Another test.
She wanted me to do another fucking test. Me. As if I hadn't done enough for her. First, I had to undergo the vigorous tests containing lasers and swamp shit only to find myself on an escalader heading into a room full of fire and death. She tried to kill me. Of course, I escaped. Robots seriously underestimate my mind, and I ended up killing her. I thought I was finally getting out of that hellhole, only to have dumbshit Wheatley accidentally make her active again. Again, I had to do the same bullshit tests she had me do before, only with enhanced difficulty and new gizmos. Even when she nearly killed me, I saved her when Wheatley became power hungry and turned her into a fucking potato. Even after we both defeated Wheatley and she saved me from suffocating in space, she wanted me to do another test.
I guess my face said it all, because GLaDOS' mechanical eye nearly popped out of its containment. I stayed mute, however, refusing to talk to anyone with the likes of her or Wheatley. It's a tactic that I've used since the beginning, and it turned out better for all of us that I remained silent. She just gave a huff and opened a door to my left, to which I immediately walked through. The action was almost mechanical.
Like it was the only thing I knew how to do.
The room is filled with everything I've seen so far. Three sizzling lasers, two switches, two buttons, and only one companion cube chute. There are several slanted walls and only a handful of white walls, the remainder of the room surrounded by useless black ones. Out of the corner of my peripheral, I watch the door close and lock with a hiss behind me. GLaDOS' voice echos throughout the empty space. "This test will prove your successful career." Yeah, I can tell, I think bitterly, eyeing the testing contraptions with much distaste. "And..." There is a long pause, as if she's hesitant to say whatever it was she is going to say. "To say thank you for all your hard work over the duration of your time here... your mother is waiting for you beyond the door."
What.
GLaDOS has never been so specific as to what led behind each door. It was either 'some food' or 'a drink' or 'your parents' or 'more fatty food for you, fatty'. She never tells the specifics, and I sware there is a hint of truth behind her words...
No. She's a robot. She can't change. She's like the rest of them. After this test, there's going to be another test. And another one after that one. It will go on forever, until I'm too old to do any more of her tests.
Or if I die beforehand.
The idea brings a deep tug in the depths of my stomach. What if I die? No more tests, no more betrayal, no more science. It would be a weight lifted off my shoulders, killing myself. I scan the room, searching for any possible way to do the job. Laser to the gut. Crushed by a companion cube, maybe. The idea gives me butterflies, making me excited, almost giddy. No more tests.
My gaze finally settles on the remainder of the contents of the room, my eyes taking in every last detail of the course. It certainly is much harder than any other course I took prior, but it didn't matter in the end. The only thing I'm looking for is an escape. And if the escape meant my death, then I'll be happy to oblige. I walk forward now, the hard soles of my Long Fall boots clicking against the equally hard floor surface. Immediately, my eyes dart toward the endless fall splitting the room into two sections. The fall looks as though it continued on forever, the thick fog far down blow blocking any view beyond it.
The thought hit me like a truck.
There's no hesitation as I unhook the latches of my boots and slip them off, throwing them over my shoulder with an idle toss. The portal gun follows suit. If I have the portal gun, I'll probably chicken out and save myself last second. I'm on the edge, now, staring down into a white oblivion. "What are you doing?" The voice is strained and worried, like a mother worrying about her child. I say nothing. Instead I stare directly at the nearby camera planted on the wall to my left, knowing full well that she is watching everything that is going on on a television screen. I want to her to see me do this. I want her to know that I'm doing this because of her. It's her fault. "Are you… jumping?" A worried voice again. My hands find my hair tie, the tangled limbs fighting my hair free, letting it blow gently in the wafty breeze. My Aperture shirt is billowing now, from the strong gust of winds coming from the abyss below.
My chest is heaving now. Who will miss me, anyway? I have no family. Maybe I am adopted, and GLaDOS has been actually telling the truth the entire time. I shuffle closer to the edge, nearly throwing myself off balance in my eagerness of what awaits me. Cries of protest echo behind me, but they barely seem audible from the wind blowing past my ears, whooshing past me like a freight train. Nobody will miss me if I am to pass. All the more incentive.
For a moment, I even consider this a test. Falling and hitting the ground, feeling momentary pain for a split second. It will be a quick test, possibly the quickest test I will ever have to undergo.
"Please, for the love of God, don't jump!" GLaDOS is begging now. I waver over the edge, briefly surprised by her change in tone. She never had a problem getting rid of me until now. She probably just wants me to finish her 'final' test. I'm only a toy, and she's just playing with me. I feel angry.
Before I know it, I'm floating, the wind keeping me afloat as I plummeted down into the abyss. I shivered, the wind vigoriously assaulting my open skin with bitter cold. I feel weightless, freefalling to my freedom, to my death. Out of the thickness of the wind in my ears, the sound of robotic cries reverberate into me.
GLaDOS is crying. It sounds almost eerily human. My eyes close, and I feel a wetness escape my pores as I descend, my tears following me down until the very end.
"Chell!"
…Mom?