"Don't listen to her! I'm- ahhhhh!" I cursed as a jolt of electricity arced through my entire body. Desperate, I grabbed Chell's hand. She pulled back and stared at me.

Please, I pleaded silently through the pain, you're my friend. I… I need you.

My eyes must've said it all, because she nodded and gestured to the rest of the test. This was her element, I could tell. Occasionally blocking High Energy Pellets, which still hurt, by the way, we scurried together down the hall. The test was simple, really, at least for Chell. She was running around, shooting portals, beckoning me over whenever she needed my help.

Suddenly I spotted something strange. "Hey, Chell, check this out!" I pointed to where a wall panel was pushed out a bit from the rest of the chamber wall.

She walked over to examine it. Gesturing for me to stay where I was, she shot a portal into the room and entered it. I started to follow her, but she removed the portal, effectively locking me out. I was a little hurt by her mistrust, but I sat down on the chamber floor and did a little wireless research. That's odd… the little alcove didn't show up on the chamber schematic.

After a while, Chell returned, a hurt expression on her face. Her eyes were pained and filled with tears.

"Chell? What's-what's wrong?"

She shook her head sadly. A few hairs fell loose from her ponytail. I moved to put them back in place, but she yanked but as if I were made of neurotoxin. She stepped as far away from me as the chamber would allow and pointed forcefully at a raised button that she couldn't reach.

Her expression clearly said, Button. Now.

Obedient and a little confused, I jumped up and stood on the button, holding open a door. Chell scurried off to another section of the test, portal device at the ready. She looked as though she would be gone for a while, so I carefully stepped down from the platform. I had to know what was in that little room!

GLaDOS must have detected my intentions, because the second I got close to the gap in the wall, the most agonizing pain I had felt yet nearly split my skull. I collapsed, gritting my teeth and trying not to scream. I somehow managed to squeeze behind the panel despite the pain. The second I was past the main chamber wall, though, the pain began to ebb away. I stepped all the way into the alcove, relief washing over me as the agony disappeared as quickly as it had come.

I finally got a good look at the room. I truly, truly, wish I hadn't.

All around the room, there were photos. They all showed the same thing.

Me.

Well, not me, exactly. Technically, it was another Weighted Companion Cube.

Technically, it was one of my sisters.

She was posed all over the test chamber, smiling and waving at the camera. Her face was pasted onto photos of the original founder of Aperture Science, and, (I had to look away) onto a bikini model calendar.

That wasn't the worst part. Not even close. Written in black and red by some unknown hand were words, rants, and poems about his Companion Cube. Most of them were illegible, but one poem, written boldly in red, stood out as clear as artificial day.

Not in cruelty,

Not in wrath,

The Reaper came today;

An angel visited this gray path,

And took the cube away.

I staggered backward in shock. What? Now I spun around quickly, taking in everything. Two drawings I hadn't noticed before caught my attention. One was my sister cube with angel wings and a halo.

The other was her as a skeleton.

"N-no!" I cried in horror, whipping around to flee the scene as fast as my bionic legs could carry me. As soon as I squeezed back through the panel, the pain returned, twice as bad as before. This time I did scream, collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Suddenly the pain faded. I could hear a very soft chuckle. Then a communication link opened.

"I think you have plenty of pain at the moment." GLaDOS murmured in my head. I still didn't get up. "Well? Finish the test!"

A short burst of electricity brought me to my feet. Artificial tears stained my cheeks.

They had nothing to do with the pain.