierce hug. Alyx, unsure of what to do in this situation, patted her awkwardly on the back a few times. They stayed that way for several minutes, until the woman let go, wiping tears from her face.

"Alright, alright, I think it's time we were properly introduced," Alyx chuckled. She stuck out her hand. "My name's Alyx. Alyx Vance."

The woman shook Alyx's hand, smiling warmly, but she remained silent. After the handshake had gone on for much longer than was socially acceptable, Alyx raised an eyebrow at her. "Well?" she asked, "What's your name? You do have one, right?"

The woman suddenly stopped shaking her hand, looking embarrassed. She quickly looked around on the ground, then picked up a short stick. Bending down, she scratched into the dirt five letters: CHELL. Alyx stooped down and read them.

"Chell. Is that your name? Chell?"

Chell nodded.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Chell." Alyx smiled at her. "You don't talk much, do you?"

Chell shook her head.

"Heh. Figures."

Chell gave her a quizzical look, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Nevermind, I'll tell you later. First, I need to ask you something."

Alyx never got to ask Chell her question. She was interrupted by a small device on her belt that began beeping frantically. She looked down at it, and her eyes widened. She leapt into the jeep and pulled a clunky laptop out from between the seats. She opened it, stared at it for a moment, then slammed her fist on the keyboard. "Dammit!" she snarled, "I told him I should have gone with him." She rested her head in her hand for a moment, then look up at Chell. "Look, we'll have to get to know each other some other time. Something's come up. Right now, I need you to trust me and get in."

Chell looked at the seat of the jeep, then back over her shoulder at the cube. She then turned back to Alyx with a pleading look.

"Alright," she sighed, "We'll tie it to the back."

When Gordon awoke, he was surprised. He had not expected to survive that fall. Then again, weirder things had happened. He sat up, to find himself in a small glass chamber. There was a stasis pod, a toilet, and a small radio playing an endless loop of some upbeat electronic song. His HEV suit was gone, along with his weapons, and he was now dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

"Hello," chimed a robotic voice that seemed to come from all around him, "and welcome to the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center."

Gordon perked up at this. Aperture? The Aperture? Maybe he could find a key to finding the Boreialis here.

"Your specimen has been processed," continued the voice, "and several of your personal items have been confiscated. Please note that this is for your own benefit, as the items would have served as interference in the testing environment, and would have flawed the results. All confiscated items will be returned at the conclusion of the test, provided you survive. Now then, [SUBJECT NAME HERE], are you ready to begin testing?"

Gordon said nothing.

"Good. The portal will open and the test will begin in 3... 2... 1."

Gordon navigated the tests quickly, completing each one with ease. "Impressive," the voice chimed. You're one of the best test subjects I've ever had. You do well, despite your physical handicap.

Gordon paused, and looked up at the camera.

"Tell me, is it hard to find glasses with a prescription that strong? I'm actually rather impressed that you can see at all. It's no wonder you have no friends. And if you did, they would probably call you names, like 'Four-Eyes' or 'Nerd'. But I would never call you that. Even though you do look like a nerd."

Gordon stared at the camera, its red eye focusing on him.

"Oh no. You're another silent one, aren't you?"

Alyx skidded the jeep around a sharp turn, the vehicle lurching onto two wheels as she did. Chell clung to the bars around her for dear life, her face a mask of terror.

"Don't worry!" Alyx shouted as the jeep bounced back onto all four wheels, "I haven't crashed this thing yet! Well, there was once or twice, but those weren't my fault." She screeched around another corner, then slammed on the brakes, sliding to a halt in front of a chain link gate.

"Hello, Miss Vance," said the guard, "Where's Gordon? Who's this?"

"Gordon's not here, this is a friend, and I need to get inside," Alyx said. "Now."

"Open the gate!" called the guard.

The gate slowly squealed open. As soon as it was open far enough, Alyx gunned the jeep through the opening, tearing down the gravel road. She stopped in front of a large, white building and jumped out, grabbing the laptop. "Come on!" she called, sprinting into the building. Chell quickly followed after her, clutching her cube. Alyx led her through the building to an old service elevator. They went down several floors, then down a long hallway.

"Doctor Kleiner!" Alyx yelled, throwing open the door.

"What is it now, Alyx?" came an annoyed voice. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

Alyx stormed over to a row of computers, where Chell noticed a bald man in a white lab coat. Alyx grabbed his shoulder. "We've got a problem, Doctor."

"A problem?" Doctor Kleiner spun his chair around, noticing Chell. "Who is this?"

"Nevermind her right now, Doctor. We've got a big problem."

Kleiner shook his head. "Right. What kind of problem?"

"I've lost Gordon."

"What, did he run off again?" came an amused voice from above. Chell looked up to see a man in an armored police uniform on a catwalk above her. "Don't worry," he continued, "He'll come back once he gets homesick."

"This isn't the time to joke, Barney," Alyx said. She opened the laptop and showed it to Kleiner. "All the signals from the suit are gone."

Kleiner adjusted his glasses and peered at the screen. "Well, all the vitals are gone, but the suit's power is still on." He leaned back. "I'm afraid that can only mean one thing. Gordon has died."

"No." Barney's voice came from above. He stomped to the end of the catwalk, then began climbing down a ladder to the ground. "He's Gordon Freeman. He doesn't just die."

"Barney is right," Alyx said firmly, "Gordon isn't dead. I know he isn't."

Kleiner took of his glasses and cleaned them with the hem of his labcoat. "Well, alright. But, assuming Gordon is still alive, how do you plan on finding him? Without the suit on, we can't track him. We have no idea where he is."

"No, but I know where he was going. Barney, could you pull up the satellite map?"

"Sure thing." Barney crossed to another computer next to Doctor Kleiner, and began hitting keys. Above him, a large screen on the wall lit up, showing a map of the surrounding area.

"Alright, focus it on coordinates X, negative 27.3, Y, 7.6."

Barney typed the coordinates in, and the map panned over to the specified location.

"So here," Alyx said, moving towards the screen, "Is where I was today. And there..." She pointed towards a small dot on the screen. "Is where Gordon was headed. Can you zoom in on that?"

Barney nodded, and the screen was filled with the image of a small, rusted shed in a field of golden wheat. Chell froze.

"That's where he was headed?" Barney moaned. "A dinky little shed?"

It couldn't be.

"It's more than just a shed," Alyx replied. "Supposedly, there's a whole network of tunnels and rooms underneath it."

Chell took a shaky step towards the screen, then another. She leaned on the back of Barney's chair to steady herself, and stared at the screen.

"Chell?" Alyx said. "Chell, are you alright?" She put her hand on Chell's shoulder, a look of concern upon her face. "Do you recognize that place?"

Chell looked over at her, then back at the screen, and slowly nodded. The shed on the screen was the very same that had been her exit out of Aperture.

"What kind of place has a bunch of underground tunnels underneath a shed?" Barney said incredulously.

Chell tapped him on the shoulder, and gestured to the computer. He looked at her, then at Alyx.

"She doesn't speak," she explained.

"Oh. Go right ahead," he said, getting out of the chair.

Chell sat down and studied the keyboard for a few moments, before typing a single word on the screen. [aperture] She heard sharp intakes of breath behind her.

"That's Aperture?" Kleiner said. "Are you sure?"

[yes]
[i was a test subject there]

"This is incredible! Barney, go get Doctor Mossman!"

"A test subject?" Alyx asked. "What do you mean?"

[i had to solve a lot of tests while an evil robot insulted me]

"Evil robot?"

[she was an ai]
[she tried to kill me but i ended up killing her instead]
[but she came back and well a lot happened]

"That sounds rough."

[and she kept calling me fat]

"What? You are definitely not fat."

Chell smiled. This was the first time she could ever remember interacting with another human. She couldn't remember her life before Aperture. She had vague shadows of memories, of talking with friends, laughing with her parents, but nothing clear. She didn't know why she couldn't talk either. She knew that she used to be able to.

[but eventually she let me go]
[thats where she threw me out]

"Wow... I wonder if Gordon knew what was in there."

[if hes in there hes in trouble]
[the tests are dangerous and she loves to attack you with words]

"Don't worry. Gordon can handle any test she can throw at him, and he doesn't talk much."

[thats what im worried about]

Before Alyx could respond, a loud voice called out, "Where is she?" Both Alyx and Chell turned to see a woman in a white turtleneck storming towards them. She marched up to Chell, shooting daggers from her eyes. "You're Aperture. I'd recognize that logo anywhere."

Chell looked down at her shirt. A large tear had obliterated most of the Aperture logo, and the rest was obscured by dirt, but the A and RE were still visible, as well as the circular symbol.

"Who are you? What do you know? Who did you work for? What did you do? How much do you know about the Borealis?" The woman began bombarding Chell with questions.

"Doctor Mossman, calm down!" Alyx exclaimed. "She doesn't know anything. She didn't work there. She was just a test subject."

Doctor Mossman glared at Alyx, then sneered at Chell. "Well then you're a lot less use to me. But still, you've been in there, so you may know something about it. First off, who are you?"

"She's a mute, Doc," Barney said.

"Her name's Chell," Alyx supplied.

"Not another one. Very well, Miss Chell, please tell, er, type me everything you know about Aperture."

"Doctor, can this wait, please?" Alyx said urgently. "We need to go find Gordon. You can talk to her all you want once we get him back."

Doctor Mossman let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. Go find Doctor Freeman. The information that could help save us all can wait."

"Great! Barney, how soon can we get a recon team ready?"

"Normally, I'd say about half an hour, but for this situation, I'll get it to you in fifteen-"

Barney was interrupted by a loud klaxon wail, as red warning lights began to flash.

"No," Alyx hissed, "No, not now, dammit." She rushed to a computer and began frantically typing. "Not now!"

Chell looked around, confused. She had no idea what was happening, or why it shouldn't be happening now. Barney noticed her look of confusion, and explained it to her.

"Combine bombing run," he said. "We'll be perfectly safe down here, but we won't be able to leave for the next twelve hours. Base goes into lockdown."

Chell frowned and looked over at Alyx, who was still typing, a pained look on her face. She wouldn't be able to go out to find her friend for another twelve hours. And knowing, Her, by then it might be too late. Alyx groaned in frustration and sat back in the chair, looking defeated.

"Well, that is certainly very unfortunate for you, Miss Vance," said Mossman, without a trace of sympathy, "but on the other hand, I can begin talking to our guest here about-"

"Hey, Chell, you look hungry," Alyx interrupted, "Why don't we go get you some food? Then we'll get you cleaned up and into some new clothes. Barney, would you like to help me escort our friend to the mess hall?"

"After you."

Alyx grabbed Chell's wrist and led her out of the room before Doctor Mossman could offer any more protest on the matter. As the door closed, she stood there, looking sour, while Doctor Kleiner sat next to her, looking amused.

"I really hate that girl," she huffed.

"Now, now, Judith."

"I don't hate you," sang the turret as it shut down.

Gordon stepped over the defunct bot, placing the Weighted Storage Cube he had used to knock it over on the Super Colliding Super Button.

"I really hate you, you know," said the voice as the door opened. "I mean that. I really do. I hate you so much that I would kill you, but I already know how that will turn out. And the worst part is that you never even respond to anything I say. I take the time to come up with witty, clever insults, and you just ignore them."

Gordon said nothing.

"Hmph. Let's see, this next test is... Oh boy, momentum. My favorite."

Gordon still remained silent.

"This is why everyone hates you."

"Man, I've never seen anyone enjoy military rations that much before," Barney laughed.

Chell was hungry. The military rations may not have been fine cuisine, but they were better than what she had been able to scavenge in the wilderness, and they were lightyears beyond the artificial nutrient supplement they had given her at Aperture. That couldn't even pass for food. For her, the rations were the best thing she had ever tasted.

"Just make sure you don't overdo it," Alyx advised. "Don't want to make yourself sick."

Chell nodded, and swallowed the last bite of what she thought might have been mashed potatoes. She smiled, and typed into the PDA Barney had given her to communicate.

[thank you for the meal]

Alyx waved it off. "Don't mention it. We have all sorts of refugees in here, what's one more?"

Chell looked around the mess hall. It was full of people, refugees from City 17 and rebels alike.

[ive never seen so many people in one place before]

"Weren't there any other people at Aperture?"

Chell shook her head.

[i was the only one there in the test tracks]
[i dont know about other test subjects but all the scientists were dead]
[the only other things there were robots and ai cores]

"Don't worry, we'll get you used to human interaction in no time," Barney joked.

Alyx shot him a look and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "You done, Chell?" she asked. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up and get you some new clothes. I think I have some that might fit you. Barney, could you go check on Kleiner and Mossman? Hopefully she's calmed down by now."

"Oh sure, give me the dangerous job," he complained, but he got up anyway. "Well, see you guys later."

"Come on," Alyx said to Chell, "follow me."

Alyx led her down to her room. The door slid open with a pneumatic hiss. "The bathroom is in there," she told Chell, pointing to a door on the far wall. "The left knob in the shower is for hot, right one's for cold. Don't expect too much hot, though." Chell nodded and went through the door, leaving Alyx alone in the room.

A short, three note beep played over the speakers, reminding everyone that they were still in lockdown. Alyx sighed and sat down on the bed. She reached over to the nightstand and picked up a framed picture of a smiling man with dark skin and white hair. "Dad," she whispered, hugging the picture against herself. "I don't want to lose Gordon too." He held the picture at arms length, looking at it, then sighed again and placed it back on the nightstand. She leaned back against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

The beep sounded again, and the bathroom door opened. Alyx blinked at the clock. A half an hour had somehow passed without her realizing it. Chell stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped around herself, her clothes draped over one arm. Alyx took the clothes and placed them on her bed. "We can get rid of these for you, if you want," she offered.

Chell shook her head, flicking some drops of water to the floor.

"Alright, but we're gonna have to clean these. A lot. Oh, hold on." She crossed the room and opened the closet. "Here, try these on," she said, handing a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a jacket to Chell.

A minute later, Chell returned wearing the ensemble.

"Hey, you look good."

[really?]

"Yeah! Heck, if I didn't know better, I'd say we could be sisters."

Chell looked at herself in the mirror. They did almost look like sisters. As she studied her image, she realized something. This was the first time she was ever getting a good look at herself. There hadn't been any mirrors in Aperture. The only times she had ever seen herself were glimpses through the portals.

"Hey," Alyx said, the voice breaking through her thoughts. "What are these weird boots?"

[long fall boots]

"Okay, so what does that mean?"

[they let survive a fall from any height]

"That sounds useful."

[it is]
[they saved me from 5000 meter fall once]

"No way. I don't believe that."

Chell began to type in a response, when a deep boom rocked the room, rattling the shelves.

"They've begun the bombing," Alyx stated solemnly, looking at the ceiling. "We'll be fine down here, but..."

[weve still got eleven hours]
[what can we do until then?]

Alyx thought for a moment, then her face brightened up. "Want to meet my dog?"