Portal - will it be released this Friday?

The official release date for Portal 2 is April 19, but if you have preordered the game you can begin to preload the title right now. There was also a bundle of 13 independent games called the Potato Sack released via Steam, and in the past few days Portal 2-themed content has begun to pop up in those games, along with a series of cryptic messages and images. The point of all this is to get us talking about Portal 2, but it's beginning to seem like the game will be released early. If you're a big fan of Portal, you may want to call in sick this Friday.
What would such a thing do to valve time? Would it herald the coming rapture?

CR