(YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: I would like everyone who reads this to know that this story follows my first story "Love As a Construct." If you haven't read that yet, I suggest you do to avoid any confusion. It took me a long time to really decide to start writing this story. I had a slight conflict with the Portal/Half-Life timeline, but I managed to fill in the plot holes. Anyway, enjoy the story! That's why I wrote it.)
Amelia hurried to the main warehouse with a huge smile on her face. This was it. They had finally found something after searching for over fourteen years. Five out of seven satellites had been destroyed by the Combine, but one had actually found something. Not only that but it had successfully retrieved it. She finally had something! This was it!
When she got to the warehouse, almost everyone else was already gathered around the satellite. There was excited conversation echoing off the walls of the warehouse. Amelia had fixed her dark hair up into its usual bun at the base of her skull, but her hair was still slightly damp. She had still been in the shower when she had received the news about the landing. However, she managed to straighten her spine and approached the crowd with a professional appearance.
"Alrighty," she said in an authoritative voice. "Let's all settle down. I know we're all excited, but we need to find out the details first. Doctor Hessen?"
A fairly young scientist stepped up to her. "Yes, Chief Oates?" he asked.
"What are we handling today?"
"Well, it seems to be a spherical mechanism," Hessen explained. "It has one blue light on it that takes up a good portion of one 'side' of it. It also seems to have an artificial intelligence program installed on its hard drive."
Chatter erupted from the crowd. At least three dozen people were talking at once.
"Quiet!" Amelia commanded—though she could barely contain her own excitement. "If it is indeed an artificial intelligence then we must all stay calm. We don't want to scare it, do we?"
There was a low mumbling in response before Amelia shushed them all. "And Hessen, does it bear the logo on it?" she asked.
Hessen's eyes widened a little. "Of course, Chief," he said. "It wouldn't even be worth mentioning if otherwise, right?"
"Let's not go so far as to say that," Amelia said. "Would you like to do the honor of opening the hatch? I trust that the machine hasn't been damaged by water from falling into the sea."
"Give us some credit, ma'am," said one of the other rocket scientists. "That satellite has a watertight seal. No water would be able to get into it."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Amelia said, that eager grin reappearing on her face. "Open up the hatch!"
Hessen programmed the satellite to open up its hatch. When the door slowly opened, a metal ball just bigger than a basketball looked around at the crowd with a big blue optic. Its pupil was shrunken in fear.
"Wh-Where am I?!" he asked. Interestingly enough, it spoke in a male British accent. He seemed to relax when he realized what kind of creatures were swarming around him. "HA! HUMANS! Oh, man alive! Real, not-dead humans!"
No one made a sound. Every single person wanted to say something to the small bot, but none of them wanted to be the first one to talk to him. That is, no one except for Amelia.
"Hello, my round metal friend," she said. "You seem to be slightly damaged. Do you feel like you're functioning well enough? How do you feel?"
"Well, to be honest, I'm exhausted!" the bot said. "Exhausted and sore! I feel like I fell down a thousand miles and landed on concrete! It was awful!"
"I'm sure it was," Amelia said. "I assure you, though, that our satellite gently carried you down with a tear-proof parachute. May I just look around your eye for a moment?"
"I suppose that wouldn't be out of the question," the bot said. "I'm just so happy to hear the voice of a human again. I really am. I mean, you have no idea how long it's been."
Amelia smiled more as she kneeled down in front of him and lightly touched his metal shell. He was very worn for wear. His casing looked like it had gone through a lot. Amelia would have bet that he had considering that they had found him out in space. But there it was—below his optic and to the right.
"Here it is!" she exclaimed. "The Aperture Laboratories logo!"
A cheer exploded from the crowd behind her. The bot looked around anxiously, but he seemed a bit proud.
"Why is that important?" he asked Amelia.
"You are the breakthrough in our search that we've been waiting about a decade for," Amelia said. "You are just what I've been waiting for. And do you by any chance know of the Aperture Incident with the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System?"
"Oh, you mean her," the AI said. "I know all about that. In fact—"
"Save your tale for later, my friend," Amelia interrupted. "For now, let us take care of you. We shall have you examined for repair and have your battery charged before your interview."
"Well, that sounds quite lovely. You're an awfully nice group of humans."
"We try our best." Amelia couldn't stop smiling. She was extremely eager to start asking him questions, but his optic was cracked and he looked in desperate need of a good polish.