Disclaimer: I don't own Portal

Chapter Eleven: More Visions

I couldn't help it, I had to run to save myself. My only comfort was that GlaDos wouldn't kill Chell; she was a test subject. As for me, however... I needed to find someplace where I could survive the gas. And quickly.

I was sweating as I opened my eyes. It took me a few moments to remember I was inside my living quarters. Slowly, I breathed in and out, keeping the stabs of pain and fear down. I had had several other bouts of visions, since I usually had two four hour spans of sleep, and it had been five days since I had the first vision, so I now had enough practice to keep from crying when the visions were sad, and to keep calm when the visions sent shots of fear racing through my veins.

Sitting up, I yawned, stretching my arms out. I sat, idle for a second, before I finally got up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. Quickly, I prepared for my day, then ran out to the glass room. I had a plan to cheer up Doug, he had seemed stressed recently. It worried me; he was usually so happy. I pulled out my chair, sat down, and started drawing. He had brought me two boxes which I could keep my papers in; one for fresh paper, and one for papers that had been written on.

Frustrated, I was erasing yet another mistake, rubbing a bit harder in the paper then I had to, when I saw it walk past. I looked at it in surprise. Realizing I was staring at it, the robot turned toward me. It had a white human-shaped body, with chicken like legs and long, thin arms, while glowing, piercing purple lines ran up and around its body like wires. Its eyes were an odd shade of violet; it blinked when it turned it's gaze on me. After a moment of staring at each other, the robot took on a happy appearance, its bottom lid coming up to the bottom of its purple iris, and it waved at me, friendly. I grinned and waved back. I don't think a non-sentient creature would do that. I thought. One of the humans shooed it forward, but it's gaze followed me regretfully as it walked away. Some robots, I thought, are just as intelligent as humans. That's the first time any of the robots have actually taken notice of me. Maybe, if you're sentient, it doesn't matter what body you're in, it matters what your mind is like. That's what makes you a person. With this thought, I returned to my work. It didn't take long after that to finish. I grinned at my picture. It was a drawing of me and Doug, on the day he showed me the picture. We were sitting on a bench, he was holding the picture, while I was eating an apple. Hopefully this will cheer him up. Soon enough, the door whooshed open again, and Doug stepped in, looking a little tired and stressed, as was quickly becoming the new usual. He brightened up when he saw me.

"Hi kid." Doug smiled, though there were circles under his eyes. He was carrying a box. I jumped up, holding the drawing, and ran over and gave him a hug, as usual. His arms wrapped around me protectively. "I brought you another surprise." I looked up at him, curiosity sparkling in my eyes, an excited smile on my face. Doug set the box on the table, and opened it. I stared at it in awe. There was a short, large cylinder, with candles on it. It was white, with the words, "Happy Tenth Birthday, Chell!" written on it in black. He grinned. "Do you like it? It's cake." I nodded, smiling. "You know, tomorrow is the anniversary of the first day I started visiting." He took a weird looking plastic knife, and, to my surprise, cut the cylinder into pieces. Doug handed me a slice. I took the plate, and stared at the cake quizzically. "You're supposed to eat it." Oh. Slowly, I brought a bit into my mouth and tasted it. It was sweet, and was one of the greatest things I had ever tasted. The cake's sugary flavor spread over my tongue. While I enjoyed it, it's sweetness felt fake when I compared it to an apple's.

"So, what's that?" Doug asked after we had polished off most of the cake. He looked a little better then he had when he had walked in, but he still looked tired enough to worry me. Sheepishly smiling, I handed it to him. He gazed at it, and smiled at me. Love glowed in his eyes, and he bent over and hugged me. "Thank you." He whispered. I realized he was crying. Worried, I looked at his face. "What?" Doug asked, putting on a tired smile. I traced the trail the tears made. "Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry, Chell." I couldn't help but worry, but I decided to pretend that it didn't bother me too much, to make him happy. I didn't want him to know it was eating a hole inside my stomach.

Doug? I wrote, pulling out one of the many questions I had stored away. Are you my brother?

He chuckled. "Not genetically, but, yes, I do think of you as my little sister, Chell."

I grinned. I'm glad you're my brother.

"I'm glad you're my sister." He said. We hugged each other tightly, happy to be near one another. I would remember this day for a long time.

I shook my head gently, trying to dispel the torrent which had come over me, due to my latest dream. Wobbling, I slowly made my way into the glass room, where the panel had been left open from this morning; there was no need to unlock it again. Carefully, I settled into my chair. Not knowing what else to do, I began organizing my papers, and, after I had finished with that, placing both boxes gently under the desk again, I began drawing the little robot I had seen this morning. How long has it been since this morning? I wondered idly.

"Oi!" A cheery voice said. "Hello!" I looked up as the young man turned to Doug. "She, she can hear me, right?" He had thick, stringy, light, sandy blond hair, which tumbled over his forehead clumsily and fell near his eyes. His skin was a light color, lighter then Doug's, his eyes were a startling, deep sky blue. For some reason, his voice was very different from the sort of voices I was used to, he pronounced everything differently. The young man smiled at me. "'Ello, just thought I'd say that again, in case you didn't hear me the first time..." He trailed off, but smiled at me. "I'm gonna be working here, I mean, not here, in this room, obviously, but I'll be working, you know, working... here..." I grinned and waved happily. He beamed, his eyes squished by his giant, slightly goofy grin; his cheeriness was infectious. Smiling, I looked over at Doug... and my blood ran ice-cold. His eyes, which were usually alight with some sort of emotion, were blank. He wasn't even attempting to pretend to smile. I'd never seen him, never seen anyone like this, like they couldn't accept what was happening. He knew something bad was going on. The smile drained from my face, replaced by fear, creeping its tendrils around my heart.

"Come on, Kadin, we need to keep moving." Doug said, his voice sounding friendly, normal almost. His eyes told a completely different story. Even the slight smile he had put on was empty. Doug was drained. Whatever's happening, I thought, chilled, it's probably worse then I can imagine. The young man waved good-bye, smiling a little regretfully, and followed Doug, unaware of the danger. Fear for the young stranger gripped my chest.

Author's Note: ...Is it just me, or does this Kadin fellow seem familiar? ...Can't be just me, right?