It was nice to have Charlie walking around with them. He had been so scared when they had taken the vertical rail away from the room that he had curled up into a ball and just shook on the ground when they had reached a catwalk. But now he was recovered and listened as Nora tried to explain what had happened. He didn't understand much, but he understood that Wheatley had betrayed Nora and Nora was a very nice person. Charlie wanted to help her in any way he could.

"Vill I see the beautiful lady again?" he asked Nora.

"Yes," Nora said. "We're going to try to help her."

Charlie smiled and blushed. "Do you think she vill be happy for my help?"

"Of course!" Nora said. "She might even give you a kiss."

His face went red and he laughed nervously. "Does she have a name?"

"Her name is Chell."

"Shell…"

They traveled behind the walls and through offices. Nora felt déjà vu as she hurried along the management rail with a male bot and a male human. It also made her miss them a great deal. She still longed for her old Wheatley. And Doug….Was he okay? Was he still alive? Had Wheatley found him? What if Wheatley was making him test? She had to get back up to see if the man was safe.

"So Charlie," Kurt said. "How did you come to be in Aperture?"

"Mein mütter bring me here for work," he said. "Bring your tochter to work."

"Daughter? You must be mistaken," Kurt said. "Daughters are girls. You mean son."

Charlie shook his head. "Mütter wanted a girl. She insist on bringing me. They don't let me do project with potatoes because I am boy."

"I'm sorry, Charlie," Kurt said.

"At least you survived that day," Nora murmured.

"What do you mean by that?" Kurt asked.

"It's sort of taboo," Nora said. She looked at Charlie who hung his head. Kurt looked over, too, and quickly caught on. Charlie looked like he might start crying so the conversation stopped here.

Nora tried to think about the lady without thinking about Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. She sort of missed watching her solve tests. She missed seeing the studious look on the lady's face as she examined the test chambers. It was a shame that she was in those spheres where they couldn't see her. How was she doing?


She still refused to speak to anyone. Even when she had been by herself she had kept quiet. And anyway, the potato GLaDOS might short-circuit from surprise if she spoke now. That was its name, right? She remembered seeing it written somewhere just before reaching her chamber the first time. She still didn't like to think of that. She had been hanging from the ceiling so ominously and didn't even look at her. The computer had barely had any personality until its morality was destroyed. She still got goose bumps when she thought of that cackle that the machine had let out once it had no conscience. And that voice…When GLaDOS had started using that voice…..she knew she had been in serious trouble. She hadn't wanted to kill the curious little core. Honestly, she just wanted out. She wanted to go home. But now? Now she just wanted to get as far away from this place as possible. She didn't even care where.

"Did anything happen while I was out?" GLaDOS asked as Chell stepped out of the lift.

You mean besides the lift ride? Chell thought sarcastically. She headed toward the test and looked at her surroundings. A ramp, a large button, and a tube that spit out propulsion gel were the first things she noticed. She didn't like the propulsion gel very much. Cave Johnson started talking through the speakers again. GLaDOS seemed confused by the voice. Chell couldn't imagine why. She thought that GLaDOS ought to know about the founder of the facility. Cave asked his assistant Caroline about compensation vouchers. Just as Caroline said, "Yes sir, Mr. Johnson," GLaDOS said it, too—almost as a reflex. Then the little bot panicked. She was confused, maybe even scared. Then she short-circuited and was silenced. Chell had never seen GLaDOS act this way before. And then it dawned on her. What if GLaDOS was...

No way, Chell thought. Caroline seemed so nice. There's no way.

First she wanted to see what the big button did. After seeing that it raise the ramp, she splattered the propulsion gel along the ramp and ran on it. She hated the feeling she got when it threw her forward. She was always afraid that she wouldn't stop in time and might crash through a wall—or worse, fly over the edge. She was getting tired of the testing. She tried to think of home as she brought the old Weighted Storage Cube over to the button, but she couldn't remember her home. And the memory of her adopted parents had almost faded away completely. What did they look like? Were they even still alive? Did her home even exist? She didn't care at this point. She just wanted out.

She might have hated the gel but it gave her a flashback to the mural of herself that someone had painted in the facility. Some people would have been creeped out by it, but she knew who had done it. It was whoever had guided her before. The person who had drawn X's over the turrets so she knew where to shoot the portals; the person who had drawn arrows to show her how to escape. It was her guardian angel. She wanted to meet this person and thank them for everything they had done

If the person is even still alive, she thought sadly as she headed toward the next test.

But wait. What was this? As GLaDOS freaked out a little more, Chell noticed that the catwalk had stairs that seemed to lead up to some room. The stairs were blocked off, but she could see a portal-conductive wall at the top of the stairs. And just before her was another such wall. So she portal-ed her way up the stairs and entered an old observation room. Hanging on the wall was a portrait of a man and a woman. Chell recognized the man as Cave Johnson. The woman, though, was a stranger. Yet, didn't she look familiar to Chell? GLaDOS seemed to recognize them, too, but couldn't call exactly who they were.

Is this Caroline? Chell asked. The woman looked old but strong, confident. Her age didn't seem to get her down at all. Chell liked the woman's face and the familiarity that came with it.