In the midst of her unconsciousness, Chell heard a voice.
It was a faint, calming, feminine voice – but something about it was off.
"…Welcome, visitor, or possible resident, to one of the largest remaining industrial suburban cities in Sector 1. Terminal areas for trains and other means of public transportation have been temporarily shut down due to unforeseen circumstances, and will be attended to in their respective time…"
Maybe it was the coolly detached, almost mechanical way she said it, or the way a constant, quiet static followed in the voice's wake, as if the lines were being said over an intercom, or a radio.
"…Remember, your safety is assured with us. As long as you, the citizens are secured within these walls, your protection is assured with our armed forces. Furthermore, all contributions, compliances with our cause are commended, and will be amply rewarded. This includes information of the whereabouts of terroristic entities and/or possible terroristic persons…"
Whatever it was, it oddly reminded her of the voice Glados used before she'd lost her morality core. A calm, quiet, and if she didn't know any better, almost inviting voice. Soulless, like the metal it had been conjured from. And she knew, a hard, gut feeling forming in her stomach, that she would not- could not, trust this voice.
"…Welcome all. Welcome to City 26."
~o0o~
Chell woke with a start.
Her mind felt amazingly clear, and well rested after the last night. Much unlike how she expected it to be after her tired, broken rest. Still, what met her eyes almost made her believe that she was hallucinating.
She knew she wasn't seeing things – no, she couldn't be – but what lay before her disoriented her nonetheless.
She was on a bed. Old and rickety, but still a bed.
Clearly in what seemed to be a room. A small, dull, gray bedroom, somewhat similar in appearance to that of a regular dormitory room. From where she was positioned, she could see a small, bare desk and chair, devoid of all things- necessary and unnecessary. There was one bed in the room- the one she had been put on, but nothing else. No posters, or even rugs decorated the bare wooden floors and grey, monotonous concrete walls.
From behind her, the warm glow of sunlight crept in through a small rectangular window partially covered with blinds, and faintly, she could hear the peaceful chirping of the birds – as well as that incessant, quiet voice of static.
What. The. Hell?
In a flash of a second, the focus in Chell's mind switched from the comfort of the bed she was on, to a straight-out, head ringing sense of alarm.
No. Not again.
Chell thought in a panicked manner, desperation setting deeply on her shoulders. Quickly, almost frantically she began scanning the area.
No, no, I can't be back there! I can't be back in a sleep chamber underground, locked away for years to test again. There's no way! She told me that I was free, that I could leave! Glados said it herself! There's no way… No way…
I-I can't be back in Aperture-
"Good mornin' Daisy."
A low, gruff voice said from her left.
At the sound Chell froze. Then slowly, incredulously, she turned to her left, gazing upon the origins of the mysterious voice. The man - the human, who had just spoken (presumably) to her.
Beside her bed were two men, one man sitting in a chair with his hands clasped by the bed, and another man standing to the left of him, his posture straight and rigid as he folded his arms behind him and observed quietly.
"It's a pleasure to meet ya, Daisy. I'm Nick."
The sitting man said again, smiling thinly.
He seemed fit, a buff man with a sturdy build, much like that of a soldier, or a man in the military. And though it was hard to tell with him sitting down, Chell observed that he must be slightly bigger that the man behind him, though the other man stood as if trying to emphasize the fact that he was the more important of the two there.
Both him and his partner wore the same, odd uniform- a dark coloured jacket and similar dark-green pants, with black leather boots and a bullet proof vest covering most of his torso. On his arm was a wide green armband, with bold red markings engraved on it that read; c26:i4.
The man was fair-skinned with neatly kept blonde hair and short, stubbly facial hair covering his chin. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties, but the several rugged scars and deep creases on his face suggested that he may be older than he looked. On his right eye he wore a black eye patch, a deep, surgical gash just visible below it.
But interestingly enough, what stood out the most, the small detail that had caught Chell's attention, the one feature that would soon connect to all her memories of him, wasn't his eye patch, or the ominous scar underneath it- but his exposed, other eye beside it.
The cold, almost mechanical shade of blue-grey. Exactly like Chell's own eye colour.
"Don't be afraid kid, we ain't gonna hurt ya."
Nick said comfortingly, his true emotions unreadable beneath the thin, but still prevalent smile.
"…It's like she's never seen people before."
His partner whispered to him, voice low.
Nick's partner- Steve, was a stark contrast from himself. An African-American, he was a dark skinned, lanky man; tall, thin, and bald, with a sharp gash on his nose and small, unfitting spectacles for his eyes. Once a scientist, Nick figured that a man of logic, the most civilized of men in the pack of violent, self-elected soldiers would be best assigned for the task ahead.
Nick rolled his eyes in reply.
"Not 'People', Steve." He grunted.
"You can't go around life never seein' people around you, can ya? It's impossible. Unless you've been raised from birth by a stray pack of Vorts or lived underground like a mole for your whole life, I think you'd see people." He paused. "Steve, it ain't people she hasn't seen. Just the Civil protection."
"…Ain't that right, Daisy?"
Nick nodded toward the still shocked girl.
She stared silently back, giving no indication that she understood- or was listening to him in any way.
With that, Steve's already prominent frown deepened slightly.
Was she retarded? Brain damaged in some way maybe? Whatever it was, he was pretty sure she had not even a clue of what was happening to her right now.
Maybe Nick was right- maybe it was just the Combine she'd never seen. She was one of the younger ones- many of the children that survived to adulthood in this era either spent their lives as runaways or where included in the families of the Civil protection. But she wasn't wearing the citizen's uniform.
Whoever she was, she didn't belong here.
"…Well, sadly I've got a morning shift to attend to, so you'll have to be staying here with this chump for a while." Nick said as he pointed towards an unamused Steve.
"I'll be back soon, so don't go running away while I'm gone."
Nick rose from his chair as he glanced towards the other man.
"Though I trust you wouldn't let anything like that happen, right?" He said to him, another thin, unreadable smile forming on his lips.
"…Yes." Steve replied quietly, looking away from the man.
For a second, a flash of a time so short Steve could've dismissed it as his mind playing tricks on him, Nick's mouth curved to a mock of a snicker, disappearing as quickly as it came before turning to the girl on the bed.
"Oh, and before I forget,"
The man crouched as he fished something out from beside Chell's bed, "I figured you'd want your 'companion' back." He said as he handed Chell her charred, worn out, but familiar companion cube.
Chell's eyes lit up as she saw it, and she quickly reached out and hugged it (though her arms couldn't quite reach the other side) tightly as he handed it to her. In this new world full of human's and unknowns, it was the only thing she had, the only thing that made her feel safe. And for a second there, she thought she would never see it again.
From a distance, Nick gazed at the curious sight as his eyes softened, and a soft smile played on his lips
"See you later, Daisy."
Overhead, the radio buzzed quietly as Chell idly looked out the window, trying to fend off the boredom and the empty hunger that was already beginning to eat at her stomach. In the past two hours of waiting in that room, observing, marveling, and thinking about all the things that currently surrounded her, she had come to one, definite conclusion.
Steve was not the friendly type.
If anything, he was about as talkative as a weighted storage cube. And that, coming from the likes of herself, was saying something.
In the several hours that had past since their first introduction, neither of them had said a single word.
Of course Chell had attempted to strike a conversation once or twice, but that obviously didn't make things any better. It didn't help that whenever she tried to speak, the words would seem to die down in her mouth, and she could feel her voice fail her, even before a sentence had been formed in her head. Whatever, she'd convinced herself, the only things she could think to talk about weren't very – common, anyways.
Inaudibly sighing, Chell turned her focus to the view outside the window.
At least having a glimpse of the outside gave her something to think about.
From where she sat on her bed, she could see a grey landscape. A small concrete 'center' of the town, and very near to her location, the inside of a large concrete building.
On the ground were the small figures of people, (actual humans just like her!) of all origins and genders, all clad in a uniform blue denim buzzing in and about the area, lining up inside the building to receive a small package (it's contents she had not even a clue of) and then leaving, passing by each other as they walked silently toward their next destination – wherever that may have been. Around them, in sparse numbers, other men stood by, odd black sticks in their hand wielded and ready as they kept an idle eye on the silent crowd. These men though – seemed slightly different.
What had first caught her attention were the masks. On their faces, fully covering their heads were white, hard-looking plastic masks. The round optics which seemed to replaces their eyes gleamed threateningly, the protruding shape of the mask making them look as if they weren't human, but some sort of alien instead. These people wore a different uniform from the rest – it wasn't denim, but the same kind of clothes Nick and Steve adorned. The strict, dull uniform of a soldier.
'Civil Protection'.
In the back of her mind, she recalled the words Nick had briefly mentioned.
Time crawled on slowly as she looked out towards her new home, (at least, she hoped it would be) and thought quietly to herself.
Somehow, her final destination – the surface above Aperture, was a lot different than she had expected it to be.
Maybe it was the quiet, dull feel to the grey and worn out concrete that surrounded her, or the tired, scared, almost oppressed way the people in blue denim behaved. Though it wasn't like she'd expected peace to come easy, that she'd find a complete utopia on the surface of Aperture – she'd expected something, else. Something different.
In the back of her mind, a distant place that still kept the outlines of hazy memories from her past, a past before Aperture – snips of a past above ground she could barely recognize – she could feel that something was off. Something was wrong.
'…Things have changed since the last time you left the building.'
As the faint voice of Glados rung in her head, she first noticed the floating machines.
'What's going on out there will make you wish you were back in here.'
She watched as they gathered towards one man in denim, their lights flashing blindingly at him as he dropped his package and shielded his eyes. What they were trying to do, what he had done to deserve that, she could barely even begin to guess.
'I have an infinite capacity for knowledge, and even I'm not sure what's going on outside.'
Flailing his arms in a weak attempt to protect himself against the lights, the man began to make a scene. Around him, the people in blue denim hurried quickly past, their eyes cast on the ground and their heads bowed down in shame and guilt. In the air surrounding him, more of the floating machines gathered, as one guard – the first of several to take action – stepped towards the man, slowly pushing away the crowd of machines that blocked his path. With wide, terrified eyes the man looked up, and even from the distance, Chell could see panic settle on the young man's face. Slowly, he opened his mouth and began to speak.
'All I know is I'm the only the thing standing between us and them.'
He was making himself an excuse. He was saying that he didn't understand what was happening- that this was all a mistake. Though Chell couldn't quite hear what his real words had been, the idea of what he could've been saying made her feel strangely nervous. Even from the safe, high bedroom she was in, far away from the ground, far from the flat, desolate concrete he was on, she could still feel the poor man's fear– the man's utter helplessness as he slowly realized that his pleads were for naught.
Whatever he was saying, the civil protection wasn't buying it.
'-us and them-'
As the man in blue denim babbled in the shade of the other man's large shadow, time seemed to slow as the soldier took out his stick – his weapon. Slowly, ever so slowly, the soldier raised it over the man's head, as if relishing this punishment. Before him, the man cowered, powerless and weak. On top of his head the baton swung-
"-Hey Daisy, how've you been?" Nick exclaimed cheerily, breaking the silence.
Behind her, the door of the bedroom cracked open, and from the entrance Nick emerged with a tray of canned food, catching Chell's full attention. "I brought lunch."
As quickly as Chell looked away, momentarily distracted, she turned back to the window, searching for the soldier and the young man in blue denim.
On the ground, on the plain, flat road of concrete – everything was at peace. In the place of the man, and the soldier, there was nothing. Only the few floating machines that still lingered around the area gave any clue of what had truly happened just several minutes ago.
The man and the soldier had disappeared, as if they were both just characters from a bad dream- a figment of her imagination.
Again, Chell looked away from the window, returning Nick's reassuring grin with a small, shaky smile of her own. What had happened there, she decided, would be forgotten.
But quietly, subtly, a small seed of doubt had begun to spread in her brain.
And try as she could, she could never seem to shake it out.
'…All I know is I'm the only the thing standing between us and them.'
'-At least, I was.'
-When the soldier swung his baton down on the cowering, defenseless man's head, Chell thought she had heard a small, quiet, crack.
"Help me out here, okay?"
Nick said, standing by the wall with folded arms as he stood close to the bed (at least as close as he could without Chell growling defensively at him) and gazed on at the mysterious woman.
On the bed, Chell nodded, another gag rising up her throat as she choked down on her rather unfortunate first meal; a can of borderline-old beans.
"I need to ask some questions – just a little bit – for security measures of course. You need to answer these if you wanna stay."
Swallowing down her food as quickly as she could, Chell glanced at him once, then shrugged, the only indication she was listening.
By the desk on another side of the room near the door, Steve sat quietly, observing the whole ordeal with his usual, passive silence.
"First of all," Nick started, "I need to know where you come from."
Anticipating that question, Chell jabbed a finger to her chest, pointing to the round, light blue logo of the mad science corporation she knew all too well.
"…Aperture…Laboratories?" Nick squinted, slowly reciting the words. "…Can't say I ever heard about them before."
"Hey Steve!" Nick exclaimed, grabbing his colleague's attention. "You were a scientist before, right? Ever heard of an 'Aperture Laboratories'?"
"…The name rings a bell." Steve replied quietly. "That can't be right, though."
"Aperture Science disappeared – and no one's come in, or out from it since…since several months before the downfall."
For a moment, silence engulfed the room, Nick scrunching his face to an odd expression as he glanced once at Chell, then at Nick.
"That's not possible." He muttered quietly.
From one man to the next, Chell looked around, awkwardly setting her finished can of beans to the side. Questioningly, she looked up at the two, wondering why they had gone so quiet all of a sudden. Exactly what wasn't possible?
Eyeing Chell in his usual, observant, uncanny manner, Steve replied to Nick.
"I agree. That isn't possible." Steve paused. "It's been so long…"
"…But there have been exceptions."
As Nick sighed and looked down, scratching his neck and muttering words inaudible to even Chell's perked ears, Steve looked away from the girl, casting his attention to the empty, wooden floor.
"…Look, Daisy, I know you don't know what we are." Nick looked up again as he trained his eyes on Chell. "That's pretty obvious, from the way you behave."
"But are you sure you haven't come from another 'City'? A different settlement – or just another place without the Civil Protection? Is that even possible?"
Chell tilted her head in reply, not really sure what to make of his question. Slowly, she shook her head.
This is the first city I'd ever stepped foot in.
"So you really don't know anything?" Nick pushed, stepping one foot closer to the bed she was on. "You really don't know what happened? What's happening right now?"
Again, Chell quietly shook her head.
I have no idea.
For a long minute, Nick stared at her, weighing his options. In front of him, Chell sat on the bed, looking down uncomfortably as she idly tapped her fingers on her lap. On one option, there was punishment. On the other, there was death. For a second, he hesitated. Though he knew, it wasn't like death mattered much to him anymore.
He had made his decision.
But before his thoughts could reach the exit of his mouth, before he could even begin to voice his proposal, Steve stopped him short, cutting him off with his calm, quiet voice.
"Nick, I have to talk to you."
~oOo~
"I don't like where this is going." Steve murmured the moment he shut the door.
Outside the room, the two excused themselves to the hallway, just far enough to get away from the girl's direct field of hearing. Luckily it was still around 3 pm, a little too late for the others resting to go out to lunch, and still too early for the guys working to get back to their dorms. In the long, bland, quiet hallway, they were alone.
"…And what do you think you know, smartass?" Nick snarled. Once he'd gotten out of her sight, there was no need for him to hide his usual behavior.
"Nick, I know what you're trying to do." Steve said quietly. "But this is something you can't do. It's unacceptable by any terms, even for you."
"This goes against all protocol, everything we've ever learnt to live by under the Combine's rule." He paused, averting his eyes nervously away from the larger man. "…You can't get away with something like this, Nick. Even if you get away with it now, something bad is bound to happen later. We'll all get punished if the upper classes find out about this."
"Get to the point." Nick snapped impatiently.
"I know you're trying to keep her here, Nick." Steve forced himself to look back up. "I know you're trying to protect her."
"But you can't do that, Nick. You know you can't." He said quietly. "We're supposed to kill the outsiders – the people who don't belong – remember? We're not supposed to find them of our own accord, much less hide them from the Combine."
"What you want to do is going to bring us down, and drag her along with it. You know this world, you know the Combine. But she doesn't. She doesn't know what's happening. Hell, she might not even live past the first week, even if this pulls through. You're not doing anyone – not even her – a favour by saving the girl now." His point made, Steve let his eyes focus back down on the ground.
In the shade of the dull concrete walls, he didn't see Nick's face flash red in fury.
"…Fuck off." He growled at the man.
"I know what you're thinking, Nick." Steve's voice wavered, scared but determined to make his point. "I saw her too. I know. She looks exactly like her."
"But she isn't her, Nick." He paused. "…She's been dead for a long time now."
The brief moment that passed between them seemed to spread on for hours, an eternity without end. When Steve finally noticed Nick's clenched hand, it was all too late for him to react. Swiftly, painfully, Nick's fist collided with Steve's chin.
Crunch.
The man wobbled back and fell, the powerful blow resonating throughout his skull. A soft wheeze escaped his lungs, and with a small cough, he could taste the blood running in his mouth. Over him Nick stood tall, his fists still clenched tightly and his face ridden with anger. On the hard, bare floorboards, Steve laid defenseless.
"Don't you dare say that again." He hissed.
"If I wasn't there those twenty years ago, in that damned underground facility of your precious fucking company, you would've died. I saved your ass, and I deserve some respect for it! Where would you've been, if I hadn't been deployed there, huh? Well, not talking about doing anybody a goddamned 'favour', that's for sure."
Steve looked up at the man, still stunned by the blow.
Slowly, a dull, heavy feeling of dread filled his brain. Nick was angry. He knew that much- he was the one who reminded him about her, anyway.
He shouldn't have done that.
He definitely shouldn't have done that.
On the ground, Steve pitifully shut his eyes and prayed- an instinctive reflex he had picked up from being around him. Steve knew that Nick didn't act rationally toward anger. He, of all people, knew the full weight of Nick's wrath.
When Nick stooped down to get on Steve's level, he braced himself, preparing for the worst. To his surprise, soft words greeted him instead of another dull blow.
"…She does have a chance."
"If she didn't, she couldn't have survived the outside of the City, not even for a day. If I'd thought that you couldn't stand a chance that day, I would've left you to die underground. I know that look in her eyes. That spark. She can still be saved. But if I don't reach her now, no one will. At least, not until the Combine realize they have an unrecorded, unauthorized human in their list, and get rid of her." He said quietly. "At least, I can give her a chance to fight for her survival. And don't worry, I'll handle what's above you. If any punishments do come out of this, I'll be the one to take it, not you." Nick crouched before him, his thin, humourless grin hanging unnaturally on his face.
"Trust me, this is my second time. I know what I'm doing." He said, holding his hand out to the other man.
Hesitantly, Steve took it, letting Nick help him get back on his feet.
Not a word of thanks, or apology was shared between the two. Shaken and ashamed of himself, Steve decided not to push any further. If he wanted to go through with it that badly, then let him, he thought.
Walking away from the scene as he nursed his jaw, Steve quietly shook his head. No punishments could be worse than Nick himself.
When Nick re-entered the bedroom, he came back alone.
~oOo~
In the bedroom, Chell still sat on the bed, reacting with confusion as she heard the odd sound from beyond the door.
A small, silent crack.
That doesn't sound too good. Chell gulped, hugging her knees.
What started out from shock and confusion turned into a foreboding, dark feeling of doubt as she realized where she had last heard the sound. A sound so small she'd thought it was in her head, by the window looking out to the grey world of the concrete surface. The sound of something solid hitting flesh. Hitting it hard.
-When the soldier swung his baton down on the cowering, defenseless man's head, Chell thought she had heard a small, quiet, crack.
That suffocating feeling of doubt didn't become any better as Nick returned to the room – alone.
For a second, Chell weighed down her options. Either trust her instincts, damn society, damn civilization, City 26, all of it and run away right now, or wait and listen to what the man had to say.
"Sorry for the wait." Nick said as he settled on the chair by the desk.
Well, I guess it's the latter, then. Chell shrugged in reply.
"We were just…talking, Steve and I." Nick fumbled slightly.
Chell raised an eyebrow. That was one long conversation.
"Of course it's nothing to worry about, though." Nick reassured her, catching Chell's suspicious glare. "We just had to get to the same conclusion."
"You see," Nick started. "For City 26 it's not a relatively…'safe', time right now."
"It's been hard as of late, to assure one's own safety. Especially after City 17's – one of our biggest cities – downfall." Nick paused, choosing his words carefully. "All cities are on complete lockdown. Because of this, 'battle', going on, people can't freely go across cities right now. We don't know who our friends or enemies are, enough to allow new strangers to enter the city walls. If they are found, they're killed. Outsider's aren't exactly – 'welcome' so to speak."
"…But from what it seems, you don't even come from an authorized City. If I was anyone else, you would've been dead – killed by now."
Chell shot her head up in shock. She didn't like where this was going.
"But," Nick added. "There are ways to evade this punishment."
"Become a member of the Civil Protection." Nick said quietly. "I can make you one of us."
"As of now, Civil protection and other members of the Overwatch are the only 'people' authorized to move freely through cities. They're spared from the screening process, and don't need a strict I.D. to reside in any city. You don't need a face, or a name to be a part of us." Nick paused. "But once you're registered, there's no going back."
"…I'll admit, there's the illusion of free choice." Nick said as he looked Chell squarely in the eyes. "You can run, and be killed straight away, or you can stick with us, and stay safe – for the mean time."
"I'm sorry, Daisy, but there is no in-between. Either way, your life will still be in danger."
"But here, with us, I can at least give you a fighting chance."
"Join us. Join the Civil Protection."
Chell blinked, her mind swimming in a thousand thoughts.
In one part of her brain, she recalled the view from her window, the quiet, oppressed way the people in blue denim acted, and the frightening, threatening batons of the soldiers. If she ran out now, she would be dead. She would be killed. And she knew, as her instincts told her; that the men in odd masks were fully capable of doing just that.
And yet, he was asking her to be one of them. He was asking her to go on his side – to hurt others, so she could live. But as much as she cared for her survival, as hard as she tried to convince herself of the right path, something still stuck. She couldn't say yes.
Quietly, a familiar voice spoke up in her head.
You have nothing to lose.
And she didn't.
However much she thought about it, there was nothing bad about accepting his proposal. No demerits, no immediate faults. Even if it meant the loss of others, her safety would still be assured.
But it doesn't feel right. Another part of her argued.
Oh. The voice curtly said. And since when were you ever moral? Since when did you ever care to preserve one's life over your own?
She couldn't reply.
As silence deigned in her head, and as the same, muted, suffocating silence spread out in reality, Nick held his hand out to Chell.
"Trust me." He said reassuringly. "I only want to help you."
And quietly, Chell took it.
I accept.
-There was nothing worse than death.