Hello, and welcome to my first story on FF. This is my attempt to continue the story of Portal, not that Valve can count to three. So please enjoy, and let me know what you think!
As Chell began to walk away from the shed, pushing the Companion Cube with her bootless feet, she was dealing with a mix of emotions. GLaDOS had let her go, she was free. But something was not right, had GLaDOS really changed? Deleting Caroline proved otherwise. And without boots or a portal gun, Chell felt something she never felt in the Enrichment Center. She felt defenseless. There was no sign of civilization for miles. Where would she go? What would she eat? There was always one can of beans left by the character she lovingly referred to as the Rat Man. She even snacked on a few potatoes that had grown throughout the facility. But out here, Chell was truly alone. At least she had her Companion Cube. Chell knew it was silly, but there was something comforting about that cube. For all she knew, it could be emitting some kind of drug or mind control, there was literally nothing Cave Johnson wouldn't experiment on. While Chell was pondering all this, she suddenly saw a meteor falling from the sky. It had been a while since she had seen any natural phenomenon and stared at it in awe. Until she realized it was heading straight for her. With a quick jump backwards Chell avoided being impaled by the object from space. With horror she realized she jumped without her cube, and looking at the crater it was obvious the cube was nothing more than bits and pieces. "Ugnh, not exactly a gentle landing, but ol' Rick's been through worse." Chell was shocked to hear that voice again. Could it really be that hot headed adventure core? She ran to see, maybe he brought back Wheatley for revenge. No, it was just him, and he looked badly damaged from the fall. "Hey, pretty lady. Looks like my ol' compass still works. How's it been since we last fought together." Chell looked puzzled, this core still wants to be on her side, or at the very least, on her in some fashion. "Well I know you never spoke in the facility, I managed to do some speed reading while attached to that blue idiot. But come on, you can trust Rick, right?" It's true, Chell had never spoke a word at the Enrichment Center, why give GLaDOS more fuel for her fire. But even now, she feared, she still had some sort of brain damage. Every thought to speak made her jump up and down. "Boy that must really not be an act, you really are mute, aren't you?" Chell shrugged, any number of things could be wrong with her. She had survived neurotoxin, repulsion gel, fire pits, turrets, and of course the Wheatley Death Pit. "Well we need some way of communicating, I've got plans for us, and it'll be what we need to survive out here in the wild." Chell began to look for some way to communicating with the little core, seeing nothing but weeds and wheat. That's when she got the idea to take a few strands of wheat and spell out her thoughts. Rick went on to read her messages, "I don't know why I am mute, everything has been fuzzy in that science hell. Yeah no kidding. You are one tough cookie little lady. Let's see, What is your plan? Oh that's simple enough. I need to get back inside the Enrichment Center." Chell's eyes grew like saucers. She began shaking her head violently, NO! "Now hold on, hold on! I know that can't be what you wanted to hear, but listen. You have no portal gun or boots, you can't survive out here without some sort of edge. And I'm pretty banged up, I need to get the ATLAS upgrade." Chell looked puzzled, ATLAS upgrade? "You know, there was that core inside a robotic body. If I had that, I'd have my own portal gun, and could explore where ever I pleased." Chell looked hard at the little sphere, he did look badly damaged. But so did Wheatley, how could she trust another core? And GLaDOS would not let Chell leave again, she never wanted her back anyway. "Look Chell. I know this is hard, but it'll be the best for both of us. And you know me, I'm programmed to be the hero, I can't betray you in anyway. If nothing else, look at it this way, you'll be helping someone else escape the cruel intentions of that place." Chell couldn't argue with that, no amount of wheat would make a good argument. "So what do you say, partners?" Chell just had one question left, "How do we get in, and how do we get out? Getting out will be easy, it's getting in without her detecting us that'll be the problem. I've made a few upgrades to link and hack her system, but I have no idea where the entrance is, none of the pictures I looked at showed wheat." Chell looked frustrated, pulling out more wheat. "So then what do we do? Easy, you pick me up, I'll hold together until we get your stuff back. I'll let out soft beeps when we get close to a door. Hopefully we won't have to comb this entire field." With a sick pit in her stomach, Chell picked the sphere up, and began to search for a way back into the facility.
Yes I know, I destroyed the companion cube, but we all knew Chell was going to lose it one way or another, right?
