Chell's second playthrough

Restart

Chell's eyes slowly opened. Her vision became more clear as the blurry haze disappeared, leaving a dull and heavy feeling in her mind. Suddenly her eyes shot wide open as she pulled in a quick breath and clamped her fingers around a soft material. Chell glanced down at the grey fabric in her hand. She followed the thin line of light that reflected off the sheet that lay around her feet at the edge of the bed. She groaned as she pushed herself up on her elbows. It took a little while before her eyes were adjusted to the dim light in the room. A musty smell hang in the air and little specks of dust danced around in the gleam of multiple lamps on the walls and the nightstand next to her.

Chell rubbed her tired eyes with her index finger and thump before looking around once more. A closet to her left, a desk, a chair that had fallen over, an old television up in the corner and a painting with a broken frame on the wall to the right. The room was painted with a neutral grey color, giving it a rather depressed look. As Chell started to wake up, some vague memories came back to her. The shed, the wheat field, a blue sky with a bright sun and the beautiful smell of freedom.

Was it just a dream? This place didn't look like what she had just experienced. Had it just happened? Had it even happened at all? Chell blinked, this room felt familiar, though she didn't know from what. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The long fall boots clanged against the ground with a soft thund. She looked down at them. The white boots felt well-known to her as well. She stood up but seemed to have some problems with keeping her balance, so she leaned against the wall for support. Her body felt stiff and her legs hurt when she tried to walk. Chell stretched her arms to loosen her muscles a little when a knock on the door made her look up towards the short hallway. And an all too familiar voice spoke up.

''Hello, anyone in there?''

She stood completely frozen. It felt like time had stopped for a few seconds until the knot in her throat let some air through for her to breath. Her heart started beating faster behind her breastbone, her lungs pulling in quick breaths and the muscles in her body tensed. His voice. His voice. Images flashed before her eyes of that little, blue optic colored core. Chell almost jumped up in shock when he spoke again. ''Helloooo? Could you, could you open this door? It's fairly urgent.''

She swallowed deep, but the lump in her throat didn't go away. It couldn't be. It couldn't be him. She very slowly started to make her way towards the door. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, every inch of her body ready to act if something went wrong. One step.... Another step..... another step closer. She set one foot in front of the other, walking with the biggest concentration like she was crossing a mine field. She stopped one meter away from the door, her arm reaching out for the handle, her fingers closing around it. Chell pushed it down and swung the door open. The wood slammed against the wall and she got greeted by a blue light shining in her eyes and a yell from the core in front of her.

''AAHHH! Oh you look terrib- uh... good. Looking good actually.''

Chell stared up in shock at the robot. No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't. She backed up as Wheatley carefully moved into the room on his management rail. ''Are you okay?'' He asked somewhat concerned at the look of the test subject. ''Wait, don't, don't answer that. I'm actually sure you're fine. Plenty time for you to recover. Just take it slow.''

The calm and too cheerful voice of the announcer filled the room. ''Please prepare for emergency evacuation.''

Wheatley's blue eye turned into a little dot before he looked back at Chell again. ''Just, just prepare! That's all he's saying, prepare. It's all fine.'' He reassured her. ''Don't move, okay? I'll get us out of here.''

A small hatch in the ceiling opened up for him and he disappeared through it. A zooming sound filled the air and the room shook a little, indicating that the chamber was moving. Chell pressed two fingers to her temples, what was going on? Her head ached, though she wasn't sure if it was because of the obviously too much time spent in relaxation or the vague flashes of, what looked like memories flashing before her eyes. Something was terribly wrong. But she didn't have much time to contemplate about it when Wheatley came back down again.

''You see, most test subjects do experience some cognitive deterioration after a few months in suspension. Now you've been under for... quite a lot longer, and it's not out of the question that you might have a very minor case of serious brain damage." Chell raised an eyebrow. Brain damage? ''But don't be alarmed, alright?'' Wheatley quickly added, misunderstanding her expression as distress. ''Although, if you do feel alarm, try to hold onto that feeling because that is the proper reaction to being told you have brain damage.''

Chell stared back at him. Blinking rapidly. ''Do you understand what I'm saying? At all? Does any of this make any sense? Just tell me, just say Yes.'' But she didn't move or say anything. ''Okay maybe... Maybe you don't understand what I'm saying. Never mind, try again! Say apple. Simple word. Apple.'' He tried to encourage her.

When nothing came from the awfully silent test subject, Wheatley shook his entire body. ''You know what, not important. You came close enough. Just hold tight.'' And he went back up through the hatch in the ceiling again. The ride that fallowed had been a disaster. Chell had been thrown all over the place while the room got smashed into walls, other rooms and whatever they had managed to hit, with Wheatley rattling above the noise. Eventually they had come to a halt when he had smashed the room into a wall what he considered manual overriding. Chell had jumped out of the room and ended up in the test chambers, which were quite familiar to her since she's been through this track when GLaDOS was still active. What made her worry was how she remembered so much more.

For some reason she couldn't explain, Chell felt angry when she thought about Wheatley. Vague images flashed before her eyes, but they went by too fast for her to understand them. When she entered chamber 2 she got cheerfully greeted by the British voiced core.

''Hey, hey! You made it.'' He sounded rather relieved. ''There should be a portal device on that podium over there. I can't see it though... Maybe it fell off. Do you want to go and have a quick look? ''

Chell did as he instructed and walked further into the room, but as soon as she stepped closer, the floor succumbed under her weight and she dropped down. The long fall boots caught her fall as she dropped into the room below that was flooded with a little bit of water. He did this. He told you to go there to make you fall to your death! He did it on purpose. He betrayed you! Chell shook her head. Where did that thought suddenly come from?

''Hello? Can you see the portal gun?'' There was a short pause. '' Also, are you alive? That's important, should have asked that first. I'm- do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to work on the assumption that you're still alive and I'm just going to wait for you up ahead. I'll wait- I'll wait one hour. Then I'll come back and, assuming I can locate your dead body, I'll bury you. Alright? Brilliant! Go team! See you in an hour! Hopefully! If you're not... dead. ''

So she would meet him again up ahead. Chell started to walk towards another area which had actually light. On a small platform lay her trusty portal gun. Relieved , she picked it up. When she had finally her grip on the device, she felt the tiniest bit safer. She hadn't noticed the paintings on the walls before she'd looked around a little. The pictures weren't really comforting as it was about that murderous computer who had tried to kill her before. GLaDOS. Chell stared up at one of them. It was a painting of her, with GLaDOS offering her a piece of cake. But on closer inspection she could make out a face. A face of a woman with her eyes closed. Caroline. Chell frowned to herself. She couldn't remember ever hearing that name before. But for some reason she knew it, and it felt important.

She sighed and turned her back towards the painting. She shot a portal on the wall and continued. She didn't have time to worry about these weird memories.