[Thanks for the review! Kepp em comin. He's getting better, but still needs some encouragement1 Come on guys! Save his life, be a hero!
But seriously, thanks for the reviews. It's really bringing me out of my self-conscious shell.
Enjoy the rest of the story, and keep in mind, if you review, I'll likely read a story of yours and review as well.
Disclaimer: I don't own aything here, other than my laptop. Portal goes to Valve, and Valve goes to...themselves, I believe. Don't quote me on that, though.]
Chapter 7: Surprise!
The three cores followed Chell, who followed GLaDOS' instructions. Nobody spoke, besides the occasional "turn here," from GLaDOS, but Chell didn't mind. In fact, she was grateful nobody talked. She finally had a decent amount of peace and quiet for the day, and that was all she needed to be in a good mood; although, food might help with her crankiness and exhaustion. Of course, there was no such thing down here. The subject sighed to herself as she turned, entering a familiar hall. They were close; this was it, the third time she was going to fight that atrocious body. The third time she would have to fight for her freedom. The third, and hopefully last, time she would have to put her life on the line for one breath of fresh air. She took a breath and entered the room. It was completely empty, as if no one had entered for years. Chell looked around, then at the cores. Liam was confused as ever, looking around curiously; Fear was shivering; GLaDOS had lost her determination to confusion and anger; and Wheatly was…shaking. He avoided any eye contact. That made Chell uneasy, but before she could say anything, the door shut tightly behind them, trapping the group in the room.
A monitor in the middle of the room flickered on to show the AI in a different room. He chuckled at the group, "Wow, I didn't think I'd ever find you again. When you disappeared, I thought you were gone for good, but thanks to Wheatley, you're back." The group instantaneously shot a glare at the blue core, who looked miserably at the ground. They were all furious at him, but out of all of them, Chell was the angriest. She had put all of her trust into him again, and he tricked her. The sphere admired the white floors. The AI chuckled again, "And you've found some friends! Great; just what I need for my new experiment: group testing." A glass wall came up from the ground, attaching to the ceiling around the cores and girl. Shocks went through all of the cores, sending the spheres to Chell's feet, "But first, let's get you all ready for testing." All of the cores shut down, and a gas blew into the small room. Immediately upon breathing it in, the world spun. Chell held onto the wall for support, but only resulted in sliding down the glass, unconscious.
Throbbing pain woke Chell from her enforced slumber. She sat up and reached down to her sock, finding nothing. Her bare skin brought her to open her eyes and look around. Where were her clothes? She looked down to herself to see a baby blue jumpsuit. A disgusted sound came from her throat; not another jumpsuit…Well, at least this one was blue instead of orange. Chell stared at the fabric for a minute until the speaker crackled, "Wonderful, you're awake. Now we can start the tests, but first, there are some rules." Rules? Chell thought, since when did testing have rules other than survive? "First, this is a group challenge, so all of you must cooperate. Whoever doesn't cooperate will be punished, in a very painful way. So, rule number one: Work together. Next, everyone must make it through the tests; nobody sticks around while the others move ahead. So rule two: No man gets left behind. Lastly, if any of you try to escape, you will die…All of you."
With a sigh, Chell got up and wet to the door. Past the doorway was a platform, holding four items. She went to the platform, looking at each. There were two portal guns, one small ring, and one pair of gloves. The ring was the only object that stuck out, color wise; it was black. Chell picked it up and put it on her index finger. She turned her hand around, curious about the random accessories. Whatever; it was his test, he could do what he wants. She pushed her thumb to it, to slide the ring off of her finger; and it made a noise. The ring beeped and a target appeared on the wall ahead of her. Huh, interesting.
Chell touched the ring again, and another target appeared over the previous fading one. Very interesting…
"That's a ping tool," GLaDOS said behind her, "I added it to the Cooperative Testing Handheld Portal Devices just after you left." Chell spun around to see the once AI-to-Core, in a human body. The test subject stepped back with a startled blink, and the woman rolled her golden eyes. Golden eyes; the perfect shade, but dimmed down a bit to look like a caramel-brown. "Another project I've been working on, even before you killed me." Her voice turned sour in the end, "They're very convincing, aren't they?" She smirked. Chell only stared at the woman, looking over her body. Convincing? So they weren't real human bodies? She nodded; very convincing, indeed. GLaDOS looked at her hands and nails, "It took me ages to get them finished. I was nearly done, too, when you escaped and destroyed my facility the first time…" She sighed quietly to herself, an action that surprised Chell even more, "But I got them done…well, I got this one done, but now that I have the machinery and ability to, I could make as many as I wanted, and then I would have an endless amount of test subjects." Chell's expression was one of utter shock and confusion. All she knew was that GLaDOS made a human body, looking exactly like a human body, but, in fact, wasn't human at all. The machine stood in front of her, admiring her own work on the body. She looked completely self-centered doing that. It almost made Chell laugh, thinking of that, but before she could even stifle a cough-laugh, another human walked out of the room.
He walked casually to the two women, looking around the room. He couldn't be more than seventeen. His light blond, messy hair shifted as he admired the room. He crossed his arms and set his turquoise eyes on Chell, "I know an easy way out of this place. I've been here before; all you have to do is jump in the "deadly" water and there'll be a door there."
"Don't listen to him!" Another human, seeming around twenty, blurted out, stumbling towards the group. He had his foot placed improperly in one of the boots, and he twisted his ankle, falling flat on his face by Chell's feet. His curly Auburn hair lay chaotically around his face, and his glasses slid to sit in front of him, cracking slightly in the left side. He scrambled to his feet, putting his glasses on and blushed lightly, "He's, uh…he's a compulsive liar. Don't listen to him."
GLaDOS rolled her eyes while Chell huffed, "That would explain things…" She looked around, "Where's Fear?"
Liam snorted, "Probably hiding." Chell looked at all of the doors, only one being opened. She went up to the closed door and knocked, half searching for a way to get in and half getting her attention. Nobody replied. Chell knocked again, "Fear, come out. It's okay, you're safe out here."
"It's Faith, " Fear cut off, "How did I know that?" Her voice was shaky, like she had been crying. Chell turned and looked back to the group, mouthing the name confusedly, "Faith?"
The boys shrugged, but GLaDOS nodded, "That's her name." She crossed her hands over her golden jumpsuit, "You do know all of the cores came from humans before, don't you? It would be impossible to create a full personality based off of observations and data; a personality is a characterization of the brain-"
"What?" Wheatley cut her off, "Y-you mean…I'm actually a human? You're bloody kidding me! I'm…actually…one of them?"
GLaDOS growled, "Yes, you were. And you were still the biggest moron then, too."
"I AM NOT A MORON! Why do you keep calling me that?" He whined
"Because you ARE a moron! How do you explain your being here? You didn't actually think he would let you sit and watch, did you?" She asked, mostly rhetorically.
Wheatley glanced down, "Well, he said-"
"Of course you believe him…"
"Well, I'm not a bloody moron! Stop calling me a moron!" Wheatley yelled.
"You ARE a moron! You were born a moron, you grew up a moron, and you were used as the Intelligence Dampening Sphere BECAUSE you were a moron!" GLaDOS snapped.
Wheatley growled and lunged towards the woman, arms extended ad directed for her throat. Liam quickly grabbed his shoulders and held him back, but Wheatley kept trying. He started spitting out unintelligible insults, his British accent stronger with his anger. He spat out names, offensive phrases; really, anything that could be thought up. Suddenly he jerked and fell to the floor unconscious. GLaDOS chuckled at the Brit, until, that is, she jerked and passed out as well. Chell and Liam looked at the two, splayed across the floor in their temporary comatose. They glanced to each other, and then Chell turned back to the door, speaking softly, "Like I said…it's safe out here."
After a few minutes of persuading Faith out of the room, the door opened and a young girl walked out. She had to be fifteen, at least, and Chell stared at the girl in shock. They actually took a fifteen-year-old Girl's life and placed it into a core? How could they? Rage built up inside her and boiled in her chest. She couldn't believe they would do such a heartless thing. A short, small scream jerked Chell back to Earth. She turned to see Wheatley sitting up, scooting back against the wall, completely horrified. Seconds after, GLaDOS jumped awake with the same startled yell, and mimicking Wheatley's motion against the wall across from him. The two sat in their dazed state of horror, slightly gasping from the sleep. Eventually they noticed the eyes watching them, ad quickly composed themselves- GLaDOS being the first to notice. She stood up and cleared her throat, but before she could speak, Chell had her against the wall, her arm pushing into the AI's throat.
"What is wrong with you?" Chell hissed, glaring into the woman's golden eyes. GLaDOS glanced to Chell's left, seeing the young girl. She swallowed, attempting to get her voice. Chell had no patience, and pushed off from the woman, bringing her to choke out a cough. "She's fifteen. Fifteen! And you transferred her? She's just fifteen!" Chell steamed, throwing gestures towards the girl. GLaDOS looked at Chell, and then Faith, and then Chell again. She cleared her throat, "She was an orphan. It wasn't like I was taking her from anybody that cared about her."
The room went silent. Everyone was either looking at GLaDOS with disgust, or at Faith with pity. Instantly the girl began to tear up, "What do you mean I'm an orphan?" Chell sighed and looked down to Faith, pursing her lips as she thought of what to say. The girl looked at Chell, and then GLaDOS, tears rushing down her face. Just as the woman was about to speak, Faith bolted away, back into her room. Chell immediately glared at GLaDOS, followed by the boys.
"This is even low for you, GLaDOS," Chell said, going into Faith's room. Liam huffed ad helped Wheatley up, both going into their own rooms. GLaDOS watched after them; an odd feeling forming in her stomach.
She wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like something she had gotten when she had the Morality Core. Whenever she killed someone, the core would bring a great deal of discomfort and regret. That's how GLaDOS felt; but what was it called? She held her stomach, struggling to find a word for the emotion. She didn't even know the source. Was it because everyone was furious at her? Or did it have to do with what she said about Faith? She sighed. Curse these bodies; giving stronger emotions than what she would normally feel in her own body. GLaDOS looked towards Faith's room, and her stomach tightened when she heard a sob. She ventured over to the room, standing half-hidden behind the door frame, and watched as Chell comforted her. A new feeling joined the first one when she saw them; this one more like astonishment. It shocked GLaDOS to see woman, so strong and stubborn, act so nurturing to the girl.
Chell sat by Faith, lightly rubbing the girls back as she spoke. She rubbed Faith's knee with her other hand. The young girl lay her head against Chell's arm, and Chell moved to allow her to lean against her chest. As Faith cried, the woman soothed her, running her hand through the girl's short, brown hair, and spoke softly.
"Don't listen to her," Chell said, "She's just vicious, horrible person that likes hurting other people."
"She said nobody cares about me…"
"Well she's wrong, because I care about you. I know Wheatley and Liam care about you."
Faith looked up, her irritated eyes filled with joy, "Really? You care about me?"
Chell nodded with a smile, "You're like my little sister. I care a lot about you."
GLaDOS listened carefully, interested in what she said. You're like my little sister…That rang in her head for a minute. Why did that sound so odd to GLaDOS? She looked back at the two, curious about their sudden closeness. Now that she paid attention, she could see some surprising similarities between the two. They both had the same nose, very similar eye colors, although Faith's were only a tad darker. GLaDOS mused over these two girls for a minute, watching them smile and talk, like normal people. But when the topic went back to her orphan life, the knot returned. GLaDOS couldn't live with it anymore; she stepped out and cleared her throat. The two girls looked up at her; Faith looking upset and Chell looking furious.
They waited for her to talk, so she looked at Chell, "Can I ask you a question?" Both Chell and she were surprised by the insecurity in her voice. The test subject got up and went out of the room with GLaDOS, crossing her arms and turning to the woman expectantly. GLaDOS cleared her throat, "What's that feeling you get in your stomach after you know you hurt someone?"
Chell furrowed her brows, "Are you saying you feel guilty?" Guilt! That was the word! GLaDOS lit up and nodded, although her excitement turned back to regret immediately. Chell smirked, "You actually feel guilty about hurting Faith?" The AI nodded once more, unsure what to say. "Then apologize," Chell said.
GLaDOS looked at the woman; was she kidding? She would never apologize, unless it was sarcastic…But the thought of the girl, crying from her words, made the knot tighten. She sighed and went to the room, waiting patiently for Faith to look at her. When she did, the woman hesitated; she looked back to Chell, who gestured to move closer to Faith. GLaDOS went and sat on the bed, shooting nervous glares in Chell's direction. Faith sat up and looked curiously at the AI. "Faith," GLaDOS said slowly, "When I said nobody cared about you," she paused, having a surprisingly hard time finding the right words to say, "I was…angry…" She glanced to Chell, who raised her eyebrows and gestured to continue, "I was just saying things out of stress…It was wrong."
Faith listened patiently, enjoying the struggle GLaDOS was going through. The AI continued, stuttering over her last words, "It was wrong, and…I'm..S-s..sorry…" She exhaled a large sigh of relief, finally finished with the forced apology…although, she did feel a little sorry for the girl. But then again, Chell was abandoned, and she didn't care…Her thoughts were interrupted when Faith swung her arms around GLaDOS' waist. The girl was smiling, "It's okay."
"Wow, you're very easy to forgive people…" GLaDOS muttered, surprised by the sudden affection. The girl giggled, causing a chuckle from Chell, "Because, unlike you, I don't like holding a grudge." The AI removed Faith's hands ad stood up, "I don't hold grudges." And with that, she left the room.
Hold grudges…yeah right. If she were to hold grudges, she would have tried killing Chell much quicker than she had. GLaDOS huffed. She glowered at the objects, taking in the separate accessories, and thinking how the virus was creating better ideas than she had. Another huff. The two boys left their rooms, along with the girls, and now everyone was gathered together and finally not fighting. The speakers crackled,
"Good to see everyone is finally working together to stay alive, and we haven't even started testing! How did you two enjoy your naps?" GLaDOS and Wheatley shivered slightly at the memory. The other three were both curious and afraid of what he did to them to make them tremble; especially GLaDOS. The voice continued, "So, there are five things on the table, one of which being in Miss Chell's hand. That is the Ping Ring- like what I did there with the rhyme? The ping ring is a device used to tell partners where to go or stand or place a portal, or what not. There are two portal guns, one shooting a green portal and the other shooting a violet one. Then there's the Anti-Grav Gloves, which, obviously allows you to carry things much too heavy for you, using anti-gravity. Only one to each person."
Chell gave the ping ring to GLaDOS, who hardly cared what she got. Wheatley rushed to get the gun, but stopped when violently shoved away from the table by Chell- she was still furious about his betrayal. She glared at him as she took a gun and gave the other to Faith. She then gave the gloves to Liam. Wheatley frowned, "What about me?" The speakers cackled, "Yeah, I'm thinking. For now you'll have to empty-handed, sorry….now, there will be a room like this after every test, along with an elevator. But, the doors will be locked. I will unlock the doors at nine, and you can all rest until seven in the morning-"
"You're letting us sleep?" Chell asked.
"Yes. I believe tests subjects would test better if given rest, rather than tons of adrenalin," He said. The group traded suspicious glances and he chuckled, "Of course, you all will want breaks from the testing."
GLaDOS rolled her eyes, while the rest of the group nodded. It surprised her that Chell nodded to enthusiastically; were the tests that hard? She eyed the woman curiously until an elevator door opened ahead of them. The group gathered in the lift, and the door shut.
"No! Over there, on the button!" Chell snapped, directing Liam for the fourth time. He looked where she pointed and grinned, walking over and putting the Weighted Storage Cube on a large red button. He glowed, very proud of his puzzle-solving skills, and Chell growled. She went through the door, followed closely by the rest of the group. They had only done three tests, and Chell had become the leader. She always walked ahead of the group; she looked around the test and explained the goal and how they were going to pass. Nobody complained, though, because, honestly, she was much better at the tests than any of them.
They rode the lift to their Break Room, so they called it, and the bedroom doors opened. With a sigh of relief, everyone relaxed. Liam went to his room, immediately exploring the fridge and his new sense of huger. Faith sat on the floor, playing around with the Anti-Grav Gloves. Wheatley simply dropped to the ground face first, letting out a tired groan, muffled by the floors. Chell chuckled at the man and sat against the wall, leaning her head back ad closing her eyes. It was good to finally get some rest. She had never experienced challenges like these; and it was just the beginning. She shuttered at the thought of future chambers. All of her muscles ached; her cheek stung from a brush with some Razor Gears. Her thoughts went back to that moment; out of her whole life, she had never been that close to death. She simply stepped out from behind a wall, and suddenly a sharp pain spread through her left cheek. The shock knocked her back, holding her hand to the gash. Chell wasn't really sure of what happened, but the look on everybody's face said she had just averted losing half her face. Across from her, the Gear stuck into the wall, sitting in a dent in the panel. Chell's hand absentmindedly went to her cheek, and a voice spoke.
"You've finally met your match, haven't you?" GLaDOS said, sitting next to her. Chell jumped and snapped to look at her. It took a moment to slow her pulse from the scare, but eventually she calmed down, and simply nodded to the woman. She looked at the floor, her mind immediately hazing over with memories of the day.
GLaDOS watched the woman, both out of curiosity and, secretly, a bit worried for her. Her stare was distant; she must be lost in thought. Yet, even as her expression was generally blank, the AI noted very small, very specific details. Her pink lips twisted ever so slightly into a frown; her ice-blue eyes sparkled with fear and loss. Loss of what? What did she lose? GLaDOS pondered over this for a minute. Chell hadn't dropped anything during the tests, surely; she had nothing in her hands other than the portal gun. This was going to kill her, it felt like an obvious answer; curse the human forgetfulness. Before she could ask, Chell stood up and went to her room, the door shutting quietly behind her.
Faith eventually went to her room, leaving GLaDOS alone with Wheatley. She stared at the Brit, unsure if he was even awake, until he sighed, "I always thought you were the worst idea ever to be thought up…"
GLaDOS scorned at him, but he continued, "But then this guy show up, and you seem almost pleasant. I mean, aside from the bossy, rude attitude, like you're the only thing that matters." She huffed and stood up; she wasn't going to sit through his complaining. She went to her room ad sat on her bed. That man was wrong; simply speaking as a moron, but then why did his words replay in her head. Bossy, rude; like you're the only thing that matters. That was untrue; if she only thought of herself, the she wouldn't have let Chell go. She huffed and lay back, closing her eyes with a sigh. Instantly her thoughts grew foggy and unfocused; darkness grew, surrounding her mind with a black fog of sleep.
