Spoiler Alert

“What do you mean Chell’s a vampire?” I stared incredulously at my two friends, a half-eaten slice of toast hanging in the air in front of my mouth, suspended only by my hand.
“Well, not exactly a bwah-suck-your-blood European vampire.” Alice, the first one, clarified. She nodded, looking up at the ceiling as she tried to remember. “But more a sort of genetically-engineered vampire of sorts. That’s how she was able to survive for so long, and how she stayed alive between Portal and Portal 2 when Glados was shut down along with the entire lab.”
The other friend, T.J., nodded as well. “Yeah, it was really cool finding that out. I mean, you head into the computer room and it’s so quiet except for the glowing of monitors, and then you head over to a couple and fire them up–”
“Dude! Not cool! I’m not there yet! I haven’t GOTTEN that far!” I waved my arms wildly in a sort of flail. Really, it wasn’t that cool at all. One of the things I loved the most about Portal was how it was a puzzle game with a prominent plot, and I was especially eager to learn about the plot in Portal 2.
Then they told me this.
“Wait, wait, what do you mean you haven’t gotten that far?” Alice blinked at me. “I thought you’d beaten the game already?”
“No! I haven’t, not yet! I was planning on going through it tonight!” I groaned and flopped back in my chair. I crammed the remaining bit of toast in my mouth, taking out my frustrations on the helpless bread.
T.J. scratched his chin. “Weren’t you just talking last night about the ending?”
“No, I was talking about what I WANT the ending to be! What I really hope for!” I said, my voice raising higher.

There was an awkward silence.
“Don’t tell me Chell and Wheatley actually DO escape to City 17?!” I jumped back up from the chair.
Alice and T.J. looked sheepishly back and forth at each other. Awkward silence ensued.
My hand was already well-acquainted with my face, but tonight it got another re-introduction.

Alice took some steps towards me, hands clasped together. “Look, I’m really sorry. I really thought you’d beaten the game, I didn’t know that–”
“It’s fine. I’ll just…it’s still cool, I guess.” I said with a grunt. The taste of the toast lingered in my mouth; I lifted up a bottle of water to wash it away. “I was just really looking forward to it, you know? I liked the original, and I really wanted to enjoy the sequel…” I cut off the sentence, suckling on the mouth of the bottle. It was cool and refreshing, like all water tended to be. Delicious.
“Won’t you still?” T.J. said. “It’s still more of what you enjoyed. You liked the humor, you liked the jokes, you liked the puzzles, and you especially liked the storyline.”
“Yeah, I know. I just…I wanted to have everything be a surprise, you know? I wanted it all to be brand new…”

—————–

Just a couple hours later, I was staring at the Portal 2 icon on my desktop. It was a small icon, really, but it lead to a big game. A big, delicious, wonderful game. With cake and potatoes and all those other internet memes that had been shoved down everyone’s throat.
At the moment, though, I really just wasn’t sure what to think.
Chell was a vampire. A vampire! Of all things! The Half-Life universe was known for being vaguely-futuristic and scientific, to pull a mythological spot of characterization out of nowhere was…well, it was surprising, to say the least.
Wheatley and Chell escape to City 17. City 17! Of all places! There had been references to the Half-Life-verse before in Portal, both blatant and not-so-blatant, but this was a direct crossover. It was amazing, and the possibilities whirled through my head.
I sighed and drug my mouse over the icon.

I wasn’t sure what to think, now that I knew this stuff. This was plot-important points to reveal, and now I just…knew it. I didn’t have time to let the atmosphere build up, I wasn’t able to play through the levels leading up to it, I wasn’t able to enjoy Glados’ snarking beforehand…I just got the info dumped right in front of me.
I really wasn’t sure how to feel.
Part of me felt betrayed. I wasn’t sure why, but there was this…sense that I was supposed to experience the story one way, but now suddenly here I got the information through an entirely different manner–a manner that wasn’t at all what the game had so elaborately crafted for me. I wasn’t sure whether someone had betrayed me or whether I had betrayed the game. Could I ever look at my friends the same way? Would the game still accept me into its warm and comforting embrace and regale me with whatever food-based quirkiness the writers had deigned to make fun of?

T.J’s voice rang in my ear. Won’t you still? It’s still more of what you enjoyed.
It was, really. I just wasn’t sure whether it would be as enjoyable, now that the surprise was gone.
I bit my lower lip and double-clicked the icon. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad; maybe there’s more to Chell being a vampire than just genetic wonkery, or maybe Chell and Wheatley escaped by riding a mechanical velociraptor or something.
Maybe it’d still be fun. I mean, there’s more to a game than just a couple moments of plot.