This chapter's been sitting drafted in my notebook for a couple weeks now. Here you go.

Chapter Two.

"Say apple."

ooo

Chell woke up the next morning with the same thoughts she had every After-Birthday-Day. It was funny, she pondered, how different it felt to add one year to your age, and yet you felt no different from how you'd felt the day before. Children often imagine that so many things change as you age from one year to the next, but they wake up the day after their birthday the same person they had been twenty-four hours ago. Indeed, Chell didn't feel any different than she had yesterday, or the day before.

She did, however, feel a whole lot different from how she had felt a year ago.

See, a year ago she'd been crossing test chambers in a pair of Long Fall Boots, with a portal gun in her hands and determination in her eyes. When they woke her up after putting her through some shady-sounding preparation for the tests, she'd been guided - and taunted - by a mysterious computerized voice that seemed to come from everywhere, echoing off of every wall and somehow always seeming to know what Chell was doing. Meanwhile, all Chell had wanted was to get it over with. She'd long forgotten why or how she had become a test subject. By then, all she knew was that she wanted to get out. And the only way out was to test her way through the chambers. So she tested.

It was around this time that she had stopped talking. She had never been a woman of many words, but in a place like Aperture's Enrichment Center, it felt like no one would hear you anyway. Or rather, that no one would listen. So she stopped trying. If she needed anything, she could do it herself. Meanwhile, a tiny, remote part of her brain worried that she might never find the end of these test chambers, might perish in this dangerous, enclosed place and fall silent in a much more permanent sense.

When she finally escaped the Enrichment Center, she hadn't quite found the courage to speak again. She could speak, of course - her vocal cords had sustained no damage. But she didn't exactly want to. Not yet. Even before Aperture, she didn't speak much. So after an experience like that, she didn't bother trying to bring herself to talk. Maybe a part of her still felt that no one would listen?

Now though, things were different. She had grown to trust the voice she once dreaded. She had grown to understand that voice's intentions and mistakes and flaws, and forgave those mistakes. She had begun to distance her experiences in testing from the rest of her perception of Aperture. She had friends. She had a girlfriend. She had her freedom. She was safe.

Chell knew she didn't have to start speaking again. But recently she'd noticed that she sort of wanted to. Through GLaDOS, she had begun bringing attention to the safety of testing, and wanting to make it so that future test subjects would not have to live the way she did during the tests. Chell was using her experiences to inspire change, change that was actually in the process of happening. She was beginning to find her "voice". So, she thought, why not rediscover her literal voice as well?

The task had proven easier said than done. Last week, she'd sat alone in her room, writing a list of words and attempting to read them out loud. But she couldn't quite get herself to make any sound. She wasn't sure why. Maybe she was still a little afraid.

Today, she decided, she was going to change that. She rolled out of bed and grabbed her phone from its resting place on her nightstand. With determination powering her heart, she opened up Messages and tapped out a short message.

[Conversation: Chell + Wheatley]

Today - 9:17 am

Chell: hey

Wheatley: Good morning!

Chell: I need to ask you a favor

Wheatley: Of course! Anything for a friend ;) What do you need?

Chell: I want to try something but I need your help. Could you come by here?

Chell: If you're busy, that's okay. It's not urgent.

Wheatley: Of course I can help!

Wheatley: But wait, why isn't Miss Bossy-boots Queen of Aperture helping you...? :p

Chell: She's working on a project or something, she isn't home right now.

Chell considered adding, "Besides, I sort of wanted to keep this a surprise for her", but decided against it. She knew all too well the trope of "weak reverse-psychology only raises suspicion and lets the secret out". Especially considering that's exactly what happened last time she explicitly told Wheatley that she was working on a surprise.

Today - 9:20 am

Wheatley: Ok, I'm on my way!

Chell: Thank you.

ooo

About twenty minutes later, Chell left her room in a clean shirt and a newly-tied ponytail, just as a knock at the door resonated down the hall. She opened the door to let Wheatley wander in. Standing about a foot above her and smiling brightly, he greeted her: "Hello there! I'm ready to help! Wait, what - what is it that you need, exactly? Should've asked that."

Chell still hesitated to tell him outright. But she had prepared for that. She reached across the counter and handed him a note she'd written.

I want to start talking again. I've tried a couple of times, but I couldn't get myself to do it. I thought some positive feedback from a person I trust might help encourage me.

Wheatley's eyes flickered across the slip of paper and then widened. "Oh, I see! You're still hesitating to bring your voice back, yeah?"

I guess so, Chell responded. I don't think I will go all the way back to talking. I had always been pretty quiet anyway. But talking can be convenient too, sometimes. I used to be comfortable with it.

"That makes sense, I suppose," Wheatley said, then paused. "Wait. Does she know you're wanting to do this?"

Chell froze. She hadn't wanted to say anything, but...

No. Her hands hesitated. GLaDOS doesn't know. I'm not ready yet.

"Has she ever heard you talk before?"

Once. After that I was too afraid to do it again. But I think that's different now. Will you help me?

"Oh, right! Of course. Sorry, got a bit sidetracked, didn't I? Of course I'll help, I said I would. Where would you like to start?"

You've got lots of experience with talking, Chell semi-teased. Where do you think I should start?

"Er, well... let's start with something easy? Better off startin' you with something like 'apple' rather than, say, 'antidisestablishmentarianism' or something, right?" Chell let out a small laugh. "Yeah, let's try 'apple'."

Chell inhaled deeply, trying to prepare herself for what would be her first word in a year. She tried not to let that air go - you need air in order to speak, after all - but once she opened her mouth to make a sound she still found herself being held back. By what, she didn't really know. Some sort of internal hesitation, one that she'd felt before. She grew tense, her body and mind freezing up like a computer assigned too many tasks to complete at once.

"There's no pressure," Wheatley assured her. "Just one little word, no big deal. No pressure, no time limit, no worries. You've got this." Yes, he remembered. Positivity, encouragement. "It's alright. You can do this."

Chell closed her eyes, breathed out, breathed in again. Just one little word, she told herself. Simple. She opened her mouth again, poised and ready to make the "ah" sound. She let out a little air, then froze. She'd done it, she'd started.

"A-ah..." Her voice was quiet, a little raspy. It probably needed to get accustomed to being used. But it worked.

Wheatley's face lit up, anticipation replaced with pride. "That's it! Keep going! You can do it, say 'apple'!"

"Aah..p..."

"Yes! You're so close, you've got this!"

"A-app... uhll. Apple."

"YES! You've done it! Well done!" Wheatley cheered.

Chell felt satisfied with herself. She did it. She said a word, out loud, with her voice.

"D'you wanna try another one? Are we moving too fast?"

Let's do another, Chell confirmed.

"Would it be too self centered to ask you to try my name?" Wheatley joked. Chell laughed a little as Wheatley interrupted himself: "Actually, why don't you try yours? It'd be helpful for, y'know, introductions and whatnot. Go on, try it."

"T... uh, sh... agh!" She hadn't forgotten how to form that sound, per se, but it had been awhile since she had had to do so. "Sh- ch. Che...ll."

"You did it! You're picking this up fast."

"Heh." Chell smiled. Like I said, I've done it before. I haven't really forgotten how to do it. I just have to get used to how it feels.

"Right, of course," Wheatley said. "Let's try a few more. Starting to get comfortable with it?"

Chell nodded, beaming. She began to question why she had been so afraid. She guessed that seeing how much she could do made her more eager to do it - and more excited for the surprise she wanted to plan.

As time went on, Chell began to enunciate with more speed, clarity, and confidence, as Wheatley began to give her entire sentences and eventually an entire paragraph. Within a span of about twenty minutes, she'd gotten from "apple" to "Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cube" to a brief introduction of herself until finally they both heard the rattling of a key in the lock at the front door.

"Oh! Sh-shh! Act natural, here she comes," Wheatley said.

The door was pushed open and GLaDOS appeared behind it, a heavy-looking bag slung over her shoulder. She brushed her chin-length hair behind her ear as she began to call, "I'm back - what is he doing here?"

"Oh. Hello! I was just, ah, helping Chell with a little something. That's all, nothing major. Don't mind me," Wheatley babbled innocently.

GLaDOS looked semi-suspiciously to Chell, who nodded and then quickly began signing, How was your morning?

"It wasn't particularly eventful. We made solid progress, though. On that note, next Tuesday they want to take me two states over for a presentation. My guess is they want to show me off."

I don't blame them, Chell grinned.

"Ha! Anyway, I'd be back Thursday morning. Are you alright with that?"

Chell nodded.

Wheatley stood up. "Well! I suppose I should be going. Nice to see you, and I'll see you later?"

Thanks for your help, Chell smiled and waved. See you later.

After he left, GLaDOS turned to Chell. "What was he helping you with? Actually, what COULD he help you with...?"

You'll find out, Chell assured her. Don't worry about it.

"..." GLaDOS was still unconvinced, but decided to let it go, at least for now. She's planning something. What is she planning. she wondered internally.

ooo

Yay, I finished a second chapter of something! That hasn't happened on this account in probably years!

I've got the basic idea of the next couple of chapters all planned out. I can't say I'm excited to write them, but MY GOD AM I EXCITED TO SEE THEM WRITTEN. (There's a key difference.) It's things like these that remind me why I am so shamelessly posting this fic. Because I personally love this kinda content.

I'm still learning how to write these characters, and now I get to insert things for Chell, so that's... fun? Speaking of which, I mentioned that Chell has spoken in front of GLaDOS exactly one (1) time. I drew a little comic page of it. It's not online yet, but you can have the satisfaction of knowing it exists. I might hold off on posting it until I have more of them to help tell my AU's story clearly.

Anyway, enough of my babbling. Please give me feedback, I would love to hear from you. I know I'm talking to the void, that's pretty much all I have ever done on the internet. but if there's someone else floating across the void I'd like to hear their opinion.

Thanks for reading!

~melancholy starlight