Atlas shook with fear, even though the ordeal was over. Even P-body was still trembling. They sat apart from each other, swimming in their own thoughts.
Meanwhile, GLaDOS fumed with anger, taking her rage out on anything mechanical that felt pain.
Processing data! Of all the idioticly human things they could've done, they decided to do the stupidest one of them all! GLaDOS thought.
It was an act of love. And it should not be frowned upon. They should be able to continue their life happily together, a familiar voice said.
Caroline was back again. GLaDOS let out an artificial sigh. She loathed Caroline. Everytime she tried to delete her, she would just keep coming back at the worst times.
"What do YOU want...?" GLaDOS asked, obviously annoyed.
So what if P-body is pregnant? She and Atlas want to keep the baby, so let them. Aren't you curious? You don't know anything about human pregnancy.
"Absolutely not. I'd rather bring that little blue idiot sphere back from space than have a baby in MY facility. Infants can't test, so they're useless. And another thing-"
What if I told you that human pregnancy is not entirely a pleasant experience?
GLaDOS fell silent, digging deeper into her reference files on humans.
"Pregnant women usually experience morning sickness and mood swings as a result of increased hormones, and back pains as a result of the extra weight of the fetus." the reference read.
This began to interest the AI. She did very much enjoy suffering of others, but she reminded herself of the consequences it would bring HER as well as her cooperative testing initiative.
"No, Orange will NOT be keeping this child." GLaDOS decided, "Orange, Blue, report to my chamber. NOW."
Don't do this. You wouldn't kill a helpless baby, would you?
"Just watch me." GLaDOS said, almost growling.
Atlas and P-body hesitantly entered the AI's chamber. P-body looking especially terrified, clutching Atlas' hand tightly.
"I've realized letting you two do tests unsupervised a big mistake." GLaDOS said in her usual emotionless, auto tuned voice, "You will be returning to your former supervised tests effective immediately."
Atlas suddenly jumped in front of P-body, arms spread out as if to block an assault of turret fire.
GLaDOS was taken aback for a moment, then her tone became stern, "Blue, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're defying me..."
Atlas shot a glare at the AI, standing his ground in front of P-body, who was urgently trying to get him to back down.
GLaDOS was infuriated, "Alright then, Blue. You get to die first."
GLaDOS brought a crusher down on him without warning. The loud slam of metal rang through the room, along with a sickening crunch. P-body trembled with fear as she watched a pool of oil form around the crusher. When it was removed, P-body couldn't bear to look and turned away from the horrifying sight.
GLaDOS, satisfied that he was dead, turned to her next test subject. She poised to strike with the crusher, but then something clicked in the back of her head.
"...Orange, do you REALLY want to keep this child?"
Trembling with fear, P-body nodded slowly.
"Fine, you will return to the Hub until Blue's punishment is over."
P-body couldn't believe what she was hearing, was GLaDOS really sparing her child? A wave of relief swept over her as she nodded to the AI.
"Good. Now while you will be at the Hub, Blue will be taking a long tour through Android Hell. He will be back...soon...after you're reactivated." GLaDOS purred.
And then, P-body's world went black.
When she awoke, she opened her optic and sat up, making an artificial groan at the pain in her head. She looked around for GLaDOS, Atlas, or maybe even the robot child she was promised, but she was alone.
A faint light shown on a monitor nearby, and it had a message typed on it:
ORANGE, PLEASE RETURN TO THE HUB AND REUNITE WITH BLUE.
P-body chirped in confirmation and headed out the door to the Hub. When she arrived, he came running and embraced her tightly in his arms. He warbled to her in a worried tone. She chirped back happily, explaining what GLaDOS had offered her, and he listened, optic wide with interest.
"Orange, I have upgraded you with the capability of storing and processing data. You currently are processing Blue's and your own data."
P-body became excited at the news, and so did Atlas. He wanted nothing more than his companion to be happy. And happy, she was.
"However, because you are in this state...you will have to do things a bit...differently." GLaDOS added.
P-body's trigger finger twitched impatiently as she was swept down the tube leading to the Hub, waiting for the ride to drop them. Excitement ran throughout her like the electricity that coursed in her circuitry.
She heard Atlas laughing behind her, shouting in their own robotic language. "P-body, settle down. Everything's still here."
But despite his reassurance, she still needed to check. She scanned along the wall, weaving herself around the platforms and Ariel Faith Plates. Satisfied with it's appearance, she began to check the robot break room. Making her way to the most sacred room in the Hub, namely the diagnostics room. But P-body halted suddenly when a familiar face walk out.
Familiar, yet not exactly a welcome one.
A tall and lanky robot with a red core as a head, glanced up after setting down a bucket full of soapy water. It had a small antenna, and stood at nearly the same height as her. The Party Escort bot. And they didn't exactly see eye to eye with her.
Setting his sights on the glaring white and orange robot at the end of the hallway. He returned the glare with an icy one of his own.
"Brat," he scoffed.
"Tool," she beeped at him.
It wasn't as if the two had always been so cold with one another. It just happened to be that P-body didn't see the harm in leaving hers and Atlas's own destroyed parts in a test chamber after being reassembled and the Party Escort bot wasn't concerned if he started sweeping up after them.
It rubbed her the wrong way how the Escort bot always glared at her and her partner as if they were foreign objects. He even treated her and Atlas, two robots who lived in this facility, as specks of dirt that needed to be swept from the floor.
What did he expect? They were traveling around the facility, dust and dirt came with the test chambers of Aperture Laboratories. Sure, it was nice to have a clean Hub, but an obsessively clean Hub?
It was beyond insulting whenever they came back to be treated like an infestation. This was her Hub, she had been there first. He had practically just waltzed right in and invited himself to stay. Then he had the nerve to act like she was the intruder?
But despite their hate for each other, they played nice for the sake of avoiding a lecture. It would more than likely upset GLaDOS and Atlas to find out their companions weren't very fond of one another.
That didn't mean they couldn't exchange insults while 'looking' like they were 'playing nice'. They'd be screwed if GLaDOS ever did learn about their fighting.
Knowing very well she was the more useful, and obviously more important of the two, P-body lifted her portal gun to her chest and trotted towards the diagnostics room. She didn't need to bother herself with someone who's most challenging tasks were cleaning up dust bunnies and mildew. While she was risking life and limb to complete every test GLaDOS threw her way, he was pulling weeds in the old chambers.
"Back so soon?" he narrowed his eye, waving off the fact that their last return to the Hub had been minutes ago.
She ignored him, keeping her 'head' tilted upward, delicate feet clicking across the paneled floor. Ignoring was the most kind of retorts and P-body did her best to avoid confrontation at all times. She was very well known for being the calm and collected one of the team, no need to spoil that reputation.
Annoyed at being ignored, he just glared. But as she passed him, the Party Escort bot caught a glimpse of her glowing antenna. His annoyed expression turned into one of disgust. Dipping his washcloth back into the bucket of water, he muttered under his breath, "Well excuse me for being in the presence of Aperture Science's Finest Whore."
She paused, circuits buzzing at the comment from the creepy broken sentry. Her deep orange optic flashed dangerously as she uttered a mechanical growl. Screw her reputation.
With one swift kick of her leg the entire hallway was drenched in murky water.
Escort bot stared in shock at the mess she had just created, turning to growl at his adversary. But his anger quickly switched to P-body's vicious glare. His eye trailed to her portal gun's tractor beam just touching the surface of the water.
Looking down he found himself standing in the small pool.
Atlas glanced up as the lights in the Hub flickered a few times. Having also noticed the fluctuation of lights, GLaDOS looked into her cameras, and found The Party Escort bot slightly burnt and unconscious in the break room lying in a pool of dirty water, and P-body walking out with a satisfied look.
If she had a mouth, GLaDOS would have smiled at P-body's random act of violence. "Hm... electrocution. I should try that sometime."
P-body strode out of the break room, head held high as she continued her inspection of the Hub as if it was the most important self appointed job there was. It's not that she didn't trust her GLaDOS; it was just that she felt obligated to make sure everything was still there. Change was such a constant in her life that is was nice to come back to something that seemed to always stay the same no matter what. It was comforting.
And a perfect place for what she was preparing herself for...
Atlas, portal gun in hand, walked through the emancipation grid and into his disassembly chamber.
P-body followed close behind, looking tired and worn out, giving a despondent hum. Atlas looked back at her, but couldn't do anything, as a result of being dismantled. His body being taken apart, his broken parts being replaced, and his energy being replenished.
While the recent tests had been difficult, they had grown better at keeping alive and working as a team. And a majority of her power was focused in processing the data inside her, and had managed to run her battery down, thus P-body felt the effects heavily. It was easier to merely recharge them rather than be disassembled for a new one. Luckily, there was a recharging station she could use. She had never used it before, but she thought that it couldn't be too difficult. She was a robot, after all. Recharging was in her nature, to some extent.
Automatic panels moved aside, and the recharging station opened up to the android. Two color coded stations stood next to each other. P-Body stood before the orange station, her optic examining the cords and supports carefully. She liked to get a view of things before rushing into action.
She noticed the plugs at the end of some of the larger cords, and jumped a bit in excitement at the small shock the largest of the cords gave her. The sensation tickled, making her giggle. She noticed that she felt a bit more energy within her. Returning the top of her body in alignment with her legs, she felt around the back of her body. Sure enough, there was one large socket on the back of her body that wasn't plated, so she plugged the cord in it. She was instantly calmed, and she relaxed to enjoy the sensation of electricity coursing through her body.
Then something buzzed inside her.
She froze, standing completely still to see if she could feel the buzzing inside her again.
It was awoken by her energy. It's movement only increased the strong impression the charge gave off. It was new yet familiar all at the same time.
New...yet familiar.
Just like testing, she thought.
She took a moment to ponder that. Each test was different; new patterns, sometimes traps springing up out of nowhere without any warning.
But they were always formed the same way, using the same mechanics. They always carried familiar traits, cubes, turrets. And they were always solved using the same portals.
P-body stood up straight, her body absorbing in the electrical pulses given to her through the main cord.
Soon she'd be able to share this with it. With the one stirring up a little electric charge of its own within her.
It was such an odd feeling. New, despite the fact that she had been aware of her body's intentions weeks ago. But she had just become more aware of what it meant. What she would have to do.
She suddenly wanted to teach the child. Explain to it little things about her world that would be his/hers soon enough. Like the importance of taking great caution in GLaDOS's tests...
Atlas looked at P-body oddly as she turned to walk slowly out of the test chamber and across the hall to the staircase leading to the disassembly chambers. Not knowing if he should try to help, Atlas waited inside his disassembly chamber to watch his companion just stand in front of the stairs for a moment before moving forward. Getting up the first step seemed to be okay, but she found the next one to be slightly more difficult.
By the fourth step, it had taken three minutes, Atlas took the delay as a sign he should help. He exited his disassembly chamber and walked down the stairs to her as she struggled to get up the fifth step.
He warbled to her softly, wasting no time in gently supporting her up. Asking in their own robotic communication if she was alright.
P-body nodded lightly, leaning down on Atlas' shoulder and releasing a long artificial breath. Her companion complied, knowing she had been apt to running out of power in only a few hours because of her processing. But as he helped her up the last few steps and on the platform, he stood a moment to look at her.
She seemed a bit restless, and hadn't calmed down. Large orange optic wasn't focusing, but instead stared off at nothing in particular.
Suddenly breaking her stare she clutched her midsection, letting out a feeble cry. She wobbled on her long legs and nearly toppled over from dizziness.
Atlas watched with a mix of wonder and worry. He followed his first instinct which was to sprint down the stairs and find a camera.
It didn't take long for GLaDOS to pull them from the chamber and into a diagnostics room.
Her diagnosis didn't take very long, with a replacement of a few cords and a gentle nudge from Atlas. "You should leave her alone now..." GLaDOS said calmly.
Atlas looked up at the camera, then back at P-body, leaned down towards her, embracing her egg-shaped body in a hug. She uttered a mechanical purr and closed her optic at his touch.
GLaDOS again interrupted their moment. "Blue. Leave her alone."
Atlas couldn't tear his eyes away from his companion though. He wanted to protest. To tell GLaDOS he didn't care how it was 'supposed to be done'. But... if it was what P-body wanted...
He relented, walking out the door.
P-body lifted her 'head', watching him leave the room, and shutting the door.
This was it. She could feel the data really building up inside her. It was ready and suddenly she wasn't quite sure she was.
No... she was ready, of course she was. She was prepared, she had everything in place that her programming instructed her to. And really, if it was ready she didn't exactly have a choice. And why was she suddenly feeling jittery? Earlier in the week she was brimming with anxious energy, just wanting her child to be there.
Still...
She shook her head. If it was so hard, generation after generation of humans wouldn't continue, right? It wasn't like this would be the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life. What about being crushed? Being ripped apart by turret fire? Solving every damn test GLaDOS threw at them?
This was a piece of cake, as a human would say if something were easy...and if the cake actually existed.
Pain erupted, spiking through her mechanical body as a section of data was forced out of her through the cords connecting her to a small figure nearby.
Pastry or not, she was scared beyond all reason. And she suddenly didn't care if she was prepared or not, she was terrified. It was new, it was hard, and she was all alone.
...why was she alone?
Why did Atlas leave? It felt so nice to have him there. At least knowing she wasn't all by herself made the fear go away. And he'd always been with her through everything. It didn't feel right with him absent.
Why did GLaDOS make him leave?
Another flash of pain made her vision blur, she cried out in agony as more data was removed.
The thought of GLaDOS not wanting him to be there made her even more frightened. She couldn't bear the mix of fear and pain she was experiencing. She attempted to stand, to go get Atlas, to ask him to come back. It never hurt to ask right? Then she would at least have some comfort.
But standing seemed impossible.
A dizzy feeling quickly made her lie back down, she tried to calm herself on her own. Why was she afraid? GLaDOS said she was perfectly capable. It's not like this procedure was going to kill her...right?
Meanwhile, Atlas paced nervously around the Hub. While GLaDOS kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't try to go back in the diagnostics room.
"Blue stop worrying about Orange. She's perfectly capable of handling this." GLaDOS said, interrupting his thoughts.
Atlas refused to even blink. Why was he so bent out of shape about this? GLaDOS was right; there was nothing he could do short of sit there. He wasn't the AI who knew everything, GLaDOS was. And she knew what to do. She kept telling him that. P-body probably didn't even want him there anyway...
Yeah... Atlas thought, Yeah she's fine. She can do this. All on her own. She doesn't need me to-
"ATLAS!" A shrill, robotic scream echoed through the facility. At the sound of the shriek, Atlas dropped his portal gun and went into a full sprint toward her room, "I'M COMING, P-BODY!"
The Hub was silent for a moment as GLaDOS listened to Atlas run down the hallway and then slam the diagnostics room door shut.
"Saw that coming from a mile away..." the AI sighed.
Aperture Laboratories was overcome with deafening silence, as if everyone in the whole facility was holding their breath in anticipation.
Then a single voice was heard. A turret's voice humming a familiar tune. Slowly, more turrets joined in the tune, and soon a beautiful melody spilled forth and echoed through the vast reaches of Aperture.
Oh hush thee...my baby...the night is behind us,
And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon...o'er the combers...looks downward to find...us
At rest...in the hollows that rustle between...
Where billow meets billow...then soft be thy pillow~
Ah, weary...flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee
Nor shark overtake thee,
Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas...
P-body and Atlas held hands as the turrets' song echoed through the facility like water flowing in a river.
Asleep iiin the aaaaaarms...of the slow swinging seeeeeas...
The turrets hummed the final part the melody. The last notes of the song echoed through the facility before fading away...
Atlas was sitting next to P-body. She was lying on the stainless steel table, while Atlas absorbed everything that had happened in the few earlier hours. His optic was focused on the single orange one next to him shining in the low light of the room.
P-body was sprawled out on the table, her unblinking stare directed back at his. She was beyond exhausted, barely having the strength to utter a single beep, but you would never be able to tell by her stare. Bright and alert. Atlas's optic shutter upturned in a "smile" at the content look she was giving him.
He'd stayed next to P-body for the last several hours, but resisted the urge to do anything more than just comfort her by holding her hand.
Unlike everything GLaDOS had been telling him, P-body didn't seem to want to be left alone. If he moved she'd lift her head in alarm and wouldn't relax until he was back within her sight. He was happy to stay though, not wanting to be anywhere else and glad she needed him.
He had thought about going downstairs after she had finished to let GLaDOS know, but he couldn't tear himself away. He wanted GLaDOS to look the data over, maybe even tell him what the gender was going to be. It was all incredibly exciting, but the quiet in the diagnostic room at the moment was so nice.
He'd keep it that way a while longer
He propped his arms up on his elbows, warbling softly to his companion. He gently congratulated P-body, his tone making her smile. She shifted just slightly to nudge him. Seemingly satisfied, she then settled back down to continue to stare at him. She released a long artificial sigh and her optic shutters started to droop.
A/N: So let me know what you guys think! This was based off a dream I had, so it's not the best. I'm wondering if I should make a sequel...
Please review!
EDIT: I decided to choose a different song. Singing Cara Mia didn't seem very special. So instead they sing "The Seal Lullaby" by Eric Whitacre.