Mel

Dossier: Mel "Bendy" Wellworth, the grumpy
 * Background: Test Subject #234 from an alternate universe Earth, called Earth Prime. There she worked at Aperture Labs' "Pocket Universe Lab 08" where test chambers used creatures called "Bendies" (stickmen, a friendly variation of Earth-0's Shadow People).
 * +Info: Although she is human, the "Bendy" nickname got stuck. During a test she ended up on Earth-0 and can't go back due to Aperture Labs having financial problems. Sven Co-op has "intervened" to make her doppelgänger take her place in the cryopod storage, so she is safe to be extracted without anyone noticing.
 * Skills: Vastly experienced in portal technology, non-human relations, puzzle solving and life-threatening situations.
 * Reason for hire: "Portal Sphere resonation syndrome... ... Ugh... deadly radiation from teleporting so much. And I'm stuck here, so, whatever. Are we gonna test or what?" (Succeeded in one of Aperture Labs tests a little too much)
 * Appearance: Long hair with hair grip, blonde, round face, crazy eyes. S.C.I. issued a light blue H.E.V. Mk IV.

Events
Mel was a test subject from Earth-1 (Earth Prime) working at Aperture Science. Many tests in there used miniature stickmen called "bendies" in small controlled test chambers created with the help of shrinking technology.

Earth Prime then started the Perpetual Testing Initiative, where tests were to be carried out in other paralell universes.

After many successful tests, Mel came across Karla on Earth-0, where Mel's last test was supposed to be carried out, but never did.

Earth-0's Aperture Science began the GLaDOS project while going bankrupt and didn't have the resources to take part in the P.T.I. and so Mel was stranded.

But it was not long before Mel noticed that she had acquired deadly amounts of radiation on some of her tests due to the slightly obsolete portal technology she was handling which leaked a small amount of radiation on every use, different from Earth-0's Aperture tech of the same type.

Aperture then decided to keep her as a test subject but her illness became too much to handle so she was appointed to the cryopod #234 with a promise to bring her back when there was a cure available. This also helped as an excuse to take her away from Karla's grasp as her test instructor, so the scientists could find a way to get rid of both of them.

Before she even got into the cryopod, the Sven Co-op Institute arrived with the possible cure, but they wouldn't pay Aperture for acquiring her since it was going bankrupt. Instead they paid Doug Rattman a way smaller amount to replace Mel with Chell, her Earth-0 doppelganger, so nobody would notice.

Not only Sven Co-op got the perfect test subject, but her pocket universe sample as well, with which weapon boxes were based on and built in the coming years.