Author's Note:
Hello it's Matau25 again. I'll be writing Chapter 10 and 11.
Hopefully college life won't get in the way. My average words-per-chapter is 2537.1; that means, it's time to break the average! I really want to write another 4000 word one, but 3,000 will have to do for now. Sorry it was posted a little late. This week has gone by so fast! If you follow me on twitter, you already know why. Also, I'm reading the Harry Potter series between classes now. Momo's making me read them, and after finishing the first one, I don't mind whatsoever. She's going to take over for a little while after I finish the 11th chapter, with my notes and editing of course.
Enjoy the chapter.
Everyday, Since Leaving
Chapter 10
Her shoulders and back ached, her broken wrist was irritating and her soul was in anguish. Her body felt as if she walked six miles uphill without a breather, but the light never got any brighter, and the dungeon she walked through hadn't changed much in scenery. As she slowly dragged Wheatley across the floor, the dirt and rocks parted to show the dark flooring underneath. Chell had already suspected it, but now that it was proven that she really was back, she felt those tears re-emerge.
No! Do not give up! Do not!
She berated herself and pushed her aching muscles to move forward—well, backward. The position she was in was not very comfortable. Wheatley had stirred a few times in his slumber, only to gently gather his muscles and whisper something unintelligible.
Although her limbs were to the point of giving out, Chell willed them to keep moving toward the point of luminescence. Thankfully the air was frigid, and like the night she stumbled upon the large holes in Aperture's roof, it kept her thoughts clear and her body functional.
Ouch!
Her back had struck a rather large chunk of a boulder. Its sharp edges cut shallow marks on the skin of her shoulder blades, where her racer back didn't cover. She knelt down, tenderly resting Wheatley against the rock's smooth side, and checked the damage.
Good, nothing serious.
Just a few scratches.
It was so relieving to sit down and take a rest. As she leaned against her pack, taking care not to jostle her broken wrist, she closed her eyes picturing the scenery of the surface world.
The sun. She remembered the feel of its golden rays on her skin, the blessed warmth it cast on cool days and how it brought vibrancy to everything its light touched.
The moon. It hadn't been apparent the first few days of her travels, but it had helped illuminate the world, when otherwise she would have been lost without it.
The stars. They were everywhere in the night sky. She couldn't recall how many times she had sat outside, listening to the insects chirp while trying to find a small one, the iridescent shade of blue.
The clouds. Their shade was always welcome on warm days and the rain that they provided was transcendent. She lightly smiled, remembering again how happy she was with Wheatley by her side. Without opening her eyes she reached to her right, feeling the gravel under her fingertips. She kept searching until her hand clasped his. Chell had to feel she wasn't alone in this. There was someone else with whom she could lean on, and someone who needed her support as well.
Returning to her thoughts, she imagined the soft wheat field that stretched for miles beyond the horizons. It was beautiful. She remembered the oak trees of the first settlement she had passed. And the memory of her greatest friend, humming a sad tune underneath the shade of their crisp green leaves.
The forest. The smell of trees and foliage was wonderful. She reminisced of the small flowers blooming near the overgrown trail. She could still hear the gentle rush of a creek nearby, and the cheerful twittering of small birds bathing in its shallow waters.
The houses. Much could be said about them; families, togetherness, happiness, gratefulness. All of these things were once held in these spaces, with roofs over their heads to keep the despair, separation, and loneliness of the outside world from sight.
Chell felt a pressure against her palm. Wheatley had moved again. Her eyes flitted open and she quickly and carefully sat by his side, holding his hand in her lap. She didn't know what to do with an unconscious person. She believed he would wake up on his own, because that's exactly what she had done without any assistance. All she could do was wait, but she felt helpless because of it. Chell was uncomfortable with this feeling. She had only felt it one other time, when her old friend had turned on her. The feeling crawled through her bloodstream warning her to keep moving.
She deemed her instinct correct when suddenly the floor began to vibrate. It was noticeable, but not tremendously so, like the ones on the surface had been. It was more like a background effect.
Looking at Wheatley's face resting near his shoulder, which didn't look like a very comfortable position, she could see his eyes moving under their lids. Chell's body and mind were conflicted. She knew she had to keep going, but her muscles protested with each movement of grabbing her pack and once again hoisting the large man's arm across her shoulders. Even though confronting GLaDOS was not something she wanted to experience ever again, she did not want to risk dying in this dark musty hole. So she banished all coherent thought from her mind, and continued forward. If she was honest with herself, there really was no other choice.
She remembered wiping her eyes clear of tears, and any dust that had gotten in her eyes at one point. As her strength wavered the further they travelled, she couldn't help but give in slightly to doubt.
Had she finally met her match?
After surviving this long to only end up even further underground, was it her fate to die in a place so far away from the sun?
It felt like she was loosing breath. It was being taken from her, like the deep vacuum of space.
So this is what it felt like to freak out. Chell let out a raspy sound that could only be defined as the manic laughter of a physically exhausted individual. She was too far gone to care about her mental state. She only clung to the mindless task of getting from point "A" to point "B".
Chell stopped.
However, she had no control over the situation. It was as if her body had grown another consciousness and had made her stop moving her legs. Either that or she no longer had the strength to move one foot behind the other. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She had to force herself to take deep breaths and calm down, but it was too much for her to handle. She felt blood rush from her head as her vision became bright and blurry. Knowing what was going to happen next, Chell set Wheatley down as gently as she could, before she collapsed again onto his chest.
She didn't know how long she had been out when she woke to Wheatley unconsciously stroking her bare shoulder with his thumb. Although, she didn't have much time to think about it when the chamber shook them again, causing blinding pain to shoot through the wrist pinned between her and Wheatley. She lifted her body and rolled onto her back, with her head resting against the masculine arm that had been draped over her shoulders.
The shaking had stopped, only to be replaced with a small annoying vibration that made her teeth rattle together. The tremors felt and sounded like it was far away, unlike the one… yesterday? A few moments ago? Time was too jumbled in her mind to make sense of it all.
Mechanical noises traveled through the large cavern, reminding her of the ambiance from testing. Then she realized that it was, until now, unnaturally quiet in the facility. The hum of equipment and the creaking of support beams was non existent. Only a few times had she heard the shudder of a rock falling onto the floor of the chasm.
She looked around her to see how far they had traveled.
Through the fog to her left, she could see the figure of a large airlock doorway, lit from the interior by floodlights.
Why was this door open? GLaDOS had no use for a door of this size or structure; unless, those robots that she had constructed were used to run errands throughout various parts of the labs.
Hissing, she sat upright and looked at Wheatley. He was still unconscious and she did not want to drag him any farther. She leaned over him once again and placed her right hand on the side of his face.
Please wake up!
She mouthed the words and patted his cheek, hoping that he would stir, but in the moments she waited, he didn't budge. Sighing, she rolled to her backpack sitting next to her, and picked open a pouch of trail mix leftover from an MRE. Her body needed so much more than a simple snack, but that is all she had time for. She couldn't risk being stationary for too long. She didn't know how stable the chasm was. Small pieces of dirt had been raining on them ever since they had fallen into the pit, so who knows how large the pieces could get, remembering the large boulder she had run into.
She got up and struggled to lift Wheatley's upper body with her backpack slung on her right shoulder. Closing the remaining amount of distance between them and the door, Chell leaned Wheatley beside the door and studied the opening in the monumental, concrete wall. Painted on the side of the wall in bold white, was the figure: Shaft 10. The smell of it was strong.
Why was GLaDOS expanding the facility? What did she need the room for?
Chell paced in front of the doorway as her stiff muscles loosened.
It had seemed like there was more than enough space, especially when the AI was able to stockpile entire chambers and then forget about them.
Was she trying to catch her? Had she fallen neatly into one of her traps again? Anger would have risen in her chest if she wasn't so tired. Instead, she continued her inherent sweep of the things around her. Since the fog wasn't in her way anymore, she could see a rail connected to the other side of the airlock. The catwalk led deeper into the main facility—or somewhere.
Well, here we go.
Chell gathered her strength. These parts of the complex had to be easier to navigate than the dark hole they fell into. She only wished she had the portal gun or something to give her the upper hand for when they meet…her.
She picked up her backpack, situated her broken wrist, crouched down and pulled his arm around her shoulders while wrapping her other hand around his waist. This was ten times more difficult now that she had rested. If she hadn't passed out, then she would have had at least some vigor left. Now it hurt to move.
At the other side of the railing there was another open airlock door. Through that, she saw red and orange lights moving through a dimly lit room. Flashes of white light would briefly flicker by and a humming noise of machinery pulsed around the walls. As she pulled Wheatley further toward it, though, a white cylindrical camera with a red lens, in the corner of the airlock hallway, rotated toward their position. Chell stopped moving, and so did the lights in the dimly lit room. The vibrations in the ground halted. Silence fell. Even the floodlights seemed to scroll toward them as if they were illuminating someone on a stage.
What broke the silence was that familiar scroll noise which indicated the intercom was on.
Then more silence.
The camera hadn't even moved.
Then finally:
"What…" The voice of the powerful AI queried unemotionally, "…the hell…"
Chell just stared at the camera, not giving away any emotion, as she waited for GLaDOS to continue.
"…are you doing here?"
The end of her sentence sounded threatening at best. As it were Chell was trespassing.
"How…"
This was definitely the first time GLaDOS was choked for words.
"There's no way you could be here."
Chell still stared defiantly at the camera.
"But you are here nonetheless." The camera swiveled so that she could get a good view of what Chell brought with her. "And you brought a friend. Wonderful."
The airlocks closed with their pressure seals clamping loudly. The circular mechanism on them rotated, locking the bolts. Then there was a lurch beneath Chell's feet as the section of the walkway was lifted away from the rest of the surrounding structure. The room she was in swayed, as it hung suspended by a rail. The sensation was awfully familiar to that of her relaxation chamber.
"So," GLaDOS said drolly, "What should I do with you?"
The test subject held Wheatley tighter to her as the chamber began to shudder. They were being pulled quickly through the facility. Chell was beginning to panic, although she didn't show it. She was at a great disadvantage here. She had to keep Wheatley within her sight at all times, she had a broken wrist, and no portal device. Even if she had a portal gun would she be able to operate it? Perhaps she could rest it on her forearm instead?
No, that equipment was heavy. My wrist wouldn't be able to take the strain.
"I could drop you down the incinerator."
Chell's heart began pounding.
"Mowing you down with turrets is an option."
The room swung violently to the left causing them to topple against the right wall. She could hear the rotaries grinding above them.
"Or you could always try out my frankenturret reconfiguration room, the last time I heard, they needed a target dummy down there."
The room jolted to a sudden stop and they were pushed forward by the momentum. Chell wrapped her arms around the back of Wheatley's head and shoulders to make sure no more damage would befall him. More clamps hissed and whirred around them and the room fell fast, dropping at a high rate. Chell's stomach was in her throat, and she could almost float in the room. This weightlessness was not pleasant. It made her head spin and nausea was coming just as fast as the ground. She knew they wouldn't die yet however. GLaDOS couldn't help but amuse herself at the expense of her test subjects, just as a snake plays with its prey.
"I could even simply let you go, just as I did last time."
The room screeched loudly as the speed lessened. Sparks flew from the walls and the lights flickered. After being pressed against the floor by gravitational forces, the chamber came to a halt. It then began to move slowly in the direction of the airlock manufacturing used to be connected to.
"But it's obvious you forgot that simple instruction—rather, warning that I sent you along with. Had you lost your hearing as well? Such a shame, you missed the song the turret's performed for you. And telling them will break their little hearts. In that case I suppose I'll just have to show you what I have in store. There were so many possibilities, but I think this one was quite fitting."
The creaking sound of clamps being geared into place produced an open airlock. The space behind it was dark except for the light of the room shining on the floor just outside it. Chell sat in the back corner clinging to her unconscious friend. Her backpack was still on uncomfortably. She didn't dare move.
"I didn't force you here. You're the one who came back, so go ahead. Sit there for all of eternity. I'll be right here." The camera in the corner of the chamber was off, so how could she see her?
Chell carefully stood, gathering Wheatley and her things, and walked backward through the airlock as she looked at her feet to see where she was going. She used the light from the room to see the steps behind her. The faint glow allowed her to see only fine granules of dust that caught the light. Thinking she had gone far enough, she took off her pack and rested him against it. When she turned around, the bright yellow glow of her lens illuminated GLaDOS's enormous faceplate just a few feet away.
Lights slowly lit the colossal control room.
Why were they off in the first place? Didn't GLaDOS need to see? And what is that thing on her?
It looks like, extra circuitry. And it's all plugged into the core slots. What's going on here?
Chell couldn't ask though. She was bound by her pride; she wouldn't give GLaDOS the pleasure of having it easy. The worst thing you could do to a passive aggressive entity is by giving it the silent treatment, and to look unaffected by its taunts. Make everything look easy. She didn't know how she knew this. She assumed it was because she had been in that situation before, because it has always been her strategy against the monstrous machine.
That means I was able to speak bef…?
"So, lets cut to the chase. You are going to earn your way back to the surface. I'd only waste energy hauling you back up to the surface from all the way down here."
Another fat joke? I must have accidentally reacted to on of them.
"Testing. You're going to go through twenty chambers. Starting with the new course I set up. That way I can cut any flaws from their design, though I'm sure they're perfect already."
Chell looked behind her, though she regretted it instantly.
"Ah yes, your friend will be returned to you sometime later. Can't say when though."
Chell turned to run back to Wheatley panicking. But the panels that held Wheatley and her pack vanished below the floor and were replaced with new ones before she got there.
Crap. That was a reaction… Now she has leverage!
"The Test Chambers are this way." Panels slid away from the wall to reveal blinking lights in the shape of an arrow. Lights in the flooring also pointed her way to the door. GLaDOS's narrowed gaze followed her as she crossed the room. Chell's heart was filled with dread as she entered the elevator.
Would she ever see him again?
There was only one way to find out.
The doors closed, and as it began to drift downward she heard the AI laugh.
"Good luck."