Chell looked over the compound and felt a trickle of sweat run down the back of her neck. Why did she think going with them was ever a good idea?

Looking around, she got a better look at the compound. It had a chain-link fence going around the entire perimeter with barbed wire along the top. Two more soldiers guarded the gate with blue-eyed masks and another with red. The red-eyed soldier brandished a shotgun and had full armor in dark gray and black compared to the blue and black of the blue-eyed soldiers.

There were several buildings within the compound. There were two identical buildings off to one side where other soldiers in uniforms like her own were milling about out front while the one next door had one of the singular red-eyed soldiers guarding the entrance. She really needed proper names for the types of soldiers if she was going to have to keep referring to them by their eye colors.

The next building she saw had more windows than the other, but all had bars on the outside. She did her best to look like she belonged, so she did her best to walk much like everyone else. Eyes forward and stride with purpose. Whereas she had been treating the outside world as a test when she didn't need to, this would have to be treated like one. Stay focused at all times or end up dead.

The last building was the largest and located in the very center of the compound. It was a two-story building with barred windows on the second floor and a large antenna attached to the roof. The antenna had long thick cables branching off and traveling to all the surrounding buildings and the fence.

Along the fence perimeters were black spires with the wires attached to the top and a luminescent blue field of light could be seen. It reminded Chell of an emancipation grill from Aperture. First, the voice that sounded like GLaDOS and now Emancipation Grills? What did Aperture have to do with the Combine?

If she wanted any chance to survive, she would need to find out all she could about them and escape. It was still early, so she had plenty of time to explore before dark. With her decision made, Chell moved around the compound with ease.

The building with the other white masked soldiers out front turned out to be a barracks of sorts. Chell walked inside to keep up appearances as if she was going back to 'her' bunk. There was a line of bunk beds along each wall with numbers posted on the frame on each bed. Some beds only had one set of numbers while others had two. On the beds with two sets of numbers, there would be two storage chests at the foot of each one while single set only had one chest. Bunk assignments. What had they addressed her as in the woods? She walked along the beds, scanning each number, until she noticed a bunk with CP-1295 stamped on the frame.

'CP-1295, check in.'

That was the number. It was one of the beds to have a single stamp, but it was also furthest from the exit. No matter.

There were a couple other soldiers sitting on their beds or off in corners talking with each other. Some looked her way and nodded in greeting. She nodded back. That satisfied them enough as they would turn back to whatever they had been doing before.

Keeping up appearances, she opened up the chest in front of the bunk and began to rummage through it. Not much in the way of belongings. There were a couple boxes of bullets for a pistol and extra casings to hold the ammo, magazines her mind supplied. Along with the ammo were a few of the awful ration packs and a large black duffel. Smiling, she started moving all the items into the duffel. It could all come in handy once she left the base.

Just as she put the last ration pack into the duffel, Chell came across a small but worn out book tucked into the bottom of the chest. It was tattered, and several pages had been dog-eared as if it had been read several times. The title was Civil Authority of the Universal Union. It was plain white with a script that didn't provide any sort of excitement. The only form of a logo on the paper was the strange claw grasping onto a ball down in the right-hand corner.

Universal Union? That's a new one. Flopping down onto the bunk, Chell began to thumb through the first few pages. What it turned out to be was a manual of the different branches of combine troops. Apparently, the branch she was masquerading as was called 'Civil Protection' and not considered actual soldiers. Explained the CP in front of the numbers on her bed and it doubled as giving her an actual name to the white masks. They were in charge of keeping order within the core cities, but that didn't explain why there was so many outside of a city.

The soldiers with the black masks were called Overwatch Soldiers. The more Chell read, the more disturbed she became with the idea of them. Apparently, they would undergo surgical modifications to make them better fighters. She didn't read all of it, but they had some sort of ocular implants, built in vocoders, and adrenal implants for increased strength. It made Chell shudder to think of what the implants must feel like.

Then came the red-eyed soldiers. There were called the Overwatch Elite. They had taken the step further when it came to modifications and training until all they cared about was serving the so-called Universal Union. Whereas the standard soldier still retained some form of humanity, the Elite surgery went further and became more extensive. Their limbs were manually reconstructed, they received hearing implants to increase their range of hearing, and the adrenal implants took it a step further so not only would their strength increase but their pain receptors would shut off the second they needed it to. The way the booklet was worded, it made it all sound inviting. Its exact words were: 'The Overwatch Elite is the next step in humanity's evolution to greatness. By pledging yourself to become an Elite, you shall reap the benefits of what the future shall hold for the human race. Not only will you be highly regarded among the Civil Authority, but you will receive personal gratitude from myself and our benefactors.'

Chell cringed when she read it. Looking at the front cover, she frowned at the author's name. Doctor Wallace Breen. Administrator.Breen? Chell hadn't heard his name before, but whoever he was, he sounded like a pompous ass.

The rest of the booklet was codes to identify certain situations. They ranged from someone standing on a street corner to armed rebellion. There were lots of codes, and all the soldiers were required to memorize them? If she wasn't horrified, she might have been impressed.

Shoving the booklet into one of her pockets, Chell got off the bed and started to head out of the barracks. She was halfway there when she heard someone call out to her.

"Hey, Gabe!" Well, not her specifically.

Chell turned to look from where the voice had come from and saw one of the Civil Protection officers that nodded to her when she arrived. She felt mild panic at being noticed and called by the name of the CP officer. She had to reassure herself that she could do it. She just needed to stay confident and focused.

"Yeah," she replied, managing to hide her nervousness.

"You promised you'd tell me how the mission went. Any news?"

"Failed. The suspect got away," Chell said. Although she was nervous, she also felt a little smug at being able to say that to the enemy.

"Damn. Sorry man. At least we need all the men we can get or else you'd be in some serious trouble," the CP laughed.

Chell forced a chuckle in response, but she didn't even want to think of what would have happened to her had they not been short on soldiers.

"Anyway, I'm 'bout to head to the mess hall. Want to come?"

"No. I'm not hungry." Chell shoved her hands into her pockets and looked to the doors.

There was a tense silence, or at least it felt tense to Chell.

"Suit yourself," the CP finally said.

The CP walked out of the bunks and Chell was right behind them. He headed off to the central building while she headed towards the building next door. The guard made her avoid attempting entrance, but she walked along the side of the building and peeked inside. It looked to be a storage building. The inside was filled with crates and cabinets.

Further into the room, Chell could make out a rack with more of the strange shaped guns. It made sense to have weapon storage near the barracks in case of attack, but at the same time, it seemed a risk to Chell. She couldn't understand why she felt that way.

On the other side of the compound was a building with large doors that rolled upwards from the bottom. Peering through the side door revealed the inside to house more of the vehicles like the one she arrived in.

"What are you doing?"

Chell spun around to come face to face with one of the blue-eyed soldiers. He had snuck up on her and Chell couldn't help but feel he could see through her despite the mask.

Seeing they were wanting an answer, Chell straightened up to look more professional, "Inspecting things. Checking for signs of weakness," she managed. It was a flimsy excuse, but it's all she could come up with. She tried to think of what GLaDOS might say, but even then, her lies were always easy to pick out because of her past behavior.

"Inspecting… for weakness?" The soldier said, confusion evident in their voice. "Cease at once. You are needed in the main annex for questioning. Follow me."

Questioning? Why would she need to be questioned? She hadn't done anything since getting back other than sit in the bunks. Had it been scheduled already for the CP or was she found out?

She had question after question going through her head. She still followed the Overwatch Soldier because if she ran, she would die before she even took five steps. Chell doubted she'd get even two steps if she decided to run. Damn. When had she become such a pessimist? Chell had been an optimist for most of her time below the surface of the earth, but why the sudden attitude change? She blamed the stress of the whole situation.

Chell followed the soldier to the central building and paused to watch as he walked through a luminescent blue field of light. It reminded Chell of an emancipation grill in Aperture. It was getting ridiculous at how much technology the combine had that resembled Aperture tech. She was starting to think it wasn't a coincidence anymore.

Feeling hesitant of what would happen if she walked through the field, Chell took a deep breath before stepping forward. There was some resistance as if it could feel she was wrong, but it still let her pass through without destroying any of her clothes or teeth. Her tongue gently prodded at the empty spot where one of her teeth had been vaporized by the fields the first time she went testing against GLaDOS.

The OS led Chell through the annex, passing several doorways that held the same blue energy fields. She tried to see what was inside each room as they moved. Passing one room made Chell pause. It was a vast room and filled with rectangular towers with blinking lights and they were all protected by glass. In the very center of the room was a large cylinder with a glowing ball of light that continued to bounce up and down within. The ball reminded Chell of high energy pellets, but the towers are what really caught her eye.

It was a server room. With that many servers, it meant that the entire compound would be computer controlled and they had a lot of information that came through the station. Chell smiled to herself. She had a way to break out as she had a habit of breaking computers.

Eventually, the soldier led Chell to a room with an actual door. He led her inside and took a seat at the lone metal table. She sat down across from him, her hands resting on the table, fingers interlocking. They were soon joined by a second OS but this one with a red-eyed helmet. It carried a small packet of paper and some device. It set everything on the table and Chell got a good look at the device and her eyes lit up. It was an electronic tape recorder.

The OS she followed took the recorder and pushed the central button to record.

"Commencing debriefing of CP-1295 in regards to Suspect AS2. CP-1295, state the status of the mission you were given," the soldier said.

Chell felt both relief and panic set in. It was like an interview, but she had to answer questions about herself and Aperture but have it come from Gabriel? Steeling herself, she managed to keep up the stiff posture of authority and nodded her head. "The mission in leading the suspect to a nearby transport was a failure, but they provided valuable information."

The OS wrote down some notes on the paper before looking up at Chell. "Why was it a failure?"

Chell couldn't help but smirk. "The suspect was smarter than originally planned. She discovered I was lying after noticing my boots looked new despite my story that I had been on the road for months with rebels."

Another note from the OS. "What sort of information did the suspect provide?"

Now, this is where Chell was going to have some fun. "Suspect provided me with information on Aperture Science technology and where to find an entrance. The suspect told me how the entire facility is abandoned and in disrepair."

Chell felt the lies roll off her tongue with ease. With each one came another and soon she had an entire web of lies of what they might expect inside Aperture. If she had to deal with the Combine, then she would make sure they were poorly equipped for dealing with anything involving Aperture.

"Suspect said they were the only one left alive, but I feel they may have been lying about that. They woke up, found some clothes, and navigated their way out. No security systems in place at the moment. At least that's what they told me," Chell finished.

The OS wrote a couple more notes then clicked off the recorder. "That is all. One more stop then report to your barracks for lights out."

The OS stood to his feet and Chell quickly followed suit. She followed him out of the room and down the hall. They turned into a doorway without energy field, but Chell promptly learned why the moment she stepped inside. To her left was a field that took up the entire height and length of the room so that it was divided in half. Through the blue energy, Chell could make out someone curled up into the corner with their back facing the OS and herself.

Chell could only see their hair and back, but it was enough for her to freeze in place. The individual's hair was bright red with tangled mats in a bun. Their clothes looked to be a wrinkled brown jumpsuit with orange decals along the waist, back, and legs. They didn't look like much, but the single detail that left Chell frozen in place were the three words emblazoned in white on the back of their jumpsuit. Aperture Test Subject.

At their approach, the figure sat up in alarm. They had bruises on their face, and they looked to be in pain just from the simple act of sitting up. Chell bit her lip to keep from saying or doing anything foolish.

Once they were up on their knees, Chell finally could see it was a woman. She looked to be older than Chell, possibly in their late twenties or early thirties. They had freckles across their cheeks and nose, bright hazel eyes, and a distinctive mole above their lip. She was pretty in Chell's opinion, but she was also in a lot of trouble. She reached out one hand and let it rest against the blue field, but her hand didn't pass through. It acted much like a wall instead of a light barrier. As her hand touched the wall, Chell noticed her hair started to stand on end as the energy raced through her body.

"Suspect, stand up," the OS said.

The woman let out a silent grunt from the exertion, but she managed to get to her feet.

"Your verdict will be carried out tomorrow. Do you have any questions?"

The woman shook her head, her eyes not making contact with either Chell or the OS.

"Very well. CP-1295, if you have any questions for your suspect, ask them now," The OS said before walking out of the room. Although he was gone, Chell felt like they were still listening.

Approaching the energy field, Chell took a deep breath before walking through. The woman flinched at that and took a few steps backward. That's when Chell noticed what looked like the remains of a pogo stick attached to the back of her right boot. Some early form of the long fall boots?

Chell had to keep up appearances if they were watching. "Don't move!"

She hated yelling at the woman, but it was necessary. The woman stopped moving back as Chell continued to approach. It wasn't like the woman could go anywhere as she had accidentally backed herself into a corner.

Chell was suddenly happy for the hard back-plate on the helmets for what she was about to do.

With careful hands, she undid the clasp on her helmet and removed the protective white mask. The rush of cool air felt nice on her skin, but she didn't relish it long, as she took in the surprised expression of the woman. Keeping her voice low, Chell inclined her head towards the woman. "Keep your voice low. They may still hear us," she said.

If the woman had been confused before, her expression only continued to become alarmed. "You aren't the one who led me here," she loudly whispered.

She had a slight accent to her voice, but Chell couldn't place what it might have been, but she put a finger to her lips and nodded. "No. I stole this suit to hide."

"Why would you do something so stupid?" The woman replied.

"I asked myself that too once I got here."

That elicited a smile from the woman. Either she was the trusting type, or she was indulging Chell.

"I'm escaping tonight, but I can't leave you here. I'll be back to let you out when its time, alright?" Chell assured.

She looked skeptical. "Why should I believe you? You could be leading me into another trap."

She had a point. Chell didn't think she would be so trusting of another person after everything that happened. She should never have trusted Gabriel in the first place. Chell crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.

"I really don't care if you believe me, but we came from the same place. Come with me or not, but I'm leaving tonight," she huffed before sliding the mask back into its place.

Before she had the chance to turn around, Chell saw the flicker of confusion on the woman's face. At least she would have something to think about before she started her plan.

Chell found out most of the CPs slept without their masks on but kept their uniforms untouched. Strange. Apparently, the Overwatch Soldiers needed to sleep as well as they were in the bunks closest to the door, but they didn't take off their helmets. The Elites on the other hands… not a single one was in the bunks. Chell didn't know where they were, but she had to get moving or risk another day of being discovered.

She had waited a full hour after lights out to slip from the cot. She grabbed the duffel with the rations and tiptoed to the other end of the bunk. Every single pad of boot on tile sent panic down her spine or every huff of breath through a mask. Her fear was unfounded as she managed to open the door to the barracks and stepped into the moonlight without issue.

She stayed near the walls of the bunks and crept around to look at the next building over. There stood an Elite with one of the strange guns in their hands and back to the door. Not a problem. Chell simply started walking the long way around the building until they were at the back end of the supply shed. Lucky for her, there were windows at the back and someone had left it unlocked. With some difficulty, she managed to clamber inside and started to sift through all the crates. Her bag soon became overflowing with ration packs, what she assumed to be first-aid kits by the red cross stamped on the side, and ammo. To be safe, Chell had grabbed some weapons as well. She had grabbed a pistol, a shotgun, a machine gun, and one of the strange double barreled rifles. The final crate she opened was marked with a warning sign and silhouette of a cylinder with a handle. Chell was happy to see grenades, but she was running out of room, so she only took three. While she was in the shed, she decided to go ahead and load up the guns with ammo. Better to be prepared for anything than nothing at all.

Her bag was heavy. She had never known how heavy guns actually were until she had four of them on her person. The pistol she kept in the holster at her side, but the rest went into her duffel, but they stuck out one end as they weren't a perfect fit. She was forced to push it back out the window and let it drop to the ground before she could scramble out. Chell was less than graceful coming out the window than going in. She fell out and landed on the bag, the barrel of the shotgun digging into her spine. She hissed in pain but was up in seconds.

She picked it up but not before hearing the sound of footsteps coming closer. Her heart quickened as she started moving around the side of the building and out of sight. Turning on her feet, Chell took off running as fast as the bag would let her to the main annex. There was no resistance as she walked through the particle field and into the building.

She did her best to retrace her steps to the server room. She made sure to drop off the supplies near the door before moving towards the central cylinder. Monitors and control panels were circling the energy sphere on all sides.

Chell pursed her lips as she wondered how to go about destroying the place. She could toss the grenades around the room, but she'd run the risk of alerting everyone on base and not crippling them very well. She continued to think as her fingers lightly danced across the large control board in front of her. She didn't even register what her hands were doing until she looked up at the screen in front of her.

Lines of code danced above her and Chell frowned at it. On reflex, she tapped on a few more keys and another window pulled up. It was a security feed of the garage. Another few taps and one of the vehicles came online, and the doors to the garage were unlocked.

She looked down at her hands in question. How did she know to do that? She didn't question further as she let her body take control of the situation. As her fingers wrote up code after code on the control panel, Chell watched the systems on the screen come online and die. She read each line and found herself knowing what it would do once she finished. It made her smile at the prospect.

While working, she found a security feed of a room filled with headcrab shells, but it was blocked off with an energy field. She went ahead and closed that field down and let the pods open themselves up. All the headcrabs started scuttling out of their pods and into the compound. She'd have to watch herself once she left the annex.

The last few lines of code were written and all she'd have to do it release it. It would disable all door locks and energy fields in the base, cut off communication, and turn off all power. A digital suicide code. The woman in holding would be free to meet up with Chell, and they could leave in the awaiting vehicle.

Chell let a smile come to her face, but just as she reached out to confirm the code, she was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. She grunted in pain before looking up to see the single red eye looking down on her. She scrambled backward as the Elite brought his weapon up to bear. She rolled out of the way just as it fired at her. Each bullet was marked by a flash of blue and white from the barrel of the gun the Elite carried, but Chell was too busy rolling out of the way to care. Meeting one of the server towers, she fumbled with the pistol at her side as she attempted to fire off a shot. She managed to fire it twice and caught the Elite in the stomach, but it didn't even flinch. Not even a sound! It then took a step forward and kicked a foot forward and sent the pistol in her hands flying across the room. Reaching out, Chell sat up but was met with a kick to her stomach that knocked the breath out of her and sent her sliding across the floor with the force the Elite used.

Chell felt her roll into something and her eyes opened up to see her bag. Her bag! She looked up to see the Elite stalking forward, gun up. She was in pain and that caused her to struggle to tear the zipper open. She needed to grab a weapon. Her hand clasped onto the machine-gun and she brought it up to fire, but she was too slow. The elite fired its rifle and caught Chell in the chest before she could even put a finger on the trigger.

Chell fell limp as the Elite looked down at her. In an instant, he reached down and pulled the mask off her. Her eyes were open, looking up at the ceiling unmoving.

"Threat amputated," the Elite said.