Innocent《Chelley》

Chapter 12

She stared into an abyss, one of many that dotted Aperture Science's testing chambers. There was an excursion funnel across the room, the ends of which she couldn't see, let alone shoot portals to. On another platform near her, a cube sat beside a button, taunting her just out of reach.

"Come on, love," purred Wheatley. "This shouldn't be too hard for you."

His voice sent chills down her spine. GLaDOS remained silent on the end of her portal gun; for all intents and purposes, Chell and Wheatley were alone.

He watched her from a large screen hanging on the wall across from her platform; the excursion funnel cut across the bottom of it. Chell avoided his gaze, preferring to stare down into the smoky gap in front of her.

Wheatley folded his hands and smiled, but the faint blush of his cheeks and his heavy breathing gave his impatience away. When Chell next looked up at him, he was lightly grinding his teeth, watching her, not blinking.

Chell shot a portal into the gap; she didn't hear it stick to a surface, and the blue light faded into the mist. She paced the edge of her platform, trying to find the edges of the excursion funnel, but found nothing.

Wheatley was still watching her; the more time she took to think, the thinner his smile became. The tips of his fingers twitched.

She leaned herself against the wall and shot at the funnel. A portal stuck, and she shot the next one on the ceiling high above her. She began to float upwards and found herself on the other side of the room. Wheatley's monitor was now extremely close to her.

She looked towards the button and cube, and her heart sank: there was not one white wall in sight on that corner of the room. Wheatley, in his infinite stupidity, had created an impossible test.

Chell let the excursion funnel take her to the other wall; she floated there, portal gun lowered, unsure of what to do next.

She looked at Wheatley's monitor. He had pressed himself in the far corner so he could watch her.

Chell shook her head.

"What do you mean, no?"

Wheatley slammed a fist against the monitor suddenly, causing her to jump. "You're bloody giving up?" he screamed at her. "Is that it? You can't finish this one measly test? How stupid are you?"

Chell pointed towards the cube.

"You have to get over there! Do it now! Or I'll…I'll…"

He was shaking with anger and frustration. Chell pressed herself against the excursion funnel wall and examined the room again. There were no white surfaces. She was stuck, and Wheatley was getting more furious by the second.

The ceiling above her opened, and Chell looked up, only to meet dozens of very large, very sharp spikes. One of them hovered dangerously close to the tip of her nose.

Her blood went cold.

"If you don't hurry up and solve this test," Wheatley hissed, pressing himself against the monitor again, "I'll make sure you get smashed into the bottom of the facility."

Chell swallowed heavily. Wheatley laughed. "Oh, yes, love. You'll be dead before you know it. Or maybe you'll feel something. I don't know, but you're about to find out."