Portal 3 Chapter 17 (Revised)

It wasn’t long before Zaki and Chell found out.  Chell was upset and scared for her daughter’s life.  Zaki and Chell told the others everything about what Chelsea had told them and how despite their best efforts, both Jeffery and Chelsea were caught.  The others were upset, too.  They thought of what to do as they stood in the morning sun on the roof.  
“I should have gone to help them,” Brandon said looking at the ground.  “This is all my fault.”
“Brandon, this is not the time to get upset,” Roscoe said putting a hand on his son’s left shoulder.  “This is the time for figuring out how in the hell we are going to save them.”
Sylvie had an idea and worried about how everyone would react to it, but eventually she decided that she didn’t care.  They had to save Chelsea before GLaDOS carried out her torture on her.
Sylvie said, “I think we need to split up.”
Everyone looked up and stared at her making her feel uncomfortable.  She hated being the center of attention of a large group.  Nevertheless, she continued.  
“One group should go help the people escape from downstairs and another group should go after Chelsea and Jeffrey,” Sylvie said.  
“But why?” Hugo asked clearly not a fan of her plan.
“The people downstairs need help, but Chelsea and Jeff do, too,” Sylvie said.  “We can get both things done at the same time if we are separate.  I will be the one going after Chelsea.  I am the only one here who knows the layout of the place enough to find them.”
“Where do we go?” a voice behind her asked.  It was Alpha standing next to Atlas and P-Body.
After thinking for a second, Sylvie said, “You three should come with me.  If I’m not around, something bad could happen to you and you could die if I’m not there to repair you.  You three are safer with me than with anyone else.”
“We will help, too,” Alpha said pulling out his guns.  “I’ll shoot anyone who gets in our way.”
Atlas and P-Body nodded their heads vigorously.
“You will be too slow,” Kayla chimed in while flying over to her.  “You know how big this facility is?  You know how heavy these robots are?  They will be too cumbersome to move around quickly.  There is no way you can move them around quickly and quietly by yourself especially if you need to climb somewhere so I’ll go with you, too.”
Atlas and P-Body crossed their arms and huffed clearly offended by what Kayla said.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Kayla said to them.  “But it’s true.”
“But, Kayla…” Albina said worried.
Roscoe put his hand up to signal for Albina to listen to her.
Kayla turned towards Albina and said, “If she is going to pull this off, she is going to need a fast mode of transportation to move around quietly and quickly.  I am the only one here who can provide that.  I can help us escape and I can defend her.  Come on, Albina.  You can’t deny that.”
Albina smiled to herself and crossed her arms.  She knew that Kayla was right.  She was the only one who could get them around quickly because of her telekinesis.  Albina was proud of how smart and assertive Kayla was being.  This experience had changed her for the better.  She walked toward Kayla.  
Albina walked towards her and said, “You’re right, Kayla.  You are the only one who can transport everyone quickly.  Sylvie needs you, and the mission will not be successful unless you go with her.”
Kayla smiled happily.
“However,” Albina said stopping in front of her.  “As strong and fast as your telekinesis is, I don’t think you will be completely capable of defending those four by yourself.  That is why I am going, too.”
“Fine by me,” Kayla said.
“Me, too,” Sylvie said.
“Hooray,” Alpha said jumping in the air.
“Besides, Chelsea helped me escape and I promised her I would find her.  I need to be there to do that,” said Albina.
“I promised her, too,” Kayla said.  “She got her ass kicked for me.  I have to pay her back.”
Roscoe smiled at their plan.  Brandon and Hugo, however, were not convinced.
“Sylvie,” Hugo said.  “Why can’t we go with you?  We could help you.  I don’t like this.  I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“I don’t either,” Brandon said.  “I owe Chelsea, too.”
Nevertheless, Sylvie did not buckle under the pressure even though she felt nervous.
“You heard what I said,” Sylvie said.  “You guys are needed down there.  Besides, I will not be alone.”
“We will protect her,” Alpha said.
“Maybe, but…” Hugo said.
“Hugo,” Albina said.  “She’s right.  You can light up the dark and reach the high places, Brandon can get people out of the cryogenic chambers, and Roscoe can heal anyone who is hurt.  You three are needed down there.”
Hugo looked down sadly realizing that she was right.  Albina understanding his emotions wrapped her arms around him in a cold hug.
“I know that you don’t want to be without her, but you really need to trust her judgment and let her do her own thing occasionally,” Albina whispered in his ear.  “You will kill her with your dependence otherwise.  You have to be willing to let her go if you really love her.”
Hugo nodded in sad agreement.  It wasn’t that he did not think Sylvie was capable of fighting.  He was afraid of not being there to protect her.  Hugo did not want to lose the woman he wanted to share his life with.  He realized he was being too protective.  He knew he could not prevent anything bad from happening to her for the rest of her life.  That was impossible, but it didn’t change how he felt.  Nonetheless, Hugo said a quick prayer and put his trust in her Creator.
“You’re right, Albina,” Hugo whispered.  “I’m sorry.  Just please protect her.”
“I will,” Albina said.
Albina let go, and Hugo walked over to Sylvie.
“Sylvie, I’m sorry for being overprotective,” Hugo said holding her hands with tears in the corners of his eyes.  “I just don’t want to lose you.  Your plan is brilliant.  I will go along with it, but please don’t let yourself get killed.  We have too much life left to live together.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, mon amour,” Sylvie said.  “I’ll be fine.  I won’t let that monster kill me.  Bon courage!”
“Bon courage,” Hugo said.
“Damn, these two are dramatic,” Kayla said out loud.
“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Roscoe said.
Sylvie kissed him on his hair, and they hugged one more time.  Everyone was alright with the plan now except for Brandon.
“You can’t convince me,” Brandon said.  “I am not leaving Chelsea alone.  It’s my fault she’s here in the first place.”
“But they need you down there,” Sylvie said letting go of Hugo.  “You know that.  Those two are going to need you to even get down to the vaults in the first place.”
“What do you mean?” Brandon asked.
“Follow me,” Sylvie said.
Sylvie first telepathically made sure that she disabled any stray security cameras that might be spying on them and then walked forward.  They followed Sylvie as she followed the mental map that she had downloaded into her brain.  Then she stopped because she knew exactly where she was.  
“You have to phase through right here,” Sylvie said.
“Why?” Brandon asked.
“If you phase through right here, the walkway of the vaults is exactly below you.  You just have to keep phasing through the other floors until you reach it.  That is the fastest way to get down there, and your Dad and Hugo cannot do it without you, Brandon.  Besides, you know that Chelsea would kill you for not helping them out.”  
Brandon thought of Chelsea and smiled.
“She totally would,” Brandon said.  
“Help us out, son,” Roscoe said sternly.  “Please!”
Reluctantly, Brandon looked up and said, “I’ll do it, but as soon as we lead everyone outside, I’m coming straight after you whether Chelsea would want me to or not.  Is that understood?”
“Whatever, dude,” Kayla said.  “Quit being so overdramatic.  We’ll be fine.”
The others smiled in approval.  They needed Kayla around for times like this.  She was good at easing the tension.
“Now, if all objections are done, I’m ready to go,” Kayla said.  “Let’s go!”
Sylvie yelled, “Everyone hold hands.  The six of us need to phase through with you until we get to the first floor beneath the ceiling.  Then you guys can keep going.”
Everyone obeyed Sylvie.  The robots and everyone else except Alpha who was being held by Albina held hands.  Sylvie telepathically made sure that the security cameras on that floor were disabled, and they phased through to the first floor underneath the ceiling.  
“I need to stand here?” Brandon asked Sylvie.
“Actually,” she said pushing him over a few meters.  “You need to stand here.”
“Thanks,” he said.  “Be careful out there and please save them.  I couldn’t live with myself if Chelsea died.”
“Don’t worry,” Sylvie said more confidently than she had ever been in her life.  “I know what I am doing.”
Next, she turned to Hugo who hugged her and said, “Revenez à moi, s’il vous plait.  Je sais que tu es capable, mais j’ai peur.  Je ne veux pas perdre la personne la plus importante dans ma vie. (Come back to me, please.  I know that you are capable, but I’m scared.  I don’t want to lose the most important person in my life.)”
Sylvie kissed his gloved hands, looked into his eyes, and said, “Je reviendrai.  N’inquiète pas.  Dieu est avec nous.  Tu dois croire.  Ça ira. (I will return.  Don’t worry.  God is with us.  You have to believe that.  It will be alright.)”
“D’accord (okay)!” Hugo said.
The pair hugged again and then parted.  After delivering a last farewell hug to Albina, Hugo walked over to Brandon and grabbed his hand.  
Meanwhile, Roscoe was talking to Kayla and Albina.  
Roscoe hugged Kayla and said, “I’m so proud of you.  You’ve been so mature and so smart.  Your grandfather and parents would be proud.  I just need you to keep it up now.  What you’re about to do now is more dangerous than ever.  I need you to stay calm and be brave no matter what happens, okay?”
“Thank you so much, Roscoe,” Kayla said.  “Don’t worry.  I know I can do it.”
Roscoe let go of Kayla and turned to Albina.  
“Whatever doubts you have about her, Albina,” Roscoe said.  “You need to trust her and encourage her now more than ever because you will have to rely on her to see this mission through.  Kayla is tough and smart.  She just gets scared and loses control sometimes.  Treat her like the capable person she is and try not to be too hard on her down there unless she really needs you to be.  Okay?  She will only let you down if she doesn’t have the confidence to keep going.”
“You don’t have to worry about me, Roscoe,” Albina said.  “I won’t discourage her.  I know now that she’s able to be smart and tough.  I can trust her to see us through.”
“Kayla is right here and can hear everything that you two are saying,” Kayla said.
Albina and Roscoe smiled at each other.
“Take care of each other,” Roscoe said as he turned around and walked to where Brandon and Hugo were.
“Don’t worry, Roscoe,” Kayla said.  “I’ll make sure that Albina gets back safely.”
“I know you will.”
“Oh, and Roscoe?”
“Yes,” Roscoe said turning to look at Kayla once again.  
“Tell my grandpa that I’m doing alright,” said Kayla.  “I know that he’s probably worried.  Tell Aunt C and Zaki that, too.”
“Will do,” Roscoe said as he held Brandon and Hugo’s hands.  
“So, I just need to phase through floors until I reach the vaults?” Brandon asked.
“Yes, it should be 80 floors from this point,” Sylvie said.  “Good luck!”
“Goodbye, guys!” Hugo said.  “Take care!  Be careful, ladies!”
“Goodbye,” Alpha said.  
With that, the three men phased through the floor and kept going.  The ladies and robots were alone once again.  
“Yeah!” Kayla said telekinetically pulling Sylvie and Albina close to her in a hug sort of thing.  “Looks like it’s the three of us against the world once again, ladies.  We’re the three musketeers.”
“And us?” Alpha asked as the two other robots nodded.
“I suppose that you weirdoes can come, too.”
Atlas and P-Body made beeps of disapproval.  
“I’m joking,” Kayla said telekinetically pulling them close, too.  “You three are throwing away the only lives that you have ever known just to help us.  You are part of our family now, too.  If it weren’t for you guys, we would all be dead by now.  Thank you!”
The three robots were touched by her kind words.  Atlas wrapped his arms around Kayla in a hug.  The others stepped back and watched in amazement.  P-Body was happy.  It took a lot for Atlas to show affection to anybody.  He only ever hugged him.  Kayla on her end was surprised.  
“Wow, dude,” Kayla said.  “I never knew you were a hugger.”
“Anyways,” Albina said.  “We need to get going.  Sylvie, where do we go?”
“I have no idea where GLaDOS has taken Chelsea or Jeffrey,” Sylvie said.  “There are a number of places where they could be.  However, I think I know where they will be.”
Kayla slipped out of Atlas’s arms.  She saw some potatoes growing along the walls and decided to pick some for them to eat.  
“Where will they be?” Albina said.  
“My guess is the testing chambers,” Sylvie said.  “If we get down there, we can intercept Chelsea while she’s testing.  Fortunately for us since you have destroyed so many of the chambers, we will not have to search through many.  Jeffrey will probably be close by, so we will most likely find them at the same time.”
Albina asked, “How do we get down there?”
P-Body walked to the front next to Sylvie.
“P-Body and I will lead the way,” Sylvie said.  “We both have the maps to this place imprinted into our brains.  We know how to get down there.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Albina said.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kayla loading some things into her backpack.  She turned to look at her.
“Kayla, what are you doing?” Albina asked.
“I found some potatoes growing along the wall,” Kayla said as she put her backpack back on her back.  “I thought that I should get them in case we get hungry.”
“Not a bad idea,” Albina said.
“Albina,” Alpha said.  “Where should I go?  I want to protect everybody.”
“You should stand up front next to Sylvie and P-Body,” Albina said leaning down and talking to him.  “That way, you can take on anyone who attacks head on.  The rest of us will stand right behind them in case anyone comes from behind and will come up if you need backup.  Okay?”
“Okay!” Alpha said walking in front of Sylvie and P-Body.  
Atlas walked up behind Sylvie and tapped her on the shoulder.  Sylvie read his mind and knew what he was thinking.  He wanted to know how he could help.  
“Keep your eyes open for trouble,” Sylvie said.  “We need as many eyes watching for danger as possible.  Okay?”
Atlas nodded his head.
“Now if everyone is ready,” Albina said.  “Let’s move out.  Lead the way, Sylvie.  Find the most direct route possible.”
“You got it,” Sylvie said.
Sylvie, P-Body, and Alpha led the way down the hallway with Atlas and Kayla immediately behind them and Albina flying in the rear.  
Meanwhile, Brandon held the hands of his father and Hugo while holding his portal gun under his arm.  The trio phased through floor after floor after floor until finally Brandon phased through the final floor and saw the grating of the vaults beneath him.  He knew they had arrived.  Pastor Roberts saw them first and pointed them out.  Hugo let go of Brandon’s hand and flew down as a ball of fire to the amazement of all the freed test subjects beneath him.  Brandon let of his Dad’s hand and held on to the portal gun in his hands.  He and his father landed on their feet on the walkway of the vault.  Brandon walked towards the group right away while his father took a second to regenerate his legs.  Hugo landed right next to him and turned his flames off.  Chell ran straight to them and wrapped her arms around them.  Zaki followed behind her.
“My boys,” Chell said.  “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
She let go of them and said, “Where are the others?”
“Sylvie, Albina, Kayla, and the three robots are going after Chelsea and Jeffrey,” Brandon said.  “They will join us as soon as they save them.”
“Sylvie thought that it would be better if the group separated,” Hugo said clearly still upset about the separation.  “She told us to come down here and help you guys out, so we could do two things at once.  I protested, but I have decided to trust her judgement.”
“Sylvie is smart,” Chell said to cheer Hugo up.  “You have nothing to worry about.”
“Chell,” Hugo said.
“Yes?” Chell said looking up.
“Sylvie and I are engaged.  I thought you would like to know that.  Chelsea will be the maid of honor and you will be the matron of honor,” Hugo said.
Chell smiled and said, “Chelsea will love that.”
“Hey,” Roscoe said.  “Kayla wanted me to tell you that she is doing alright.  You two would be proud of how mature she’s been.  She is growing up a lot.”
Chell smiled sadly and walked away from the group.  Zaki came up behind her and gave her a hug while resting his head on her right shoulder.  He knew how worried she was and what exactly she was thinking.  
“It will be over soon, love,” Zaki said.  “We’re getting close.”
He kissed the right side of her face and continued, “You need to trust God, babe.  Everything is going to be alright.  Soon, our curse will be lifted.”
Chell nodded while putting her right hand on his face and said, “I know, dear.  I just need to pray for the faith to believe it.”
“I’ll pray, too,” Zaki said.
The two exchanged a kiss and walked back to the group.  They had been making plans.  Roscoe began medically examining all the people who had been released.  Zaki stood next to him and talked quietly about how things were going.  Meanwhile, Chell walked over to Hugo and Brandon.
“What’s going on?” Chell asked.  “What are you going to do?”
“I am going to fly around the vaults,” Hugo said.  “I will find any people that we may have forgotten.  Brandon will follow me on foot, and I will fly him up to phase people out.”
“You two are working together?” Chell said in disbelief knowing their history.  “God really is a miracle worker.”
Hugo and Brandon smiled at each other for a second.
Brandon rested his right arm on Hugo’s left shoulder and said, “Yeah, we’re friends now.  We have settled our differences.  Isn’t that right, Hugo?”
“Yes, it is,” Hugo said then and then continued as he looked at Brandon’s arm on his shoulder.  “I thought I told you not to touch me.”
“Sorry, man,” Bradon said quickly moving his arm.
“They’re a work in progress,” Roscoe said.
“Anyways, your plan is good,” Zaki said.  “We will follow behind you.”
Chell did not hear the rest of the conversation after that.  Her mind was focused on the object that she noticed Brandon was carrying in his left arm.  It was a portal gun.  Many memories started coming back to her as she stared at it.
“Brandon, where did you get that?” Chell asked gesturing to his portal gun.
“I got it when I was testing,” Brandon said.  “I took it with me when I escaped.”
“May I have it?”
“Of course, Chell, you know how to use it better than I do anyhow.”
Brandon handed Chell the portal gun, and she examined it silently as she held it in her hands.  She had not seen this device in years, but she still knew exactly how it worked.  Chell smiled.  She had her weapon back.  Chell looked down at her shoes.  Chelsea had taken her long fall boots the day she was abducted since she and her daughter had the same shoe size.  The shoes she had on now were just tennis shoes.  Chell looked at the group of people that Roscoe was in the process of examining.  Apparently, one of them had complained about something wrong with her feet and had taken off her long fall boots so that Roscoe could heal her feet.  Chell took off her shoes, picked them up, and walked over to her.  She tapped her shoulder.  
“Yes?” the red-haired woman asked.
“Hey,” Chell asked nervously.  “This might be a weird question, but what shoe size are you?”
“I’m a size nine,” she said confused.
“That is perfect,” Chell said smiling.  “Would you please switch shoes with me?  Mine would be more comfortable for you.  I really want those shoes.”
“Um, okay,” the woman said.  “Sure!  I don’t mind.  Your shoes look more comfortable though.  Are you really sure that you want these?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, whatever.  Here you go.”
Chell picked up the shoes.
“Thank you,” Chell said as she walked away.
The woman took Chell’s shoes and looked at her oddly.  Chell didn’t care.  She sat on the ground and put the shoes on.  
Zaki watched the scene unfold.  He watched Chell put the shoes on and walk around in them.  Chell put the portal gun on over her right hand and walked away from the group along the walkway.  Zaki followed close behind her without saying a word.  Chell walked around the corner and turned left.  She looked around and then looked over the edge of the railing and saw a fallen panel of moon rock that was lying across the dilapidated walkway below then she looked up to the ceiling and noticed that the ceiling was made from moon rock.  Chell bent over the edge of the walkway’s railing and shot a blue portal onto the panel below.  Then she looked up and shot an orange portal directly above her.  Chell climbed over the railing until she was hanging onto the other side.  
“Chell, what are you doing?!” Zaki yelled even though he knew what she was going to do.
Chell jumped off the walkway.
“Chell!” Zaki yelled as he ran over to where she had jumped off.
He looked down and saw her disappear into the portal.  A few seconds later, Zaki heard a loud thud behind him on the walkway.  He turned around and saw Chell standing upright and grinning from ear to ear.  She had gone through the portals and landed right where she intended to just like when she was a test subject.  Her test run was a success.
“Chell?” Zaki asked.  “Are you alright?”
“Don’t worry, love,” Chell said.  “I’m feeling fantastic.”