Chapter 1 - The Reappearance
Chell POV – The walls around me shuddered and shook. Fear gripped me, though I didn't show it. I would hate for Her to get any satisfaction from my reactions. I shot a blue portal on the slanted wall behind me, just as the floor collapsed and I fell towards my doom. I had only just shot the corresponding orange portal at my feet as I crashed through and landed by the open exit. I swiftly strode into the elevator, my head held high whilst GLaDOS tried her best to make me react to her cruel taunts.
" It says so right on your personnel file: unlikable. Liked by no one. A bitter, unlikable loner, who's passing shall not be mourned. Shall NOT be mourned. That's exactly what it says. Very formal. Very official. It also says you're adopted, so that's funny too," She rambled on, ripping me deeply inside, however on my surface I was determined and untouchable.
The elevator arrived on the next floor, and I found myself in a large room full of turrets behind glass. Companion Cube sat forlornly in the corner. I knew what I had to do. I almost felt sorry for the cube as I used it as a shield to stop the turrets filling me with bullets, even though it obviously can't feel pain. Blaming the isolated and cruel life I have in Aperture, ever since that fateful 'Bring Your Daughter To Work Day', I carried on anyway. I faced the last turret now, and shifted my wrist slightly to support the heavy cube.
"I see you," responded the turret. The booming sound of bullets hitting the cube, its insides echoing eerily, the gasp I let out as a large bullet skimmed across my right wrist, cutting it open, bombarded my ears in an instant. I threw the cube at the turret, trying to cover my open wrist and stem the bleeding. The pain I felt hit me again and again, unrelenting and getting worse with every stab. I desperately hung onto my sanity, forcing myself to not let on to GLaDOS I was in pain. But She wasn't stupid.
"That was your fault. You should not have used your friend as a shield against bullets, you cruel person. How could you?"
A ragged scream escaped my mouth and GLaDOS laughed and laughed and laughed…
Screaming and sweating, I awoke with a start. Clean pale blue sheets clung to my ankles like barnacles, and the pillows were on the shiny wooden floor. My turquoise walls spun for a minute, and I clung to the mattress like I was on an upside-down roller coaster with no restraints. I couldn't bear to have any white walls or furniture in my room, it reminded me of the pale white facility. Aperture. I quietly composed myself, feeling more alone than ever. Nobody I could talk to about my past, like I could if Wheatley was here. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I missed Wheatley. I had known it unconsciously since the moment GLaDOS whacked him out of my grasp, and he cried out "Grab me grab me grab me!" In that moment, he was my best friend again. A friend in need. A friend who I betrayed as soon as he left my usually iron grip.
"I guess we're even now." I muttered sadly.
I heaved myself out of bed, seeing my Companion Cube sitting in the corner. It had been three years since that fateful day when I left Aperture, not from escaping with Wheatley as planned, but from being told to leave by GLaDOS. Maybe I was unlikable, and She was right all along. The determined side of my brain squawked in protest. If I was unlikable, then how come all my new work friends were so nice to me? As soon as GLaDOS had sent me into the big wide world, with a weighted Companion Cube (a little damaged from the incinerator) and a decent amount of money she'd kindly hidden inside it, I'd stumbled through the wheat field and onto the outskirts of a small town called Erandon.
It wasn't too long till I managed to get into the swing of normal human life. I bought a small lone house on the town border, and trained to become a nursery assistant. Luckily, there was a nursery a few streets away that desperately needed staff, and were more than happy to employ me. I made friends with the other nursery assistants, especially a woman called Melanie because she never asked any awkward questions like 'where are you from?' or 'what have you done in the last few years?' She kept to herself, and was happy to be my friend rather than my questioner. The children all seemed to like me, and I liked them too. They were energetic and never managed to bore me. They also kept me on my feet, one of the few Aperture traits I decided to keep. I was as happy as an ex-test subject with a best friend floating around in space could be.
Since work started in an hour, I pulled my straight brown hair into my signature ponytail, and pulled on some plain jeans and a gray t-shirt. I didn't bother with makeup, so getting ready didn't take long. I slid into my flat black shoes and pulled on my small purse containing my mobile. It was nothing special, just there for when I needed to call work or for an emergency.
I stepped outside, locking my front door and breathing in the fresh morning air. Bees buzzed around the flower patch I planted a year ago, and the sky was a crisp blue covered in mini soft clouds, white as snow. I didn't own a car, since I don't know how to drive, and I've never considered learning. To me it just didn't seem that important when the furthest I ever go is the supermarket fifteen minutes away. Walking briskly in the cool spring air, I relished the beautiful morning. Erandon Nursery was in my full vision now; it's red brick walls and steep cement roof, the tall cherry wood door and the stranger hovering by the doorway…
"Wait," I muttered curiously to myself. "I've never seen him before in my life. We're not expecting any new arrivals today. I wonder who he is?"
The stranger was abnormally tall, at least 6 and a half feet. His floppy blond hair sat on his head, perching on his neat eyebrows and ears. He wore glasses complete with thick lenses, a white shirt and black trousers. However he wore trainers with this combination, creating one of the strangest looking men I have ever seen. He gave me a lopsided grin as I approached, looking hopeful, for a reason I couldn't pinpoint. This was when I noticed his bright blue eyes, the bluest eyes I've ever seen! As I passed I nodded, then stopped since he decided to open his mouth to speak.
"Hey buddy! I'm new here, and I was wonderin' if you could, you know… err… show me how things work in this place?" questioned a somehow familiar, obviously fake American accent. I nodded, not trusting this man enough to talk to him. I could talk, unlike Wheatley and GLaDOS thought, but I was naturally quiet anyway and refused to talk to anyone I wasn't a friend with.
"I'm called… err… errm…" the stranger stuttered, as if he couldn't remember his name. Or was struggling to come up with a fake one. Suspicion filled me. I knew someone in pain couldn't fake an accent properly, and he did seem familiar, so I 'accidentally' stomped on the man's large foot.
"Oww! You didn't have to attack me luv! I didn't do anything! Oww! Bloody humans they have to feel so much pain, don't they!" said an annoyed British accent. I violently shook my head in denial. It couldn't be! But the blue eyes, the lopsided grin, the accent, I was positive I knew him. It was Wheatley.