To me, Chell seems OOC but considering she never spoke, would that count?

Disclaimer: Portal and Half-Life doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 2: Power Suit Reboot!

I blinked as I felt my consciousness slowly return to me. My head and my body felt so much better. I didn't even feel the scratches of the zombie things or the burden of a three-day hike in my feet. I sat up slowly and examined my surroundings.

I was in a room filled with other sick and wounded but they were alive. That was the first think I noticed. There was one nurse that was watching them all and she was busy with a guy that looked like they sat down in front of a turret. I got up and began to walk, examining the patients. Most of them seemed to be flesh wounds. There were a few that looked like they came down with a sicknesses but I'm guessing it was probably from an infected cut or gunshot wound.

"What happened here?" I said quietly.

"It's what happens when you fight for something." Someone behind me said.

I turned to face a woman that was about my age, or at least, was my age. She looked to be around mid 20s. "Yeah, I know, it's just that . . ."

"You've never been out in the field before, huh?" She asked. It was probably more of an examination though. I shrugged. "You've never been out on the field but you don't seem to be a civilian either." She put her hand on her chin. "So, what are you?"

I laughed. "Just a chick from Michigan."

Her brows knitted together. "Michigan was destroyed years ago. How did you escape the Combine?"

Destroyed? "I . . . I have my ways." I could tell she was going to ask me something else so I decided to change the subject. "My name's Chell by the way." I stuck out my hand for her to shake.

She scrutinized it a bit and I hoped that a handshake was still a form of greeting. To my relief she held out her hand and shook mine. "Alyx. Welcome to the Resistance, Chell." She smiled and I returned it brightly.

I was assigned to a bunk under Alyx. There were two others sharing the room and their bunk was adjacent to ours so the beds formed an L. So it was Alyx and Jamie in the top beds while Sarah and I were on the bottom beds. It was a pretty small room so most of the time it was cramped. Thankfully, the Resistance provided all the clothes so there really wasn't much need for dressers. The closet was divided equally among the girls but I only needed the companion cube. It was curious as to why Alyx didn't seem to have her own designated space.

"It's because Alyx never stays in one place for very long." Jamie replied.

"Why is that?"

Sarah looked at me from Alyx's bed like I grew a second head. "Because she goes with Dr. Freeman on his missions all the time. Duh."

Jamie shot Sarah a look. "Chell was in hiding remember. For all we know she probably doesn't even know what Dr. Freeman did."

They were right. I did not. "Everyone knows Dr. Freeman." I said casually. I've heard his name thrown around a lot. He seemed to be an extremely important person and I guessed it was high time that I did. In order to start a conversation, I said the three words that would get any girl to say something. "Isn't he cute?"

Sarah swooned. "Isn't he? He is so manly! Can you believe that he stormed into the Alien world and defeated their leader and just last week we were being attacked and he took down so many striders all by himself."

It's no wonder he's famous. Sarah made the man seem like a powerful god.

Jamie shook her head. "He seems strange to me. At the time that he defeated the Alien boss, he was probably around 25 according to my resources but when I saw him a week ago, he still didn't look a day older. I don't think he's the real Freeman."

I tilted my head. That's interesting.

"What? That's crazy. How can he not be the real Freeman? Not every guy looks that good in a mustache and less people can do that he did." Sarah countered.

"It could be his kid. He did disappear for 20 years. I bet the real Gordon Freeman died and this is his kid had come to take his place because it was his father's last wish or something."

I grinned. Sarah laughed and smacked Jamie in the face with her pillow. "That's too much. Too much."

Alyx walked into the room. "What's the commotion about?"

I shrugged as Jamie and Sarah continued their pillow fight.


"Well, she isn't a Combine spy, that's for sure, but there is something weird about her."

"Really? Like what?"

"Well, it just seems like she's completely clueless about the world, like she's been living under a rock all these years. She has no clue about the cities and it seemed like she didn't know what the Combine was until I told her."

"Come on. Where, on this earth, could she possibly have been that she didn't encounter an alien at least once?"

"That's what I would like to know."

"Do you wanna stay a while longer?"

"No, we have to find that boat. Chell can wait."


The way the Resistance operated was pretty simple. Everyone would wake up at some time of the day, eat something, get to work in their station, when it was time to sleep they would walk over to their rooms then start the cycle over again.

Since I didn't really have any particular skills I just drifted to who ever sat at my table that day. After a few weeks I had at least a few friends in each department. What surprised me was that I was pretty skilled in a few of them. The medics, techies and people who worked in the field were always happy to see me around. The kitchen staff and scientists were happy to see me around too but they didn't really want me touching stuff after a certain chemical explosion in both the lab and one of the ovens.

Anyways, back to the medics, techies and field guys, I only stay in the medic rooms and fields for an hour each because, I'm not usually needed by the medics. The field always reminded me of testing too much. I spend most of my time in the department of technological development and I'm told that I'm good at it too. I was able to repair and reprogram a lot of the Combine's technology.

I'd already taken apart and assembled over a billion Roller Mines, a few dozen Man Hacks, two Hunters, a Strider and a Battle Ship. Now I was working on a different project. I was making my own battle suit.

"Hey, Where'd you learn to do something like that?" Brandon asked, his bright blue eyes sparling. He was a lanky blond guy with a thick British accent.

I continued to work on the goggles for the suit. "My parent's were technicians." I said dryly. He reminded me too much of a certain metal ball so I may have been a bit harsh toward him.

"Well this is bloody amazing mate."

He poked around my table and accidentally activated one of the Man Hacks I had yet to reprogram. "What the hell!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" He yelled as he backed away from my table.

"I see you!" The Man Hack said. It began to fly towards me and I ducked underneath it. "Hello. Is anyone there?"

As it was reeling around to face me again I grabbed a wrench and batted it to the ground in a slicing motion. It twitched a bit as electric shocks emitted from it before the red light switched off. "Brandon, you moron, now I have to repair that all over again.

"Yeah, I'm a huge moron. Sorry." His shoulders sagged and he bowed his head a bit.

I sighed. "Not a huge moron but your curiosity might get you killed one day. Just be more careful got it?"

I gently nudged his shoulder and he smiled. "Alrighty, then. I promise I'll be more careful."

I smiled. "Good, now leave. I have to get back to work."

He nodded again and scurried out the door.

"That's awesome leadership you have there, Chelly. I almost thought you were going to get a salute or something."

I jumped a bit at the sound. "Hey, Alyx I haven't seen you in weeks, where have you been?"

The smile dropped from her lips and she sighed. "Boat hunting."

I knitted my brows together. "What boat?"

"There's this boat called the Borealis and supposedly, it has some weapon that extremely powerful. Gordon and I have been trying to look for it for over a year now. There were coordinates given but when we got there, all it was is a hole in the ice possibly where a boat might have been. We've been expanding the search since." She sighed.

I snapped my fingers. "Oh yeah, Check this out." I led her to my table. "I don't know what you were going but I was having fun." It was littered with papers and blue prints for the suit as well as a few roller mines.

Alyx activated it and it zapped to life. Luckily I had already reprogramed it. "I'm different."

"Ahh." Alyx flinched away. "Why does it speak?"

I was getting annoyed at people touching my stuff. "Jeez, get away from that." I unplugged my glasses from the charger and slipped it on Alyx's head.

"Wow. Chell, this is amazing." She said sarcastically.

I grinned and I took a belt out from inside one of the drawers and strapped it securely around my waist. I took the matching pair of fingerless gloves and threw it to her.

She caught it. "What's this now? Are we playing dress up?"

"Shut up and put it on." She complied. "Now take out your gun and aim at me."

"Let's not get suicidal here." She joked.

"Haha, isn't someone full of jokes today." She laughed and made sure her gun was unloaded before pointing it at me.

I pressed a button on my belt and watched her eyes widen. "Woah, that's cool."

"Isn't it?" I yelled like a child during Christmas. "My glasses could pin point the vital systems in anything as long as you wear these gloves and point your gun at them. It even goes through walls. It even includes a stopwatch, thermometer of the room you're in, and it can detect any chemicals in the air, like, let's say, neurotoxin. Oh, yeah, don't forget the flashlight."

"Wow . . . I don't know what to say. I'm at a lose for words. Are you a genius?" She asked in genuine curiosity.

I never considered myself a genius but I guess it's because I never really thought about it. Now that I do, I did solve all those tests GLaDOS threw at me fairly quickly, so . . ., "Maybe."

Alex shook her head in disbelief. "I should introduce you to Dr. Kliener right now."

I'd heard about Dr. Kliener and Dr. Magnusson. They were the scientists that ran the base not to mention they both use to work for Black Mesa. "Um . . . I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Alyx ignored me because she grabbed my wrist and began to pull me toward the door. Damn, she was strong. "Don't worry, they'll love you."

"I highly doubt that." If was scared that if they found out I was from Aperture, they would kick my ass out of this place. I stated trying to wriggle out of Alyx's grip.

"Stop struggling." She let me go with a huff. "Listen, Chell, I don't know if you have a phobia of scientists or something but we really need help. We need smart people like you to pitch in and figure out how to win our world back. Literally, everyone in the world depends on it." She paused and stared at me. "I know you aren't selfish, Chell so I need you to come with me."

I wanted to be selfish right then and there. I wanted to not care but I did care and Alyx knew it.

Well, if they were as desperate as she said then there was no way they would throw me out. "Fine." I said quietly

Alyx grinned. "Awesome. Come this way." I was lead through a maze of halls that were mostly pin number protected be for arriving at an elevator. We got in and I could almost feel my gut do summersaults.

It was Alyx that broke the silence "Dr. Kleiner really isn't a bad guy and Dr. Magnusson is really nice inside. Don't listen to all those rumors about them. I promise they aren't real."

I honestly had no clue what Alyx was talking about but if she though my nervousness was caused by something like that then I was in no way going to burst her bubble.

The elevator opened to a room with a huge window and computers everywhere. A skinny, balding man was at the controls.

"Hey, Dr. Kliner. Dr Magnusson's not here?" Alyx asked.

The balding man, who was apparently Dr. Kleiner, turned to Alyx's direction. "Oh, Alyx. I'm afraid he's back in his office pouring over those codes again."

"Again? He's probably gone over them a thousand times."

The man looked down. "I know but he insists in looking them over and I . . ." His gaze traveled to me. "Well, who is this?"

Alyx faced me too. "Oh, this is Chell. She's an amazing technician. Check out these glasses that she made." Alyx took off the glasses I forgot she was wearing and handed them to Dr Kleiner. She turned back to. "Go Chell."

"Oh, yeah." I clicked a button on my belt.

Dr. Kleiner blinked. "My goodness, has there always been that much asbestos in the air?"

"Not only that, it can do so much more too. Look." Alyx pointed the gun at me again.

Dr. Kleiner panicked. "What are you do . . . oh I see." Pulling them of his head he examined the glasses. "What an ingenious piece of machinery."

I thought it would be okay to speak now. "It has a built in thermometer, a stop watch and it can also locate the vitals of anything that moves."

"Don't forget the built in flashlight."

"Amazing." I cracked a smile. "How long did it take for you to come up with this?"

"About five days." I replied. "It isn't done though. I plan to create a whole suit to go with it.

"Most people would have taken months to put together something this intricate. If you do manage to create that suit, it might even outmatch Gordon's HEV suit. Where did you say you were from, my dear?"

"I . . . well . . ."

Luckily I didn't have to answer. Another man with gray hair ascended up the elevator. I guessed him to be Dr. Magnusson. "Blast it all. I can't seem to find a single helpful bit of information. Who are you?"

He was shorter then me but I was still pretty intimidated. He had crazy eyes. "My name's Chell."

He crossed his arms. "So, you're the girl the field men have been going on about?"

"You actually got the field guys to talk about you?" Alyx asked. She seemed impressed.

"Talk is an immense understatement. In fact I've never seen them talk this animatedly about a single person before. It really is starting to become a bother." He walked past me as if I wasn't there. That really ticked me off. "Anyways, what is she doing here?" He asked Alyx as if I wasn't worthy of being talked to.

I snapped. "I'm here to show my invention. It took a long five days to build." I emphasized on the five days. "Its main purpose is to locate the vitas of any given enemy but it also has special features. The controls are located on this belt. It can tell the temperature of the room you're in and any dangerous chemicals that might be mixed in the air."

"Look, Arne. Asbestos. We should have that taken care of." Dr. Kleiner interjected.

"I'm also planning on creating a whole suit to go with it. If I get all the materials, it should be done in a matter of weeks."

My gaze didn't leave Dr. Magnusson's face. He inspected it and then tried it on. "That's impressive Ms. . ."

". . . Chell."

"Ms. Chell." He said my name slowly as if he was testing how the word sounded. He looked at me up and down before turning to his colleague. "We seem to have a second Freeman on our hands." He turned to me again. "You seem to be double skilled. Tell me, how did you manage to attain such expertise?"

I grinned. "Aperture laboratories." I stated casually and coolly.

His face was as I expected. A look of utter shock came over his face. "You're from Aperture?"

"Ye-." I cut myself short. "My parents were . . . long before the combine attack."

"Interesting. And, what happened to Aperture?"

I analyzed each one of the people in the room. I didn't think they would take such an interest. I expected them to be outraged so see their rival company experiencing success. I certainly didn't expect to see them looking hopeful. "Why do you want to know?"

Alyx has having her own little revelation in the corner. "Yes, of course, if we can locate the Aperture Labs then we might be able to find some clues as to where the Borealis could be located!"

It clicked. They were going to look for Aperture so that they could search the records but the only way they could search the records was if they got past a homicidal super computer. I couldn't let that happen. "I'm sorry. I don't know.

D. Magnusson sighed. "Yes, of course, our luck could never be that good." He stuck my glasses in front of me. They were dangling limply from his hand.

I plucked it from his grasp and half smiled. "Thanks."

He scoffed. Right then and there, I could feel the energy in the room shift. "There really isn't thanks necessary. I would never attempt to steal something so amateurish. Then again I wouldn't have expected anything more."

My jaw dropped. "What?"

He pointed to my glasses. "All those fancy features do nothing but distract not to mention drain the battery life. I mean, why would you need to know the temperature in a room. In real combat you can't just expect the enemy to wait while you charge. It's wasteful and amateurish."

I took a step toward them. "If Aperture is so amateurish, why steal our stuff. Face it, Black Mesa could never advance unless it was a stolen from us."

"Black Mesa has done no such thing. Aperture makes it and we just happen to come up with something better."

I crossed my arms. "I bet my suit could beat yours."

Dr. Magnusson laughed. "Well, we'll just see then." He walked back to Dr. Kleiner and addressed Alyx. "Well then Ms. Vance, why don't you take Ms. . . Chell," I could tell he didn't like saying my name, "with you down to the field so that she may test out her new equipment. And send Dr. Freeman up here at once!"

"Okay." Alyx replied shortly. She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the elevator. I didn't really notice because I was stuck in a glare match with the old man.

"I wish you luck, Aperture girl. You're going to need it."

I nodded from the elevator just as it was about to go down. When we were out of sight I huffed. "As much as I love the new nick name, I really don't like him."

She laughed. "I don't think he's too fond of you either."

"I told you it was a bad idea, introducing me to them."

"You were only half right. Dr. Kleiner loved that new invention of yours." The ride was silent until Alyx started up the conversation again. "Hey, did your parents ever talk about something called the Borealis? Any hints on where it could be or even what it might have in it?"

I sighed. "Sorry, I don't know anything."

She shook her head. "I figured. I know you, of all people, would tell me if something's that important."

I averted my gaze. The rest of the elevator ride was quiet.