Wow, sorry for the very brief last chapter. It was a bit of a filler chapter, and I wanted to squeeze another chapter in before I went on holiday (I'm back now), so it ended up a bit short. This one's a fair bit longer, as will the others be, so all is good. Anyway, you might describe this as the crux of the story, so thanks for being with me, if all goes to plan it may be over in a few chapters time!

OLoMII

Chell was not happy. She had returned to her cell, and quickly ensured the Companion Cube was safe, along with her Portal Gun. The Companion Cube must have sensed her anxiety, for it seemed very glad to see her back safe. Chell was now deep in thought. Perhaps the sign she had seen on the door had been innocent, not anything to do with her. However, the fact that the door was locked and the area (she assumed it was the area she had been allowed to wander) was secure. She had been specifically told that she was allowed anywhere. Her name gave her an Access All Areas sort of pass. Yet here was a direct contradiction. The Companion Cube was also suspicious.

Chell could not let it go. For hours she tried to put it out of her head. What Black Mesa were doing was good, and they'd invited her to be a part of it. Yet they were still hiding things from her. Suddenly, a thought struck her. She had the key to her cell. Supposedly, no doors were locked outside of that. Chell was going to try and put the puzzle together. There were too many pieces out of shape. This was her test, her purpose. It was time to go. Quietly, Chell unlocked her door, picked up the Portal Gun, and used it to grasp the Companion Cube.

Moving out, Chell looked around her door. The corridor was deserted. The whole place was, probably – the scientists having gone back to their homes, rooms or wherever they slept. Still, Chell was cautious. Moving out into the room just beyond the corridor, she froze. There was indeed security. A man in black sat in a chair, facing away from her. What was he guarding? Surely there was nothing of intense value here? Perhaps it was just part of Black Mesa's rigorous security. They were of course, a huge company, supported by the government. They couldn't risk losing their secrets. With a sense of dread, suddenly Chell knew that there was only one thing in this Facility that could never get out.

Her.

The Companion Cube seemed to stir. It recognised danger, probably. Chell decided she would take no chances. The number of times Chell had needed to throw similar cubes through the air onto buttons many times during her Aperture testing. Silently, Chell swung the Portal Gun and released its hold on the Cube; which flew dejectedly through the air, and struck the man directly on the head. The Companion Cube was a fairly heavy object – Chell herself couldn't comfortably carry it, she needed the Portal Gun. Therefore, with a grunt, the man slid off of his chair onto the floor. Without bothering to move the man, Chell collected the Cube and moved on.

Chell encountered nobody else after the initial security man. The place was, as far as she could tell, deserted. Then again, she took what she knew to be the most direct route to the door, and made no attempt to root out any further resistance.

She was no stood outside the door. Or inside, depending on your perspective, and Chell definitely felt like she was trapped on the inside. However, Chell had no way through the door. Perhaps there were other ways into the area beyond, but Chell didn't know where they were and was not prepared to try and find them. She looked around her for anything that could help her get through the door – and found it in her own hand. The door was solid and wooden – she would never be able to get through it with her bare hands. Wood would never be a match for hard metal, and she had the Companion Cube: it would be of use again. Chell paused. She had no idea what she would find on the other side of the door. Perhaps the people, if there were any, would be hostile. Perhaps the area was infected with asbestos, as outside. Perhaps she was in a large complex, of which only a small part belonged down Black Mesa, and was a branch researching whatever an OLoMII was. No, that couldn't be right. Black Mesa would never run the risk of sharing a building with other businesses.

However much she disliked the name, she was Chell Johnson. Her mother Caroline was clearly high up within Black Mesa now, so surely everybody would know about her arrival. Yes, she would be safe enough. Chell didn't really believe this, but it was enough to convince her to go through the door. Raising the Portal Gun again, Chell began to batter at the door using the Companion Cube. The corner of the Companion Cube scratched, dented, splintered, and finally smashed through the door. She continued to work at the door, regardless of the noise she was making, until she had a hold she could fit through.

Moving through, Chell stopped and examined the Companion Cube. The corner she had been using to break the door was twisted and dented. It was a sorry site. She sent apologetic thoughts towards the Cube, but received nothing in return. She was sure it would understand, in time. She looked up, the walls were painted white, but more importantly, they were smooth. They would accept the Portal Gun. Chell wasted no time – she was in an area she wasn't sure she was authorised to be in, and portals were the best thing she had going for her. She fired at the wall at the very end of the corridor. Sure enough, a shifting blue portal opened, leading to nowhere. Chell opened an orange portal next to her, then stepped through –

Right into the face of a Black Mesa security guard. For a second, they both froze in shock. Chell recovered first. She pushed the security guard away, and instantly opened a blue portal beneath his feet. She saw him fall down through the now open space, and heard the thump at the other end of the corridor. Chell began to sprint away, oblivious to the fact she was leaving the Companion Cube behind her. Rounding a corner, she sped through an open door and through an empty room. Faintly, she heard a voice behind her – it was the guard, talking into some communication device! Panic spread through her. She was clearly going nowhere, and now an unknown number of armed guards would be after her. She still didn't even know whether she was allowed here or not, but she had just assaulted a Black Mesa employee. She was not in the good books.

Chell kept moving, until she came to a room filled around all four walls with screens. All of the screens were on and showing empty rooms. They were obviously security cameras, but they were showing places she recognised. On the screens around her was the entirety of the area she had come from. It must be live, as she could see the guard she had knocked out still lying on the floor. Whatever the OLoMII project was, it was all recorded on cameras, it would seem.

Suddenly, a familiar feeling came upon Chell. She felt warm and comfortable, as if nothing mattered. Sluggishly, she turned to see the guard she had tried to apprehend, pistol still pointing at her. Then she collapsed.

When Chell woke, she was still in the television room. She was sat on a comfortable chair, facing the screens on the largest wall. The scene she saw was very different from what she expected. All of the people she had seen in the last few days – the scientists, the cleaners and the overseers – all working to remove much of the equipment. Computers, screens, phones, everything was being removed. They were all dressed in casual clothes, not the clothes of people in the workplace.

"Surprised?"

The voice had come from next to her, and Chell's head whipped round to see a man sat in a seat next to her. He was old, surprisingly so. His eyes were grey, almost colourless, and his hair seemed to be receding and thinning. His face was wrinkled as one might expect, and he seemed out of place wearing a crisp grey suit.

"I guess I'd be surprised if I saw the Facility I've been exploring for the past days being packed away by those that work in it. Their work is done, you see, as is yours. I must say you cut it all a bit short, we expected it to last longer, but no matter."

The man gave no introduction, and jumped straight into speech. He obviously knew that Chell didn't talk, because he didn't leave spaces, or pause as if waiting for a response.

"So now the game's up, and it's time for explanations. You see, your arrival at Black Mesa was most timely, and extremely convenient. I am a scientist for Black Mesa, and we had just finished building a testing area for my latest, and last, project. You arrived just in time to help out as an innocent test subject, you see. We've nothing against you personally Chell, but you worked very well to fit right in."

The man brought a tissue from his sleeve, and gently dabbed at his nose. He looked fairly frail, and Chell wondered if he wasn't ill. Perhaps he was; he was convinced that he had just finished his final project.

"You see, when we searched the Aperture Laboratories, we found reference to a GLaDOS project to create a human intelligence based AI to run the Facility. Obviously, this suited their purpose just fine. However, we at Black Mesa are dedicated to furthering science, and secondarily beating Aperture Industries. I wondered if I could create a machine that functioned as a human being in a human body, using the mind and intelligence of somebody of our choosing. This thing would blend in perfectly, and we could give it any experiences we wished, we just need the right person's mind."

The old man began to sound excited, his voice was proud. Flecks of saliva were beginning to mottle his tie.

"Thus, I names my project OLoMII, a codename like GLaDOS. This one stands for 'Organic Lifeform on Microchip Intergrated Intelligence. We placed a few of them in the test area with you, and I'm glad to tell you that they could not distinguish themselves from the other humans, they couldn't identify each other as the same thing, or separate from the humans. The most important thing though, was that the humans couldn't distinguish them. Would you like to know who they were?"

Chell's heart was racing in anticipation of what she almost knew was to come. It had been too good to be true anyway. The old man allowed himself a very small smile.

"Of course, a few of them were just scientists with intelligence we'd taken from deceased employees. The real gem though, was the Caroline OLoMII. We modelled it on a figure we thought you could accept as your mother, and it worked perfectly. You really didn't know, did you?"

This blow was just as big – worse – than learning her mother was still alive. The fact that she had been so gullible as to accept a woman she knew to be dead as her mother was ridiculous. Still, Chell felt awful that she was dead. She had formed a bond with her.. it.

"We've shut them all down now obviously. For the record, Caroline may have been your mother. The files we showed you were genuine, and related enough to piece together the story we gave you. It may have been true, it may not. Who knows! I'm sorry dear."

Well, that really stuffed up her finding the answers. What Chell had thought she knew had just been torn away from her, along with the knowledge that she never had known Caroline. Was she her mother? Surely she must have been, as the OLoMII would have been Caroline's intelligence as it had been uploaded to GLaDOS, they must have found in the Aperture Science database; and the OLoMII had recalled facts about her adoption and the man who must have been her father. Could Black Mesa have engineered these memories into her? Could they edit the intelligence, or was it true? Chell needed the Companion Cube – she had abandoned it, she remembered. Left it to the cruelty of Black Mesa; oh the poor thing! What was happening to it?

For the second time in.. not a lot of time, Chell's world went black.

Please review this one - the OLoMII is the ultimate idea, the driving force of the story. Is it good enough for the build up? Please tell me! Thanks¬

~daT.