A wide open field, a rickety old shack, a partly scorched cube, and lastly freedom. It has been ages since Chell was released from the death trap that is known as Aperture Laboratories. Haunting, terrible memories played over and over in her head as she walked through the vast upper michigainian plain. She eventually got to a road and walked along it till she stumbled, tired and thirsty, into a K-mart in the middle of what seemed nowhere. The only cashier on duity's name was Drake.
Its been thirty years since she escaped. Thirty long years in space, thirty long years alone, thirty long years of building and raising a family. That time of peace between the facility and the girl is over...and it all started with her son. Thirty long years of stasis, thirty long years of testing, thirty long years of seeing a therapist.
It mostly begun one night as Chell was describing her adventures to her youngest child.
"And I wandered till I stumbled into a K-mart and that's how I met your father Caroline. " the brown haired,brown eyed replica of her mother tilted her head to the side.
"Did you ever see that Wheatley man again?"
"No but I do wonder if he is still in space..." she wondered aloud as her rambunctious son peered his head out of his door.
"Who is GLaDOS and why was she so psycho?" he said with a great interest in his voice.
"I don't want to tell you,she's too evil to describe..." was the reply he recived. he wasn't happy with it so he decided to try again.
"Come on please?"
"No Lucas I don't want to talk about it."
"Come on mom, you tell Caroline everything!" he said practically yelling at her. he was sick and tired of Caroline getting to know everything and whereas he was left in the dark.
"Don't you raise your voice to me! I tell Caroline because she lets me move at my own pace!"
"I'm sorry I'm so damn curious!" he said with small tears welling in his eyes, "but I can do whatever the hell I want!" with that the angsty, tempermental teen slammed his door leaving his younger sister worried and his mother in shambles.
"Mommy why are you crying?" little Caroline asked as innocently as she could trying to calm down her hysterical, mentaly unstable mother. Chell just sniffled softly and tucked her daughter into bed,kissing her forehead softly.
"just go to bed." She said with a false smile,turning off the light. She walked down the narrow stairs and clung to her husband.
"Chell whats wrong? Did Lucas make you cry?" Chell gave a slight nod and hugged her sweetheart tighter.
"What did he do?!" he said with growing concern.
"He keeps pestering me about my miserable time in Aperture." Drake gave a soft sigh and caressed his distressed wife.
"let's go to bed okay sweety? You just need to relax,i'm sure Lucas will come around someday." she nodded and followed her husband into their bedroom.
Several hours later in the dead of the night,Lucas snuck down stairs. When he felt that his parents were asleep he snuck into the forbidden basement to the holy grail of the knowlage he wished to aquire.
"So that's what she has been hiding down here!" he said in a hushed whisper walking over to the casing in which his mother's old Aperture gear was displayed. He quickly stripped down and suited back up in the testing gear. He jumped a few times with the long fall boots on to test walking with them then he grabbed the backpack that he had stored for the thirty mile trip and turned around to find somone right behind him.
"What are you doing down here Lucas?" Oh thank god it was only Caroline, "didn't mom tell us not to come down here?"
"I'll explain everything upstairs," he said hurrying his sister up the wobbly stairs that connected the basement with the main floor.
"Where are you gonna go luke?" she said with a scared tone in her voice. he grabbed his sister and pulled her into a close hug.
"I'm gonna go to Aperture and I'm gonna find out for myself what this facility is all about," she gave a small nod. "but you can't tell anyone where i'm going unless they ask you specificly, okay?" she nodded again and snuggled close to him,crying softly.
"Be safe,okay lucas?" he smiled and released his sister and opened the door.
"Okay,I will. Good night Caroline...and goodbye." He shut the door softly as his sister pressed her hands to the glass. He swung his leg over his bike and drove off down the street. He begun the long trip to the place where freedom dies. In the morning by the time Chell and Drake awoke to find the sleeping Caroline on the coutch, Lucas was wading through the wide open feilds twords a rickety old shack, with a partly scorched cube abandoned next to it.
"Good morning Caroline, what are you doing down here?" Chell asked her young daughter as she begun to wake up.
"I couldn't sweep mommy," she whimpered.
"Awwww..." Drake said picking his daughter up then sitting down and petting her head softly.
"What do you want for breakfast sweety?"
"I dunno," she said in her quiet, innocent, cute voice.
"Well why don't you go wake up your brother and we'll see about pancakes," her father said witha big smile. Caroline's eyes widened at the mention of the fluffy breakfast food and dashed upstairs. Only at the top of the stairway did she realize that her brother had left. She slowly walked down and pulled on her mother's robe.
"Lucas isn't in his room mama,"
"Wait then where could he-"
Crash! Silence. Crash! Silence. Chell ran to the door and bolted outside to the garden. Her mouth hung open. An electronic groan come from one of the two spheres that lay haphazardly on the ground. The blue optical lense of the one that groaned opened and focused on her. Chell gasped and dropped her mug of coffee.
"C-Chell? I-Is that really you?"