So I'm free now. After all these years, and all this chaos, and all those deathtraps, I'm finally free. And, I even get to take one of the Companion Cubes with me. Will this one speak to me? None of them ever have, but that could just be because I don't speak, either. This one looks pretty banged-up, but they're very strong; I'm sure it's all right.
I take a deep breath. Fresh air. When was the last time I breathed fresh air? I literally can't remember. I look around again, and see nothing but yellow grass waving in the wind in all directions. Wind. I can't remember having ever felt real wind before, either. The blue sky extends in all directions above me, as well. And there are clouds. Clouds…no robot made these clouds - they're random, and natural, and uncontrolled.
Freedom.
I spend several minutes, standing in the sun as it shines on me, feeling the wind blow around me, listening to a songbird in the distance…I even get to close my eyes. I have nothing to be afraid of anymore. I'm not a slave in a place where everything is designed to kill me. All that time in Aperture Science, I was afraid to even blink; now, I can close my eyes and relax, for the first time I can remember.
I just stand still for a few minutes, reveling in the outside world and freedom. Then, I open my eyes, look around again, and suddenly, I realize something:
I don't know what to do now.
All my memories are of being stuck in a maze of deathtraps, with someone or other always telling me what to do and where to go. I'd always had the option of obeying or disobeying, but…now, I don't have those options. I'm alone. All alone. Better than being stuck down in that place with Her, yes, but still…I don't know what to do. I'd worked so hard to get here, but I'd never thought about what to do next. What's more, I'm truly free - there's nothing blocking me from going in any direction, no walls or barriers that outline any sort of path. I have no way of knowing if I'm going in the wrong direction. For that matter, I don't even know what it is I'm supposed to be looking for now. Other humans, maybe? Where would they be? What would they do if they saw me? How would I be able to communicate with them? It would be nice to hear words spoken from an organic life form for a change, but…I don't speak. I don't even know how to speak.
I sit down on the Companion Cube. I don't have to keep standing up, and I don't have to run anymore. That's nice, but…I don't know what to do.
I take a deep breath. I don't have to hurry anywhere. I can take the time to get my thoughts in order. Trying to relax, I start going through everything I know.
I know my name is Chell. I know I'm alive. I know I'm a human being. I know I'm a girl. I know I spent many years in cryosleep. I know I can't remember anything from before I was first enslaved by Aperture Science and Her, and I know that that's probably because I was in cryosleep for so long that I suffered brain damage. I know everything that happened to me since I first woke up in the Aperture Science Testing Facility all those years ago. I know She finally let me go. I know I don't have to be afraid of Her anymore. I know about Cave Johnson, Caroline, and the general history of Aperture Science. I know I've probably been poisoned by at least one of the substances I came into contact with in the bottom layers of the Aperture Science building. I know how to use a Portal Gun to its full potential. I know how to press buttons. I know how to open doors. I know how to pull levers. I know how to stand, sit, walk, run, jump, and lie down. I know how to breathe. I know how to obey or disobey orders, and how to judge which option is less likely to kill me. I know how to make split-second decisions. I know how to survive an endless maze of deathtraps. I know how to pick things up and put them down. I know some things about the outside world. I know about daytime, nighttime, the sun, the moon, the sky, clouds, weather, wind, plants, and animals. I know enough about humans to be able to live in a society, more or less. I know I need food and water to survive. I know I'm sitting on a Companion Cube. I know it's daytime right now.
Okay. A lot of those things don't really matter too much just now. Now, what do I know I don't know?
I don't know how to speak. I don't know how to communicate with anyone or anything, except through obeying or disobeying orders. I don't know what my life was like before She first trapped me. I don't know how long I was in cryosleep. I don't know how to tell time. I don't know how to find or make food. I don't know where to find water. I don't know where to go. I don't know where I am. I don't know where I'm from. I don't know why She gave me this Companion Cube. I don't know if anyone alive knows me, or even if anyone knows of me. I don't know if there even are any humans in the world anymore. I don't know what to do. I don't know what else I don't know.
Okay. So that's cleared up. What are my options?
I could sit here until I die of dehydration. I could bang on that door and ask to be let back in. I could stand up and start walking in some direction or other. I can start walking in some direction or other and take the Companion Cube with me. I can take some time to rest before I start walking in some direction or other, with or without the Companion Cube.
Not very many options, and the only two that don't involve walking in some direction or other are the one that guarantees death and the one I absolutely will not do, whether I'd fail or succeed. There's nothing else for it. I have to move.
Should I take this Companion Cube with me? Well…why not? Maybe it can help me…
Should I go right now? I might as well, while I still have the energy and it's still daytime…
Okay then.
I stand up again, turn around, and pick up the Companion Cube. I look around for a minute, trying to choose a direction, then begin walking in the direction opposite the door I just came out of.
As I step off the bare square of land surrounding the exit and into the tall, yellow grass, I feel a thrill as the plants crush under my boots - not because I'm killing the plants, but because I can't remember the last time I walked through a place carpeted with vegetation. I am truly free.
Two steps later, something catches my foot, and I trip and fall. Fortunately, I have the reflexes to move the Companion Cube out of the way before I hit my head on it. After taking a moment to catch my breath, I lift my head and turn around to see what tripped me. I then discover that the heel springs on my long-fall boots have become entangled with the grass.
Long-fall boots. I don't need them anymore…
I turn over and sit up. I'm free now, so there's no need to fear dying of an otherwise-deadly fall. I can't make portals, either, so…I don't need those heel springs. The boots themselves will probably be helpful, but if I can just detach the springs…
It takes me ten minutes with each boot before I finally get the springs off me. I have to tear at the fabric with my fingers; fortunately, even though the braces are designed to take heavy falls, the boots themselves aren't made from the strongest fabric in the world, plus they've been through a lot of stress. When I at last get the two metal bars off me, I throw them back in the direction of the elevator. I'm going to leave it all behind, I think determinedly. I'm free now.
I start to get back on my feet. Just before I push myself up into a crouch, I realize that I don't remember ever walking without those heel springs. With that in mind, I carefully push myself onto my feet and slowly start to stand up.
I don't even rise two inches before I fall backwards. I'm putting too much weight on my back, since I'm not used to not having those springs bracing me.
Two more things to add to the lists of things I do and don't know:
I know I can't walk through this grass with heel springs.
I don't know how to walk without heel springs.
I sigh, but I don't have the strength try and get up. I feel exhausted. The adrenal vapor that fills the air in the Aperture Science Testing Facility is quickly wearing off, and all the stress and exertion I've been through since I met Wheatley is starting to catch up with me.
Okay, I think; I guess I should rest before I try to go anywhere. I drank some of that water that was pouring through the pipes deep underground - it probably poisoned me, but at least I know I won't die of dehydration for a couple of days. I can just…sleep. Naturally. Not cryosleep. Just rest…
I close my eyes. The last of the adrenaline that's been pumping through my system for the past couple of days wears off completely, and the wave of exhaustion that crashes down on me is so strong, I'm instantly asleep. Lying on my back, in some tall grass, with the sun shining on me and no fear of any AI trying to kill me, I'm finally asleep.