I stand perfectly still, frozen with fear. I have no portal gun, no means of escape, and I have four turrets in front of me. I guess it should have been obvious that GLaDOS would betray me. It's a shame, really. She had me completely fooled. I thought she had actually changed. I thought she was really going to let me go. Silly me. I take a deep breath and wait for the Aperture brand 65% extra bullet per bullet to end my life. But then something happens. They turn off their lasers. Huh? I hear... notes. Are these turrets... singing? I don't know where I've heard this song, but... I stumble as the elevator continues to rise. I see turrets in other rooms as I pass. Then I feel the elevaor begin to slow. Oh, sweet Jesus. I am in a room filled with hundreds, possibly thousands of turrets. But they're arranged like... an orchestra. They start to sing.

Cara bel, cara mia bella! Mia bambina, oh ciel!

The elevator continues to rise.

Ché la stima! Ché la stima!

I think this song is Italian. I'm not sure, though.

O cara mia, addio! La mia bambina cara...perché non passi lontana? Sì, lontana da Scienza! Cara, cara mia bambina...

This is such a beautiful song...

Ah, mia bella! Ah, mia cara! Ah, mia cara! Ah, mia bambina! Oh cara, cara mia...

I feel the ground begin to shoot up again beneath me, away from the orchestra of turrets. Suddenly, the elevator stops. I can't really see anything. Suddenly, the door opens. The light stings my eyes. Why would GLaDOS say all that just to release me into a room filled with lights? Wait.

As my eyes adjust to the light, I realise the truth. I'm free. The colours seem so bright and beautiful, so different to the harsh tones of grey, black and white. The sky looks like the reflections of a diamond; blue and flawless. Across the ground lies a feild that looks like woven stalks of silk. I take a step forward from my prison onto the dirt, feeling the uneven surface beneath my long-fall boots. I stare around. I can hear the twitter of birds in the sky. The world is not a box, and it was never meant to be a box. It was meant to be this; serene peace, ultimate beauty, nothing but... world. I hear a bang behind me. I spin around. It looks like I just came out of some kind of shed. Wait, I can hear banging? What is that? The door flies open again and throws out… cube.

The door slams shut. I don't make a single movement. Neither does cube. I think both of us are shocked to see each other. I know I didn't expect him to fly out of that door. Very slowly, I reach out a hand to touch him. He seems hesitant to feel my hand on his surface. I can't blame him really, after what I did to him. But I touch his surface and wipe the ash off his side. His pink hearts seem to glow at my touch. I know that I'm glowing too. I drop to my knees ans wrap my arms around him.

After I pull myself together, I stand up to assess the situation. I can see… a field. That's about it. It isn't grass though. I think its wheat? I pull up a stalk and examine it carefully. Yeah, this is definitely wheat. I chew on the stalk for a moment. Oh, finally. A real taste in my mouth, a flavour to overpower the grit and dust that coat my tastebuds. This is better then the nutant and vitamin shots that I was living off while I was in stasis. This is real.

I feel eyes on my back. I turn around to see cube staring at me. I shrug guiltily. Sorry, I say, not making a sound. He seems sort of irritated. Not about the food. About… the fire. He turns sharply at that. It's obviously a sore subject. He was thrown into an incinerator. Actually, how did he survive? That was an incinerator I was forced to- No, that I tossed him into. I still can't believe I did that. Threw him into a fire. Wait, what was that that GLaDOS said?

"All Aperture Science equipment can stand up to 4000 degrees Kelvin".

He doesn't exactly seem impressed at my discovery. I can't blame him; he was burning in an incinerator for years. But I can tell under the anger that he is glad to see me. GLaD to see me. Maybe I should stop thinking about that. About her, about Wheatley, about that stupid song. "Even though you broke my heart and killed me". Jeez.

I need to start on my way. If I walk far enough, I'll probably find a town or a farm or something. Hell, this is friggin' Michigan. If Aperture had been smack in the middle of South Dakota, I'd be in trouble. I go to pick up cube. He's still giving me the silent treatment. I roll my eyes as we start to walk through the field. Get over yourself. You wanna go back in there with her? That shuts him up. He knows that if there's anything worse then being with the person who killed you, its being with the person who made them kill you.