Haunted Panels

By GhostOfRattmann

Chapter One: Awakening

"Goodbye, Caroline."

An electronic buzz resounded throughout the facility. A few worn wires sparked as they came to life for the first time in decades. A slow, soft hum filled the vast corridors as machines whirred and the power began to flow. Dangling by a single thread, a splintered light-bulb flickered briefly under it's dull metal shade, before managing to hold a steady glow. Not that there was anyone around for it to provide some light to, just an empty corridor leading to a thousand empty catwalks, and a battered metal door just at the end, the gloomy light reaching just far enough to illuminate it's dust-covered sign: cryogenic refrigeration wing.

Further past that sign, behind that door, a lock clicked. There was the sound of air being released and metal grinding as something shifted. Shifted and moved as fluid began to leak, first dripping slowly but gathering speed as the temperature increased.

It took hours, but eventually the last rivulets trickled away to pool on the floor as a nearby light buzzed and turned green, glowing bright, despite the thick coat of dust that covered it.

Again, there was the harsh grinding of metal against metal, this time louder, more forced as if something heavy was being forced upwards. The sound filled the empty corridor before finally ceasing with a stiff click, followed by an eerie silence.

She moved without even thinking about it, bare feet swinging forward and touching the still wet ground. The crisp air made he cough as she breathed for the first time in a lifetime, the cold still lingering in the air enough for her to see her breath in front of her. The metal was even colder as she fumbled with both hands to hold either side of the doorframe, but that was of little matter as she used the support to force herself upright to take her own weight once more.

Shredded white dress still clinging to her, hair tangled and sticking to her skin, hands shaking, she finally opened her eyes.

There were, as GLaDOS had discovered, two types of bad test subjects. Differing in vastly ironic ways. The first type were bad because they were, well, just bad; incompetent, incapable and too busy writhing in fear to come anywhere close to succeeding. They were bad because they more often than not died. And then they couldn't test anymore. And that wasn't science.

And then there was the other type, who were bad because they were so good. Too good to die, even. Unable to even have the cognitive ability to understand what it would mean to die, to even comprehend the risks that just weren't of any risk to them. After all, what was a deadly pile of acid, or a bullet in the head, when there was the eternal ability to be reassembled. Again and again. Over and over. Forever.

"Okay, plan B; we need humans. Again."

She couldn't even be bothered pretending anymore. Not that those two little robots cared anywhere. Sometimes she wasn't even sure they were listening to her. Well, of course, they listened. Technically. Their auditory processors picked up everything. But there was listening, and then there was actually listening. And unlike the first, the second kind of listening required something extra. Processing, understanding, a response of some sort.

Sometimes she just wanted to yell at them. To do something. Anything. Show some other notion of... Of caring about anything other than what they were programmed to do.

In annoyance, she slammed a random panel forward and shoved Blue into a nearby pool of acid, much to the shock of Orange who let out a robotic squeal and and swiveled twice round on robotic legs before running to a hopefully safe ledge at the back of the test chamber. GLaDOS could have made that particular ledge fly upwards and shove Orange off of it, if she wanted to, but the sight of Blue being routinely reassembled just before the test chamber entrance seemed to take the fun out of the idea.

Dying really is nothing to them, she thought miserably. No, not miserably. Misery would mean she had failed. And she never failed. Never. Not in the long run. Encountered some minor set-backs occasionally, but never failed.

She just needed to rethink her strategy was all. These little robots were perfect. Too perfect, but that was beside the point. Her flawless engineering could not be wasted. And her plan, that marvelous plan before, to free the humans, that had been perfect. Until that stupid bird mucked it up.

Yes, it was the bird's fault.

All of it.

Somehow.

But attributing appropriate blame- and it was appropriate, she though insistently- did nothing to solve the problem. And she was practical enough to know that more direct action had to be taken to solve this current dilemma.

So first to focus on the problem at hand: they needed humans. The trouble was, of course, that all the humans were dead. At least all the ones that she knew of. It had been quite a surprise to discover that sealed off wing, full of so many hundreds of wonderful potential test subjects. Could there possibly be another like it? Many more than one? Maybe there were hundreds! Just hundreds of hundreds of test subjects stored somewhere in the facility and waiting for her to find them. Or Blue and Orange to find them. Whatever.

As much as she loathed not being able to access and oversee everything in her facility, the prospect of such a pleasant surprise was a worthy consolation.

But she refused to get ahead of herself with such fantasies. Surviving on hopes and whims was something only humans did. And she was better than that. She had to take her usual logical approach, to find and observe, to see just what more Aperture was hiding in it's depths. Because surely there was more. So much more. When she was a- When she was temporarily misplaced from her body, she'd seen the wonders lying beneath. In levels she'd barely known existed, as those damn scientists had attempted to limit her knowledge of the facility to merely the levels on which they required her to work. But they were wonders. Rotting, broken wonders, but wonders of science nonetheless.

And if it was science, GLaDOS considered it her right to have access. No matter what any damn scientists had thought.

As Blue and Orange completed the current test chamber they'd been working on, she locked the pods that would usually take them to the next testing area, forcing both bots to stop in confusion.

"Listen up, you two marshmallows. There's been a change of plan. I would explain, but I doubt your tiny brains could handle it. So instead we'll just cut to it and get going." Only half of her attention was on the two tiny machines, the other half occupied with planning a route down into the bowels of the facility. "You'll be going quite far this time. So far, in fact, that I'm not even sure the Reassembly Machine will be able to reach you. However, it will be fun finding out."

The only functioning way down seemed to be the elevator shaft he had so gracefully punched her and- Them into. Oh well, at least flinging two helpless robots down there might provide her with some temporary, idle amusement.

She opened up a section of panels leading out onto the catwalks. "It seems you get the honour of paying me a brief, personal visit before you go. How lovely! Now, do hurry up."

The bots jumped into life, scurrying quickly along the catwalk at her order and toward the centre of the facility where she waited.