PROLOGUE: Alternative Ending

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Everything happened too fast.

Chell knew the risk of what she'd done. Shooting a portal onto the moon, that is. It was a calculated risk, something she was able to mull over for all of 3 seconds. Obviously something helpful would come of it, at the very least it was an unexpected move on her part. She did not, however, anticipate it to pull her so violently, though really she should have.

Before she could process the gravity of the situation, gravity disappeared. The sound of air rushing to escape into space was deafening, and Chell grappled frantically as she was ripped towards the gaping hole she'd created in the ground. She'd expected her first sight of stars again to be beautiful, but she was suddenly close enough to see them through the portal, and she was terrified. Her needle-sharp reflexes responded: Grab something!-

The wind shrieked past her ears, and it suddenly became very cold. By the stroke of a miracle, though, she had grabbed something.

The abrupt change in pressure not only hurt like hell, but severely delayed her processing power. Wheatley. She had grabbed Wheatley. He was screaming. She looked up and felt something she hadn't felt since her first meeting with Her: terror. Chell was looking at the planet Earth and she was on the moon.

"LET GO! WE'RE IN SPACE!"

Chell didn't let go. She held on as tight as she could to this core's handles. Her hands were sweaty, and her knuckles burned from the sheer force of her grasp. Her head became dizzy and her vision blurry, but she kept her grip tight and struggled to stay conscious.

She cringed away at the last second as another core, who was screaming more enthusiastically, crashed into Wheatley and ripped past her head, knocking one hand loose. Chell used every ounce of her strength to return her hand and grab his handles and holy shit keep holding on just hold on-

She struggled, but her thoughts were becoming more unraveled by the second. She couldn't breathe, and her hands were slipping.

"-I CAN STILL FIX THIS!"

Chell heard another voice pierce through the sound of rushing air. She couldn't make out Her words, but that didn't matter. Chell's mind could think only one thing anymore: Don't let go.

Chell was almost unconscious when she suddenly felt cold metal clamp firmly onto her arm and begin to pull. Still holding on, she was (slowly, far too slowly) pulled back through the portal. She chanced one more glance at Earth, using what consciousness she could muster to acknowledge how big it appeared. She hadn't much room for thought, but she imagined for only a moment that longed feeling of seeing it from the surface. The thought left as quickly as it came and she winced as the stinging force of the wind became almost unbearable until, finally, she was through and the portal closed.

She gasped frantically for air and collapsed onto the cold, hard surface of the metal floor. Pain grasped at every part of her body. The ringing in her ears paired with the throbbing in her head would probably have been unbearable for someone who wasn't almost unconscious. As she lay on her side, breathing quite shallowly, she almost smiled at the notion that she was actually glad to be back in the facility. Chell watched hazily from the floor for a few seconds longer as the massive, genius AI dragged Her own core towards the huge chassis.

Chell peered at her hands that lay in front of her, faintly realizing she had let go. Her knuckles felt sore and stiff like marble. She couldn't hear him, she couldn't see him... Had she..?

With Chell's last thought left unfinished, she succumbed to the darkness where she lay.

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