A New Beginning
She was alone. No-one was there to accompany her, to give her a threat, or an insult; nothing. It was just her and the cube.
Part of her was filled with excitement for the future ahead of her. What would she do now? She had no memory of ever being in the outside world. Aperture had been her world. Aperture had been her everything; until now, of course.
She knew that standing on the concrete slab in front of the tin shed that she had exited from wouldn't get her anywhere.
So, grabbing the cube, she stepped forward; feeling the brittle materials being trampled underfoot as she began to dawdle through the field. It was different out here. It wasn't the environment she was used to. It just felt...it feltnicer. It felt unrestricted; unharmed. Like, it had been waiting for her to come home for a very long time, and now that she had, it was more than happy to welcome her.
The sun beating down on her face felt different to the bridges of hard light GLaDOS had made her use in the facility. She realized she was still wearing the long fall boots. It was her last attachment to the facility, apart from the cube. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to leave them behind, or keep them. It was the only item of clothing she had to protect her feet; and while she wanted to explore every bit of everything in this new world, she still had to be cautious. This was something very important that the facility had taught her.
Her mind was at peace. It was finally at peace. She couldn't have asked for anything more. She was finally able to move freely; to think freely. It wasn't a matter of whether GLaDOS would think it would be OK; she could do whatever she wanted to do out here.
It was beautiful. The trees off in the distance had grown high since the last inhabitants had touched them. The bugs scuttling around her feet made her giggle. They looked so cute and helpless. She began to pick up the pace a little bit. She wanted to see more of this world.
She wanted to see it all.