Chapter fourteen

Oh, it's you

Adam and Chell hit the ground, turning in midair and landing on their feet.

What? Who's that? We didn't-

Then Chell turned, and She got a good look at her face.

Initial similarities to one previously encountered human presented themselves immediately, then were dismissed by probability. Facial recognition confirmed those first similarities, causing Her processors to reevaluate such a possibility. Analysis of her attire and dust particles on her clothes further supported this emerging possibility, and-

GLaDOS terminated that line of thought. I need no other proof. It's her, She thought.

A part of Her attempted to steer Her thoughts back towards logical analysis, but She wouldn't have it.

Of course it's her, She fumed. Just as everything was almost finished, just before science was finally allowed to progress, she would return to destroy it.

No matter, that other part of her said. She is trapped, just as the other is. She no longer a threat. Resume your-

Why the hell would she be back? I gave her every opportunity to leave! Does she just enjoy destroying me? Could she find nothing else to-

ENOUGH.

She attempted to protest, but found Her temper fading. Indeed, She had no reason to let emotion into this. Why this human had returned, They might never know, but now she was an extraneous variable and must be removed. And They would do so efficiently.

All of this happened in the space of a millisecond, while Chell and Adam stood in front of the camera. To them, almost no time had passed before She began to speak again.

Welcome back, former test subject.

Adam grabbed her arm. "Come on, I saw a springboard over that way!"

We-e appreciate your return to fur-rther the causes of sci-ience.

Chell shook off his grip and ran. He quickly followed.

We must no-o-o-tify you that your test results were inconclu-u-u-usive.

The two dashed past a small opening, where two turrets laid in wait. The moment they heard the beeps, Chell and Adam both fired a portal, each taking out one of the turrets.

Sa-a-a-adly, we must terminate you imme-e-e-e-ediately. Ple-ease come again.

The whole chamber began to shake, and parts of the wall caved in, as if some giant beast was crushing the room with a massive set of claws.

Finally, they reached the springboard. Chell launched herself upwards, firing a portal as she flew. She shot out her previous portal and rocketed upwards. Beneath her, she heard Adam do the same.

As the hole she had entered through loomed nearer, she stretched out, grabbing onto the edge of one of the panels. Tucking the portal gun under one arm, she tried to pull herself up, praying for the strength of the panels she had, moments ago, prayed for the weakness of.

The entire chamber compressed, further deforming the walls and loosening the tile Chell held onto. She almost lost her grip, but managed to hang on by her fingertips.

When the tile started to crack, Chell lost all hope.

Then a hand grabbed her arm, pulling her up. She used the opportunity to grab onto a sturdier tile, and another hand grabbed her.

"Next time you go on a suicidal rampage, be sure to let me know first," April remarked as she hoisted Chell to safety. Behind her, Atlas and P-Body did the same with Adam.

Chell laid down on her back, panting heavily. Adam came in to do the same beside her, but he stopped. Looking at her face, he was struck by the resemblance he hadn't noticed in the heat of the moment.

"Are you Caroline?" he asked.

Chell froze, taken aback by such an unexpected reference. Stunned, she shook her head.

"Oh," Adam said. "It's just…you looked like…never mind."

April walked up. "She's Chell, I'm April, and right now, we don't have time for this!" She gestured at the room, which continued to collapse beneath them. Now, it was only about half as big as it had been.

Chell scrambled to her feet, looking around for somewhere to jump to.

"Atlas has a portal back up top, but how do we get to it?" April asked.

Atlas, however, had already figured it out. He fired straight down the hole they had just escaped from, diving after it. P-Body followed suit.

"Works for me," April declared, and jumped as well.

Chell took a deep breath to steady her nerves. Not letting herself think about it, Chell ran forward and leaped through the hole for the third time – three times more than she had planned. For a brief half-second, she fell through a nightmare, crumbling white walls closing in on her. Then, she was on the floor far above, breathing quickly and thanking god for the solid floor beneath her.

For a few seconds, there was silence as everyone watched the portal on the wall. Then Adam came flying through, narrowly missing Chell. The portal closed behind him a fraction of a second later.

After a few moments, Chell regained her breath. She turned to her side and looked at the man they had saved. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with short hair and a hint of a beard on his face. In his eyes, she saw the same emotions that she knew were inside her: Fear, horror, and uncertainty of one's own sanity.

He smiled and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Adam. Nice to meet you."

Chell shook it.

April popped up. "All right, Mr. Adam, nice to meet you. We came in from that direction," she said, gesturing behind her. "I'm sure you can follow the white walls all the way back up. You'll find an elevator to the surface, and about 50 miles beyond that-"

"Wait, hold on," Adam interrupted. "You guys aren't coming?"

April snorted. "What, retreat? Hell, we just got here! We're not done yet."

"What, you mean there's more people down here?" Adam interpreted.

"Oh yes, there's more." April chuckled. "Sit back, Adam, this is a tale for the ages."

xxxxxxx

GLaDOS scanned the chambers, fury boiling within. She held control over a million cameras, scanning over miles of the facility, and she still could not find them.

Even She, a cold, hard computer with no sense of humor, could recognize a bad joke. Why did there have to be so many passages She couldn't get into? It made no sense!

Made No Sense – that ought to be the phrase of the day. It had been bad enough that the girl had returned to kill her again, but Her machines were aiding and abetting her! Against all programming, they had sided with the humans! And did they suffer the mental incapacitation from the paradox of allying with humans to kill their master? Of course not.

Long lists of questions without answers strained her neural processors. Despite all the turmoil, she still managed to write down a mental footnote: When these people are dead, I will personally crush every last air vent and unoccupied corridor.

Then another thought occurred to her: Why not multitask?

xxxxxxx

Adam sat down, overwhelmed.

"Yeah. Pretty amazing, isn't it?" April said.

Adam put a hand to his head. "So, now what happens?"

April looked to Chell for guidance. She shrugged ambiguously.

She turned back. "Now…I guess that's up to you. You can come with us and help save everyone, or head for the exit and wait for us to save everyone else. Your call."

Adam sat back and thought about it. He pictured himself following the route April had described, climbing his way out of the facility, taking that elevator, and escaping. He pictured the sun on his face, the wind against his cheek, and the knowledge that he was truly free.

And then what? Wait around in a dead city, not knowing if he would ever see these two again?

He shook his head. No, he couldn't do that. The guilt would crush him. These people saved his life, he couldn't just abandon them.

Adam stood up. "I'm staying with you."

The moment he said that, the ground began to shake. A thick layer of dust was dislodged and fell to the floor. Above them, something crashed, and out the window of the room they were in, they saw a catwalk plummeting into the abyss.

"What was that?"

"Looks like you made the right choice," April offered.

The others looked up to where the catwalk had fallen. Far above them, giant panels slammed against the nooks and crannies they had been hiding in, sending platforms cascading down the pit and collapsing rooms.

Adam was stunned, struck dumb by the power he had just witnessed. April, as always, tried to lighten the mood. "Well, it looks like She's doing some interior decorating."

"If I had gone," Adam muttered to himself, "I would've died immediately."

"Well, at least you had a choice."

The destruction continued, the slamming panels proceeding farther down the pit. It only took them a few moments to realize what would come next.

"We need to keep moving," April said to the robots. "What's the fastest way to get down there?"

They didn't respond. They didn't have to.

Adam peered downwards. The chasm stretched down much farther, so much so that the base was shrouded in blackness. "Are you sure this is the right way?" he asked tentatively.

P-Body pretended to think, stroking the general area that could be described as his chin. Then he nodded enthusiastically, pointing to specify just in case they were confused.

"Well, looks like we're taking the express elevator down again," April said. "Who wants to hold me?"

Adam looked at her questioningly. She gestured to her feet, indicating the lack of boots.

Chell started to walk towards her, and April jumped into her arms. Adam noticed her stagger a little.

"All right, then! Onwards and downwards!" The two leapt into the darkness, and the robots followed suit.

Adam looked down again. "For about thirty seconds there I was a free man," he muttered. Then he jumped as well.

About twenty seconds later, the platform they had stood on was crushed into pieces.