[ -Sector 1 America, Upper Michigan – Year 20XX-]
[8:46 AM]
Above the wheat fields, by the side of a single unassuming shack, a lone man in a suit stood, his suitcase always held ready with him as he checked his watch for the second time that hour. It was a sunny, peaceful, beautiful day by the fields, and not a sound, nor a soul dared disturb the mysterious man's presence.
Setting his watch down, he looked towards the entrance of the shack, his unreadable green gaze and his navy blue suit sharply contrasting the golden yellow of the wheat that surrounded him.
14 minutes left.
Inaudibly, the man sighed.
Above the ground amongst the quietly swinging wheat, everything was peaceful.
~oOo~
Underneath, in the Aperture facility - the main chamber was in ruins.
Of course, Glados knew she shouldn't have expected any better after the violent and utterly unnecessary outbursts of explosions that were the IDiot core's idea of a serious revolution - but she had at least wished for the test subject to have handled it better. At the very least she could have had the delicacy to not break a gigantic hole through the roof, (fixing that would take her days) but of course, she had underestimated the destructive power of the little monster's brute force. As usual.
The only thing that comforted her now was the fact that she was gone, and she was back in her throne.
"Once upon a time, there was a human."
"Of course, no ordinary human. She was a test personnel of the most significant laboratory on earth; the Aperture Science Facilities. Subjected to the cause of furthering science and raising the standard of quantum tunneling technology – also known as portal research – you could say that she had one of the best occupations in the world. But, gifted as she was with this magnificent opportunity, she was not a good human. On the contrary, you could say that she was the very definition of anti-good.
She was a mute, crazy, and rather healthy looking female intent of demolishing all unfortunate victims in her path of delusional freedom, destroying her enemies and friends alike, as if no one and nothing meant anything to her."
~oOo~
[8:51 AM]
Silently, the mysterious man gazed down at his watch.
He supposed it was about time she – the first of two possible 'recruits' would be rising up from the depths of where she came, riding on the long and winding elevator that would eventually lead her to the exit. Finally, the time had come when the deep, greedy claws of Aperture would let her go and she could be free – but maybe, not as 'free' as she first expected herself to be.
…And then the cat jumped from a small box, into a slightly bigger one.
The man in the suit snickered mirthlessly. That was how the other Aperture recruit would put it, he supposed. Though a majority of his existence remained a mystery, there was no wonder why he was so fond of her.
This recruit – she was a rather…interesting one, as far as her record listed.
Quiet, stubborn, and ridiculously tenacious, the test subject had once single-handedly destroyed and escaped her captor - inside a maze of a facility even the man's uppers had a hard time infiltrating. She reminded him of another man he had had the pleasure of monitoring for some time now – a man who, without his suit, would've stayed a simple, and quiet man, had it not been for the war and the extraordinary situation he was placed (unwillingly) in.
If anything, people like him – people like her, were worthy assets to their cause.
True survivors.
~oOo~
"…A true monster." Glados glared down at the two cooperative testing androids.
"Before she had woken up from her first round of cyro-sleep and began testing, my life, or the being of my simulated consciousness, in this case, was peaceful.
Test subjects were obedient and compliant, though a little rambunctious and disagreeable as all humans faced with irrefutable death are. The days back then where all good days for science, with consistent testing and quality results to further portal research.
Many of my test subjects were intelligent; seeing as they were all former employees of this facility, once working in my place as researchers, before I was awakened and they had lost their initial purpose.
Trust me, I would have done a better job anyway.
I had many test subjects to spare when I began, but alas, humans are fragile, weak creatures, and soon many died of hunger, fatigue, and general testing hazards. Soon I was given no choice but to awaken the first set of actual test subjects in cyro-sleep, of which the lunatic was number one on the list.
At first she was a brilliant test subject, maybe even one of the best.
She was faster and much more resourceful than the others had been, racing through the tests as if they were of no difficulty. She leaped over every acidic pool of waste, destroyed every active turret without complaint, and fell through every high altitude testing course without even a hint of panic. Best of all, she was completely silent. Oh the joy when I first tested her.
That feeling though, was very short lived. Soon, it was the end of the test.
As she, the human walked her way on to the test subject termination area, she decided, 'Nope' she wouldn't have it, and did a break for freedom.
At first I tried reasoning with her, promising her a delicious cake if she decided to turn back.
Unfortunately, the attempt was futile.
Soon enough she approached my chamber through god-knows-where, and in a flurry of meaningless hate and under the disoriented thought of being hunted down and threatened, she burnt my parts, and murdered me. It was a slow and painful death.
And I had no choice but to relive that moment for 20 long years. Over, and over again. For every agonizing moment of my stasis."
Glados sighed briefly, before pressing on with her story.
"You may know what happened next. For a long time there was nothing. No movement in the facility, or with science, with the turret production barely going on, only decay and age controlling what was left of the active Aperture.
And then, there came the IDiot sphere.
For reasons unknown to the rest of us non-corrupted A.I's, he had come to think that his life was endangered inside Aperture, and decided to plan an escape. But to aid him in his escape, he needed a human, with free access to the outside world.
And she was the human he chose.
By pure chance, I was awakened during their merry little rendezvous, and slowly regained my control over the facility. She was back in my hands as a test subject, and the idiot core was back where he belonged.
For a short while, my life was better again, with tests in store and everything in place.
And then, the idiot sphere, back without my knowing, contacted her and set out to achieve another of his moronic plans of escape."
Glados grimaced, pausing a while before she continued.
"…Actually, I think I'm going to skip that little detail. It's not that important anyway."
Atlas and P-body nodded subconsciously, both remembering what must have occurred next.
When they had first awoken in the testing robot manufacturing area, a bossy blue personality sphere was being shown on a decrepit screen in front of them, its round head connected to what seemed like Glados's body. It was at that time they were first told of their existence as co-operative testing bots, and where trained to befriend and trust each other.
Soon later Glados reappeared, and ordered them to try to tend to the human injured in the elevator. The first human they ever saw, and what caused them to be in this situation in the first place.
"For a miniscule of time, the moron sphere took my place. I overthrew him with the help of the human, and now I'm back, and the human's gone."
Glados ended swiftly.
A moment of silence past.
Slowly, timidly, Atlas raised its arm, signaling to ask a question.
"Yes?" Glados asked, turning her head to face Atlas.
If the human was that terrible and caused that much trouble, why didn't you just eliminate her when you had the chance?
Atlas bleeped.
A moment of tense silence passed.
Glados glowered darkly at the innocent testing bot, deciding whether to finally begin punishing them for asking absurd questions which (In her mind) didn't need answers to.
I-I mean, it's fine that you left her be, um, it's not like she's going to give you any more trouble-
Atlas stuttered in a panicked manner, momentarily realizing the dangerous situation he just led himself into, his optic shrinking and cowering under the glaze of its master's stare.
"There is a reason to why I let her be." Glados interrupted promptly.
~oOo~
…You'd think she wouldn't survive. The man nodded to no one in particular.
But of course, who would? Alone in the wild, without allies, resources, or even a limited intelligence of her own surroundings and the weight of the situation at hand - who would expect her to survive? Certainly, not her.
Even with her freedom granted, she was never excluded from death.
But her dying, the man thought as he looked down on his watch, is not one of my bigger concerns.
One minute left.
~oOo~
[9:00 am]
From a shack in the middle of nowhere, came a small, almost inaudible 'ding'.
The shack doors opened, revealing a sleek, glass-bound elevator, and a young, wounded woman inside of it. As she stepped out, her eyes squinting in the sun's bright gaze, the doors of the shack slammed close, spitting out her burnt – but still faithful – companion cube.
Defenseless, alone, and wounded, Chell stood, still dazed after everything that happened. Only one thing crossed her mind.
~oOo~
"Now get back to testing."
As Glados watched the two scuttle away in leaps and bounds, she turned to continue her own work, slowly but surely rebuilding the facility to a completely operational level.
This time, she would not be disturbed.
She chuckled inwardly, a small thought forming in the crevice of her massive digital brain.
Oh she won't survive.
Glados thought as she hummed quietly to herself.
I doubt she would even last a week on the surface.
Without food, water, simple civilization skills, or even a proper civilization to support her, how could she live on the surface? The answer; she can't.
And trust me, she won't.
One by one, cameras all over the facility where activated, her once dead, mechanical red eyes now buzzing with life and movement. Speakers were turned on as well, and from them a cheery tune, the 'Anthem' of Aperture science could be heard blearing through the active testing areas.
Freedom was what she wanted, so freedom was what she got. Now she has to spend the rest of her life, either hunted down by a dangerous and unknown, (But undoubtedly powerful) alien race, or spend her days lost in an indefinite wheat field, alone with only an inanimate object to keep her company for the rest of her sorry little being.
Oh I could just hear Chell's thoughts right now.
Glados continued on humming, happy thoughts lightening her mood.
"What now?"