Still Here

The first "Hello"

[I have been debating with myself for so long, I forgot I was actually committing to a fanfiction. Finally pulled my shit together, didn't think it would take this long. I was listening to Welcome to Night Vale while I wrote this. Why did I tell you that? Because relating to random people on the internet gives me followers. Damn, I'm an arrogant bastard.]

-100011011-

Chell couldn't sleep, but that wasn't necessarily a new phenomenon. Once upon a Valve game, Chell had never slept at all. She just tested; the almost endless testing rooms were pumped full of adrenaline-inducing gases. She had never felt tired. So naturally, once released of the long-lasting burden, the now unfamiliar sensation of sleep hit Chell hard. She slept for days, and probably would have done so longer, if her 'defective' friends hadn't woken her in a state of panic. Sleep was just another thing to fear. It no longer felt natural.

Though, Chell knew she couldn't stay awake forever. As much as she didn't want to, she knew deep down how much she wanted to rest. Logic said she would be woken. She wouldn't sleep forever. She had her cores, and all the other Defectives. She even had GlaDoS.

She might not even have nightmares.

But then again, she might.

-000000010-

A word of advice: if a friend is sleeping, and you wish for them to remain that way (as your friend, not sleeping), dropping "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" onto their stomach is not the best replacement for an alarm clock.

Why did Chell even own that book? There was literally nothing she could care about less.

Well, all the books Chell has were courtesy of GlaDoS. The overbearing bot had simply dropped them off one day; her only comment being something like: 'fleshy people like poetic stuff, don't they?' And Chell honestly couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic. GlaDoS had acted weird that entire day; it never happened again.

[I get sidetracked easily.]

Anyways, the culprit turned out to be Rusty. Not the oldest core of the group, but certainly the most mature.

Yeah, you heard me right.

It was best to assume that Rusty's expression was 'annoyed', which was real fuckin' funny, considering the most recent five seconds.

"I've been tryin'a wake you for hours!" the gruff, vaguely Australian accented, voice complained.

Oh, how Chell wished she could be mad at him, at any of them. With an almost inaudible sigh, she let a confused look replace her aggravated one.

Rusty picked it up almost immediately. His pale-orange optic sensor gave a look of both shock and annoyance, which was impossible to tell until Chell heard the tone in his voice.

"You're drivin' me up the wall, kid!"