Chell was running. Running. Running. She had the portal gun tight in her grip, her hands cramping from the sheer pressure. Her hair wildly trailing behind her.
She shot a portal onto a gel-covered panel way up above her, connecting it with another at her feet. She slid through just in time to avoid a flying projectile.
She gasped and wiped sweat off her face with her hand. The projectile hitting and exploding on contact with the thrower.
"Ahhh!"
She winced and coughed as the thrower shuddered and jerked in pain, screaming and shouting.
He went limp.
She bit her lip as she hurried up the catwalk to get the first core.
She could see a faint familiar glow of an optic nearing the catwalk. It suddenly dropped down on a mechanical claw shouting in surprise as she yanked it from its grip. The catwalk creaking as it buckled in on itself.
The core looked up from the tractor beam on her portal gun as she landed with a thump on the gel-covered floor.
It was him.
"Hello!" It cheered.
Chell dropped it, eyes widening, instinctively jumping back. She shot a glance towards the giant form beside her hunched over, looking back and forth between both cores. He was there and he was here.
She was too dazed to notice wired tentacles approaching her slowly. They wrapped around her waist and hoisted her and the duplicate core into the air. They plucked the portal gun from her grasp leaving her struggling helplessly in the air. The other core shouted terrified.
The hunched form lifted itself and its bright blue optic glared back at her.
"Oh, it's you." He hissed and laughed.
"How have you been?" He said almost teasingly. "I've been very busy, you know, trying not to die!"
He swung her closer to his optic, she shielded her face with her hands against his bright glare.
"You know what you are? Selfish! Completely selfish! You - "
"Stop it! Stop it!" Snapped the other core.
The core in the chassis glared back laughing. Sounding much less like him and more like her.
The wires tightened around the core, yelping as sparks flew. Chell tried to free herself almost getting a kick into the core in the chassis.
Everything was falling apart around them, panels peeling back from the scorching heat. Pipes coming loose from their holds.
She tried hard to pry the wires apart but they didn't budge, she faced the core duplicate tangled in the mess of wires. She jerked back in horror. He was fading, vanishing even, his stratosphere blue melting into watercolors. Dripping and staining the floor.
She looked back to the core in the chassis. He was thrashing and gasping.
" Get me out! Get me out of here!" He yelped.
He was vanishing too, but He was still there.
"Wheatley!" She barely managed.
The core in the chassis took on a stoic look facing her with a far-off look.
"He's dead Chell." It almost sounded sympathetic.
"He's not here anymore."
…..
She jerked to her side, sliding off her bed, landing on heaps of sheets and cushions on the ground. She burst her eyes open gasping and coughing. Her face was sticky with sweat.
She sat up to bury her face in her hands. It hadn't been real. It wasn't real.
It had been years since she'd been freed but nightmares of that place still plagued her dreams. Of course, they'd lessen with the years but never completely vanished.
This particular dream had disturbed her for several days now. Her dreams about "him" usually went differently.
She'd run until she couldn't. Jump until she'd tired out and breath until there was no air left. That had been most of her dreams for the longest time. All the while he'd [or her sometimes] go on throwing bombs and insulting her.
This time it was different.
He was dying and pleading for out. She'd done nothing to help him. She'd let him die, she'd let her Wheatley die to the mainframe's Wheatley. He hadn't stood a chance. Drowned out by the mainframe's disgusting lines of code, Wheatley dying slowly and alone inside somewhere.
She coughed a little as she got up, brushing herself off. She bent over and organized some of the cushions and sheets on the floor. She always left them there, on the floor. She had the frightening tendency to roll off the bed.
She brought her attention to making her bed slowly, not wanting to face the worried faces she'd see outside her home's doorway shortly. She looked about her room's warm amber-painted walls smiling faintly. Her house was small very small just enough for herself. Nevertheless, she liked its cozy feeling and its sense of familiarity.
She exited her room and strolled into her living room making her way to the doorway and swung the door open. Just outside was a crowd of chickens pecking eagerly at the door. She grinned, shooing them away and assuring them she'd be out to feed them soon.
She kindly closed the door as she retreated into her home, heading into the bathroom to start the day.
…
Chell lived far from town. She hadn't wanted to have neighbors from the beginning. They would have found it odd watching a grown woman climb up great heights to later jump off in weird boots and not endure a single scratch. It was almost a sport for her.
Her chickens didn't mind. If anything it was the norm for them.
She had dozens and dozens of chickens. She lived off selling eggs by the dozen all year-round. So it made sense to have so many. In the spring, she sold some of their young though she often found it hard to do so.
Today she was driving her old pick-up to town to deliver several shipments of eggs for several people living within the city limits. First, she had to drop some off at several shops.
She parked just outside the local farmers market and lifted a couple of crates out, walking steadily towards several shops neatly set up beside each other.
She waved towards a man eagerly trying to convince a woman to buy his morning pastries but she seemed unphased by his long persuasive speech.
"I'll come back later." The woman finally remarked as she trotted away to a different shop.
The man looked to Chell who'd been waiting behind the woman for her turn to speak.
"Hey! The egg girl! Just on time. We're having wedding cake on the to-do list and you won't believe how many eggs go into making those." He beckoned her to place the crate next to the register. She did as told.
"How's life all alone up there? Wouldn't imagine why you'd go live out in the middle of nowhere when all your friends live in town. Safety in numbers you know."
The man picked up the crate from the counter and passed it to someone else working quietly behind him.
"No, seriously, Chell. As much as I hate to say it, living all alone out there isn't safe."
She crossed her arms and gave him a teasing smile. No one had agreed with her decision but at least they'd respected it, well everyone except Daniel. He hadn't let the topic go for several years.
"I have too many chickens." She protested quietly.
"Too many? That's easy, we just turn them all into soup. Problem solved." He chuckled bringing a separate crate with wheat goods in it as an exchange for the eggs.
Chell smiled at him taking the crate from his grasp and heading to her next stop. She felt a light tap on her shoulder as she began to leave.
"Chell, I'm serious. Your only a young girl, you can't take care of yourself alone out there. Now if you let me I can get you a place here in town chicken friendly and all!" He started to pull out a notepad from his pocket.
Chell put her hand on the counter gently catching his attention
"Watch me." She replied grinning as she left with the crate of goods.
