A/N:
Me: YAY! Finally working on chapter 5!
Kate: Good for you. By the way, when I said, "Good for you", it was in major sarcasm quotes.
Me: Geez, why do you abuse me?
Kate: Because I can.
Me: Anyway, very long chapter this time! And sorry, when I said done with the story and the cold, I meant to say chapter. This story is nowhere near over. Anyway, here's Chapter 5!
"You really don't know?" The redheaded 9-year-old said.
"I have no clue." The AI said, faking every word.
"You don't know what tomorrow is?" Amy asked. The two had been at this for about 10 minutes now.
"Well I do know what day it is. Saturday, October 6th." GLaDOS said, matter-of-factly.
"Any significance of that date?" Amy said, starting to think that GLaDOS really didn't know what tomorrow was.
"Oh that's right!" GLaDOS said, "on that day in 1995, 51 Pegasi is discovered to be the first major star, apart from the sun, to have a planet orbiting around it! Very good Amy, I am proud of you for remembering that."
"NO! There's something ELSE that happened on that day, well, not in 1995, but something DID happen." Amy yelled, now slightly upset.
"I don't see what you're getting at." GLaDOS said flatly. If she were human, she would be having a hard time holding back a smile.
"SOMEONE was born about 10 years ago. SOMEONE who has been living with you for over 5 years! SOMEONE whose birthday you've celebrated every year but somehow managed to forget this year!" Amy yelled at her. The time for subtle hints was over.
"Amy, why would I care if its Atlas's birthday?" GLaDOS said, a little bit proud of herself for thinking of a comeback.
"IT'S ME!" Amy finally yelled, "Its MY 10th birthday tomorrow!" GLaDOS laughed at the girls un-necessary anger, that's when Amy's face went from annoyed to calm. "You knew the whole time, didn't you?"
"How could I forget, you remind me every five seconds?" GLaDOS said, surprisingly happily.
"I do not remind you every five seconds!" Amy said, turning her head away and slightly blushing.
"I think saying 'Is it my birthday yet? Is it my birthday yet?' every single day counts as reminding." GLaDOS said, again happily. Amy looked towards her and showed a small smile.
"So, what did you get me?" Amy said, very excited.
"You will just have to wait until tomorrow to find out, now won't you?" GLaDOS said.
"What time is it?" Amy wined.
"Its 5:00 now. Why?" GLaDOS asked, curious as to why Amy would ask such a random question.
"Then tomorrow is" Amy paused to do the math, "7 hours away!"
"Well you'll just have to wait, like you have for the past 10 years." GLaDOS said. She may give in to Amy's pace once in a while, but not this time.
"But those hours are like days when it's the day before your birthday! I'm not gunna make it!" Amy complained. Even from the point when she woke this morning, the seconds seemed to pass slower than normal.
"Somehow I'll think you'll manage." GLaDOS said sarcastically. Amy fell on the floor and stuck her tongue out, pretending to be dead. "Oh, look. Amy died." GLaDOS said jokingly, "I guess that means I won't have to give Amy her surprise for her birthday tomorrow." GLaDOS made the panel that Amy was laying on come up off the ground a little. "I guess I'll just take the body and leave it outside. It's a shame too, she was really going to like her present." Amy quickly sat up.
"I'm not dead! I'm not dead! Don't leave me outside!" She exclaimed. GLaDOS once again laughed, as did Amy.
Amy left to go play not long after that, and GLaDOS was alone with her thoughts. She did in fact have a good present for Amy. Last year she had gotten her a new bed set, the year before new clothes, and before that toys. Every previous birthday she had gotten help from Caroline. This year she had thought of something all on her own, WITHOUT Caroline. Amy was turning 10 years old, a DECADE, and GLaDOS wanted to make it special. The problem was she was racking her brain but couldn't think of anything other than the one gift.
"I have an idea, if you're interested." Caroline said.
"Why would I want YOUR help?" GLaDOS said quite clearly.
"Because, let's face it, you're out of ideas." Caroline said, cheerful as ever.
"I have an infinite capacity for knowledge, and your accusing me of having no ideas?" GLaDOS said to her, very annoyed at the woman.
"Ok, then name one." Caroline said, smirking. That comment made GLaDOS stop for a moment. She analyzed all of Amy's personality to think of something to make the day special and was apparently taking to long, because Caroline randomly said, "Make a cake."
"I'm sorry, what?" GLaDOS said, very, VERY shocked.
"You heard me. Amy would love it and it's the least you can do after all the cake drama with her mother." Caroline said, quite sure of herself.
"I test humans. I have control of the entire facility. I can perform any science experiment at any time I please. I do NOT bake cakes! I thought we established that when Chell had her little episode." GLaDOS said sternly.
"It would be for Amy, and I think she would love it!" Caroline said, a little too excited.
"I wouldn't even be able to make one if I wanted to! We don't have everything here that we need!" GLaDOS exclaimed, even though she kind of did want to try it.
"You do know we don't need fish shaped candies, fish shaped dirt, fish shaped solid waste-" Caroline started to say.
"YES! Why would I listen to any of the things those idiotic cores said?" GLaDOS said, hating to remember the days where all she heard were voices.
"Well, what are we missing then?" Caroline said, even more excited then before.
"Fine, I'll make the cake!" GLaDOS finally caved, "But only for Amy!" Caroline was partly jumping for joy. GLaDOS couldn't understand what the woman's obsession was with this. She did know that it would probably make Amy happy (as she had never had cake before), so GLaDOS would do it for her.
Every time GLaDOS told Amy "no school," Amy took that as "sleep till noon." GLaDOS had given Amy the day off today because it was her birthday, so she woke up sometime around 10 or 11. Though when she did, she didn't even bother taking her pajamas off. She just ran straight to GLaDOS' chamber. When she got there, she couldn't stop the smile on her face.
"Hi." Amy sang, rocking back and forth on her feet.
"Well, look who finally got up. Why are you so excited this morning?" GLaDOS asked.
"Nice try Aunt GLaDOS, but your not fooling me this time. I know that, being as smart as you are, there's no way you could have forgotten that my birthday is today!" Amy said proudly.
"How did you get so smart? Oh, that's right. I'm your teacher." GLaDOS said smugly. Amy laughed a little before GLaDOS continued. "You have two surprises today."
"What are they?" Amy said so excited she was almost jumping out of her skin.
"Well I don't know. Why don't you go ask the kitchen?" GLaDOS said. Amy quickly ran off to the kitchen to find the same black-forest cake GLaDOS had promised so many test subjects long ago.
"Cake!" Amy yelled as she ran over to it.
"Happy 10th birthday, Amy." GLaDOS said as Amy happily started to cut the cake. It took all night and at least 12 (GLaDOS stopped counting after 8) tries to make an edible cake. By the look on Amy's face, she liked it.
"Thank you, Aunt GLaDOS!" Amy said, mouth full.
"You enjoy it. It's your birthday." GLaDOS said. She heard Caroline say "Happy birthday." But GLaDOS made a point long ago that she was not going to be Caroline's speaker. Caroline was so stubborn she didn't want anyone speaking for her anyway, even if it meant never talking to anyone but GLaDOS.
GLaDOS had gotten Amy's second surprise ready in her room, and she had good timing because Amy was putting her dishes in the sink when she was done.
"Amy, you know how I said you had two surprises today?" GLaDOS asked. Amy smile got wider as she continued. "Why don't you go see your room?" Amy was out of the kitchen in a second. She ran very quickly towards her room, and when she got there, couldn't believe what she saw.
"No way!" She said out loud. Amy walked over to a computer sitting on her desk. GLaDOS had gotten one out of the old labs and repaired it. Now it was as good as new!
"Another thing," GLaDOS said over the intercom. Amy walked out into the hall to listen. "It has full internet access." Amy's smile got even bigger, even though GLaDOS didn't think it could. "But," She said, "Every thing you do on there goes through me. In other words, don't do anything that you don't want to explain."
Amy nodded, yelled, "Thank you!" And ran back into her room to use her new computer. The first thing she went to was the Internet. The homepage was automatically set to the Aperture Science website. "Shudda' guessed." Amy thought. Then it dawned on her that every year her Aunt GLaDOS had done something for her birthday. She always got her a present and made her birthday special . . .but what about GLaDOS? When was her birthday? Amy knew that GLaDOS wasn't technically born, but she still had to have a day when she got here! Amy decided that she needed to find out when that day was and do something for GLaDOS. It was the least she could do. Amy looked back at her computer, she thought that if there were any place to get info on that, this website would be best. Unfortunately, all the website had was a repeating video of a Christmas scene with a companion cube and sometimes a turret. She couldn't just go do a search on "When was the GLaDOS project started" because GLaDOS would know that something was up.
Amy grabbed her over-the-shoulder bag and, slowly and quietly, started sneaking out of her room. She didn't know why she was sneaking, the cameras followed her every move. It felt just cooler this way. She went straight to the room with all the cool books. Amy often came here to see if there were any books she wanted to read, but most of the books in here landed her in GLaDOS' chamber asking what some of the words meant.
Amy looked up at all the books to see if any of them said anything about "The GLaDOS project", but they were all just random science books. She should have known that they weren't going to keep the good stuff out here. But Amy did know where stuff like that would be. She ran out of the room and down a few hallways before she came to the office clearly marked "Cave Johnson." She tried to open the door, but it was locked. Luckily, she always carried bobby pins in her bag. After a moment of her own version of hacking a door, it opened and Amy crept inside.
The room was much larger than any of the others, and had lots of books lining the walls. The desk at the back of the room was large and made out of mahogany, and in front of it were two big chairs. The floor had a large rug that went from the entrance to the back wall. Amy walked past all the books and went straight to the desk. When she got to the back of the desk, she took a look around and noticed that there were no cameras in the room. She would have to work fast before GLaDOS noticed her absence.
She went digging through all the drawers trying to find something to use. In one of the drawers she found a manual for GLaDOS. She doubted this would have anything she needed, and was pretty sure that most of the information in there was outdated, but she put it in her bag for an interesting read later.
More poking around proved futile; she sighed and almost stood up when she saw a small switch under the desk. She reached under and pulled it, which made one of the book shelves slide back revealing a long, dark hallway. "Cool." Amy quietly said to herself.
She walked over to the doorway and poked her head through. It seemed safe so she walked in, only to find that the bookcase closed as soon as she did. Amy turned around quickly and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "How do I keep getting myself stuck like this?" Amy wondered as she dug around her bag for a flashlight. She found one and looked around the hall. It seemed to go on forever and, again, no cameras. Amy figured that this was put in FAR before GLaDOS was built. She realized that there was no way to go but forward and started walking. You could hear water dripping, as this hallway was made almost completely of rock. Amy almost tripped a few times over uneven grounds, and nearly screamed her head off when she saw a spider. There was one side of Amy that was scared, 'what if she never found her way out of here?' And then there was a side that was completely excited and had dubbed this birthday the best one ever!
Amy finally made it to a room . . . at the same time her flashlight went out. The room was pitch black as Amy franticly looked for a light switch. Thank goodness, it had one. The florescent lights started coming on and the room lit up one section at a time. This room was all metal and looked like one of the laboratories. It had one rack of files, and in the middle was a metal table with five folding chairs around it. Amy walked towards the files to see what they were. The search was, she was making a note here, a huge success! All the files were about the portal project, the code "Lemon" project (she didn't really get that one), and, finally, the GLaDOS project. She opened up that file and skimmed through it until she found a date.
"There it is," she said out loud, "October 7th!" She got very excited as she realized that was tomorrow. She then took a moment to look around the room. Once again, no cameras. She wondered why they would have this room until it dawned on her.
"Of course!" she thought, "They must have built this room in case Black Mesa ever got in! This is where they kept all the important stuff so that they wouldn't find it! That's brilliant!" Amy had heard many things about the rival company and, coming from GLaDOS, they weren't exactly compliments.
"But," Amy proceeded in thought, "how come the manual was so easy to find?" she dug in her bag and pulled out the manual. She flipped through it a little to see and all of it was FALSE! Like, "requires 4 AA batteries." Yeah, that's what it says. "They must of put this one out as a decoy!" Amy thought. She almost put the manual down before she decided to keep it. It might be funny to see what else they came up with.
Now Amy had another problem. She wanted to leave but she couldn't go back through that hallway and end up at a dead-end. She looked around and saw a door in the corner. There was no other option so she went and opened it. There was a staircase leading up to what Amy saw was another door. She started walking towards it, making sure to close the door behind her. She walked up the stairs and slowly opened the door at the top. She peaked her head around and saw that there was a catwalk outside. She stepped onto it and closed the door behind her. From what she could see this was the same floor as her room. She saw a camera slowly pivoting towards her, and when it did see her, seemed to jump a little.
"Amy!" GLaDOS said, very surprised, "Where did you come from and where have you been?"
Amy was about to answer when she thought, "What if I wasn't supposed to be in there?" She knew that if she wasn't supposed to be in there, she would be dead. So Amy just shrugged, hoping GLaDOS wouldn't ask any more questions.
GLaDOS didn't have time to wonder where Amy had been; she was too excited about what she had done for Amy. "Never mind that." GLaDOS said, a phrase that she had never used in her entire life. "Do you know where office #15 is?" Amy nodded. "Good, go there." Amy, relieved that she didn't ask any thing else, started walking towards it. GLaDOS continued talking. "I decided a while back that today would be extra special."
"Uh huh." Amy said.
"And I wanted to do something myself." GLaDOS said. Amy was now near the office.
"Caroline helped you with the cake, didn't she?" Amy said happily, not surprised or upset in any way.
"Yes." GLaDOS said dryly, ruing the day she told Amy about Caroline. "Anyway, there was one more thing that I found today."
Amy was at the door to the office when GLaDOS said that. She stopped before entering. "You didn't have to get me anything else." She said, looking at the camera.
"I think when you see what it is, you'll know I had to." GLaDOS said. Amy walked in, her curiosity burning, to see a table with a framed picture on it. The picture had a woman holding a newborn baby and smiling at it. Amy knew the second she saw it that the woman was her mother. The baby was Amy.
Amy couldn't come to words at first. She hadn't seen any thing with her mother in it in so long. "H-how?" She finally managed to say.
"Going through old security tapes and I happened to pause at the right moment." GLaDOS said. She couldn't tell at this moment if Amy liked it or not.
"But I never came here before I was 4." Amy said, the words now coming out of her mouth without going all the way through her brain first.
"Actually you did. You were born here." GLaDOS said, surprised that this had never come up before.
"I was?" Amy said.
"Your mother never wanted to go to a hospital for her delivery. She happened to go into labor while down here one day and she didn't want to leave." GLaDOS said. She could still remember the day perfectly. It was the only time in her life she had felt so much panic and excitement at the same time.
Amy was still looking at the picture. Her mother was more beautiful then she remembered.
"Do you like it?" GLaDOS asked.
Amy grabbed the picture off of the table and smiled at it. "No." She said, "I love it."
"I'm glad." GLaDOS said softly.
"Can I keep it in my room?" Amy asked, not looking up.
"That's why I gave it to you." GLaDOS answered.
Amy probably said thank you a thousand times before she walked out of the office and back to her room. She put the picture on her nightstand and looked at it for a long moment. Out of everything she had gotten today, this was by far her favorite. She made a vow to herself to make tomorrow the best day GLaDOS had ever had. She didn't know what she was going to do; but it was going to be good.
A/N:
Me: No.
Kate: but…
Me NO!
Kate: Why not?
Me: Well, if you want it from a writer's point of view, it's because this story and your story have nothing in common!
Kate: Yes they do!
Me: Name one.
Kate: Hum...what about the cold, depressing, prison-like place. How about that, hum?
Me: Yeah, still no. Oh, how long have you guys been here?
Kate: Who?
Me: The readers, Kate! So, this chapter is actually longer then chapter 1. There will be a part two coming soon. I am actually already working on it!
Kate: No, you're not.
Me: Well, once the people are reading this I probably will be! Anyway, hope you all liked it. Pop quiz! In chapter 2, GLaDOS said that her second most hated species is humans. What's her first? Anyone know?
Kate: Oh, oh, I know, I know!
Me: Comment what you think the answer is! Someone please get it, I don't what HER to be the winner.
Kate: YOU'RE SO MEAN! 0