"Don't be so afraid to open your mouth in front of me, Chell. I've seen you eat before, and no amount of talking can top that."
Chell scowled but didn't turn to look at GLaDOS; instead, she stayed fixated on the clipboard in her hand that the super computer had given her, complete with a sheet containing words with various vowel sounds.
Chell was back at Aperture, but it wasn't a completely odd occurrence at this point. She had gone back a few times, actually; the first was to make sure all this was actually happening and not just another simulation, and GLaDOS offered to welcome her back once a month so she wouldn't "feel so guilty about setting a brain damaged murderer free into the human world."
This particular time, GLaDOS had encouraged her to come to the facility so she could help her with her "infantile inability to communicate verbally instead of psychotically."
In other words, GLaDOS was convinced to help Chell learn to speak. She had taken a long hard look at the young woman's file; she knew she had the vocal chords for the job, albeit damaged from her many years in relaxation stasis.
"Try the first word. 'Cat.' Just open your mouth up like you're going to scream at me. I know you've always wanted to," GLaDOS instructed in her trademark sarcastic fashion, her shining yellow optic intent on Chell's face.
Chell took a deep breath, but she couldn't shake her frown. She had tried articulating before, in the Rattman dens she often encountered while testing. She had always stopped herself when she felt her voice start to flutter in her chest; the feeling was foreign and honestly frightening.
The two sat in silence in the central AI chamber, GLaDOS being uncharacteristically patient with the brunette. Chell parted her lips at least, and gave the word a shot.
"...s…," she managed to squeak out, vocalizing some sort of hiss rather than any actual vowels. Her face was hot and red, and she looked at GLaDOS for some sort of recognition, her clear blue eyes wide with wonder.
"You completely missed the mark - not that I thought you wouldn't, of course - but a sound is a sound," the robot said after a minute or two of pondering how to least crush the former test subject's hopes and dreams. "Now, go for an 'ah' rather than a pale imitation of a snake."
Chell inhaled again, straight to her core, and her gaze fell to the ground.
"..Kuh…," she said in a hoarse, small voice; her hands immediately shot up to her throat, and she tenderly touched her neck in disbelief.
That may have honestly been the first time she had ever heard her voice, and to think it would be in front of GLaDOS; the AI drew in closer to Chell, obviously amused.
"That was dangerously close to being almost a sound," the core pointed out. "One more consonant, and you might have fooled me into thinking you knew how to follow directions."
Chell cracked a small smile at the comment. She was pleased with her progress, and GLaDOS would never admit it, but she could tell the super computer was only masking her complacency with sarcasm.
Suddenly, a resounding crack echoed throughout the chamber, and the stark white of the overhead lights flickered; the floor reverberated from the sheer volume of the thunderstorm that had just startled the two, and Chell immediately whipped around to make sure GLaDOS hadn't been affected by the power surge.
"I'm running on an uninterruptible power supply," GLaDOS informed Chell when she saw the look of concern written in the human's azure eyes. "Some myriad lightning can't take me down. Only the heft of a stubborn human like you has ever managed it."
Chell rolled her eyes, but found herself startled again when another crack of thunder bounced around seemingly every wall in Aperture.
"The weather on the surface is quite miserable," GLaDOS informed the brunette, her shining optic shifted upwards towards the ceiling. "Lots of rain, lots of running deer."
She surveyed Chell curiously. The brunette woman was acting a bit shifty, indeed; when another crack of thunder rolled throughout the outside clouds, she jumped and dropped her clipboard, and GLaDOS squinted.
Chell's expression was stoic as always, and quite guarded; but the super computer caught a glimpse of something other than resolute determination in the woman's gaze.
"I'm truly speechless," GLaDOS said, although it was quite apparent that she was, as usual, not speechless at all. "I've seen you jump face first into pits of acid, and yet you are displaying all signs of fear of thunderstorms."
Chell violently shook her head, but was feeling rather unsettled. When it had first stormed on the surface after she had left Aperture, it had been a terrifying experience. She had never seen rain before, let alone thunder or lightning. It was beautiful, but made her jump with every dance of light through the sky, and every boom from the clouds.
In all honestly, the thunderstorm was one of the main reasons she had sheepishly marched back into the facility and faced GLaDOS's bullying all throughout her stay during the storm.
"I can't believe you still think you can hide anything from me," the core said in a taunting tone, one of her object removal claws extending from the ceiling to take Chell's clipboard.
Chell reached down and held on tightly to the paper, giving GLaDOS a steely, guarded look; GLaDOS surveyed her quizzically, trying to read the human's face.
"You want to continue practicing? If you can call what little progress you made today practice, I suppose," GLaDOS questioned, and Chell frowned but nodded.
GLaDOS tilted her faceplate upward and looked to her chamber ceiling, admiring the large upper rings of her chassis as she did so. There was still the distant rumble of thunder echoing throughout her facility, and she looked back to Chell, who seemed even smaller than usual in the large room.
"I don't suppose you want to sit in the rain all night," the robot said, drawing in closer to the former test subject. "Although, a shower wouldn't do you any harm."
Chell shrugged, inching away from GLaDOS's face plate; she wouldn't bring herself to lock eyes with the core, and so she pretended to study her clipboard yet again.
"Stay here," the core offered, though it sounded more like a command.
Chell was bewildered. She wasn't exactly sure what GLaDOS meant, so she was skeptical. Did she not want Chell to move? Did she want Chell to stay with her during the storm?
Chell bit her lip and raised an eyebrow at the large robot before her.
GLaDOS seemed almost embarrassed to repeat her previous statement.
"Stay here during the storm," she said again, her tone unreadable. "I can have a bed brought out for you."
She studied Chell's stunned expression, and started to desperately add in some jabs, realizing how very un-GLaDOS like what she was saying sounded.
"Well, you'd no doubt break the bed, but it's better than you potentially denting my floors," the AI said quickly, watching as Chell grabbed the pen from the top of the clipboard and began to write on the paper.
She held the sheet up to GLaDOS, who was non-plussed and seemingly awestruck as she read "THANKS" scrawled out across it in big, shaky letters.
GLaDOS's yellow optic widened, and Chell swore she could hear her fans and CPU wirring louder than before.
"To think, all these years, all I needed to do was give you a pen and paper," the AI quipped, the front entrance to her chamber abruptly sliding open and startling Chell almost as much as the subsequent thunder.
"Go," GLaDOS ordered, her tone now dry and almost tired-sounding. "I'll set you up with a bed and a quiet room - be careful not to bounce around too much, or you might find yourself waking up another fifty-thousand years in the future."
Chell turned back to GLaDOS one last time and gave her a sheepish smile; a much larger smile than the core was used to seeing from the otherwise reserved woman, and she could feel her processor usage skyrocketing as she made sure to capture every pixel of that smile on record.
The door closed shut behind her, and GLaDOS was alone again. Well, not fully alone, given that Chell was elsewhere in the facility, but everytime she walked out, the core could feel that overwhelming pressure of nothingness that was beginning to feel like the norm.
The thought of being so familiar with that empty, hollow feeling scared GLaDOS. Behind closed doors, when Aperture was seemingly sleeping and all she could hear was the rain and thunder that drowned out the sounds of her own chassis, she felt as human as she could possibly feel.
She had felt "alone" when Chell had first ascended to the surface; she chalked it up to losing the only test subject that could ever navigate even her most lethal chambers, but when Chell had showed back up on her doorstep, her relief at the time couldn't be because she had simply "re-gained a test subject."
Every subsequent time Chell left Aperture, the feeling of being "alone" would return to GLaDOS and, even though she had just seen the girl, would somehow hang around her even heavier, almost like a regulating personality core.
GLaDOS was just about fed up with the feeling. She had been, and would always be, alone her whole life. She did away with the humans that interacted with her by choice, and just because she couldn't bring herself to off this one didn't mean she had any special bond with Chell.
As she thought this, though, she found herself replaying the video of Chell smiling that she had captured right before this lonely feeling hit her full force again, and she couldn't help but feel at least a bit braver.
Meanwhile, Chell was following Atlas and P-Body to what seemed to be a test chamber door. Upon entering behind the two robots, she found that it was a rather small room, with the exit linked up to another door leading to the Central AI Chamber hallway, and the exit was, much to her surprise, already active.
No surveillance cameras or observation rooms were visible along the black-paneled walls. There was only a singular light strip, a relaxation vault to provide a toilet, and a surprisingly cozy looking bed tucked into the corner.
P-Body and Atlas waited for Chell to sit on the bed and give them a glance before waving to her and exiting the room; the door slid shut behind them, and Chell was alone in Aperture in another test chamber.
The feeling of being back outside of GLaDOS's chamber made her skin crawl. She had goosebumps and was feeling more distraught by the second as the fourth or fifth violent crack of thunder rumbled throughout the facility.
Chell looked to her clipboard for a distraction, and brandished her pen in her hand.
There were quite a few words that the core had given for her to try out. She squinted in the dimly lit makeshift bedroom and tried to mouth them as she read.
Cat. Cut. You. Me. May. Box. Test. Lid. Snow. GLaDOS. Chell.
Chell blinked. GLaDOS - she had seen that name on the side of the robot's 'body' so many times now, and it felt weirdly foreign to see it written down on printer paper like this.
She couldn't help but grin. She found it funny that GLaDOS had given her her name to try and say, rather than a word like "glass" that would have worked just as well. She was also surprised to see her own name on the list. She had never seen it written down, nor written it herself, only heard it.
Something overcame the brunette woman as she scanned the list up and down again, and she felt her hand creep up to her neck again.
Determined, as she often was, she found herself able to make a "kuh" sound like earlier. The feeling of using her voice still felt horribly strained and accidental, but it was something she wanted to do for herself.
She sighed. It was something she wanted to do for GLaDOS, as well.
Chell spent most of the night trying to speak. She had known from the beginning she wouldn't be able to fall asleep. The thunderstorm as well as the dread of being back in a test chamber were enough to keep her awake all night, but she was genuinely thankful for being given a respite from facing the storm that raged on the surface.
The storm was only getting worse, however, and Chell was feeling supremely uneasy. The thunder was loud, and the rain was like bullets around the metal room. The former test subject bit her lip, and looked to the open exit door.
She couldn't even hear the familiar flipping of panels, or scanning of turrets, or even the buzz of the many emancipation grills she knew were set up throughout the facility. She could only hear the rain, and it was haunting her.
Chell took her clipboard and headed for the exit, even though her bed was soft and warm and the chamber floor was cold and hard beneath her feet.
She had no idea what the time was, but she had to estimate at least past midnight. She briskly made her way to the Central AI Chamber; GLaDOS would no doubt be upset with her coming in late at night with no warning, but Chell was willing to do anything to not be alone in that dark test chamber with the storm surrounding her.
The young woman waited for the vaulted door before her to open, and quietly tip-toed in; GLaDOS was hanging from the chamber ceiling as always, looking quite alien in the now dark room, and she seemed to have taken no notice of Chell.
Chell was feeling more awkward by the second, and considered just leaving before the core realized she was there. The thought of being alone with her hoarse voice and the tumultuous thunder in the test chamber made her stomach turn, however, and she found herself walking right up to GLaDOS's face plate.
She was startled to find that her normally so bright and piercing optic was off; the robot's chassis was not limp, but it did seem more rigid than normal.
Chell experimentally grazed GLaDOS's face plate with her hand, her fingers ghosting over the metal. She was surprised at how smooth and warm her body was. She could feel the pleasant hum of the core's internal wiring and processors, and it was admittedly calming.
Chell pressed her hand more firmly against GLaDOS this time, enjoying the warmth and vibration coming off from her exterior. GLaDOS didn't react at all to the contact, and Chell experimentally pressed her forehead against the space above GLaDOS's eye.
She felt as if she was almost reading the AI's thoughts. The hum was loud in her ears, but not unpleasant, and it was helping the headache she hadn't even known she'd had.
The core still wasn't stirring, though, and Chell felt very much alone in the room, her fatigue from not sleeping preventing her from standing face to face with the AI for much longer.
She brought her other hand up to GLaDOS's face plate and licked her lips, preparing herself to try to speak yet again.
"...os," she whispered, her voice faint and even quieter than the humming of GLaDOS's processors against her forehead. She got no response.
Chell swallowed and tried again, daring to actually attempt to get the AI's attention.
"GLaDOS," the woman croaked, her voice taking her aback; it erupted from her throat and reverberated around the room, and the core's optic instantaneously shone once again with a bright yellow light.
GLaDOS found herself staring directly into Chell's bottomless cerulean eyes, and she instinctively pulled herself back and away from the human.
Chell, realizing how odd it must have seemed to witness her standing there with her hands and forehead all over her chassis, immediately blushed a deep red and she was stunned back to silence, scrambling for her pen and clipboard.
GLaDOS had no patience to wait for her to write whatever message she had, however, and the core switched on every last chamber light and drew herself high up, fixing her gaze intently on Chell from above.
"Up for a late night snack, and you just couldn't resist slobbering on me?" she snarled, not bothering to read the paper Chell was desperately holding up to her. "There's a lot more food for you on the surface. Maybe you should take that clipboard with you and use it as an umbrella, because let's face it - anything written on it is wasted on you."
Another startlingly loud rumble of thunder coursed throughout the chamber, but Chell was too upset to care. She stomped her foot in frustration and pointed at her clipboard, which GLaDOS had a claw immediately snatch up.
"You leave in the morning, and if I catch you back in here after tonight, you won't be seeing the surface ever again," the core said icily as she opened the central chamber doors.
Chell was in disbelief. What in the world was making GLaDOS act so toxic? All she had done was come into the central AI chamber and touched her face plate; it's not like some act of sabotage had gone on, and Chell had worked so hard to say all of the words on the sheet she had given her.
The brunette woman was reminded strikingly of GLaDOS's attitude from when she had re-awoken her with Wheatley, and she felt the inside of her stomach churn with something akin to poison.
She turned away from the core and tightened the jumpsuit sleeves tied around her waist.
"No," she said loudly, but still in a very airy, raspy tone, "I leave now."
Chell darted from the room and down the hall, racing past a very concerned looking Atlas.
GLaDOS was stunned; had Chell just spoke? She hadn't even thought to record the moment, she had been so upset. A part of her was unsure what she had just heard was actually the human's voice.
GLaDOS opened the directory of video and audio recordings from the last hour, and only had the ones from while she was observing P-Body's testing track, which was presumably when Chell had come in.
She ran back the footage; she saw Chell sneak in and walk up to her faceplate, then put her hands and face against her.
Then, she heard her name.
GLaDOS replayed the clip; Chell had in fact said her name, she was now confirming.
The core was feeling both upset and regretful at the same time. She had gotten so angry with the former test subject because, in all honesty, she had embarrassed her.
GLaDOS had been running back clips of their recent encounters whilst surveying her test chambers, and to focus back to her chamber only to find herself eye to eye with Chell had made her feel almost weak.
She had only been rewatching surveillance of Chell to alleviate that gnawing loneliness, but seeing the woman so close to her was more than she could handle.
GLaDOS supposed she had been too harsh. She didn't want Chell to leave; she just didn't want her processors to reach near maximum heat like that again, either. What Chell had done was bad for her motherboard.
The AI remembered the neglected message Chell had written on her papers, and she hastily held the clipboard up to her optic.
I was anxious because of the thunder and some other things. I can't sleep and came here because I was nervous and wanted to show you my speech progress. I had only been trying to wake you up and I'm sorry.
Shit. GLaDOS didn't usually feel remorse for her actions, but she was sincerely kicking herself in her hypothetical ass for being so cruel just now.
She checked the secret camera in Chell's room, but she wasn't there. She scanned the hallways surrounding that area of Aperture; no sign of the human.
GLaDOS groaned internally. There was no way Chell had actually managed to leave the facility, right? She was almost certain the only way out was the lift, and only she could call it down.
Begrudgingly, she turned to her PA system, and thought for a second about what exactly to say.
"Chell," she started, praying her godforsaken co-op testing robots somehow couldn't hear her, "Please come back to the Central AI Chamber immediately."
She mentally kicked herself again; that sounded a lot bossier than intended.
"Forget what I just said. Please come back," she continued. "I read your note. I completely misunderstood the situation. I hope you're still in the Aperture Enrichment Center. Are you? Don't answer that, I won't be able to hear you."
She paused.
"But I can hear you if you come back, because you've made tremendous progress on your speech therapy. So, please come back."
All GLaDOS could do now was wait and continue scanning the facility for signs of the brunette. She didn't even have the appetite for more testing at the moment, and that was saying something.
Meanwhile, Chell was huddled up in one of Rattman's hideouts from his imprisonment at Aperture. She had heard the announcement GLaDOS had made over the PA system, but she wasn't ready to go back.
She was embarrassed and hurt, and she was livid at being kicked out again. GLaDOS hadn't even said she was sorry over the intercom, and that had ground her gears even more.
Chell was half a mind to stay hidden until morning and take the lift to the surface without a word, just to spite GLaDOS and make her worry.
The human bit her lip and wondered if her storming off had even worried her at all. GLaDOS had made an announcement over the intercom, but Chell figured she had only done so so that she wasn't running amuck in her facility.
Chell stood up and stretched, slowly and quietly crawling back into the enrichment center hallway.
She told herself that GLaDOS did care, and she was going to march back to the central AI chamber and demand an apology.
Also, she felt a bit bad, even though she knew she shouldn't. She didn't want things to be uncomfortable between her and the robot who, as much as it made her frown to admit it, had become her friend.
The human approached the still closed doors to the chamber and, not wanting to "break in" like last time, knocked.
There was a second of hesitation before the doors slid open, and Chell and GLaDOS locked eyes, sky blue meeting sun yellow.
Neither said a word; not that Chell was expected to, anyway.
GLaDOS wasn't a fan of uncomfortable silences, and she looked away from Chell before speaking, unable to make eye contact after her misunderstanding.
"Sorry," she said, not even over her chamber intercom, but from her core itself.
Chell blinked, her mouth slightly agape. She hadn't expected an outright apology and was a bit nonplussed that she had gotten one. She just stared up at GLaDOS, who still wasn't looking at her, a troubled expression on the human's face.
Chell cleared her throat, intent on voicing at least somethingto the AI. Not only did her throat hurt from yelling earlier, though, she found that she could think of nothing to say.
"...s'okay," she managed after some contemplating, and her speaking had enough shock value to get GLaDOS's ocular input back on her now somewhat red face.
"So you really are talking," the core said in mock-astonishment, trying to lighten the mood that both of them felt weighing very heavily around the room. "I thought I might be having an auditory malfunction."
Chell gave the core a weak smile, but her eyes still seemed unsure. GLaDOS groaned aloud, taking the brunette woman aback.
"Chell, must you torture me like this?" the super computer asked, drawing in closer to the human, who inched away from her in turn.
Chell gave her a quizzical look, her heart beat nearly audible in her chest as GLaDOS's faceplate drew closer.
"You look so...human," GLaDOS continued, her tone morose. "As in sad. Emotional. I didn't peg you as the type to hold a grudge, considering that has always been my character archetype."
Chell gave the core a more genuine smile, and she slowly approached GladOS, trying to show the robot that she had truly, honestly forgiven her.
GLaDOS's optic narrowed, not fully convinced.
"Say something, I know you can," she teased, and Chell bit her lip. There was a lot she wanted to say, truth be told, but she didn't have the vocal chords for it. At least, not at the moment.
The woman hesitated, taking in a deep breath.
"Don't...get mad," Chell began slowly and in a near whisper, and GLaDOS was sure to record this instance of speech on her surveillance cameras.
"Don't get mad about what?" the core pressed, wanting to hear more of Chell's voice, already such a rarity.
"At me," the brunette continued. Her eyes bored straight into GLaDOS. "For earlier."
Ah. GLaDOS understood. Chell was still feeling unsure about why the core had been so volatile earlier; it was to be expected, considering they had been getting along quite well as of late.
"I won't," GLaDOS assured the human, pressing her faceplate awkwardly against the top of Chell's head.
The contact made the human jump, and she gave the core a quizzical look.
"As an apology, you're welcome to do...whatever it is you were doing earlier when you broke in to molest me," the core explained, referring to when Chell had rested her head against GLaDOS.
Chell was an even deeper shade of red now; she crossed her arms, but didn't turn away. It had been soothing; she could hear every last mechanism in GLaDOS's large, warm chassis, and it had made her feel the calmest she's felt in a long time.
Tentatively, Chell put her hands on either side of the robot's face plate; GLaDOS shook slightly, but was quiet, watching the human intently.
Chell slowly raised her head and pressed her forehead against the top of GLaDOS's core, and the familiar heat and hum of electronics met her skin, and she could feel herself practically melting into the AI.
"Does this feel pleasant, Chell?" GLaDOS asked quietly, her synthesized voice vibrating throughout her faceplate and into Chell's ears.
"Yes," the human whispered, her lack of sleep hitting her full force in one fell swoop. Chell was very, very tired, and GLaDOS was very warm and smooth. She could feel her eyes shut, and a claw caught her from above as she started to slip, her hands still hanging on to GLaDOS.
"You're unbelievable," the core said, placing the woman gently on the ground. "It's nearly five am, and you'd rather hug a giant robot than sleep like a normal human."
Chell sat up and rested her head in her hand, rolling her eyes.
GLaDOS chuckled. "I suppose you really are a monster, after all."
Chell shrugged, but smiled. She missed the robot's warmth already, but she didn't want to overstep her boundaries. A big part of her hoped this would become a part of her daily life; spending the night in GLaDOS's chamber and learning to vocalize while cuddled up against the core's faceplate. Chell could feel herself growing hot again from the idea, so she brought her knees to her chest and focused on a spot on the white walls rather than GLaDOS.
"This whole night never leaves this room, by the way," the core said in a slightly sardonic, slightly worried tone. "If any of the other cores found out I let a test subject touch me, they'd…"
GLaDOS trailed off and looked at Chell thoughtfully for a second or two.
"Well," she said, her tone playful, "I suppose you're not a test subject anymore."
No, GLaDOS thought, watching the girl with a tender gaze as Chell nearly fell asleep right there on the cold chamber floor. She brought down a readily made bed and tried as gently as she could to place the girl on the mattress.
She assumed Chell had fallen fast asleep as she watched the gentle rising and falling of the woman's chest, so slow and steady as compared to earlier. How very human sleep was- GLaDOS was a tad jealous of how humans could just put everything they were responsible or on hold for a few hours to just lay there, completely limp. She was not allowed such a luxury.
"You're not my test subject anymore," GLaDOS said quietly, shutting off the chamber lights once more. "Now, you're just my Chell."
In the darkness, GLaDOS couldn't see the blush back on Chell's face, but she could hear her whisper of, "Always was."