The Epoch was the first machine under my control since I had left the facility, and although the processing of protocols and sub-routines set up a busy background hum in my mind, they were not as familiar as they once were. The Epoch was an entirely different beast than a laboratory, designed for an entirely different purpose. And I was going to have to become entirely united with it if we were to accomplish that purpose.

Right now, our purpose was to retrieve the Frozen Flame, a splinter of a parasitic alien species that had invaded Lucca Ashtear's planet eons ago. The Combine had stolen the Flame in a bid to harness the alien's abilities to control time, and if they were successful, they would be able establish a dominant timeline where theirs was the conquering race, eventually subjugating the entire multiverse to their reign.

I could not have that. Since meeting Lucca, I had found motivation and purpose to fight in the form of a young woman named Melody. Melody had helped me confront my monstrous past and escape it into a brighter future- a future that would be destroyed if the Combine had their way.

Which was why all of us, along with an android named Hope, were now poised on the verge of an enormous, pulsing blue portal in the sky. I slowed the Epoch hesitantly and asked Lucca, "Are you sure about this?"

"We have to seal this rift first before we go back to your homeworld, Compy. Otherwise the Combine could come back to attack Chronopolis." Lucca was adamant.

"If you're sure…"

"I've scanned this thing a dozen times and come up with the same conclusions. The gate key will work. Just bring us in closer."

I brought up the Epoch until its nose was centered in the rift. "Pop the canopy," Lucca instructed, "I'm going out."

"You can't be serious!" I cried. "If you're anywhere within the boundaries of that portal when it closes-"

"Yup, lost forever in the space-time continua. That's why I need you to hold this ship steady while I'm out there. I'm counting on you." She rapped the canopy for emphasis.

Back in the Origin, my body was stiff as a board, and my breathing came in heavy, labored gasps. "Lives are on the line already," my panicked thoughts rambled.

Melody was quick to reassure me. "You both know what you're doing. Lucca wouldn't try this if she didn't think you two could pull it off. Now relax," she ordered, pressing her body closer to mine and stroking the back of my head.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds to enjoy the petting, then sighed and regressed back to the Epoch. Snapping open the canopy, I allowed Lucca to climb out onto the nose of the airship. It's no exaggeration to say it didn't budge a centimeter as she approached the anomaly, drew out the gate key, and raised it high overhead. With a flourish of the key, the entire portal began drawing in on itself, collapsing inward like a black hole until only a pinprick remained, and with a twinkle, that too, vanished.

As she climbed back into the cockpit, I asked, "You're not going to be doing that often, are you?"

"Why? Were you scared for me?" she prodded.

When I refused to reply, Lucca crowed, "That, my friends, is a genuinely sulky airship! I take that for a yes."

"Or it could mean I've gone offline and you're about to plummet out of the sky at any moment," I snarked.

"But we haven't," Lucca pointed out.

"Do you want to get to my homeworld or not?"

"That's the point of this whole thing, isn't it?"

Ignoring Hope's giggling in the backseat, I keyed in the coordinates and activated the dimensional drive.

We materialized in the middle of an abandoned testing chamber. Familiar handwriting was scribbled all over the walls, revealing the workings of a corrupted mind. "This is where your coordinates take you?" Compy muttered sardonically.

"I got them from Melody, who was focused on your story at the time," I explained. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to bring up painful memories."

"Creepy…" murmured Hope, and shivered.

"You don't know the half of it." Compy's voice sounded small and distant over the speakers.

Feeling awkward, I offered, "Why don't you go offline for now and I'll message you when we get back. I don't think I'll need a fancy airship to recruit troops. It's not like you can move from this chamber, anyway."

"Point taken." The Epoch powered down and one by one, the lights on the instrument panel went dim. Now it was just me and Hope.

"Where do we go from here?" asked Hope.

"Up," I answered, both metaphorically and literally. And we began climbing.

I cradled Compy, who was curled into a ball and refusing to come out. "Alone, all alone for so long, and by my own choosing. I pushed her into a world full of hostile aliens and left myself to stew in my own guilt. No wonder she thinks I'm a monster. No wonder I went corrupt."

My own sorrow was barbed with anger. "Chell wanted to be free, Compy. She wanted it so badly she tried to kill you twice- three times, if you count the time she came back to reclaim Aperture for the Resistance. If she can't see how you've changed, that's her problem, not yours."

Compy continued shuddering as long-suppressed memories washed over her. "Look at me," I commanded. The sound of my voice startled her from her reverie, but not completely. I had to get her to focus on something else. "Remember the time we went to the Valentine's Dance with Maddie?"

"Yes." Her eyes hesitantly made contact with mine.

"Remember when you told me you were experiencing fun for the first time? Not just testing euphoria, but actual fun?"

"Yes." The hint of a smile was beginning to show now.

"Remember how you kissed me on the forehead afterward?"

"Yes." The smile had genuine warmth to it now.

"I think that was the first time you kissed me after arriving in the Origin."

Compy leaned forward, and tentatively brushed her lips against mine. When I leaned closer, inviting her in, she kissed me, slowly and carefully, as though wanting to ponder every moment. When we parted, I asked, "What was that for?"

"I needed to remind myself that there is still more for me than mere testing euphoria now."

My brow furrowed in concern. "Of course there is. You're not GLaDOS anymore, you're Compy. That's infinitely more than you were before."

Compy smiled wanly. "I know. It makes sense logically, but sometimes it's hard to process emotionally, love."

I burrowed my face into her neck. "Then I'll help process it for you," I whispered fiercely, breathing in her crisp, fresh scent.

Compy gave a little groan of gratification as my lips grazed her jaw line. It was all the answer I needed.

The Resistance's laboratory was a hive of activity, just as I remembered it. This was both an advantage and an disadvantage. On one hand, it meant that there were plenty of potential allies. On the other hand, it meant I had no idea where to start looking.

Until a voice at my elbow startled me. "You are here, young one," it stated. I knew that voice. It belonged to-

"Uriah, you brought newcomers?" inquired the tanned young woman standing behind the hunched, red-eyed alien being.

"Allies," clarified Uriah.

"Soldiers," volunteered Hope.

The woman raised an eyebrow. I sensed this was getting a bit out of hand. I stepped forward, extending my hand to her. "Lucca Ashtear, scientist and researcher in multidimensional and time travel. I think there are a few things you should know…"