Chell grunted as she pushed open a heavy leaden door, crossing her fingers that no turrets were lying in wait on the other side. She glanced through the opening to see a long glass corridor leading to what was clearly the epicenter of the enrichment center. She stopped and gazed in wonder at the feat of engineering... outside the glass corridor she could see no end in sight. It was some kind of huge empty cavern, a network of giant metal spheres and connecting pathways every which way. The entire structure looked like a cluster of neurons connecting to the brain, where she was headed.

That's where the people will be. Where I can get some answers and find my father. She strode down the glass hall with purpose, fearlessly walking over the bottomless pit below.

She took a deep breath as she stood in front of the door leading into the brain center. This was it... it was do or die. Or quite possibly both. She readied her portal gun and put on a confident face. It wasn't as if she had anything to lose.

She kicked open the door and wasn't quite mentally prepared for what lay before her...

A huge octagonal room took up the entire epicenter structure. It was dark, a moody light emanating from various screens centered around the room. A single woman sat high near the ceiling on some mechanical throne that vaulted up from the floor. Her golden eyes flicked to Chell, sizing her up. Holographic screens turned off at the flick of her wrist and she leaned forward in her chair casually, her eyes never leaving Chell's.

"Well, you found me... congratulations. Was it worth it?" It was the woman who had been antagonizing Chell all day. Her voice sounded less robotic in person and much more dangerous. Chell stood her ground and took in the details of the room, warily watching the intimidating woman above.

There was no one else here... how could that be? Where in the world was everyone else?

She looked into the woman's eyes questioningly.

"I must say, that was quite the daring escape from the incinerator room. Well done," the woman clapped her hands slowly toward Chell. "Unfortunately, that is not part of the testing protocol and I am going to have to enact some security measures. You understand." She flicked her wrist at her holographic display, the room lighting changing to a menacing red.

This was bad. Chell had expected some scientists in here... someone to talk sense to. But all she had was this woman. This insane woman who was going to kill her. Well Chell wasn't going to take that lying down. She had gotten this far.

"I just thought I'd let you know before you die that your death is in vain and you have made no new contributions to science. All you've managed to do is ruin my day," the woman told her smoothly.

Ruin your day?

A mechanical arm similar to the rocket sentry outside the room appeared through the floor and took aim at Chell. Again...

Chell had an idea similar to the method she had used to evade the rocket sentry before. She shot a portal at the wall, silently thanking the universe that the walls were portal friendly, and shot one high in the air on the same wall. This was going to work and she was going to get out of this place, one way or another.

The rocket sentry targeted Chell and fired as she stood in front of the glowing blue portal on the wall. She dodged last second and the missile launched through the blue portal and came out high on the wall through the orange one. A direct hit onto the woman above. Chell looked away at the blast, unable to stomach whatever the aftermath would be.

Instead, she heard low, creepy chuckling.

"That was a good idea... I applaud your innovation, subject 9992056," the woman sat high in her mechanical throne, not a scratch on her. She tapped the air, her fingers bouncing off a light blue field. "Did you really think I would let you wander in here, free to launch whatever distasteful thing you felt like launching at me? I'm untouchable. I can't say the same for you, though."

Another missile launched at Chell and she almost forgot to dodge. Her mind went blank as she searched for ideas.

"As much as I'd love to sit around and watch you flail around pathetically all day, I have important business to attend to and I would like to speed things up. So get comfortable while I warm up the neurotoxin emitters." A green light flashed on the ceiling and Chell heard the unmistakeable hissing noise of gas entering the room.

The woman smiled down at her, "If you want my advice, you should just lie down in front of a rocket. Trust me, it'll be a lot less painful than the neurotoxin."

The smell hit her immediately

Neurotoxin...


And Chell was running...

She was running down a darkened hallway, lights flashing in alarm. Confusion and people panicking.

Her dad gripped her arm tightly as they ran together, covering their mouths with their shirts, desperate to keep the gas out of their lungs. He pulled her into a large white room full of... pods? Chell looked around in alarm, taking in the sight of the cryogenic refrigeration pods. Each one held a person.

'Dad... what is this?' she signed ferociously at him.

He worked furiously at a keyboard, entering commands. One pod slid out, empty of any occupants. He looked up at her, "I know how this looks, but this pod is going to keep you safe, Chell. Get in. Now." He gestured at it, panic lining his voice.

'But dad.' Her hands were a blur, communicating with him.

"No. Get in! This neurotoxin kills in minutes. You need to get in... Someone will come get you when the crisis is over."

She compliantly laid in the pod, looking nervously at all the inactive humans stationed in identical prisons around the room. 'What about you? These pods are all full.'

He looked sad, "I have a backup plan. But your safety is my first priority. I'm so sorry you had to be here for this... my baby." That wasn't good... he never called her that anymore... Chell knew he didn't have a backup plan. It was a thinly veiled lie.

He coughed loudly, "I have to activate it now. I love you, sweetheart. Okay?" He kissed her forehead and before she could react, the pod's lid was shut and she was trapped inside.

She banged on it as he stood above and watched her until she fell asleep. No! Dad!
And then... and then there was nothing.


She was here.

Chell's senses kicked into overdrive as her memories came rushing back. The odor of the noxious gas had restarted her brain... and she wished that it hadn't. She barely dodged an incoming missile as her mind was preoccupied with horrific thoughts. Her face contorted with sudden grief... realizing where all the people had gone.

They hadn't gone anywhere. No where at all. Six years in stasis and the rest were gone. Her father was dead. And it was this woman's fault.

She looked up, her face a picture of anger, betrayal, grief... her eyes bored into the woman above.

The woman smirked at Chell maddeningly. "What...? Don't tell me you're afraid now? After all this time?" She was drinking up Chell's sudden display of emotion, even though it was brief.

Chell set her face back into the perfect mask, unwilling to break. To give up. Her dad had given his life for her and she wasn't going to waste it now.

I love you too, daddy.

Chell shot two more portals at the walls. This time in slightly different configurations. She couldn't hit the woman directly, as she was shielded by some kind of force field. But everything else in the room was fair game.

A missile launched through a blue portal, careened through an orange one, and slammed into the bundle of wires and tech Chell didn't understand at the base of the woman's chair.

The woman grabbed her seat tightly as she was rocked violently at the explosion. Chell smirked... it was going to work this time. She'd make it work.

"That's it... I'm done with you. From now on there's going to be a lot less conversation and a lot more death. Yours of course," the woman looked a little less pleased with herself, trying to appear calm and collected.

Chell aimed at a different location, blowing up two large monitors on the ceiling. Glass and sparks rained down from above. The woman was getting more irritated, "Really, now. That's not very sports-man-like of you. That's precious Aperture Science technology you are carelessly destroying. It doesn't belong to you... and it costs much more than your life is worth."

Chell ignored her and another missile launched, this time hitting some vital-looking apparatus above the woman's head.

The woman's demeanor changed completely, her eyes growing wide with a look of terror. She caught it quickly and covered it with a fake laugh. "You think you're doing some damage?" Another missile hit, almost knocking the woman from her self-imposed throne. She let out an unexpected cry of pain and clutched her head, surprising Chell slightly. Was this woman somehow connected to the mainframe...? Chell noticed clearly now that the woman had some kind of mechanical implant attached to her head. That would make things much easier. She would test out that theory some more.

The woman seemed to lose more of her nerve, her long white hair in disorder, covering parts of her face and draping over her throne like wires. Her face contorted with rage and helplessness. "Stop that, right now. The difference between us is that I can feel pain. You don't even care, do you?"

Nope.

Another direct hit and the woman clutched her chair for dear life as it swung out, wires becoming detached. An electrical fire started above her. "Two plus two equals... four! In base TEN! I'm FINE!" She laughed maniacally. "You know... there was even going to be a party for you. With cake and everything. I invited your best friend Companion Cube, but unfortunately he couldn't make it because you MURDERED him."

The woman was clearly losing it. Or had lost it long ago... Chell didn't really care. She just needed Her gone so Chell could escape this wretched place.

The woman was still talking, desperately trying to restore power to the failing machinery around her. "All of your other friends couldn't come either because you don't have any other friends because of how unlikeable you are!"

She flicked open a glitching hologram and Chell could see a small profile of her own face. "It says so right here on your personnel file: Unlikeable, liked by no one. A bitter, unlikable loner whose passing shall not be mourned. That's what it says. Very formal. Very official."

Chell ducked as a missile flew over her head and connected with an important looking panel on the ceiling. The woman jumped down from her nook in the air, which burst into flames, and landed on her feet in front of Chell. Her face was emotionless, but she was seething with unseen rage.

The woman was short and incredibly pale, catching Chell by surprise. She had looked so intimidating from above, goading Chell. Not that she still wasn't intimidating... Her eyes were sharp and full of belligerance; inhuman. Her outfit was stark white to match her hair that fell straight down to her calves. Chell briefly wondered how that much hair hadn't been tangled in all the wiring above, or how the girl hadn't managed to step on it when she had jumped down. Chell also realized that the woman was younger than she had first thought, her face was girlish, contrasting sharply with her personality. It angered Chell that such a terrible little thing could do so much damage... could take away so many lives.

The girl coughed exaggeratingly. "Neurotoxin..." she coughed again, "So deadly..." Cough. Then she laughed and kicked Chell lightning-quick in the stomach, sending her to the floor in a coughing fit. The gas was getting thick... Chell had almost forgotten. She didn't have much time left at all.

"I'm kidding!" the girl threw her arms wide open, grinning with a wicked gleam, "When I said deadly, I was talking in massive sarcasm quotes. I'm impervious to the stuff of course. I had to be sure of it before I took such drastic measures..." It was clear she wasn't referring to the present moment. Chell gritted her teeth.

The girl's face went slack, her hair draping across half her face and she looked Chell seriously in the eye, "You, on the other hand, are going to find it's deadliness a lot less funny." Chell tried to get up and collapsed into another coughing fit. Her body was getting sluggish. "You should just do yourself a favor and lie down in front of the rocket. It'll be a lot less painful."

The girl turned away from Chell, done with her, "Goodbye."

Yes, this was goodbye. Chell shot one last portal, carefully aiming at the final component of the exposed mainframe. If Chell was going to go out, it was going to be with a bang.

As one last missile flew straight at her she dropped her body flat, letting it sail over her head through the portal behind her. It connected with the mainframe, cultivating in massive electrical fireworks and explosive bangs above their heads.

The girl fell to her knees, unseen pulses delivered into her system through the strange implant on her face. She screamed in shock and clutched her head as the room around them erupted into madness and concussive explosions.

This is it... it was really not a pleasure.

One last conscious thought entered Chell's mind as she was passing out.

She never even knew the girl's name.


Alrighty, we've just hit the end of Portal 1... time to move on to more exciting things... ;)