Cerulean

Stalemate

Chell never went down without a fight. Something inside of her could just never let go. She would claw and scratch until the very end, she was determined to die on her own terms. She simply refused to let a bunch of robots decide her fate. This time though, whilst she was staring at the earth from its very own moon, she found it difficult to believe her willpower was stronger than that of the universe. Humans built robots, those she could handle... The cosmos was another story. Who was Chell against the cosmos? It wasn't the worst way to go out, anyway. How many humans can say they died being sucked though a moon portal and flung into the endless reaches of space? Not many.

Yet, to her extreme surprise, she was still alive.

The first thing she felt was a familiar throbbing pain in her head. Her hands were still stiff and strained. The cold, hard floor was evidently a little bit forgiving upon her sore body.

Her acute sense of survival had not yet fully returned to her, but at the very least, she knew she had to assess where she was. Gingerly, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. It was a bit fuzzy, but her eyes met with two beings... mechanical, of course. Few things in The Facility had the pleasure of both being organic and allowed to live at all, herself being the exception only by her own accord. She noticed the first being was tall, and she may have even mistook his hull for that of a turret's if not for what she assumed to be a brilliant orange eye, the light of which actually made her head throb. She winced and turned to look towards the other. This one was much wider and stockier. He seemed to more closely resemble a core, with a deep blue eye that was very reminiscent of...

She started a bit at the thought, causing the two robots to jump back slightly. Ignoring them, she sat up and looked around her. Her recovery time was incredible, and she seemed to snap back into focus.

Where is he?

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake."

Chell jumped a second time, but almost imperceptibly at Her all-encompassing voice, wondering how she neglected to notice GLaDOS' piercing gaze. How could she have forgotten she was still right in GLaDOS' lair? This was definitely the fault of oxygen deprivation.

Any other time, she was sure she'd have felt some sort of alarm at her current situation. During the time she had spent with that mechanical psychopath in the bowels of Aperture, however, Chell had noticed something within Her. Albeit GLaDOS was still snarky, and completely driven by vindictiveness, She wasn't really a threat without Her connection to The Facility. Yet for some strange reason, even now that she was, Chell didn't feel threatened. Skeptical at the sincerity of Her claim, maybe, but not afraid anymore.

Chell found enough strength to stand and collect herself against one of the handrails that surrounded her. She breathed as fresh of a breath as one can get within Aperture, and looked up at GLaDOS. Her hull had seen better days, along with her core, but She sure seemed to function better than the potato battery did.

She tried, for a short time, to further asses the room. What a dump, she thought, amused. The wall panels that were once almost alive now hung limply, some by mere wires and others completely ripped away. The ones that remained blinked bleakly, occasionally twitching and sparking from damage. The previous location of the stalemate button room had been sealed off by white panels. Whatever mess remained on the floor had been cleared away, at least.

As Chell gazed back upon Aperture's greatest mind, it was almost as if She sensed exactly what she wanted to know.

"In case you're wondering, I've put that little idiot out of commission. I've sent him somewhere that you and I will never have to worry about him again. Isn't that lovely?"