AN: Okay, I got a little bit of grief over Melody (before i put that authors note in) being mary sue, for getting the blue jumpsuit she wanted.

Let me explain, Mel is one of the unused characters of portal 2. She was meant to be paired up with Chell in c-op, but was scrapped when they decided on atlas and p body. Mel wears a blue jumpsuit to Chell's orange (like the portals, atlas and p body and the gels) since all test subjects are required to wear orange, i came up with that crappy little reason to get Mel into blue, as she is supposed to be ^_^ I hope that cleared things up, lol. Mel isn't an OC, in fact i haven't used one character who isn't somewhere is portal and portal 2 XD.

on another note, not only have i put out an Angrality oneshot, but i'm planning another. So feel free to stop by and vote on what you'd like the theme to be ^_^

thanks for reading, now on with the next chapter!

Chapter 7!


If Chell ever saw another cake again, it would be too soon. She was sure that the others thought her insane for eating half the cake to herself, but her pride wouldn't let her stop. After having been told for so long that she couldn't have the cake, how was she to deny herself the chance to eat all she could hold? She sighed, betting GLaDOS would have a field day with the multitude of fat jokes that could be used against her now.

She would never be able to live down stuffing her face full of the chocolaty wonder that-

Chell leaned back over the toilet in her little bathroom and felt the wave of nausea pass. She had been sitting there for what seemed like forever, but she finally felt good enough to get up and walk to the bed.

XXxXxXxXX

Glados paced her lab. The engineer sitting at the table was busy at work playing with the portal device. She was growing impatient and clearly wanting to dispatch the engineer for being too slow.

"Ok, so the thing is…the modifications you're wanting will take at least a week or two to plan out and a few days to create…it's not even a guarantee that it'll even work…"

Glados nodded, "Then get busy building the prototype. I want it ready for testing at the end of this week."

The engineer gasped at the given time and nodded, "Yes, ma'am." He groaned exiting the lab. He would be spending the next week living off of coffee and two hours of sleep a day.

XXAPERTUREXX

GLaDOS watched the girl walk in her blue jumpsuit and new long fall boots to her first test. It was a simple button/cube test room.

The girl was having slight issue pushing a weighted storage cube to the button, but quickly managed to figure out how to get it on the button pad. The door shot open and the girl laughed, walking through the grill with no problem.

"Please note the incandescent particle field across the exit. This Aperture Science Emancipation Grill will vaporize any unauthorized equipment that passes through it…for instance the Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube."

Melody just nodded and climbed into the elevator, "So when does testing end?"

GLaDOS ignored the question and moved the elevator down to the next level. In this level, the girl would finally be working with portals, however she would only be given buttons that opened blue portals to the orange. The super computer had no data what-so-ever on this test, yet someone had already solved it. She had come across it after being woken up. It was probably just the pest's doing.

The girl entered and looked around. The room was completely clean again, no plant life hanging around, no malfunctioning doors, no damage left over from that moron's reign. GLaDOS was quite happy with her facility. It was once again completely operational. And now she had access to the old Aperture tests and equipment. Those gels were quite an amazing find.

The cooperative initiative mastered them pretty quickly, as did the pest, but still…what purpose could they have other than to smash humans into walls and bounce them? She shook her core and decided she would figure that out when she had more human tests on them.

Melody walked up to the first room, with the super button inside, and pressed the button on the stand. She jumped back lightly when a blue portal opened inside. She turned and grinned at the orange linked portal and ran into it, stepping on the button. The blue line turned yellow and she smiled, stepping off.

GLaDOS watched carefully as the girl began to get upset that the button wouldn't stay down. Was she stupid? Maybe the brain scans were off and this girl couldn't see the cube in another room directly across from her.

The computer was about to give up on the test subject when the girl finally looked up and saw the other room. A bright smile spread across her face and she completed the test.

"That one was pretty hard…I guess I should probably look at the entire room next time, huh?" she laughed walking into the lift.

"[subject name here] is doing a wonderful job," GLaDOS forced out, "[subject hometown here] must be proud."

"Mel." the blonde girl state, "Call me Mel."

"[subject name here] should note that this next test is very dangerous." Mel sighed and waited to get off.

XXAPERTUREXX

Chell woke with a start, cold sweat pouring down her back. It had only been a dream, but she had been trapped inside a chamber with GLaDOS again. The computer was filling the room with neurotoxin. Wheatley had shown up to help, but turned on Chell at the last minute and began bomb throwing. The more she ran, the more neurotoxin she took in and she…

The test subject shuddered remembering how real the dream had felt. She stood and walked to the bathroom to splash her face with cold water. The small clock flashed six, so it wasn't too early. Wheatley would be by in two hours to get her anyway.

A frown crossed her girl's face. The previous day's memories came flooding back. The surprise meeting with Coryn and the Oracle, as well as Rick and Wheatley annoying her. The Cave Johnson robot that tried to force her to buy Aperture products, and the cake.

Chell just shook her head. Wheatley had tried to talk to her at the little party, but she ignored him. Not because she was still mad, which is what he must've thought, but because she had been preoccupied with the cake then being sick by said cake.

Not to mention that red-haired man was constantly glaring. If it hadn't been for Mora and whatever she had talked to him about, then he probably would have attacked. She remembered how vicious the little red core had been. Honestly, that thing gave her nightmares. Chell shook it off and sighed.

She showered and dressed, getting ready for testing.

Wheatley showed up on time, but instead of giving Chell the wake up call like he normally did, she was waiting for him at the door, ready to go.

This surprised the blue eyed man, but he smiled, "I'm sorry, love. I didn't mean to upset you yesterday, I was just trying to keep you safe. I know you can handle yourself, but those guys are bad news…if She thinks they're enemies, then it'd be best if you just left them alone. If She thinks you're helping' them out…well let's just say there are things she could do to you that would make you wish you were dead! She's a maniac and completely mad…"

Chell just smiled. The tall man let out a relieved sigh and smiled, "Oh…um…I almost forgot!" he yelped, startling Chell. He turned to her with serious eyes, "I'd be careful today, mate. She has been really…weird. It's actually quite scary. Atlas and Penny were actually trying to avoid testing…and each other…which is also odd…hmm…anyway, just watch out. She's up to something." he crossed his arms and fell silent as they walked into the cafeteria.

Logan and Flynn were already sitting there. The blue-eyed twin was eating leftovers from the night before, while Flynn was just reading something out of a text book. "Hmm. Marie Curie invented the theory of radioactivity, the treatment of radioactivity, and dying of radioactivity…"

Chell yawned lightly, sitting down. She wasn't really hungry, but the longer she could postpone going to testing would probably be best, especially if Glados was really in some strange mood.

She closed her eyes and began using the rare moment of peace to take in everything she had experienced the past few days. Firstly, what had the Oracle meant? She was sure now that She meant Glados. But what exactly did Oracle mean by what he said? What was she finding a way to? And what door will open? Aperture's? She honestly hoped it was Aperture's doors that would open. Releasing all of these people from their captivity would be something nice.

But then again, how could that be when Oracle said to escape? Escape here? Chell let looses a sigh. She still didn't want to leave this Aperture as greatly as the other one. At least here she wasn't going to have a homicidal computer trying to kill her several times. Not to mention she was actually allowed to wake up when she felt like it and she got to eat real food…well as real as it could be at Aperture. She wasn't being pumped full of adrenal vapors and she was surrounded by her own species.

Wheatley sat down with two trays, one for himself and one for her. She graciously accepted the food, despite not really being hungry and nibbled her toast.

"I may not want you getting all tangled up with those people, love," he whispered lowly, "but…I do agree that you should escape…I don't know why you do, but you act as if this is paradise. It's not. She only gets worse and I think she's losing her morals. Or maybe she's lost them long ago…the point is: It's just as dangerous here as you claim it to be at your old home. I don't want to see you killed. Or hurt.

"And I know it'll be my fault because I'm being selfish and really enjoy having someone to talk to and what not and keeping you from running away from all of this." Chell smiled and kissed his cheek before standing up and heading to the labs.

Wheatley gave her a weak smile and wave as she left for testing. He stared down at his own half-eaten food and pushed it away. He knew Chell was in danger. Or at least…that's what he expected from Her. He had to do something…

Glados was smiling, standing back and admiring her work, when the test subject made her way into the lab. "Oh, it's you. Well since you're here early, you mind as well note I took your advice and started CHELL back up again. Once again, she's refusing her programming, but I don't know…I think I may have found a way to override that…" she turned away from the blue-grey A.I. and walked over to Chell.

"Anyway, how about I go get your tests ready…" Chell nodded and walked over to her robotic self. She honestly didn't know what to expect from meeting herself alive in this world. Cave had once said time travel would unravel time completely, but was it the same for dimension travel? Or universe travel?

Chell slowly reached up, mesmerized by the sleek and shiny chassis. The computer turned to meet her gaze and pulled away from her, almost nervously. The optic matched the chassis, and Chell's own eyes.

Said optic scanned over Chell and widened, "It's not possible." the low computerized voice whispered. The test subject hadn't expected that and jumped slightly, yet she reached forward and tried to touch the computer again. CHELL moved away, almost as if she was frightened by humans, or Chell. Or perhaps both?

The human girl sighed. She was usually the same way with A.I. She preferred not to be anywhere near them, nor did she want anything to do with them. So wouldn't that mean CHELL was the same way with humans?

Glados walked back up, "Ah, I see you're acquainted. Today CHELL will be overseeing your testing. I figure since it is her alternate self…" Glados grinned, "she'll be more inclined to making sure nothing happens to you." Her visible golden eye darted towards Chell, making the girl squirm slightly.

Chell grabbed the portal device and walked into the first room. It looked simple enough. Button near a door, laser that needed to be pointed towards the receiver. Cubes were located on opposite sided of the room, inaccessible without the slanted panels across from them. She gripped the device and started working.

CHELL watched carefully. Not because her programming told her to test and take notes on the human, but because she knew the human was not from here. She knew it was herself from another world.

Each human she'd met so far, Glados, Atlas and Penny, had given off a slight, but still there, glow. Their glow was a dull bluish grey, yet the girl…her glow was a dull yellow. No other human shared the glow, therefore she couldn't be from this world.

The computer narrowed her optic at Glados. Had this been her doing? No. Glados couldn't have brought someone over. But how? CHELL mulled this over as the girl walked through the door to the elevator.

Chell was taken to the next level instead of Glados' chamber. The girl looked into the room with confusion and then looked at the camera with a slight glare.

"I've decided one test a day was doing nothing for the same of testing." Glados' sharp voice echoed through the room. The test subject turned away, giving no more reaction to Glados than she had to. She began solving the puzzle as if it were nothing.

CHELL forcibly took notes on how to make the tests harder and more complicated, like her programming suggested. She tried to stop this new program from working, but it wouldn't override for her. Glados was smart. She blocked CHELL from getting anything useful from her own body, and she could only control her body movement and thoughts. Everything from doors to cameras to the audio system were all firewall and passwords protected. It would take her days, non-stop, to break passed them.

XXAPERTUREXX

"Good you now have the portal device." GLaDOS stared in down at the girl, who insisted on being called Mel. "Use it to make your own blue portal where you need one and make your way to the elevator hall."

Mel laughed happily playing with the blue portal device, "You know…science isn't half bad! I wasn't really into it so much. My dad was always wishing he was, but it was always my sister who loved it more than I did." She threw the portal onto a ledge and walked through the orange one, "She'd die if she could play with this! I bet she's so jealous!"

GLaDOS shook her core and groaned. This girl never ceased to stop talking about her family and about how much fun she was having, or about the time her and her sister snuck into the labs to steal some chemicals for a project.

The computer was thoroughly annoyed, but the data was useful. Mel was pretty good thinking with portals and she gave GLaDOS something the pest never had: Human interaction. The blonde treated GLaDOS as if she were a friend. She also gave off proper human reaction to new things inside test chambers, giving the A.I. knowledge she'd be needing. It would be a real shame to have to kill the subject in the end, but at least the testing would be worth it.

Mel stepped into the elevator and waited for it to carry her to the next room, "Hey, why is it I haven't seen anyone else around here? I mean, other than you, I haven't heard another person or even seen one…" she rubbed her arm lightly.

GLaDOS contemplated telling the brat the truth, but would that compromise her data intake? Would the girl become hardened like the pest had and try and kill her? It wouldn't happen again. There was absolutely no way GLaDOS had any portable surfaces in her chamber, nor the conversion gel, which had been the moron's downfall, but still corrupted cores were also very dangerous things. The computer ignored the girl for the moment and turned her attention to locking the corrupted core room and took the liberty of setting up turrets as backup.

Mel frowned at the lack of answers, which only furthered her worry over her sister and father. She tried to remember how she ended up in stasis in the first place, but her memories were foggy and almost nonexistent. She remembered going to Aperture for the Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, but she only remembered helping set up her sister's potato battery display and then a man walking in telling them they were going to get to see something amazing. After that…nothing.

"Why was I in stasis? Did something bad happen?" once again GLaDOS didn't answer the girl. Was she even there anymore?

Fear set over the blonde girl as she felt more alone than ever.

XXAPERTUREXX

Chell was quickly becoming angry at Glados. She had been testing for hours now, with no break and no meal. It had to be well passed noon, since Chell's stomach was growling like crazy. The tests got much harder with the guards no in each room. They did have specific orders to not leave their posts, but Chell couldn't just knock them over or even pick them up and move them. She had to find ways around them and it was difficult with them being completely mobile and able to turn around.

Her fury was hard to push passed, as she felt like she was back home. Maybe she really should find a way of escaping. It wouldn't be hard if she could get out of these rooms and into the outside of Aperture or even the incinerator room would help. But for right now, she had no way of getting out.

The next room, wasn't a testing room, but a small white room with a cube and raised panel. On the panel was a bottle of water and a few energy bars.

"We need to keep up your strength. These next few tests are going to be testing your endurance under pressure. Good luck!" Glados chimed in, leaving Chell to the makeshift, lab-rat food.

The girl almost forced herself not to eat the crap, but her hunger won and she stuffed the flavorless bars down and drank some of the water. She kept the rest tucked away in her jumpsuit for later.

XxXxXXxXxxXXxXX

Atlas walked into the lab, sighing dejectedly. He didn't want to go back to the labs. One, because Glados was in a mood and two…he looked over and saw Penny had not yet gotten there. The blue haired teen wanted nothing to do with his co-op partner. Apparently the girl had been talking about him behind his back to Glados. He couldn't help but feel hurt about it. He also couldn't believe she would. Not once had they ever fought…

The boy began to feel bad. He knew she had only been teasing the other day. He just...he couldn't help but feel insulted by the way she just laughed. He really did like her. A lot. And he hated to see her joke around about his feelings like that. But the more he thought about it, the less he cared...because just being with her, having her for a best friend, made life perfect the way it was. Atlas smiled softly and waited for his best friend to come in.

Penny walked down the halls, fearing going into her mentor's lab. The tests had been getting harder and with her and Atlas at each other's throats all the time…it was near impossible. He had been giving her the silent treatment and it hurt when Glados would praise him all the time, instead of her.

She walked into the room and barely managed to set her stuff down before she was knocked back. The orange haired girl lost her footing and slipped. She suddenly found herself on the floor with Atlas pressed on top of her. His blue eyes were wide in horror and his lips were pressed against hers.

The boy pushed off and began stuttering about how he was sorry for everything and how that was an accident and he was only trying to hug her to apologize. Penny giggled softly and sat up, before leaning over and kissing him softly.

"It's okay…and I'm sorry, too…" she muttered. His face burned red, but her wrapped his arms tightly around her. She smiled and returned the hug.

Glados turned and rolled her eyes, "Would you two knock that childish stuff off right now before I decide I need new co-op testing subjects…"

They jumped up off the floor, embarrassed, but smiling. Penny grabbed Atlas' hand as they walked to their portal devices.

Chell groaned looking up at the new test chamber. It was huge and full of smaller tests that needed to all be solved before she could open the door. The door had eight X's beside it, all marked in blue and each line led to a different room further ahead.

The girl frowned but walked ahead. This really was an endurance test…

XxXXxXXxXXxXXxXXxXxxX

Wheatley was pacing outside of the lab doors. It had been several hours since he'd last seen or heard from Chell. He was honestly afraid to knock on the door, lest he be reprimanded and punished by the psychotic scientist. She may even wish to use him as test subject…and not the fun 'using portals' kind either. Maybe she'd see how long it took to kill him with neurotoxins or what it would be like if he was to be placed inside the incinerator, dangling above the flames, or even the cryo-chambers, where it was freezing. It could get worse. She once threatened him with a room where all of the defective robots they had built so far sat and screamed for hours on end.

He shuddered and the thought but leaned against the wall, hoping to see her soon. The blue-eyed man sighed and bit his lip. He wasn't one to just sit around. Wheatley knew what the woman was capable of, and he had a bad feeling about it all.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Had it been hours? Or days? Chell was honestly lost when it came to time. When she felt sleepy, she pressed herself into a corner and slept for who-knows-how-long, and awoke to the same simulated light and the same testing chamber she'd fallen asleep in. Glados refused to talk any more than necessary and wouldn't even let the girl know how long she'd been in these chambers. One after the other, they grew steadily harder, yet after being thrust into Old Aperture, where fate was uncertain and the answer deeply hidden, she knew nothing could be worse.

She pushed herself out of her new sleeping space and looked around, recollecting that she was in the middle of a long chamber. This one was using everything, including an old…friend…of hers. The deadly energy balls. Glados happened to talk long enough to say that she wanted to test some old thing they'd thrown out long ago when they developed the discouragement beams. Chell just didn't want to believe it was these old things. She hated them so much.

When she first went against them, she made the mistake of misaiming a portal and it grazed her arm. It felt as if she'd been set on fire and it left her barrel holding arm nearly in a dead state. GLaDOS hadn't truly cared, but she had still been a simple computer then, strapped with cores and free of her true self.

Chell rubbed the old scar that had formed and looked around to recall exactly how much of the test she'd finished and how much needed to be completed. The test subject smiled noting that she was already half way done with the chamber.

It was actually starting to bother Chell, now. She definitely had not been expecting a testing track. With Glados usually giving her one or two tests, this had been the least of her worries. But now she was here and it was just like old times. If she didn't work fast enough she got an occasional insult. If she failed and ended up trapping herself towards the end, Glados would mock her and open a door.

Chell also wondered if the A.I. counterpart was still up there watching as well. It made her sick that CHELL would just watch and continue to make her test. Couldn't the robot do anything? Or was it that she just refused? The girl licked her lips and sipped away the last of her water ration, throwing the bottle into the acid below.

Who knew when she would get more food and water, but she did know that the bottle was dead weight and the likely hood of finding fresh clean water in any chamber to refill the bottle with was really low.

CHELL turned her optic toward Glados. She, herself, thought it was time to let the poor girl out, yet Glados felt the need to keep her in there for three days so far, with nothing but the device and the three energy bars and bottle of water ( that had been given to her awhile back). The computer had been taking the notes and feeding Glados all the information she needed to keep the tests from being too easy. It still was not enough, though. Even with the girl collapsing from exhaustion every night, Glados wanted to see the girl fail so horribly.

The computer knew better than to sit and watch while Glados tortured the girl. If it had been her in the testing chambers, she most likely would have kept going and then fought her way out. If this 'Chell' really was from another world…then shouldn't she want to escape, too?

CHELL anticipated that she would, so she had been working day and night, while Glados tested and Chell ran the course, to break through the blocks and fire walls. Maybe if she gained control of the facility, she could help the girl to escape, possibly even getting her back to her own world, if that was possible.

So far she had only managed to break down enough controls to take over panels in the entire facility and the radio link. She could actually manage to use those for now to get help to Chell.

Thanks to Glados already giving her control over cameras, (so that she could move them to watch the subject) she was able to secretly locate people who knew Chell. There were a few of them that seemed closer, as she listened in. They were constantly talking about how worried they were about Chell having not come back. One of them, the blue-eyed, bespectacled one, feared the worst and was physically sick with worry. The youngest one, who constantly asked questions, said that she was most likely fine.

The group would be perfect. She made sure Glados was preoccupied watching the girl leap into portal after portal, before she started messing with the radio system. She figured the first place to contact them was the break room they frequented.

CHELL counted them, noting that The tall one, the blonde, the curious one, the green eyed adventurer and the black haired fact spewing one, were already in the break room. She steadied her frazzled wires before turning on the intercom, making sure the link only fed to the one room. Slowly, she forced her voice to go through.

"She needs help." a female voice echoed softly within the break room. Wheatley jumped and turned to the intercom. He didn't recognize the voice at all, and it seemed odd that something like that would come through.

"W-what?" he stuttered.

"Fact: that voice belongs to the computer system CHELL, developed by the engineers, including my father, to watch over testing and take notes on how to effectively use the ASHPD in any given situation," He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Although, she was shut off awhile back for being incompetent and not doing as she was programmed to do."

CHELL narrowed her optic, hearing this, "Chell needs help," she transmitted again.

Wheatley jumped up, knocking over his chair, "I knew it…I'll do anything! Please, mate, tell me how I can help save Chell?" his desperate voice rang out.

The computer refrained from sighing aloud, lest she alert Glados what she was doing.

"Uh, hate t'break it to ya, but how can we trust this thing?" Rick crossed his arms, "We all know Glados had Chell trapped somewhere, but what's to say we're not fallin' for a trap right now? What if-"

"Fact: Rick is right. This could be a trap set by Glados herself, to see where our loyalties lie. The very fact you didn't think about this…well…could have landed you in hot water. Chell could be completely fine. And you just let Glados know you're practically a traitor."

Wheatley squeezed his hands into tight fists. He knew Flynn was implying that he was a moron for not thinking, but Chell…He knew that she really was in trouble and he would save her, even if it meant losing his own life.

"I don't care…I have to find her…she's…" he looked up towards the intercom, "I'll do anything."

CHELL felt a wave of relief and also slight victory. She'd managed to override the locking mechanisms in the doors as well, meaning no one could get in or out without her permission.

"Go to an empty hall. Make sure no one sees you. I'll open a panel for you. It will be dangerous, but it is the only way to get to Chell's testing track without being seen by Glados' guards." She shut off the link and now it was up to him to so as she said. With hope. This would all work out perfect and Chell would escape.

XXAPERTUREXX

GLaDOS led the test subject, Mel, into another portal room. This one involved deadly lasers, turrets and redirection cubes. The girl was catching on quick, not to touch anything unless the actually knew what it did. The girl was now sporting a bullet wound or two in her right leg, from where she got too close to a turret's line of fire.

Medical aide was supplied, but the girl insisted on continuing. It reminded the computer too much of another test subject who went so far as to refuse medical aide and still continue, even as she dripped blood all over GLaDOS' clean chamber floors.

GLaDOS watched the girl shoot the blue portal below the cube, which was guarded by the turret, and it plopped out of the set orange portal. She grabbed it and redirected the laser at said turret, causing it to blow up.

Mel winced and bit her lip. Despite the fact that these robots were designed to kill her, she still felt horribly for knocking them over and blowing them up. And who could blame the little brat. That's the way they were designed.

The blonde aimed the laser into the receiver, which lowered a glass window, allowing her to throw a blue portal up to the door.

"Excellent." GLaDOS praised. She figured she would give the girl seven more tests. The next test, if she succeeded, would give her the dual portal device. After that she would have enough data and the girl could perish.


XD Atlas and Pbody love! and Mel! :D

P.s. don't forget to vote! ^_^

~lady Pyrien