This story picks up right where Portal 2 left off, with Chell in the field.
I trudged through the field, getting wearier and wearier with each step. I was at the point at which the shed through which I came was out of sight. I was carrying my Companion Cube, and it was sort of heavy. The only thing that kept me walking was the hope of freedom. I was traveling in a straight line, even though it was boring. The only sign of life I had seen so far was a small, harmless snake and a toad. I had not seen anything yet but field.
Even though I had tried to suppress them, my thoughts wandered to Aperture Science and GLaDOS. I let out a sigh, and opened the doors for the thoughts to come in. I didn't really understand much about what she meant just before I left, with all of that "Caroline Deleted!" stuff and all of that. That whole turret opera thing was even stranger, even though it appeared to me as a kind gesture and was sort of… cute? Was it cute, or was it just weird? I'm not sure at all. I shook the thought away and instead thought of Wheately in space. He deserved it… with all of his moronic shenanigans. This made me think of that deep pit, and potato GLaDOS, and Cave Johnson.
I sat down on my Companion Cube to take a break, and this was when I realized it's secret. As soon as I sat on it, the top slid in and then out of the way. It emanated an orange light for a few seconds as I looked at it in confusion, and finally its contents were revealed.
The first thing I noticed was the Portal Gun. There was a miniaturized version of the Portal Gun I had known and loved for a while, and after some testing of it I realized that it worked just like the original. I smiled to myself, happy that I had found it. The second thing in it was a core similar to Wheately. Knowing how corrupt they could get (I was sure that Rick would give me nightmares…), I was a bit wary of it at first. I pulled it out and examined it. On the backside of it was a small switch labeled "On/Off". I flicked the switch and the core came to life.
"Hello, My name is Caroline." exclaimed the core. I smiled realizing that while GLaDOS had deleted Caroline from her system, she had also downloaded it onto this core. GLaDOS was on my side after all.
"H… Hello?" I asked the core. I realized that my vocal chords had been fixed. The people who hired me for testing had disabled my vocal chords. It was standard protocol. They told me that upon leaving the facility they would be automatically fixed. They were right.
"Hello, My name is Caroline. What is yours?" Asked Caroline in her sweet voice.
"Uh… Chell. Yes, my name is Chell." I quietly told the core. I had never exactly liked my name.
"Chell is a nice name." Caroline told me. I was starting to really like her already. "How did you get here?" she asked me. "It is a bit of a… bleak place."
And so I set off with Caroline mounted in the cube. I told her my story along the way, and she used her data banks to figure out where we were. We became good friends. I now had knowledge that there was a settlement of some kind not too far from where I was. It was in a forest which was now in my line of sight. I was headed straight for it.
"You know, the Oracle Turret was right." she randomly told me. I looked at her in a funny way. "Look some more in the Cube." she continued in a mysterious manner. Now at the edge of the forest and in a nice patch of shade, I set the cube down and took Caroline out.
"Ok, I'll look in here." I said. Digging deeper in the Cube, I found a note. It was typed.
Dearest Chell,
By now, you have probably reached the forest. Your suspicions were correct, I transferred Caroline into your core, effectively deleting her from myself. You will find the final slice of the Cake below the two notes. I kept it preserved for you, just in case. Feel free to eat it. Once you take it out, your beloved Cube (Which I thoughtfully saved from melting…) will go back to normal and won't be able to be opened.
In your absence, the world has been taken over by aliens known as the Xen. The village in the forest is a community of the friendly Vortigaunts. They look slightly odd, but they will be kind to you.
I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. I am running out of time.
Love,
GLaDOS
I smiled, glad that GLaDOS was being friendly. It made me wonder just how strange these Vortigaunts looked, but decided that they would be friendly enough.