Chapter 4: Just Hang in There, Luv!
Test Chamber 10: almost 20 hours later. Chell dragged herself to the elevator, not hesitating to slide into a sitting position once the door shut. She had spent her entire life down here, doing tests day after day, and yet she had never been this strained in her life. A quiet groan slipped from her throat as she looked over her left leg. A large burn mark covered her thigh. That came from the last test chamber; where the previous Discouragement Beams were replaced with hidden miniature flamethrowers. Whenever she passed an automated trigger, short, small bursts of fire shot through the walls. She had to pass several of them while trying to get an orb into the receiver, which both the receiver and sender happened to be on separate moving platforms. Chell sighed and closed her eyes, only able to rest for a second before entering the next chamber.
The doors opened and Chell pulled herself up, limping forward to the door. She hesitated upon entering the room, terrified of what awaited her ahead, but nevertheless she walked in. A wall stood in front of her, attached to the right side of the room. A few feet past that wall was another wall attached to the left side. Chell walked to the second wall, fearful of what stood behind it. Bracing the gun in her hands, she stepped out past the wall. A Turret stood ahead, facing away from her. Relief filled Chell and she stepped further out past the wall. Her sense of security vanished when she heard the child-like voiced say, "Firing."
Chell dashed back behind the wall, but not before a bullet pierced through her left shoulder. Pain flared up around the wound. She swung around and leaned against the wall, gripping her arm and sliding to sit on the floor. Chell moved her hand away, noticing it smeared with blood. Instantly her shoulder screamed in pain, stinging and burning from the shot. This was insane. These tests were impossible, even for Chell.
She sat there, unwilling to risk her life further. Why had she agreed to come back? None of this was her problem. She was out of this place for good; she was supposed to be at her home with her friends, not here. Why did she have to be sucked back into this mess? Tears threatened to escape from her eyes, but she held them back, looking directly at a camera in the corner. The male spoke for the first time since the fifth test, "Are you giving up? You can't give up, you're almost done. Here, I'll give you a layout of this test: There are three Full-Rotation Turrets. They're like regular Turrets, but they now have full, three-hundred and sixty degree rotation, also equipped with a second camera in the back, so any movement on either side will trigger an attack. Plus the reaction time is faster than before, and the accuracy is much more precise, thus saving a significant amount of bullets. So you have to get past them and then you're free. Honestly, it's easy compared to the last two chambers."
She refused to move. No more tests, ever. The AI spoke again, "You're doing great, by the way. I mean, most probably wouldn't even make it past the first test, and here you are on test chamber number ten. Good job, now, just three more to go and you'll be finished for good." She still didn't move. The machine grew aggravated, "It was your choice to come back here. You put yourself through this, so finish the test or I will kill you right now."
Growing annoyed with the new AI, she lifted the gun with her right arm and shot a portal at the camera, followed by another next to the camera. The camera dropped to the floor, forbidding him to watch Chell. "Very mature…" he said, his voice rich with annoyance. Chell pushed off of the wall, limping on her burned leg. She went to the door, which was now securely shut, and slammed the gun into it. The device clanged against the metal, its pod-like case slightly cracking from the impact. The speakers crackled, "Hey! Be careful with that!" Chell swung the gun into the door again, completely ignoring the robot.
"You know, if you break that device, you'll be stuck in here. Then you definitely die," he said surely. The woman continued to damage the weapon. After the seventh swing, the cracked shell broke off and the power drained from the gun. "Oh! Great, you broke it!" The AI groaned, "Fine. I'll get the original one; in the meantime, just stay in here," The door opened, leading to the short hall. Chell stood still, crossing her arms. She wasn't going to do anything he said anymore. An annoyed growl came from the machine, and a platform swung up behind Chell, shoving her into the hall. She dropped to her knees, stopping the fall with her hands. Immense pain shot through her arm and leg, and she turned and fell to her back, holding the shot up arm. She lay on her back with her eyes closed, biting down hard on her lower lip. A sharp, metallic liquid spread over her tongue. She lay in silence for a moment, wincing when short jolts of pain spread around her body.
"Hey! Hey over here!" The British core called from her left. Chell instantly turned her head to see the metal ball inside the wall. He squinted, resembling a smile, "Oh I'm so glad you're here. This guy is insane-" He stopped ad looked down at her shoulder, "Are you alright? Oh, that doesn't look good. That really doesn't look good. Oh wow-"
"Wheatley," She hissed, "Shut up!"
Wheatley continued anyway, "Okay, well don't you worry. I'll get you out. Just get up, and we'll be on our way to the Core Confinement Room." He nodded to his side, gesturing where they would go. Chell hesitated, but forced herself to get up. She went towards the wall, hardly noticing her limp, and rushed next to Wheatley. He shut the panels, trapping them in the dark. "One moment," He said and blinked his light on. He looked forward, lighting the way for Chell. She started down the catwalk, followed by the core.
"Okay, hurry, this way." He urged, zooming past the girl when they got to a well-lit area. Chell picked up her pace, ignoring the pain in her legs. She and Wheatley traveled through the facility, just as they had before. She sighed quietly at the memory; they would walk through the facility, her listening silently as he babbled on about what happened back there ad what he did before they met. Wheatley looked at the former test subject, "What's wrong, luv?" She looked up at him with a sarcastic expression and he nodded, "Right. Returning to the tests, seeing me again, I get it. Sorry about this, but you have to believe me when I say you're the only one I could think of that could help."
Chell looked forward, neither accepting nor denying his apology. They walked in silence for a few minutes until they came to a door. Wheatley turned to her, "Well, this is it. The Core Confinement Room. This is where he put all of the cores when he took over. Most of these guys are deactivated; poor fellas…" He dazed off. Chell waited patiently for him to continue, clearing her throat after a while. Wheatley perked up again, "Now, if we're lucky, the other cores should still be okay. These guys are corrupted cores; honestly I don't know why they were created in the first place, probably some idiot working here, thinking it would be fun to make them. I don't know, really, but it's lucky for us, because we're going to use them against him."
He paused for a minute, "Okay, I might be able to hack into the room. Just…look away. I-I can't do it while you're looking." Chell rolled her eyes and turned around, hiding the small smile that threatened to show; just like Wheatley to say that. There were a couple of beeps, and then the sound of a door opening. Chell turned around and walked in before Wheatley could speak. He followed, looking around. The room was filled by piles of power-dead cores, not a single one turned on.
"Okay…Um…do any of them look alive to you? Any at all?" Wheatley asked, confused. Chell shook her head and Wheatley sighed, "Well that was a waste of time. I wonder where they are. Do you think he moved them to a different area?" She shrugged. Honestly, she didn't care; she just wanted to leave. The core left the room with her, silently wondering what they were going to do. Suddenly Wheatley beeped quietly, "Oh! He's calling me! Do you think you can go on by yourself for a while?" He asked.
She shrugged, "Where?"
Wheatley spoke, already heading away, "Just follow the rail, you'll figure something out!" And with that, he was gone. Chell sighed and headed off down the catwalk. Well, at least she wasn't testing.