The vacuum tube catapulted them into the air thirty feet over the floor. The test subject was ready. Air rushed in their ears as they frantically scanned the room while they still had the chance.
The "boss" was massive. Whatever they had expected a supercomputer to look like, it wasn't that. The computer was suspended from the ceiling, its body separated into three parts that reminded them vaguely of snake with its head raised to strike. It wore the same white shell as many of Aperture's inventions, black tubes and wires connecting the parts. A gigantic golden optic on a rectangular unit that had to count as the head fixed on the test subject. The movements were almost completely silent, and more fluent than a human could ever manage.
The room was sixty feet high and easily a hundred and fifty feet in diameter. The boss followed the test subject with its burning golden eye. The floor opened up under the giant, making way for two shining silver arm with pincers at the end. They rose up like snakes, ready to grab and probably squish them.
The test subject was ready as well. They splashed the floor under their feet with blue gel and bounced off, back into the air, avoiding the snapping claw by inches. The closing fangs made hollow metallic sound. They were faster than any technology the test subject had ever seen, but not fast enough to beat a human, and could only reach them in a radius of maybe sixty feet around the robot. They only had to stay mobile and out of range.
The next step would be to get out of here. There were ways around this place the supercomputer was unable to see, there had to be.
The ceiling shuddered, all the panels moving in a rippling wave from center to the outskirts of the dome. They hit the test subject's shoulder and the world stopped abruptly, their head snapping forward. There was a wet cracking sound and a bolt of lightning shot through their spine, up into their head and down their back. The test subject gave a choked sound of pain, too stunned to scream. The world vanished in a red haze of dizziness and pain.
"Quite the pathetic excuse for an escapee," the giant robot remarked. "I'm surprised you made it out at all. But what do I expect? I can't be everywhere, unfortunately."
"B-Boss, I'm so sorry, this shouldn't have happened in the first place, I'll do better from now on, please don't throw me into the incinerator." Their testing associate's voice, although shrill with panic, was a strange kind of reassurance. He was still there. It was the most human voice they had heard in this place since they woke up. He wasn't human, of course. But with their eyes closed they could imagine he was.
"Oh, don't worry," the supercomputer remarked, malicious glee in her voice. "Throwing you into the incinerator would be a waste of material. No, you'll be useful to science in another way."
Shouldn't there be an impact? A crash and then darkness? Or were they lying on the floor of this technological prison, broken and fantasizing about a conversation that may or may not take place?
Central core. That was what the scribbles on the wall had said. They had seen them in quite a lot of test chambers, hidden behind broken panels, in places only an air shaft could reach, out of sight of the cameras. The little core had probably seen them too, but never mentioned anything, or even acknowledged it. It was the same handwriting that had made the drawings by the toilets, warning about Citranium, or what else was to come. They weren't alone in this facility, whether it was a robot or a human. Somebody was still fighting.
This was the central core, now lonely head of Aperture, controlling the chassis and the life of everyone in this terrible place under the earth. Genetic Life Form and Disk Operating System.
GLaDOS.
Their shoulder was pounding with each heartbeat, but the feeling returned to their body bit by bit. They weren't falling anymore. They lay, almost curled up in a fetal position, the paint gun locked between their legs and body. Blue light shone through their closed eyelids. It took all their willpower to open their eyes.
The excursion funnel had caught them ten feet over the floor, only a second away from a lethal impact on whatever these panels were made of. The chassis was right next to them, a massive construct of wires and hardware, quietly buzzing while it kept this gigantic facility running.
The core must have come her by the same vacuum delivery pipe, and the central core had grabbed him when he reached the chamber. He looked tiny in the giant claw, helpless and trembling pathetically.
"I'll do my best, boss, I promise! All I care about is science, you know that."
GLaDOS ignored his nervous blubbering. The golden optic moved to fix on the test subject, the chassis following the movement, lifting the rectangular core up to meet the test subject's gaze. Only inches separated them now. The head part alone was barely smaller than a human, the optic as big as their hand.
"Ah, you're back with us. I do admit, you are more skilled than I would have expected. Hard to guess with that package you're carrying around. I suppose the older stasis chambers are more generous with nourishment."
The test subject just stared at her. They heard the words and somehow it also became clear the AI was insulting them, but none of it mattered. This thing was huge. It controlled everything in here, it saw everything, it knew everything. And it had an almost human voice, a human intelligence, and it hated. It was very good at hating.
The paint gun slipped from their trembling hands, getting caught in the blue glimmer of the excursion funnel. They didn't move an inch. They couldn't. Their shoulder pulsed in the rhythm of their heart beat, fast enough to become a constancy of pain and red flashes of light. The optic blinded them as the robot examined them, moving slowly back and forth.
How could they have been insane enough to believe they could beat this monster?
"Test subject #3891. You navigated the testing track very well, but your little excursion made all of that worthless. What a pity. We'll just put you back into stasis and a few years from now it won't matter what damage you caused to our scientific progress."
GLaDOS extended the claw and gently plucked the test subject from the excursion funnel. It shut around their waist, vaguely uncomfortable, but not painful.
A hatch opened in the floor, and another robot crawled out. It looked just like a core, with a turquoise optic. Arms and legs were attached to the core and carried it more or less steadily, although the fingers looked spindly thin and pointed enough to stab somebody with it. GLaDOS gently put the test subject down on the floor and lifted the claw from their body. The test subject wanted to move, to run, to do anything at all. They couldn't. Their legs were trembling and their shoulder throbbed and they could barely breathe without throwing up. The robot came closer.
"Thank you for assuming the party escort submission," it quacked.
"The special chamber," GLaDOS instructed.
"Yes, boss," the robot replied dutifully. The test subject screamed when it touched their wounded shoulder. This isn't like me, they thought and immediately wondered why they thought so. What were they like? They couldn't remember.
The escort robot hesitated, but GLaDOS had already turned away and lifted the other claw, still holding the tiny core.
"I have to thank you. I thought there was nobody who knew more about this facility than me, but apparently I was wrong. There are just too many rats in here, don't you agree? Too bad not all of them react to neurotoxin."
The orange optic contracted into a tiny dot. "Y-You could hear that?"
"Oh, I hear more than you think. But don't worry, I hold nothing against you. On the contrary."
"R-Really? Oh thank you so much boss, I knew you would understand-"
The giant interrupted. Her tone was bored, with the smallest hint of glee. "Robots just don't test as well as humans. But we finally have a solution for that. You can be proud, you will be the first to test them."
The little core's optic blazed, not in anger or even defiance, but sheer panic. His voice modulators gave a dissonant shriek of feedback. "No! No, please boss, anything but that, I- I'm sorry, I'll do better, just don't put me in there."
"You said you care about nothing more than about science. Then do your part. You'll be a valuable asset in our quest. Others would kill for such an opportunity. I certainly will. If you didn't get it, let me make myself clear: Either you obey or I will kill you." The central core lifted him up and moved the claw over to the back side, where a small rectangular thing began to rise from the floor. "No, no, please, boss, this wasn't my fault, I'm just a testing associate, I'm not made for this, please don't!"
The escort bot grabbed the test subject's ankles and began dragging them along. Every little bump sent a bolt of fire through their body. The core's desperate pleading faded in the distance as they left the central chamber. The robot brought them into an elevator and then they rode along in silence.
The elevator stopped after a short while and continued its path sideways.
Stasis didn't sound like such a bad idea. They had no idea what was wrong with their shoulder, but it would need time to heal. They would never get out of here as long as this thing was in charge. That was ridiculous. They would never see the sky again.
The sky. They hadn't thought about it in a long time. Looking up at the stars, the city light sparkling in the distance, far away from cruelty and pain. The stars didn't care. They didn't judge.
The elevator groaned and shuddered, then came to a halt. The robot jerked upright, optic buzzing over their surroundings.
"Oh dear," it said. "Gotta get you there some other way."
It used its spindly fingers to pry open the elevator door. The mechanics protested with a shriek, but moved. Something tiny landed on the top of the sphere with a tiny clink. The robot's optic almost vanished on the top of its sphere while it tried to make out where the sound had come from. The test subject blinked. They could move their arm again, the left one at least. Their hands shook, but they could wipe their eyes and the world became clearer again.
There was a tiny rectangular plate attached to the back of the core, out of its sight.
"What is that?", it asked. The robot jumped out of the elevator on the nearby catwalk, trying to get a glimpse at itself in the glass.
The chip flashed white and the robot jerked, limbs shaking wildly. "Ajjejejejejejejejej," it buzzed. There was nothing human to the voice now. It collapsed and the optic went black, even though the limbs twitched occasionally.
The test subject stared at the fallen robot and wondered what would happen now. Would GLaDOS send someone else? Maybe they should just wait. They closed their eyes and imagined the night sky over them. The loneliness from back then was nothing like the loneliness now. It had been calming. The grass under their fingers, the distant sounds of the city, and the Milky Way above them. Some good music.
"Uhm, hello? Helloooo? Can... can you walk?"
The voice cut into their daydream like a rusty knife into fresh bread. The test subject opened their eyes, annoyed about the interruption. A core hung over them. They recognized the muddy green optic. This core had sold them out to GLaDOS.
The test subject grabbed the railing inside the elevator with their good hand and pulled themselves upwards with it. Their head spun, but the urge to vomit was gone in the anger surging through them once more. Nobody in here could be trusted. They couldn't even close their eyes for a few minutes and wait for their escort to get them back into stasis.
The core retreated to a safe distance, nervously blinking its optic at them. "I guess you can. Then come with me, before she notices there is a problem." The voice was clearly female and, much like their testing associate, sounded quite young. She also didn't sound very robotic.
The test subject stared at the core. They would have wanted to cross their arms, but they needed all their grip on the railing. It shifted nervously on its management rail, throwing wild glances in both directions.
"You want to get out of here, right? You'll need our help. And we need yours. If anyone can make it, it's you. You match two other test subjects that made it out."
Two of them? The other core had only mentioned one. As if his word counted for anything.
They shook their head. It was true, they wanted to see the night sky again, but...
The core stared at them for a few seconds, and her voice became a little more desperate. "Listen, I know you don't trust me after the stunt we pulled, but if you stay here, the next party escort will throw you into the incinerator. GLaDOS doesn't screw around with threats to her facility."
The core spun at a sound down the catwalk. "Hurry, please, if she catches us we're both scrap metal. I shouldn't even be here."
The test subject suppressed an annoyed growl, but climbed out over the railing. It wasn't easy, with whatever the impact had done to their shoulder, but eventually, they crashed down on the catwalk more or less elegantly. They stared up at the core and lifted one arm. Now what?
"Come along. There's a maintenance tunnel a bit further down." The core hesitated, the optic running over them from head to toe. "She damaged you."
The test subject cocked their head with brows furrowed. You don't say.
The green-eyes core turned to face down the catwalk in one direction. "I'll get you down to the medical core, she can fix you." The test subject walked in the assigned direction without bothering to answer. It had been a mistake talking to these damned robots at all. It only brought complications. They were no living things, and they were treacherous.
The core – presumably the Economy Core their testing associate had mentioned – showed them to an opened panel that led into a narrow tunnel, only lit by red emergency lights.
The pain was diminishing by now, but bending over still felt like their arm was being pulled from its socket bit by bit. When they dared to turn their head, there was a visible bulge, just under the spot where their shoulder was supposed to be. The test subject clenched their teeth and kept on walking. The core didn't try to speak to them again until they left the tunnel and entered a stairway that spiraled down into blackness.
"I'm the Economy Core," the sphere introduced herself. "But most people call me Fran. Well, that's the name I was assigned. Or it was always my name and carried over. I'm still working on that."
Fran changed the management rail with a click when they reached the next floor.
"I- I'm sorry for selling you out. Not sure if you noticed, but the boss lady is really scary and has no patience. It's nothing personal, really, but every core that helps a human... only two made it out so far. Everyone else just... the boss lady, she..." The core shuddered and gave a sound like a choked sob. It took her three floors to contain herself again.
"She promised me not to hurt Nigel if we helped her catch you."
The test subject gave her a level look. That had obviously gone well. Fran avoided their gaze and vanished in a hatch on the wall, but not without instructing them to take the next door to the right. It led to a run-down office, full of dirty cubicles and shut-down computers, mixed in with debris from the hole-filled ceiling.
"We call this the junkyard. Allegedly, one of the rogues and his test subject started out here. The boss lady's reach doesn't extend this far, so we should be safe for a while."
The test subject nodded. The rooms were wet and stank of something they didn't want to think about, ten times worse than human waste.
"They had to fight the security system, AEGIS, when they wanted to escape. He flooded all sublevels with toxic goo... so you better shouldn't stay here for long, I think."
Maybe it was just her words, but the test subject was beginning to feel a little light-headed. They sped up their pace, until they reached a staircase and got out of the wet rooms.
A security system that targeted former test subjects?
If that wasn't just lovely.
"In here," Fran said. The test subject turned a corner and was greeted by the word INFERMARY in faded blue letters. They blinked at it. They had always assumed their spelling was reasonably good, but this was a science company, right? The longer they looked at the writing, the less sure they were.
"The guy who wrote this was fired," Fran said. "But Cave Johnson was too stingy to have it corrected."
The test subject nodded, frowning, but sure of their own mental capacities again and continued to walk. Cave Johnson... The name rang a bell, though they could not place it just now. He must have been an executive of some sort.
The door slid open before they even got close, and revealed another white corridor. Everything was designed to be lifeless and sterile. They could almost smell the disinfectant. None of the rooms they passed had been in use for who knew how long, but at least it was more or less clean. Their steps and the whirring of the management rail were the only sounds and echoed eerily in the tomb-like hallway.
The test subject wished for their paint gun, whatever use it might be now. With their wounded shoulder and in this narrow space none, probably, but at least they would have something to hold on to.
But they didn't have it and all they could do is trust this core, who could definitely not be trusted. The encounter with the "boss lady" had shaken them up, alright. They weren't embarrassed by their sudden loss of determination, no, that wasn't it. The supercomputer was terrifying, and she had taken them out with ease. There was no way they would survive another direct confrontation. But GLaDOS had let them go and here they were, more or less free from being spied on – if the Economy Core was telling the truth. For all they knew, she was just the same kind of backstabbing liar as their testing associate.
What had GLaDOS done to him, for that matter? She didn't want to kill him, that much was clear. How much worse could it be than getting thrown into an incinerator?
The test subject stepped through another automatic door and stopped dead. The room was large, not as large as the central core's dome, but large enough to be intimidating. Most of it was cloaked in shadow, except for a kind of mechanical chair in the middle, lit up by strong surgical lights.
"Ah, hello. You're the test subject."
They spun and immediately lost their balance, a red wave crashing into their head from their shoulder. Somebody grabbed their good arm and pulled them along until they fell down on an even surface at the height of their thighs. They frantically felt around, only finding worn-down, once sterile upholstery. The lights stung in their eyes, blinding them. The hand gently pushed them down and adjusted their position until they lay comfortable, their back at a 45° angle.
"Don't be scared." The voice was female, not as high-pitched as Fran's, but not as harsh as GlaDOS's either. There was even the hint of an accent. Spanish, maybe?
"My name is Brooke. I'm the Medical Core. Or was. You're the first patient I had in ages. Test subjects usually don't get here."
The test subject screamed when something touched their bad shoulder. Their eyes began to adjust to the bright lights and they didn't like what they saw. The chair was surrounded by tools on mechanical arms, scalpels and syringes and robotic hands and things they couldn't even name. It looked like something out of a torture chamber. For all they knew, it might be one. The central core's special chamber? And they had been stupid enough to fall for it.
The test subject tried to get up, and one of the robotic hands settled down on their good shoulder. "Please calm down," the female voice said. "You're just hurting yourself."
They didn't bother to listen. If they went down, they do it fighting, even if their performance against the central core had been pitiful at best. But no matter how hard they struggled, it only made the pain worse and got them no closer to escaping. Eventually, they fell back, breathing hard and with cramps shaking their body. This didn't help. They needed a new plan.
Some of the harsh lights shut off with a clicking noise, leaving greenish afterimages in the test subject's vision. There was another core, this one a bit bigger, the parts rougher and less smoothly fit into each other, sitting at a kind of desk. The optic was a bright blue, like a tropical ocean, sprinkled with white and golden pixels. Brooke's voice was calm, but there was a kind of tension behind her words, something that could almost be interpreted as worry.
"I know you're scared. But you don't have to be. I swear to the creators that I don't intend any harm. And if that's not enough to convince you, think about it like this: I was made to heal humans. It's my sole purpose of existence. When Aperture was... taken over, I became superfluous. But now you're here. You're hurt and that makes me responsible for your well-being."
The test subject glared at the core. Sure. Their testing associate had been responsible for them as well, he had agreed to help them. And he had stabbed them in the back at the first chance. GLaDOS could do whatever the hell she wanted with that little rat. The test subject wouldn't shed a tear over his fate.
They closed their eyes and waited. They hated waiting, more than anything. There was no worse torture than not being able to do anything at all, being completely helpless and just having to wait for your chance. Whatever that Medical Core was planning, they had no say in it.
Lights moved over them, colorful flashes that shone through their eyelids, but no touch.
"Your shoulder is dislocated," Brooke announced after a while. "But barely any ruptures in the blood vessels. Once its back in place you should be able to move without risk in the matter of a few days." She paused, sounding doubtful. "We don't have that much time, do we?"
"No!", Fran snapped. "We don't! Just... get on with it, okay?" She sounded as close to tears as a robot could without actual tear ducts.
"Hold still. This will hurt, but it's the only way," Brooke announced. The top part of the chair rose in an upright position with a pitiful squeal. The test subject opened their eyes again, looking around for a chance to escape. They knew how to relocate a limb. Probably. They had vague recollection of doing so before. Either way, there was no reason to let that robot-
They screamed so loud it made the core's optic vibrate.
One mechanical arm held their body between shoulder and neck, the other grabbed the arm just under the shoulder and pulled. The tendons seemed to creak and then the joint snapped back in its place. The test subject doubled over, their stomach revolting. For a moment, it felt like they would have to vomit, but they forced themselves to breathe calmly until the cramps wore off. They only had this little bit of food, they couldn't waste it.
The floor swam in front of their eyes and they only vaguely wondered why they hadn't fallen off yet. Some thing stung in their neck, a spasm of some sort probably. One of the mechanical arms had sneaked around their waist and pulled them back up. It held them until their breathing slowed down and they felt their head clear.
"Vitals are under average... And you solved the last paint test? I told them the hibernation protocols were corrupted..." Brooke kept muttering to herself, her sparkling optic moving over whatever she saw on the control panel.
The test subject straightened up, trying not to cough for fear of not stopping until their lungs just fell out. Their throat felt like it was bare flesh. If only they had some more water...
"Here. It's probably a bit stale, but drinkable." One of the robotic hands offered them a glass filled with transparent liquid. It had a cracked edge and looked only questionably clean, but it was better than nothing. The test subject stared at it, doubtful, but took a little sip. As Brooke had said, the water was stale, but still felt good. It didn't help their rough throat, long term.
"Are we done?", Fran asked. She was zipping back and forth on her management rail, probably a core's equivalent of pacing up and down. "Are you good now?"
"Francesca, humans don't work like that. They need rest. Let, uh, them sleep." Brooke stared at her screen, lowered the upper face place as if squinting, then seemed to decide to drop the topic. Her sprinkled optic focused on the test subject again.
"Hold still, please." The test subject had to fight the urge to flinch, but let the robot do her work. In the end, she did nothing more than fix their arm in a sling. Brooke stared at the panel for a few seconds, then nodded, her whole body tilting back and forth.
"There are field beds just in the next room. Rest a bit, and then we can talk. Can you walk on your own?"
"But-" Fran broke off, flinching back from Brooke's glare.
The test subject shook their head and got up. They wouldn't stay here any longer. Their legs might be a bit more shaky than they would like, but there had to be a way to get away from all these damned robots. Even if they seemed friendly now, they couldn't be trusted.
Brooke let out an audible sigh. "You were in the test chambers for hours," she reminded them. "You don't know where you are or how to get anywhere you can navigate from. If you walk out now, you will probably die in the matter of a few days."
The test subject stopped. Why did all these robots have to pull the begging card? You could almost think they actually cared. Sleeping meant letting your guard down. It was too dangerous in a place like this.
Unfortunately, it was just as dangerous anywhere else. They were offered a bed, after all, and that was better than nothing.
Brooke made a strange hopping motion until there was a click and she moved over to them on a management rail near the floor. "Through here, please. Don't trip. Not sure who designed this place, but they obviously were an idiot."
The test subject followed the Medical Core into the next room. Dozens of beds lined the walls, each of them covered in dusty plastic foil. They just picked the once closest to the door, pulling off the plastic with one hand. Their shoulder had stopped trying to imitate being stabbed with a rusty ax and had gone to a low pounding that was just on the verge of being uncomfortable.
They laid down on the bed, carefully adjusting their position so not to put any pressure on their bad shoulder. Now that they were here, the couldn't ignore how tired they actually were anymore.
"We can't wait that long! Do you have any idea what she-" Fran's voice was shrill even while she attempted to whisper. Brooke shushed her. The rest of the conversation was lost. Only seconds after finding a comfortable position, the test subject was asleep.
They didn't remember dreaming while they were in stasis. Maybe they did, or maybe it was just too artificial of a rest to allow for any dreams. This was real sleep, the first one in who knew how long. And they dreamed.
They were in a kind of office. It was a familiar place, somewhere they spent a lot of time for some reason, even though the details were fuzzy. Just a small room with a cluttered desk. Their desk? They sat behind it, legs crossed, pen and notepad in hand.
On the other side sat a man and a woman. Both middle-aged, both looking hunched and scared, with graying brown hair. They wouldn't have stood out in a crowd, even if someone pointed at them.
"They cut everything off," the woman said. "You're our last hope."
The test subject looked down at the desk. There was a photograph. They had seen it before, several times. They had studied it, so that they would recognize the person instantly.
"Of course I will," they said to the couple.
They got the mail. There was a letter with a logo on it. Aperture's logo. They didn't even need to read it to know what was inside. They packed a bag, and began to drive. As they did, things faded into the night sky. Galaxies. Stars. Suns. Endless black void.
This awakening was not at all like the one in the relaxation vault. They drifted back into consciousness slowly, their body still floating on a cloud of comfortable drowsiness. They knew they didn't have time to lie around. For all they knew, the two cores had betrayed them already, selling their location out to Her. But if so, two minutes wouldn't make a difference either. They had to wonder, what did the dream mean? Was it a memory? The stasis had taken away most of what they knew about themselves, save for very few snippets of thoughts and feelings, the longing for human contact, the endless sky, the touch of wind and grass. What had made them come to this terrible place, so that they somehow ended up in the clasp of a deadly machine pretending to do science?
"Are you awake? Oh, finally!" The high-pitched voice cut into the haze, ripping it to shreds until it was nothing more than a memory.
The test subject opened their eyes. This was the second time this annoying little ball of junk had interrupted them. Fran stared at them with her optic huge and glowing bright.
"Are you mad now?"
The test subject rose with a grunt, wiping sleep out of their eyes.
"What?", they snapped.
Fran stared at them. They stared back.
"You can talk," the core whispered. She sounded even more like a child now, half way between terrified and amazed. The test subject nodded, angry that they had broken their resolution so soon.
"Fran, help me out here," Brooke's voice came from the other room. "Test subject, facilities are at the end of the room. I got you breakfast."
Fran shot them a doubtful look, but then retreated back through the door. The test subject got up and stretched. They felt surprisingly refreshed, much more than after waking up from stasis. Their shoulder protested a little when they accidentally moved the arm too quickly, but it was barely a little sting.
As promised, there was a bathroom at the end of the room, including a shower. They stared at the rusty shower heads, then decided to give it a shot. The first water that came out was brown, but after a while, it cleared. By some miracle, it was even warm, not too hot, but also not cold. Just the right temperature. They didn't even do anything, just watched dirt and sweat run down into the drain while the water poured over them. It felt good. It felt human.
Only when they got out, they noticed a slightly moth-eaten towel on a shelf and a pile of clothes next to it. It was the same outfit they had already worn, without dirt stains and paint splatters.
They dried off and slipped into the clothes. After a moment of hesitation, they also took the apron again. Not that they had their paint gun anymore. Because they had been so frightened they hadn't been able to hold on to it. Good job.
Last, they put on the long fall boots again, stuffing the hem of their pants into the top to ease the pressure on their skin.
Brooke and Fran spun, with differing levels of urgency, when the test subject walked into the operating room again. Brooke flicked her optic towards a bowl filled with some sort of greenish substance on a small table next to the chair. The test subject sat down and stared at it.
"Your file says you're not allergic to anything, is that correct?"
The test subject nodded slowly. They took up the spoon and carefully dipped it into the mix. Some lumps looked like they could be kale, with some imagination applied, as well as all sort of vegetables. Some things weren't recognizable at all. They filled the spoon and tried, without any of the pieces swimming in the soup.
It tasted absolutely awful.
"The most nutritional I could find. You'll need your strength," Brooke said. "Everything the human body needs to survive under extreme physical activity."
The test subject stared down at the bowl, then at the core. She didn't even seem to notice. Did robots even have taste? Their testing associate had mentioned something of a simulation, hadn't he?
They ate the soup. All of it. It was an effort and more than once they thought they would have to spit it all out again, but they got it down. Brooke had placed a glass of water on the table and they used it to get rid of the taste.
It was all they had. When they got out of here, they would get something decent to eat. Like a burger. Or maybe even just Chinese takeout, it didn't matter as long as it was properly cooked.
Fran had been shifting on her management rail the whole time, mechanics whirring quietly while she flicked her optic to random points in the room. It wasn't hard to guess she wanted to say something, but didn't dare.
"Why did you help me?", the test subject asked.
Fran took an audible and completely pointless breath to start a sentence, only to be interrupted.
"You want to get out of here, don't you?" Brooke flicked her upper handle at the ceiling. "Well, it's not impossible. There were two humans who made it out, with the help of a core. One of them even defied the lady upstairs to do so. It's not impossible. But neither of us can guide you out. We're restricted to this part of the facility."
The test subject nodded slowly. Why were they even surprised? This had been to damn obvious from the beginning. And they hated every bit of it.
"But Nigel can," Fran chimed in. She didn't let her gaze linger, instead looking at all the dark corners as if she was expecting hidden menaces to pop out at any second. "He has access to the Enrichment Center and the vacuum tubes."
The test subject stared at her. What did these robots think? That they were completely stupid? They wouldn't trust that lying, backstabbing rat even if it was the only chance to get out of here alive.
"It's your only chance of getting out of here alive," Brooke said.
"You have to help him!", Fran begged. Her khaki optic focused on the test subject, quivering just enough to be visible. "Please. You got him into this, and now... oh, science!" She turned away, shutting her metal lids tight. "I don't even want to imagine what She's putting him through."
Brooke avoided their gaze when they looked up at her. "We're not actually able to die, unless the whole hardware gets destroyed. I'm not a maintenance core, but our perceptions are modeled after a human, as far as I know." She stared up at the ceiling. "I'm just a Medical Core. I don't get human logic very well beyond their reaction to pain. But here's the deal: If you want to get out of here alive, you will need a guide. Nigel is the only one whose software is up to date with the new Enrichment Center. You save him, and in return, he'll lead you out."
The test subject crossed their arms and stared at her. They really took them for an idiot, didn't they?
Brooke sighed quietly. "To GlaDOS, Nigel is a traitor. He helped you, even if it wasn't voluntarily. And now he gets punished for being loyal to Aperture. What reason would he have to help her again? He's not actually an idiot, you know."
The test subject waved a hand, indicating both of them, and put on a questioning expression.
"Us? Oh, everybody just tries to stay out of Her range... Only the most devoted or crazy cores dare work under Her. As I said, we're superfluous. And unnecessary things... get incinerated."
The test subject nodded. This was a terrible idea. In fact, it was the most ridiculous excuse for a plan they had ever heard. For all they cared, that little traitor could rot in android hell.
Except that was only what they wanted to tell themselves. God, he was still a kid. Or at least sounded like one. Fran certainly seemed to care a lot about him. And, all sentimentality aside, they would never get out of here without a guide.
The plan was insane, and their insides already shook when they thought about confronting the giant that had taken them out so easily the first time. But like hell they would just sit down and die. That green sludge hadn't nearly been good enough to count as a last meal.
"Fine," they said. "Where do we start?"