Well! Part one was great! so if you're here for the first tie, be sure to have read Broken Mirror to understand bits and pieced of the story! here's chapter one of part two, Shattered. Hope you guys like!
Small warning: a bit bloody. No actual death scenes or fighting, but blood is mentioned. I think this story might end up a tad more graphic that the first part...nothing too bad, but more shooting from guards and maybe some fighting...idk yet...
Chapter 1: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
Wheatley frowned. He'd been sitting in the glass box for about an hour so far, confused and wondering where the hell he was. He looked up at the giant mass of wired and metal hanging from the ceiling. That thing there, she scared him. She also reminded him of Glados.
He leaned against the wall and looked up at her again. She was busy talking to Chell about clearing the air and whatnot.
They obviously knew each other…so did that mean he was now in Chell's world? Was this really where she was from? He sighed. Then that must be GLaDOS, the super computer who liked to make life hell for Chell. He truly hoped the girl was okay. He wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his forehead on his knees. He hadn't gotten the chance to tell her good-bye or even talk about what was going on before he was thrown in here and she was whisked away for testing.
The man felt lonely and wished the computer would answer his questions, but it seemed like the more he talked the more the thing just ignored him, even going so far as to shoot glares at him, which was weird to him, since hadn't known robots could glare.
Wheatley laughed bitterly. If there was anything that scared him more than Glados, it was this thing. You couldn't read her face, so you didn't know if she was actually ignoring you, or if she was plotting on killing you. He licked his lips and looked up at the single light hanging above him in the box. There was also a radio, not unlike the one they used back at his Aperture, a small table and a toilet.
He sighed and crawled back to the side closest to GLaDOS, "Please, just tell me where I am…and where's Chell? She's not…she's not hurt…is she?"
GLaDOS growled, "Listen, moron, I hate your voice. In fact, I loathe it. So unless you want to be filled to the brim with neurotoxin, I suggest you be quiet. When I feel like talking to you, which I will, don't worry, I will, then I'll answer your questions. So shut up and stop talking."
Wheatley frowned. Why would she hate his voice? Did it have something to do with his counterpart from this world? He let out a low sigh and closed his eyes, feeling lost and confused.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Chell awoke to the sound of GLaDOS' laughter, "Oh, I knew this would be good…too good…" the laughter died down, "I thought you were stronger than that, [Redacted]."
The girl frowned and stood. 'So that's it, huh? She deleted my name completely? As if she ever used it before…' Chell rubbed her head and pressed herself into the glass, where she could see Mel, her adopted sister, waving.
"I was worried there for a minute, Chell…you scared me…you okay?" Mel laughed lightly. Chell frowned. While she wore an old ratty orange jumpsuit, Mel was sporting a baby blue one with pink lined long-fall boots.
Since when did GLaDOS make specialty outfits?
"Now wave to your co-op partner," GLaDOS said, still giggling as an insult to Chell.
Both waved. "Good. [Subject name here], point out your favorite animal using the ping tool."
Mel pointed to the rabbit. Chell jumped back seeing the arrow pointing her in the direction of the spot the blonde had marked.
"Good." she lowered the elevators, "Now, [redacted], point out your favorite element on this chart."
Chell looked it over and used the tool on her hands to point to silver.
"Really? Okay…[subject name here] please notice [redacted]'s…interesting choice…" Chell rolled her eyes. The elevator dropped them into a new set of rooms, however, Mel was on one side while Chell was on another.
"Now that I have humans to do these tests, we'll actually get results for the tests…" GLaDOS watched them start the tests. She couldn't help but feel a huge burst of testing euphoria. This was just too perfect!
Chell quickly caught on with what they were supposed to do to get the cube through emancipation grills and onto the button, but Mel was not.
The mute held up the cube with her tractor beam and handed it off to the blonde. Mel smiled and took it, "Now what?"
Her adopted sister frowned and used the ping tool to point out a small alcove that Mel would have to portal up to and set the button down on, to raise a platform for Chell to cross the acid. Mel's side had a closed door, so Chell figured there would be some button or level to open it.
Chell sighed waiting. She glance at Mel and frowned. The mute test subject had known their family for all of her life. She had grown up with the girl and when her dad…She ended up staying with them permanently. How did Mel manage to get mixed up in all of this?
She closed her blue-grey eyes and shook her head. Wheatley had told her everyone else was dead and that Chell was the only one able to escape…so how was Mel here?
Did he lie? Realization hit the girl. If Mel had been down here the entire time, what would have happened to her if she had been granted freedom? Would the girl have just died?
She shuddered to think about it and continued on with the test. What about all of the other test subjects then?
Chell closed her eyes and frowned at the thought of having left them to die. The test carried on. The doors opened and Mel came rushing up to Chell.
"I missed you so much!" the blonde threw her arms around her adopted sister. Chell hugged back lightly, then it turned into a tight hug, afraid of letting go of the only family she knew she had. What if this was all a dream, induced by a horrifying death in the human Aperture?
Tears pricked her eyes and she tried to force them away so that Mel and GLaDOS would not see.
She silently wondered if Mel knew how long they had really been down in the bowels of the abandoned facility. Not even she knew the exact number, but at least she knew it had been a very long time.
"Good, you've passed the test. Now make your way to the elevator and hope that you both fit…" the computerized voice, Chell had honestly started to miss, boomed over the intercom. She ignored the fat joke and walked with Mel's hand in hers to the glass shaft.
XXAPERTUREXX
Testing was proving to be quite messy. It seemed that modifications weren't going as planned. She had woken one of the older test subjects and sent him into a simple boxed room. Only one entrance and one exit, nothing more, nothing less. He was told to simply throw one portal and walk through it.
He did as was told and the mess created as his body was ripped to shreds was massive. The engineer was sent to investigate the problem. He concluded that there was an imbalance in the chambers so the orange portal was fighting and winning against the blue portal. With the balance being thrown off, the portals flickered instead of coexisting.
No matter. Glados sent him to rebuild it and the panels were cleaned.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Atlas groaned, and held back the bile that rose. He gripped the scrub brush and closed his eyes. He tried to breath evenly to calm his twisting stomach, but the coppery smell of blood reached his nose anyway. Dizziness began to swarm him and he stumbled back, dropping the brush in his hands.
"Penny…I can't take this…I need a break…" she nodded and dropped her brush, walking him away from the panels. The orange haired girl pulled him against her and felt tears brim her eyes. This wasn't how she thought she'd be spending her career here at Aperture. Ever since Chell disappeared, it seemed that Glados had completely lost herself in that new project, leaving them to clean up less-than-desirable messes.
It was scarring her and she knew Atlas, who was already squeamish, was being traumatized as well. It wasn't what they thought they were getting into when they signed up for the positions. It was killing her to see Atlas this way and it killed her to see her mentor so lost and obsessed with the new portal device. She resented the test subject. If that girl hadn't shown up, none of this would be going on.
Penny buried her face in Atlas' neck and let out a soft sob, but refused to cry. They needed to be strong and get through this.
Glados looked at the monitor and frowned. Instead of a clean test chamber, she was met with two hormonally deranged teens. "Stop that right now…" she snapped, "Get that room cleaned up…" they pulled apart and immediately went back to cleaning, afraid that they would be the next ones to test the horrible device.
XXapertureXX
Rick frowned heavily. He'd been locked away in the cell for ages. Well, not really ages, but it had been several hours. Aaron sat in the corner with his head between his knees. He was breathing heavily and his fists were clenched tightly. Anger poured off of him like no other. Rick guessed Mora was rubbing off on him after all since the man would most likely be foaming at the mouth and screaming incoherently out of the bars otherwise.
He'd known Aaron for quite some time now, and he was always afraid the guy would get into more trouble than he could handle. Apparently, that was true, since they were only in this cell because they ran off. Glados had thrown them in, thinking they were traitorous towards her, and a threat to the facility. He couldn't blame the woman, if given the chance, he probably would knock her down a peg. If not just to get his freedom. He wanted to go out into the world above more than anything else. Rick never really told anyone, but he would give anything to go climb a real mountain and explore some caves, fall in love and experience heart break, only to do it all again.
That was the life he longed for.
Across from Aaron sat a girl he didn't know, but had seen with Chell and Wheatley. She was curled up tightly, with her head resting against her knee, but tilted so that she could stare out of the bars before them. Her belt said Cyan, so he assumed that was her name. She didn't speak to him, nor did she respond to anything he said at all.
It was getting to be rather boring in the cell with no girls to hit on and no real adventure to be had.
In fact, he was sure they were only being kept alive to be killed slowly and painfully. That idea made his skin crawl, but he knew it and it seemed the other two knew it as well. Aaron was probably more pissed at himself than anything. He would probably never see Mora again. He could only imagine how the woman was taking it.
He turned his attention to the two guards that stood beside the bars. One was a short woman, with the dyed white hair (typical for the guards) and the other was a man with a scar on his cheek. Rick ignored him and glanced at the girl.
"Hey, pretty lady, name's Rick. What's yours?" He knew full well that once you joined Glados' armed forces you were forced out of your identity and given numbers to keep track of who you were.
"I…uh…I'm-" she began.
"Number 374659, rule 5, NO communication with the prisoners under any circumstance unless directed to do so by Glados." the man spoke. His voice was full of authority, and he hadn't even glanced at the girl, who suddenly stiffened and looked ahead with a straight face.
"Number 374569, huh? That's cute n' all, but I think you look like a Lily…or maybe a Lillian…perhaps Leila? Somethin' with an L…" he noticed a flash flicker across her eyes. So he was right. He chuckled to himself. Rick had always been great with the ladies. The only one he'd fail to romance was Chell.
"So I was right, huh? Begins with L…" he thought for a moment, "Lucy? No, that's just not you…Linda? Laura? Lauren? Come on sweetheart, give me a hint?" she tried to keep her attention forward, her hands gripping her gun tightly.
"Leigh? Louise? Lee-anne? Am I getting' close?" The male guard turned and slammed the butt of his gun against the bars, startling Rick, who stepped back slightly.
"If you do not cease talking, I will be forced to terminate you." he turned back to his post.
"How d'you put up with this guy? He's a downright stick in the mud!" the green eyed man laughed. He stopped when he received a warning glance from the male again.
"Alright, alright, can't blame man fer wantin' to talk…" he held up his hands and sat down. Cyan had dozed off and Aaron was angrier than ever, on the verge of exploding.
This was the first time Rick had seen him think before acting. Maybe it was because he knew that if he did act up, he'd be shot by the guard. Rick sighed, hoping his fears about their fate would not come true.
XXAPERTUREXX
Instead of being led into another testing chamber, Chell and Mel were let into a relaxation room.
"More testing awaits you, later." GLaDOS spoke, "But first Aperture Science insists you get rest. The room is made of non-portable surfaces, so do not even think of escape."
Mel smiled happily and set her device down on the small table, "She's pretty cool, isn't she?"
Chell snorted and sat on the edge of the bed. She feared that this was it. She feared the second she let her guard down, the room would be tossed into the incinerator. This time, Chell had no idea if she would even manage to survive. It didn't seem possible at all, since GLaDOS was right. The walls made for horrible portal conductors, and even it she could break open the door or wall, there was no telling what laid on the other side.
It was possible that they were suspended over nothing, and one step out the down would lead to a fall that the boots couldn't even stop. Maybe they were over the incinerator already. Hell, it was possible that they were surrounded by turrets, ready to open fire the second the door opened.
Chell rubbed her face and felt exhaustion wash over her. She hadn't slept in hours upon hours, not to mention there was no adrenal vapors keeping her awake in the room. She yawned and leaned against the headboard, portal device still gripped in hand. Soon, she could no longer fight the drowsiness and slipped into a nice deep sleep.
Mel, however, wasn't nearly as sleepy as the girl beside her was. She couldn't help but feel that something was going on around her that Chell nor GLaDOS would say. In fact, Chell hadn't said a word to her.
The quietly reminisced about the nights they would stay up late just talking about boys, about school, about how Chell's potato battery was going to be the best ever.
She let a small sigh out and looked at the sleeping brunette. Something was strangely different about her. While they were almost the same age, Chell seemed to have physically aged by years. Her hair had little strands of gray and there were faint worry lines on her brow. Even when awake, Mel could see the experience pulsing through each stare, each look Chell gave with her pale blue eyes.
Mel leaned against the headboard, and her brows furrowed. There were small white scars all down Chell's arms. There was another one across her cheek, barely visible. The blonde frowned. They were similar to the one she got when a turret's bullet grazed her leg about a week ago. It hadn't been a terrible wound, but enough to leave her shaken and with a faint scar.
How long had Chell been doing tests, if she was covered in faded bullet scars, and burn scars? The girl seemed tense, still, despite being in a deep sleep.
Mel was sure if she so much as poked Chell's arm, the girl would spring alive and rearing for a fight.
What happened to the snoring, grumpy-in-the-morning girl she used to know?
She sighed again and laid down, closing her eyes. It was troubling, to say the least, that Chell had somehow changed since she'd seen her last, which had only been a week or so…right?
MMM feels good to right this whole chapter ^_^ i'm especially please with Rick Aaron and Cyan's scene, plus a little bit of atlas and p bodt fluffish stuff XD
Well, don't forget to leave me some feedback!
~lady Pyrien