A small girl, somewhere around the age of nine or ten, stood proudly in front of a posterboard with the words 'POTATO BATTERY' scrawled in childlike handwriting across the top. Several other girls stood in front of similar boards as a crowd of white-coated parents milled around, feigning interest. A large, burly man with a commanding look in his eyes seated himself in the folding chair in front of the girl's project.

"Uh... um... hi, Mr. Johnson!" the girl squeaked nervously. He nodded approvingly, looking at the slightly moldy potato battery sitting in front of her board.

"Let's have it, Chell," he said. She smiled and nodded nervously before opening her mouth to speak.

"For my project—" With a noise like nails on a chalkboard amplified by seven thousand, the room began to quake. A robotic voice calmly called out "Neurotoxin levels at code level red." At the same time, a faint human voice called, "SHE'S AWAKE!"

Cave Johnson sprung up from his chair as a brown-haired woman with a white pantsuit and red scarf hurried to his side.

"Cave?" she asked worriedly.

"Damnit, Caroline, I told them not to wake her up today. One sixteenth of a picosecond..." Caroline nodded.

"Well, if it's like all the other times, she'll be down again soon enough." As soon as she had finished speaking, horrifying screams echoed from the room that the other voice had come from. Cave looked confused.

"What the... this has never happened before," he muttered. Chell looked around wildly. Her father hurried up to her side.

"It's okay, Chelly. It'll be okay."

"I found you, my pretties," a robotic female voice cooed menacingly. Cave's eyes flashed and he cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Alright, people, that would be our cue to run. Follow me." He turned to Caroline.

"It's time. You know what you have to do, right?"

Caroline nodded. Chell wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a tear roll down Caroline's cheek.

"Goodbye, Cave," she said, standing on tiptoe and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Then, to Chell's surprise, Caroline knelt down and put her arms around her.

"Goodbye, Chell," she said. She pulled one of the folding chairs away from a table and sat down with a grim finality about her. Chell was confused as her father took her hand and pulled her away, following Cave down a long hallway with the rest of the crowd of parents and daughters. Chell didn't look forward, instead keeping her eyes on Caroline until the crowd turned the corner and she was gone, out of her sight forever.

"We're almost at the safehouse! Keep going! Rattman marked the doors for us, smart fellow. Never thought we'd need it."

Cave bounded forward, around a corner. Chell stopped briefly to peer down the hallway. She thought she saw something there, something small and white which was throwing off a red light, searching, searching. Her father's grip slipped from her hand and she turned to follow the crowd as they turned the corner after Cave.

"Why are you running? I'm not going to hurt you... much," said the Voice as they ran. She was falling behind; she lost one of her shoes, the good shoes her mother had insisted she wear to the Science Fair. Cave had opened a door at the end of the hall; he was ushering people in. Her father stopped, looking back as if he had just realized she was gone.

"CHELL!" he yelped. She leaned forward, trying to run faster, faster, until her other shoe came off and she fell flat onto her stomach.

"I'm sorry, Smith. We can't keep the door open." she heard Cave's voice saying.

"Just a little longer, a little bit longer, please," she heard her father's voice reply.

"A few seconds is all we can afford. Please step inside."

Chell began to struggle to her feet as her father resisted. Cave put his hands on her father's back and pushed him in. She stumbled forwards a few steps. That was when it caught her from behind. The claw. A huge, roboticized claw on a thick wire cable seizing her around the waist and pulling her up into the air, ripping the fabric on her brand-new Aperture Science dress that her mother had requisitioned especially for the Science Fair.

Cave gave her a long, sad look before stepping inside and closing the door.

"Hello, new friend," said the Voice. "We're going to have a lot of fun together."