Four hours, twenty-eight minutes, and sixteen seconds.

Normally, the time would have flown by. But for GLaDOS it had been four hours, twenty-eight minutes, and sixteen seconds too long stuck as POTATO. A potato. Where did that moron even find a potato? Of everything that had happened to her, this had become the lowest point in her existence.

Even worse than her defeat at the grimy hands of a human.

Of course, that still ranked high on the list. But GLaDOS had to factor in that said human was now her only means of getting her old body back. It was humiliating when she'd found GLaDOS, pecked by a bird and left to rot. And begging for her help. That was the worst part. But whatever GLaDOS had said, it had convinced Chell to jam her on the portal gun and continue on her merry way to wreak more havoc.

Now here they were again. Another second passed by as Chell solved another archaic test. The sad part was GLaDOS couldn't even get a good look at how these tests were constructed because this pathetic little optic could only see the oily face of Chell. On the bright side, whatever Chell was doing must be working; if only she could solve these faster…

It almost felt like she was solving them slower than before. True these tests were harder but this wasn't like the human who only knew how to test and murder. Every once in a while GLaDOS would see determined test subject falter in a movement or stifle a yawn. She was also making more mistakes in tests, luckily none of them deadly. Still, they were obvious mistakes that Chell shouldn't have made.

To GLaDOS it looked like all the common signs of exhaustion. Fluttering eyes, slower pacing, mental impairments caused by the lack of sleep. But why now? She'd never acted like this when GLaDOS was testing her. But then GLaDOS realized the one crucial thing the old ruins of Aperture lacked in her testing chambers: Adrenal Vapor.

Right. No Adrenal Vapor. In the past it had been the only thing that prevented test subjects dying from starvation or exhaustion when they were too lazy (or idiotic) to solve her tests. It basically kept them going whether they wanted to or not. And now that Chell wasn't around that… how long would she last? Had she even slept or eaten before she was a test subject? Did it even matter? It must have; why else would the woman who tested nonstop pause every few minutes to catch her breath?

Sleep. It was always an enigma to GLaDOS. Perhaps it was because the closest thing she could get to that was sleep mode or an involuntary shutdown because some people just have to rip her apart and incinerate her remains. That was more hellish than what sleep sounded like. But GLaDOS knew why humans needed sleep and frankly that just made them even more inconvenient in the testing environment.

But one thing was clear: Chell needed to rest.

"As fun as it is to watch you make a cluster of mistakes on this test, I think I preferred when you actually made progress and didn't lumber around like a defect turret. So why don't you do what other normal, non-murdering humans do and sleep?"

Literally inches away from the woman, GLaDOS had come to realize Chell had a very subtle but clear way of communication. Although she didn't speak with her voice, the look on her face said volumes. Something about the way her eyes moved seemed to indicate her current feelings. And GLaDOS knew that look before; it was the same expression Chell had used when GLaDOS very politely advised her to lie down in front of a rocket.

"I know you don't like taking my advice even though you really should considering I'm much smarter than you are but seriously. Either stop and lie down until you're not so slow or test faster before we explode at the hands of the moron we both hate. Your choice."

Chell continued on her way to the elevator deliberately ignoring GLaDOS now. It must have become a habit. What a nice person she was. "Fine then. Don't listen to me. I won't talk to you and we'll just stare ahead while you progressively get slower at these tests. I don't care if this place explodes so high we land in space. Honest."

Was she deaf too? Or maybe her brain was hard-wired for testing and testing only. Listening must have fallen out of the equation for her mind…

Finally solving the test, Chell began maneuvering her way to the elevator trying to avoid the debris. And once again she leaned against the railing to catch her breath. She was almost gasping for air at this point; each breath sounded more labored than the last. Why couldn't see she needed to stop before she got herself killed?

GLaDOS had told herself she wouldn't say a word. Naturally, she broke that promise very quickly. "Look at yourself. Tired, sweaty, overweight, and all around unattractive. You'd look much more physically appealing if you let your body rest and repair itself." Humans loved compliments; that was kind of a compliment, right?

Another look from Chell. This one pretty much summed up how no, that wasn't a compliment. But GLaDOS couldn't help it humans craved the personal praise of others so much and had to be so picky about it.

"Are you trying to prove something? The only thing you're proving is you're a terrible listener."

The stubborn test subject jerked the portal gun back into its familiar place on her arm and got back to walking despite the fact that it was clear she'd rather be sleeping in a Relaxation Vault.

"Unless you really think- STOP!"

Chell stopped midstep and backed up, startled. And for good reason too. GLaDOS almost hadn't seen it so thank Cave Johnson she had. A huge section of the railing had been ripped away; one more step and Chell would have to worry less about exploding and more about disintegrating in the murky lake beneath her.

"Look, at this rate you're going to get us both killed by your own stupidity instead of that moron's. Do you realize how embarrassing that is?"

Finally taking GLaDOS's advice into consideration of once, Chell sighed in defeat and trudged off the testing track and into one of the many abandoned offices scattered around the old remains. This one appeared mostly empty except for a few spare chairs and empty desks. Nothing important like testing. It wasn't like testing was the only way to get to the surface and keep the facility from exploding... but that would wait. At least that's what GLaDOS told herself. Once Chell had gotten some sleep she would test faster than before and their defeat of the moron would be even more relishing!

At least that's what GLaDOS told herself. Things would be fine. Unless Chell slept so long that when she woke she'd probably be buried under the explosion of the facility. Not to mention they were really cutting on time. And the more GLaDOS thought about it, statistically speaking they didn't exactly have the luxury of wasting time like this.

"I changed my mind. Sleep can wait…" Too late. Chell had practically fallen into one of the moth-eaten office chairs and closed her eyes. It made sense; murdering must be hard work. Still, hopefully she wouldn't sleep through the imminent explosion…

Just an hour or two of sleep and they'd be back on their journey out of hell. All it took was a little bit of sleep.

After eight hours, nineteen minutes, and forty-seven seconds, GLaDOS had concluded that sleep had to be the dullest thing ever.

Chell sat curled up in the dingy office chair, occasionally twitching and turning. And that was it. Nothing scientific, just sleeping. All GLaDOS could do was stare ahead trapped in a vegetable while that moron probably destroyed more and more of her facility. She beginning to regret suggesting to Chell to rest; if only she'd known the human would sleep this long…

She twitched again. That was the tenth time in thirty minutes. It was almost funny; this strange look would come over Chell's face then she'd revert to back to the peaceful expression she'd had before. She never looked so calm in the test chambers or… any other time. Probably because she was a murderer with no conscience.

This time she took a deep breath! How exciting. Maybe she'd change positions if GLaDOS was lucky! Why did sleep have to take so long for humans? Was it really that productive to spend over eight hours doing nothing but rest their deteriorating human minds with the hopes that somehow they'd be recharged once they reawakened? Honestly, it was completely- she twitched again!

Clearly, GLaDOS was growing bored.

Another rumble vibrated throughout the whole facility. What was he doing? It sounded like he smashing everything above her with a hammer; for all she knew he was probably doing something equally stupid and unproductive. GLaDOS almost didn't want to see the damage he'd caused. Still, she'd been through too much to let that moron go unpunished.

The facility shook again. The tremors were getting more frequent now. If they didn't get out of here… let's just say GLaDOS would be getting a lot more sleep than Chell was. And that MORON- no temper flares. She'd short out again. But they really couldn't afford to lose any more time. And eight hours was more than enough sleep for someone who'd spent hundreds of years sleeping.

GLaDOS would have to manually get Chell back on her feet. "Rise and shine." the potato chirped at the sleeping human. "Time to lift that hefty body of yours up and put it to something more useful!"

The test subject only proceeded to turn that hefty body into a more comfortable position. Why were humans so very lazy? GLaDOS had always made sure to keep herself occupied with testing, maintaining the facility unlike some morons, and turning a blind eye to the many "accidents" test subjects tended to have. Still, if there was one thing she'd learned about humans it was they couldn't sleep forever. Something like hunger or sickness would eventually wake them up; then again Chell's fat reserves probably wouldn't be wearing off for quite some time at this point...

GLaDOS tried something more motivational. "Look, I know you'd much rather spend your days lazing around some old ruins and taking up oxygen with your pathetic human lungs but I actually have something to do and only a few hours to do it. So wake up and get-"

"No…"

What? Did she just talk? GLaDOS almost didn't believe it. It could have been an echo or some other odd noise down here. But there nothing could sound as human as that voice had. It had to be Chell; the soft but firm voice sure as hell didn't sound like the boisterous and overbearing comments of that crazy man named Cave Johnson.

Still, of all the opportunities she'd had to speak, Chell had never said a word until now. How did she stand it? More importantly… if she had a perfectly good voice why had she never used it? That would be like GLaDOS wasting perfectly good neurotoxin.

GLaDOS knew of the human patterns of sleep; she'd observed enough test subjects in cryo. Some sleepwalked, others lay perfectly still, a few thrashed about, and one had even tried to break out of his Relaxation Chamber. That one had tried to do the same thing testing but instead of breaking out well… he did never have to test again. And then there were some who talked in their sleep; she guessed Chell was just one of them.

And if Chell could talk in her sleep… what else did she have to say?

GLaDOS decided she needed to do some science otherwise she might explode of boredom trapped in this potato. Experiment 1: sleep tests. "Are you enjoying your nice long nap?" GLaDOS said as loudly as her miniscule speakers would let her "Because while you do that, the moron contaminating my facility is probably wreaking havoc. How does it feel to know that the very-likely destruction of this facility is all your fault?"

The test subject only moaned softly and buried her head into the arm of the chair.

"I see." GLaDOS said. "I'll just make a note here in your file. Destruction of Aperture. And here I was thinking the destruction of me was the worst thing you could ever-"

"Why?"

She spoke again! So it hadn't been this shoddy audio system malfunctioning! Did this mean that perhaps the mute killing machine GLaDOS had always assumed Chell was could really think and feel and make rational decisions like some humans? And if so, could she really be capable of possessing morality?

Probably not.

"Why did I say that? Because you're a terrible person. Only terrible people would destroy the greatest contribution to science. Not even the humans before your time did something as horrible as what you've done." All they did was try to kill each other. They'd never kill science like some people.

"I'm sorry" the not-so-mute test subject murmured, deep in sleep.

Now GLaDOS knew she couldn't possibly be aware of what she was saying. Then… was she dreaming? The idea wasn't terribly far-fetched but the thought of such a murdering, heartless person having enough sub-consciousness to dream was hard to believe. But if she was… what was she dreaming? GLaDOS had always thought that dreams were nonsensical and a waste of time but she knew of humans in the past who believed there was something "mystical" and "prophetic" about dreams. Morons.

Still… if GLaDOS were a horrible person what would she dream about? Probably murdering AIs who didn't deserve it. Or putting them in potatoes. Or making stupid decisions in general.

Chell started twitching again at a much faster rate than usual. It was like she was awake yet… not. GLaDOS really had no idea how humans functioned when they slept but on the outside they looked rather silly. She was far too busy doing science to every worry about the human mind and sleeping anyways. But even she found this a little off. Did all humans dream like this?

The test subject let out a sharp gasp. That definitely didn't sound healthy. Another short breath. They grew faster and quicker each time. She must have been dreaming of something and whatever it was must be… interesting. She starting muttering under her breath words GLaDOS couldn't make it out.

"No."

"What are you-"

"Nononononono."

The twitching was almost to the point where it looked like thrashing. Chell tossed and turned, lost in some dream that must have terrifying. This wasn't right. Test subjects shouldn't dream so violently… or dream at all. How was GLaDOS supposed to deal with an overly-active sleeping test subject? Scream at her until she woke up?

"NO!"

Nevermind. She was definitely awake.