Underground

I sat up slowly. My head was spinning and I kept seeing Daimion cutting the rope. "Good. Your awake. You need to see this." I slowly crept towards the voice that came from Phoenix. Mimi was by her side still thoroughly terrified.  I noticed that she wouldn't look right at me. I saw my reflection in a piece of glass. I was still in Chell's body. I shifted back and heard Mimi sigh with relief. Phoenix had a grim expression on her face. I looked down and in her arms was the broken and destroyed form of Wheatley. "No." I said, "Nonononononononono, This is not happening. I'm doing this for HIM, we're going to get his body back this is NOT happening." I heard someone laugh behind me. "That's too bad." I turned to face her. "YOU." I spat. "That's not my name dear, I'm Caroline."  "I.....I know you..." I stammered, "I remember you."

Darkness.

Chell in a couch, crying on a man's shoulder. It must be Wheatley, he's wearing glasses and a suit. The door opens. The same man who got shot before walks in with Caroline and a chubby man. Caroline tells Chell something and she widens her eyes in shock. The Chubby Man slaps Wheatley, breaking his glasses. He falls onto the floor and Chell screams.

Blue.


I woke up gasping. Phoenix, Mimi, and Caroline were standing over me. I sat up, grabbed Wheatley, and thrust him in Caroline's face. "Can you fix him?" I said in the tone of voice that said, "I know you know how to fix him." "Yes." She said glaring at me.


"Do it."

Breaking stuff.

We walked down the long corridor until we found what I was looking for. An elevator. The door opened ominously. I climbed inside and beckoned the rest to follow. The doors closed and we started to travel up. Really far up. The elevators didn't usually go that far. That's when I knew I was right. The elevator opened up right next to a door. I opened it and I found what I wanted. The giant, looming robot that was the creature known as GLaDOS. "Oh! Hello dear." she didn't sound upset. Just annoyed at being bothered. "Hello." I said calmly. "Do you have something you wish to say? Because I suggest saying it now before I get even more annoyed." "I do have a question." when I got shot at, I finally realized what I could do, what SHE was terrified of. "do I look familiar?" I slowly closed my eyes. I thought of the blue that loved me, cared for me, wanted to keep me.

And I felt the change.

My skin getting tanner, my cheekbones rising, my eyes widening, and turning that same shade of blue that I saw.

She screamed.

I smiled. I didn't need to talk, even though I could in this form.

She was terrified.

And that was exactly what I wanted.

Suddenly, the doors opened behind us and I turned.

Just as Daimion walked in.

I narrowed my eyes. He wasn't part of the plan. The announcer came on "core is 100% corrupt. Core transfer imminent." "No. Not again." she whispered, terrified. He plugged himself in. It went by in a blur. He was lowered into the ground. GLaDOS was lowered into the ground. And they SWITCHED. Daimion was in control of the whole facility. And GLaDOS was left in a woman's body. She was tall, wearing a white lab coat. She had hair just like mine and yellow eyes. She screamed. Daimion laughed. He threw us into an elevator.

And cut the rope.

Scar

Bullet.

A man, approaching his late twenties maybe, a cube on his back. Rushing through a room, as a turret shoots. Then, bullet connects with his thigh and he falls.

I woke up to find I was back in the chamber. I could only see out of one eye. I sat up. Mimi, Phoenix, and Wheatley were sitting around me. "lay back down." commanded Phoenix. I did as I was told. She took some antiseptic wipes and scrubbed at my eye washing off most of the blood. I could see again, and the swelling was going down as she cleaned. Wheatley looked so frightened it was almost funny and Mimi was visibly shaking. "Done" said Phoenix as she finished. I sat up. I looked over at Wheatley and he gasped. I ran over to the pit of liquid. My reflection was hideous. My white t-shirt was more of a dusty color. My usually long, wavy dark hair was messy and in knots. My arms and legs were long but not enough to make me tall. My eyes were wide with shock, and there was a long jagged scar across my right one. I stumbled back, terrified. I ran over to the first aid kit and grabbed the scissors. I began hacking away at my hair, cutting it just below my shoulders. I took two elastic bands and put my hair up in pigtails. I took a bandage and wet it with spit. I began to wash off my face. I put everything back in the kit and turned to face my friends. "If we're going to find your body we need to go down beneath Aperture." I said to Wheatley. He looked puzzled, "How did you know that?" he asked. I stopped for a second. How DID I know? "Instinct?" I guessed. "And just how do you plan on getting us underground?" asked Mimi. I smiled dangerously, "We'll have to break some stuff." Phoenix let out a cheer. "Time to go tick off some robots!" she yelled. I laughed, this was going to be fun.

If we didn't get killed in the process.

Packing

Falling.
Memories.
A girl and a strange looking potato falling down a giant hole.
Wheatley and the girl. She's holding on to her tight. They're falling into space.


I crashed to the floor but went through the portal I placed before and ended up back on the ledge. "oww..." I said weakly. Pheonix and Mimi helped me up. "We need to pack up." said Mimi. I nodded. I grabbed Wheatley and we went through the portal. "I'm going to look around for supplies." I explained. I handed Wheatley off to Mimi, and headed out. I noticed there were a lot of computer rooms in this chamber. I turned a corner and who do I find there but Daimion. "Alice!" he said excitedly, "Where were you? I've been looking everywhere for you!" I stared at him, my gaze anything but welcoming. "Don't talk to me. Don't come near me. Don't follow me. I will not help you kill innocent people." he looked puzzled. "I think this place is getting to you Alice. Maybe you should rest a bit." He looked so concerned, so harmless, and such a bad liar. "Don't act like I'll forget anything you said!" I screamed. His eyes hardened and I felt a small amount of regret. It quickly left. "I tried to make this easy on you. But I can't anymore. You WILL help me." a turret was lowered from the ceiling. Time slowed. I fell backwards as the turret shot. A single bullet raced towards me. My eyes widened in terror. I hear the bullet whistle as it grazed my right eye. I screamed. Time sped up again as I began to lose conciseness. The last thing I heard was Daimion fleeing, as two sets of footsteps came closer and closer.

Then darkness.

Tempers Rising

I looked around for the voice. My eyes grew very large. Mimi and Pheonix noticed and stopped laughing. The voice. Calling out. "Hello?" It shouted. Then darkness. More memories not of my own. The same voice calling hello. To a girl older than me. Asking her to open the door. I snap back into reality. Mimi caught me as I fell over but my face is pale and covered in sweat. Pheonix looks concerned. "Voice." I whisper to myself. I jump up and portal myself up onto the ledge. At first I don't see anything. Then, in the corner, I see the familiar gray sphere. I run over and pick him up. "Oh I thought you would NEVER find me. I was crushed again, I know you thought I was a goner but-" I cut him off; "You didn't tell me." for the first time he is speechless. He stares at me. I stare back. Then I noticed for the first time, the long scar across his eye. He was sad. He didn't know it was me. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little confused." he looks ashamed. "I thought I could help they said If I could be placed into a core I would help. They took you away from us. Me. Chell. We didn't know what they would do. Then one day I walked into my office and saw forms on my coworker's desk. It had your name. Then apparently not only did they erase all memories of us, they noticed that you had a kind of shock mechanism. When you experience pure terror for the first time, for the rest of your life you would be able to see other peoples memories if you felt or smelled or heard something connected to somebody else. They thought they could use that to help them but despite their efforts, they couldn't put you in shock. Then GLaDOS. You were put into stasis so you wouldn't be hurt. I didn't know. I didn't know it was you..." I cuddled the gray sphere. "I forgive you. You thought is was best. You made a mistake." I was crying at this point. "I forgive you." I heard someone clear their throat behind me I turned around to see Mimi and Pheonix standing behind us. I picked my self off of the ground. I put Wheatley right in front of my face. "Your body is in here somewhere. " I said. "We are going to find it. And we are going to escape. But before that..." I put him down and walked over to the wall. "Be careful!" yelled Mimi. I was close to the edge. I punched the wall and it gave way a little. "Who's ready to go kick some robot bu-"

Darkness.

After the events

Red. That was the only thing going through my mind; glowing, murderous red. I could barely breathe. I heard the whir of a mechanical arm, and memories that weren't mine flooded into my head. A man and a woman laughing on a beach close to what looked like a house. A little girl in a white hallway as a man walks by. He yells at her and she runs away. He looks heartbroken and full of regret. And then the events of the day. That THING staring into my eyes, asking me for help, telling me who I am. But all the while sad. And I thought I could trust him... Then blue. A safe, welcoming blue. And a voice. A voice calling my name. I sit up. Pheonix is crouched next to me with Mimi. "Wheatley" I whisper hoarsely. "We know, we know, it's all right." Mimi says softly. "We'll find him." soothed Pheonix. I sat up on my knees and grabbed her shoulders, "But what if we don't???" "We will. I promise." she reassured me, "By the way, nice name. Alice Chell Jones." I smiled, "It has a nice ring to it."

Suddenly, GLaDOS came on the speaker. "APERATURE SCIENCE HAS BEEN INFORMED THAT TEST SUBJECT #008 HAS NOT BEEN GIVEN AN APERATURE SCIENCE HANDHELD PORTAL DEVICE. AN APERATURE HANDHELD PORTAL DEVICE WILL BE GIVEN IN 3...2...1." A portal gun fell from the ceiling right into Pheonix's hands. "No. Way." she breathed. She stuck her hand in the end and shot the two portals. Then, she pressed the third button. I screeched as I was lifted up into the air. Pheonix started laughing. She swung around and I was pulled to face in front of her. I screeched again and that made her laugh so hard she fell over and dropped me. Mimi and Pheonix were laughing as I tried my best to look upset, when I heard a very familiar voice coming from a ledge up above us. I looked at them to see if they'd heard it too. It didn't seem like they did but I KNEW I heard that voice.

From bad to worse

I haven't wanted to write down the events of these past few days. But I need to now. It was going great. Pheonix, Mimi, Wheatley and I just the four of us. But Wheatley kept looking a bit restless, so I asked him what was wrong. "We shouldn't have stayed here for this long. We need to do something." So we started to move. We came to a large walkway that was dimly lit. That was strange because everywhere else had a lot of light. Still we kept walking until we came to a door. We opened it and what do we find when we get in there but Daimion! I ran up to him and tried to hug him but he looked a little sheepish so I stepped away. "Where were you?" I asked. "I was," he paused "...busy." He was suddenly lifted from the ground and four mechanical arms came around and picked us up. I heard Wheatley in the background, "Not again!", as he was crushed by the arm and tossed to the side. The arm pushed me right in front of Daimion. His eyes shone red, and that was when I could tell that he wasn't entirely human. "They did this to me. Scientists." he spat out the word like it was a curse. "But you can help me Alice." he said staring straight at me. "We can destroy humans who want to hurt people like us." "What do you mean?" it was meant to sound menacing but It came out as a whisper. "It's all right here in your file. Daughter of Chell Caroline Rattman and Wheatley Ryan Jones. That metal ball over there is your father. So they probably did tests on you too." "Your basing this all on a guess???" I screamed. "No. They really are your parents. I'm just not sure if they did tests on you too. But I'm willing to find out." He threw the three of us over at Wheatley. "What are you going to to to us?" yelled Pheonix. "Well, It's time to get back to testing. Then the floor opened us beneath us and we were dropped where we are now. In another test chamber.

Mimi Found!

As Wheatley and I were walking around we heard voices coming from a computer room. As we turned the corner we saw Mimi and a red-haired girl sleeping on the sitting and chatting on the floor. "Mimi!" I yelled running towards her. When I came through I tripped on the doorframe and fell dropping the portal gun and by extension Wheatley. The red- haired girl chuckled a bit as Mimi helped me pick up the gun. Wheatley had fallen off and was complaining face-first on the floor, "Somebody pick me up! " I grabbed him up off the floor and sat down next to Mimi and the red-haired girl with Wheatley in my lap. "Hello." I said to the Red-Haired girl. She giggled, "Your voice sounds funny!" she laughed some more. Wheatley turned towards me "It does?" the girl laughed harder."His does too!" I didn't think about it before but my voice did sound a bit different from her and Mimi's. It was like Wheatley's voice, only less flourished. And it did sound a little funny. We all started laughing and we laughed and laughed until we were out of breath, which probably wasn't good considering I don't know how much air we have down here. We're together. Now all we have to do is find the little idiot boy.

Wheatley's Story

Continuing on with yesterday, "Instead of dying, I tried to put matters into my own hands and wake up someone at random to escape. I picked Chell and instead of escaping, I woke up HER. We tried to escape again by putting me in HER body, but then I just ended up putting HER in a potato and making them test. I tried to kill her....Chell...... And I regret every minute of it." he looks up at me, "Chell put a portal on the moon and shot me into space." "Oh." I didn't know what else to say. Hearing a story like that what CAN you say? "She sounds like she was nice. Why did you try to kill her then?" "I don't know. It was something in HER body that made us want to test and kill. I'm not that smart so I wouldn't know. I'm just a stupid little moron." "Who told you that?" I asked ready to punch someone in the face. "GLaDOS and Chell." "Oh."

Trying to think. Without portals.

Wheatley is trying to set things back the way they were. I don't think things can ever be the same as they were. Not now that I know what he did. I had finally had enough today. "Wheatley I am sick and tired of you trying to apologize. Let's sit down, and have you tell me your story." We found a small room, sat down, and he began. "When I was a human I often saw her walking around and exploring the facility. She always wandered about and often stopped by for a chat. She was funny and she smiled at my jokes. We both had a lot of fun. But then.... The Caroline incident. My boss's wife Caroline's personality was put into a computer. The Genetic Life-form and Disc Operating System, or GLaDOS. She tried to kill us, all of us! Every single person in Aperture Laboratories was killed! But, soon after they pulled the plug the first time, before she could kill them, they put my personality into a core, specially designed to make terrible decisions. I was attached to HER, and did nothing at all. I was deemed defective and was supposed to die. Right before everyone else was killed."

I'll continue tomorrow.

Testing Once More.

I still have to test. I mostly ignore Wheatley's apologies. Apologies meant for somebody else. Actually, I've been thinking about one the thing that happened when I returned to the testing track. Here's how it went: I walked in to the next chamber to find that it looked pretty easy. So I started doing the test and suddenly GLaDOS screams over the speaker. "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?" she yells "What, Him? Why?" I stretch him out towards the ceiling. "WE THEW YOU INTO SPACE! HOW DID YOU GET OUT?????" He chuckles,"Let's just say a meteorite to the eye hurts a LOT." "Listen. Girl." she speaks to me "A word of advice: do NOT take him with you. He is a monstrous, British , little core who is going to hurt you. THAT is a fact. Ask the last person here. He tried to kill her!" I am shocked, but can still say, "That might be helpful if I knew who that person was! Who in the world is Chell?" My last word echo's around the room in the silence that follows. It is few minutes until GLaDOS says in a soft voice, "A girl you can both fear and love at the same time."


That's all for today.

Cameras

They're everywhere. And there starting to drive me batty. Yesterday we had to leave because we had a camera fixed on us. Not that it mattered. She already knows. I wonder if SHE knows who Wheatley Is. I asked him who Chell was before and all he did was sigh and say "She was a very special girl..." We did have a conversation the other day that was a little strange "Every turret, every core, every single thing that can speak in this facility was once a human. Even me!" he said "Was Chell a robot too?" I asked. "No." he replied, "She was a human." He always talks about her like he regrets ever meeting her! Like he's done something to her... I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Chatting on a Stroll

Wheatley has been a good companion. He seems to know his way around the facility. You know, I didn't think about it before, but how did he know my middle name? Of course, it's not my REAL middle name. I think. It kind of just popped into my head when I saw some picture on a wall. Of a girl I think. I'll ask him who this "Chell" character is later. Right know he's telling me we have to go.

Going ons...

Did I mention how much I hate boys? That little idiot has run off AGAIN. I'll tell you how this has gone. He swore he saw Mimi with another girl so of COURSE he has to run off and find her... When I can't see him anymore I hear screaming. I run in the direction of the noise until I see one of the biggest rooms I've seen here. And smack dab in the middle of the room.
Is a metallic ball rolling around on the floor. It takes me a minute to realize THAT was the screaming I heard. "hello" I say in a soft voice. It stops rolling. " um. Do you mind picking me up?" said the ball in a British accent. "I'm a bit stuck." I let out a little giggle at watching the little guy flail about , and then walk over to the door and pick him up. "who are you?" I ask him. " if I remember correctly my name is Wheatly. Yes, Wheatly Jones at your service Ma'm!" I laugh, " I'm Alice. Can you tell me why you were on the ground there?" he looks slightly uncomfortable at this question. "Umm, I fell." he says sheepishly. "How far?"
"REALLY far." I laugh, "Okay Wheatly, do you think you can help me find my friends?" "Ohhhhhhhhh!" he says with a laugh, "How long have YOU been here! SHE probably separated you on purpose. Doesn't want anyone escaping you know.... Not like last time ... Ahhhh the good old days... I know a lot of things about HER. And the last person that was here? She probably had some brain damage. So sad. You know...." he looks a little closer, " You DO look a bit like her... Chell... " another pause "Well are we going to find your friends?" "Lets go!"
And so off we went on the search for Mimi, Daimion, and the mystery girl. Good times.