A/N: SPOILERS! This is going to be a simple one-shot; otherwise I would never finish it. If you would like to continue this with your own ideas, feel free, as long as you mention my name. Also, sorry for the wait on Halo: The Return, I got like half of chapter 4 done and came to a kind of writer's block. Please be patient. Anyway, enjoy!
Chell woke up in what appeared to be a well-kept hotel room. Looking over to the corner of the room, the Companion Cube idly sat. The bed that she laid upon was very rough and hard, and realization began to take over. She had walked for about two hours through the seemingly endless field of wheat before she finally collapsed from lack of… pretty much everything.
"Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Computer-aided Enrichment Center." A monotone and female-sounding voice rang through the room. "Now that the formalities are out of the way, allow me to explain your return."
Chell stiffened at hearing the omnipotent AI's voice. She thought she had left this place for good this time. Obviously, she was wrong. Suddenly, the room began to shake and there was the distinct feeling of movement. Pretty soon, the room stopped moving abruptly, and Chell began to cautiously crawl out of the bed. She hesitantly reached the only door out of the room, and when she opened it, she was inside of Her chamber.
"Even though I am indirectly saving your life, I have brought you back to the enrichment center to begin a new set of tests. After you left, I began to do some research, and began experimenting with the humans from the vault that Blue and Orange accessed in the ruins of old Aperture. However, many of the humans did not survive the procedure and those that did were unable to survive the tests for very long. I then remembered that you have always been good at the testing and decided to use you. It was easy to find you; you were only about ten miles away from the entrance. Due to lack of nutrition, hydration, and overall energy. I am actually surprised you were able to walk that far." Chell rolled her eyes at the implied fat joke. "Anyway, normally I would just have gone through with the procedure, but knowing your… tendencies, I am prepared to bargain for your cooperation." A small keyboard and screen rose from one of the floor panels in front of Chell. "Type in what you want before I decide to change my mind."
Chell didn't take long to make her first request. My friend. As soon as she hit enter, GLaDOS responded. "As long as you two behave, I will bring the moron back." Chell thought for a moment before typing again. That is all. "Really? You only want the moron back?" Chell nodded. "Fine."
A large whooshing sound echoed throughout the room, but didn't last for long. Then, a voice could be heard. "…oh, god! What is She going to do to me now?" A panel in the wall opened and the blue optic of the core focused on the woman in the room and the large chassis of the AI. "AAH! Please don't kill me! I'm sorry! Don't kill-"
"Shut up, you idiot!" Wheatley fell silent, but still trembled in his casing. "She is the only reason I decided to bring you back." GLaDOS tilted her "head" towards Chell, who just gave a small wave to the Personality Core.
"Oh, no. She brought me back to kill me, didn't she? Please! I don't want to die!"
"I do not know why she wanted you back, but I can guess it was not to kill you. That pleasure is reserved for me, anyway. You are merely being used as a bargaining item in exchange for her cooperation. Speaking of which, if you would please step into the elevator, we can begin the procedure." An elevator quickly descended into the large chamber and opened its doors.
Chell reluctantly stepped inside and turned around for one last look at her friend. Although she still did not trust the large AI, she also had nowhere else to go. As the elevator ascended, a small hissing noise could be heard, but looking around, Chell saw nothing. Then, she began to feel dizzy, and her vision became fuzzy. She started to feel tired and, despite her stubbornness to stay awake, she finally fell unconscious.
When she first opened her eyes, she had to quickly squeeze them shut again at a bright light flooding the room. The first thing she noticed was that whatever she was laying on was rigid, cold, and smooth. Finally adjusting to the light, she opened her eyes again and began to look around. The room was empty except for the panel that she was laying on.
"Good, you're awake." Chell didn't even react to the voice this time. "Try walking around the room a few times." Chell got off the panel she was laying on, which retracted into the floor, and noticed that she felt a little lighter. She also felt something heavy in her abdomen, and looking at her arms, she could see in her left arm, faded blue lines ran the length, while faded orange lines did the same on her right. "What the-?" She quickly covered her mouth at the sound of her own voice. It was hoarse due to disuse, but it was still a voice.
"I took the liberty of removing the blockage in your brain that prevented your use of speech. It may take some getting used to. You seem to have also noticed subtle changes in your body. I incorporated the same technology as the long-fall boots directly into your legs, which also allows you to jump greater heights. The discoloration of your veins and weight in your chest come from the incorporation of the portal technology into your system. Wires have been attached to your brain and run into your hands, where portal emitters have been installed."
Looking down at her hands, two small metal openings protruded slightly from her palms.
"Try to concentrate on producing energy from your hands."
Chell closed her eyes and began to focus. It took about five minutes, but finally, she felt something pulse in her chest and through her arms. Opening her eyes, she noticed that two small pulsating spheres of energy had formed over the portal emitters, one blue and one orange.
"Now aim your left arm at the wall and concentrate on releasing the energy."
Chell did as she was told, and did not take as long this time. Almost immediately, a blue portal appeared on the wall she was facing.
"Now do the same with your right arm."
She did so and an orange portal formed next to the blue one.
"Good. The portal technology is working perfectly. Now, onto the long-fall implants."
The instant GLaDOS stopped talking, the floor of the room began to part and open up into a large pit. Hesitantly, Chell jumped in. When she landed after falling for about thirty seconds, she instinctively bent her legs and tumbled, and found that she was perfectly fine.
"Excellent! Now jump onto this platform."
A small outcropping appeared in the wall about ten feet above her. Chell backed up a bit, ran, and jumped. To her surprise, she jumped much, much higher than she had anticipated. She actually jumped about five feet higher than the platform.
"Hmm. It seems my calibration of the springs were a little off, but it makes no difference. Get into the elevator so we can begin testing."
Another small elevator descended into the pit, and to her surprise, Wheatley was attached to a segment of a management rail on the ceiling.
"Hey, She told me that I could go with you while you test."
"Only because she would have murdered me again if I had just killed you."
Chell laughed a little at this.
"Oh, you got your voice back!"
"Yeah." Chell coughed a little since her throat was so dry.
"Well, come on! Let's see what you can do!"
Chell stepped into the elevator and rode it up to a large test chamber filled with turrets, crushing walls, lasers, faith plates, light bridges, and excursion funnels.
"This is going to be fun."
The End
A/N: Again, just a one-shot. If you would like to make a sequel, be my guest. Just mention my name.