Chapter Text
Chell really didn’t like being knocked unconscious. That was the first thought she had upon waking up. The second thought was how the hell did she end up in a cave. That goes back to her first reason of disliking being unconscious. You never knew where you would wake up next. For her, it was always either a relaxation pod, relaxation chamber, bottom of a mineshaft, in an elevator... When she thought of it, she had spent more time being unconscious than sleeping.
Sitting up, Chell became aware of a crackling fire nearby, the smell of something cooking, and two gravelly voices speaking. She looked over to see the two creatures talking to each other in strange guttural tone. Had she hallucinated them speaking English? No, she was sure she heard them speak.
Chell didn’t want to alert them that she was awake but she didn’t want to stay near them. They had taken those soldiers down with ease, but why had they not killed her?
Chell looked to the mouth of the cave, getting ready to run, when she noticed her hands were no longer tied. She also noticed sitting nearby was her companion cube with her boots leaning delicately against it. The creatures had brought them along? What did they want from her?
Sighing, she felt her hand brush against something and found it to be one of those soldier's canteens. Without another thought, she popped the lid off and drank deeply.
“Ah! She awakens!”
Chell nearly spit out the water when the creature spoke but resulted in a coughing fit instead. She took another sip to stop the fit before whipping her head around to the creatures.
They were looking at her with interest as they approached. Chell scooted back until she was pressed up against the cave wall.
“There is no need to fear. We mean no harm to the traveler.” One of them said.
“We have stitched flesh and mended broken bones. You were lucky we found you before the Combine could sever your chord,” the other said in turn.
That was the moment Chell realized all her injuries were no longer hurting. In fact, they seemed to be gone. Her ribs didn’t hurt and breathing was easier, the burns on her arms were healed and all that remained were scars. She reached back to her shoulder and found the skin healed over as well.
“We have also removed foreign contaminants that were clinging to the internal structures of your body. They were attempting to deteriorate your essence.” The first one added.
Clinging to her insides? Almost sounded like…
‘If you sat on a metal folding chair in the lobby-’
‘It does not like the human skeleton!’
'That's not part of the test. That's asbestos.'
‘Ground up moon rocks are pure poison. I am deathly ill!’
The reality that these things managed to heal her injuries and remove whatever Aperture had done to her felt no less than a miracle to Chell. The mere fact that what Aperture had done was already affecting her body only made her feel more grateful to the creatures. Yet again the question came to mind. What were they?
“But not all problems can be solved for other matters rely on yourself,” it continued while the other held another small black container. It offered it out to Chell and that's when she saw what it was. Another canteen!
With no hesitation, she took it from the creature and began to drink it just as she did the first. It had a funny aftertaste, but it was water and that was all that mattered to Chell.
“We hope the traveler has an appetite that rivals their thirst! Come, join us in a meal.” The first one called and pointed to the fire. Sure enough, speared all the way through and hanging over the fire were two of those chicken-crab things. They looked even more like chickens with the way they were being cooked at the moment.
She grimaced at the sight but silently followed behind the two aliens. That’s the only thing she could think to call them instead of creatures or monsters. They did help her although she still wasn’t sure as to why.
Without her boots, she felt every little pebble and rock dig into the soles of her feet. It felt a little nice as it reminded her that she was on the surface and not dreaming. Once by the fire though, she sat down and enjoyed the warmth it offered.
The aliens stood by the fire, silently watching her. Chell watched them right back. At first glance, they looked exactly the same but she was finally seeing some subtle differences between the two. The one on the left had a more orange color to their large central eye compared to the other. The second had a more wrinkled appearance to their skin compared to the first who was smoother. Other than that, she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference in them as they were the exact same height and build.
The silence lasted for several minutes but there wasn’t any sort of pressure on Chell to speak. The aliens seemed to respect her silence. She liked that because it gave her time to think on the situation.
They could have killed her but they didn’t. They could have left her behind but they didn’t. They could have left her injured but they didn’t. They could have even left her companion cube and boots but they had brought them along as well. She’d occasionally cast a look to her cube just to double-check it was still there.
Her thoughts were interrupted by one of them handing over a piece of the not chicken on the fire. She looked at it in her hands and felt disgusted by the thought of eating it, but it smelled nice and her stomach was growling in response. She took a small tentative bite.
The taste… was not actually too bad. It was chewy and the taste was different than anything she could remember, but it wasn’t horrible. The aliens seemed pleased as they too began to eat.
She ate in silence with the aliens. The food offered a nice distraction but once it was gone, the thoughts crept back in. What could these aliens possibly have to gain from helping her. She’d been betrayed before and she didn’t want that to happen again. Were they going to take her somewhere and leave her for dead or were they just toying with her? Her experiences always led to disaster when it came to something or someone helping her.
It all became too much for her as she broke her silence at last.
“Why?”
Their eyes widened slightly at the question. She couldn’t tell if it was shock or confusion.
“Why would you help me?” Chell mumbled to them.
“We help all who seek freedom,” the wrinkled one said.
“We help because we too have suffered the yoke of slavery and wish to bring down the Combine once and for all,” the other continued.
There was that word again. They mentioned it a few minutes before but she hadn't questioned it at the time. “Combine?”
They were quiet for several seconds. They looked as if Chell should know what that is.
"What does the traveler know of the Combine?"
“Nothing. What is it?"
Orange eye picked up the conversation. "The group that held you captive. They control this world and countless others. The resistance has worked hard to expunge them from this realm.”
“Resistance? That’s what those soldiers, the Combine, were looking for?” Chell frowned. Just what happened to the world while she was away?
The wrinkled one screwed its mouth in what may have been confusion. "Where has the traveler been that they do not know of these things? Pray tell, what do you remember of this world?"
Chell shrugged her shoulders at that. What was she supposed to say? That she was literally living under a rock for however long the Combine has been in control?
"I don't even remember who I am." Not a lie really. She knew her name but the rest was still a mystery.
She was left with more questions than answers with each answer she was provided. The aliens must have sensed her confusion as they moved closer and kneeled in front of Chell. She tensed up but relaxed when they didn't move to hurt her.
“It shall be easier if we show rather than tell. Come. Join hands,” the wrinkled one said. It held out a two-fingered hand that had a small glow of energy dancing around in the palm and lacing between its fingers. It pulsated and flashed in a way that Chell didn’t want to take her eyes off of it. The other alien had the same energy within its own outstretched hand.
Chell hesitantly reached out and took their hands. She felt a strange sense of power flow through her. It could be compared to the hairs on her arms sticking up when a balloon would be rubbed against her skin. The feeling became secondary as the next moment, images began to flash before her eyes and it felt she couldn't breathe.
One moment she was standing on a floating island, a vast expanse in front of her full of wondrous colors. Strange aliens that looked much like a stingray floated by and they would twirl through the air with grace. There was pain through her body, focused around her ankles and neck, when another strange alien with a head like a balloon floated down from above.
The next moment she's in a gray corridor with several humans in jackets like the Combine Soldiers but they had been heavily modified. They all had a symbol that looks like an upside-down Y on their sleeves. Lambda, her brain supplied.
Then she was watching as long black cylinders rain from the sky and a three-pronged opening pops wide. Several of the strange chicken-crabs jumped out. She hears someone yell out ‘headcrabs’ before the sound of gunfire filled the air. She had been pretty close with their name then…
The scene changes once more. She’s strapped to a chair, surrounded by soldiers. They are talking and she can see humans being led past an open door in chains, most of them sporting bruises and looking as if they had missed a few meals.
The next moment she is back among the floating islands but this time there is a giant alien looking down on her. It sits in a large metal chair with wires hanging down. It's head was massive. Her eyes fixed to its head, she sees it open wide like a flower and then a green and yellow ball of pulsating energy came straight for her. The next moment she was in a hallway and a soldier in white camouflage and a red beret brought a gun up to meet her.
Before the soldier could fire, the scene changed again and she was running. She wasn't sure why but her body was running and she couldn't stop. Looking back over her shoulder, a creature with a triangular body and three impossibly long legs chased after her. Floating along next to the creature is something that looked much like a slug. She couldn't tear her eyes away from it until the scene changed again.
It continued that way, for how long Chell couldn’t say. Scenes changing and revealing some new horror or revelation. All she knew is the last thing she saw was a bespectacled man in strange metal suit swinging a crowbar directly into her face.
Chell gasped as she leaped back from the aliens. No. Vortigaunts. She knew that now. How did she know that? She didn’t stop moving until her back was pressed, once more, against the cave wall. She made a point to check over her whole body and face for any sign of injury. Her breathing came fast and hard.
“No need to be alarmed for you are unharmed. You have bore witness to a small glimpse of the vortessence that binds us all, traveler. We are unable to restore those memories that have been lost but we wish to aid in the times ahead.”
She had seen what they had seen? So she must have been seeing through the eyes of the vortigaunts. Just what kind of creatures were these things?
The images were still swimming in her head. Justflickers that didn’t want to linger on one thing for long. It reminded Chell too much of the giant screens in GLaDOS’ chamber the first time she had taken her down.
“Black Mesa? That's where this started?”
They only gave a slow nod of their head in response.
She knew that place. She had seen it mentioned back at Aperture right before going up against GLaDOS that first time. Then she heard Cave Johnson mention it in one of his messages in how he believed they were stealing Aperture's designs. She couldn’t quite place it but something else was bothering her about the whole thing...
Maybe you’ll find someone else will help you.
Maybe Black Mesa?
That was a joke, ha ha, fat chance.