Maintaining her silent vow to herself, Blake made it through the next several test chambers without incident. Even the chamber that introduced turrets wasn't that impressive, all things considered. Remembering Wheatley's advice from earlier, she used cubes to deflect their fire when possible, and then knocked them over to shut them down. It wasn't all that hard, really.
GLaDOS had taken Blake's silence well. During one chamber, she made a note about it: "Giving me the silent treatment? You remind me of Chell. She never talked to me, either." Blake took the comment as a compliment; that she could be compared to the last person to stop this insane AI was heartening.
In what was labeled Test Chamber 18, Blake faced perhaps the most physically demanding test thus far. Using the hard-light bridges, she had to deflect turret fire from a distant turret as she made her way to a laser. The lasers, she'd learned, could pass straight through certain glass walls in the test without damaging the walls. A small version of such a wall lay in the middle of the room. With her reflexes, the portal device, and a pair of discouragement redirection cubes, Blake was able to destroy the turrets, and complete the test without incident.
It was here that GLaDOS spoke up. "I've been reviewing the contents of your Scroll. A lot's happened since I was killed, apparently. And I do have to admit, I'm glad I caught you. I'm not too keen on the idea of my technology being in the hands of terrorists."
Blake finally broke her silence at that. "We're not terrorists! We are freedom fighters! We're standing up for Faunus rights in this world!" she exclaimed, indignant.
"One person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist," GLaDOS replied simply. "You rob legitimate businesses, raid transports, and commit other acts of aggression against innocents, fueled by so-called 'Faunus rights'. It's an interesting study in group delusion, I must admit."
"We don't attack those who don't deserve it!" Blake insisted. "Those businesses deny Faunus the right to shop there, and those transports primarily belong to the Schnee Dust Company and other companies that abuse Faunus labor! We're doing nothing wrong!"
There was an audible snort from GLaDOS at that. "Spoken like a true cultist. You're in so deep, you can't even see just how skewed your worldview is."
"Skewed?" Now Blake was confused. "What's skewed about it?"
"While analyzing human and Faunus behavior is a secondary concern here at Aperture, I nonetheless have a fairly good idea as to what makes them tick. And I can tell you this; the White Fang's actions are not going to do anything to help Faunus rights. If anything, they'll only make things worse."
"Worse? How can you say that?!" Blake snarled. "You don't know anything about what we do!"
"Regardless of what you may think, I'm not ignorant of history, Blake Belladonna. Faunus were harshly treated for a good period of time. I was functional up until Chell escaped, which was about twenty years after the end of the Great War. Aperture wasn't involved in that, but I kept tabs on the outside world, just as a precaution. From what I've read in your Scroll, Faunus these days have it made in comparison. Even your friend Ilia wasn't that bad off compared to the way things were before."
"Ilia? How dare you say she isn't bad off! She lost her entire family in an accident at a Dust mine! And the humans laughed at her misfortune!" Blake insisted.
"And that was a tragedy that claimed humans and faunus alike, yet all you think about is your own kind. Regardless, up until that point, her circumstances would have made any Faunus of the wartime era envious. Sure, she had to hide her heritage, but really, that wasn't so bad. Back in my day, Faunus were forced into the most heinous conditions. They weren't viewed as equal at all, even on paper. The fact that Ilia was able to get into a school in Atlas, one of the most prejudiced cities on the face of Remnant, speaks volumes about how much the situation has improved for Faunus since then."
"That's not the point! We're still second-class citizens in comparison to humans, and it'll stay that way until something is done about it!" Blake growled.
"'Something' like becoming the very monsters the humans made you out to be way back when? The very monsters whose masks you wear?" GLaDOS put in. When Blake reeled back in shock, the AI continued. "Humans once thought Faunus little more than animals. Believed them to be savages, creatures that weren't worthy of respect; little different from the Creatures of Grimm. All the White Fang is doing with these acts of violence is reinforcing that belief. 'Faunus are dangerous'. 'They shouldn't be allowed in civilized society'. Given your counterproductive tactics, do you truly think you're making a difference for Faunus rights? The truth is you're just hammering nails in their coffin."
"That's… that's not true. We are making a difference," Blake said, but her earlier venom had subsided considerably in the face of GLaDOS's accusation, feeling herself with a sudden and very unwelcome sense of uncertainty.
"Well, in one respect, you are making a difference. A bad one, but a difference nonetheless." When Blake didn't respond, GLaDOS chuckled. "You really were the perfect cultist, weren't you? Adam Taurus had you so brainwashed, you didn't even consider what he was doing was wrong until someone pointed it out to you."
That got Blake's ire up again. "You don't get to talk that way about Adam!" she snapped. "He's a prince among Faunus! His passion for justice will see us through!"
GLaDOS actually laughed at that. "'Passion for justice'? By all the sciences, he's really got his hooks in you. I've never seen such a textbook case of Stockholm Syndrome."
"And what does that mean?!" Blake demanded.
"Adam is hardly a 'prince', my dear delusional test subject. His actions, his words, they aren't what someone who stands for justice would do or say. He's fueled purely by spite. He believes all humans are responsible for all the perceived wrongs in his life. And that mindset is dangerously contagious, as evidenced by you. Even when he mistreats you, you excuse it and rationalize it. Judging by your own diary entries, he's manipulative towards you, and cruel."
Here, Blake saw an opportunity to fire back. "That's rich, coming from you. You kill people for the pettiest of reasons. Adam's… not perfect, but at least he isn't a monster like you!"
In response, GLaDOS played an audio file; one from Blake's own Scroll. "You failed me, Blake. You let the humans go without even a scratch." It was Adam's voice.
"They were just clerks, Adam. They didn't have anything to do with - " Blake's response was cut off by the sound of a fist meeting flesh, and a startled cry. In the present, Blake flinched at the memory.
"They willfully went along with what the store owner said, Blake. They're just as guilty as he is. Don't forget that."
As the recording ended, Blake trembled slightly, remembering her initial fear of Adam when he'd struck her. "That…" She couldn't find the words.
"It was cruel of him to strike you for defending your actions. He's not a hero, nor a paragon of justice. He's just as much of a monster as I am, even if he doesn't show it. I, at least, don't attempt to hide what I am, and you may at least be assured that I do not discriminate between human and Faunus, having tested and treated them both equally in the past. Then again, you're no saint either, Blake Belladonna. In your own way, you're just as bad as Adam."
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, trying to get her emotions under control.
"You turned your back on your own parents when they left the White Fang. You called them cowards for abandoning the fight three years ago, when your father stepped down as High Leader. You haven't seen them in person since. You haven't even spoken to them via Scroll for months. You're the quintessential rebellious child, breaking your parents' hearts for little reason other than they weren't doing what you wanted and you thought you knew better than them. You obviously don't love them."
That was the breaking point. Blake fell to her knees as she began to cry. "You… you're wrong. I… I do love them. I was… just upset at them!"
"Upset enough to leave Kuo Kuana without even a goodbye. Upset enough that ever since, every conversation you've had with them has been terse, little more than an exchange of pleasantries before you end the call. But don't feel too bad, Blake. Long experience and research has taught me that everyone is a monster in a way. Some show it by murdering innocents. Some show it by yelling at those who love them unconditionally. You're hardly unique. So don't let it get to you."
GLaDOS fell silent at last, leaving Blake with her sorrow. The cat Faunus spent a few minutes weeping at her flayed pride, before she finally stood up again. She made her way to the test chamber's exit, head bowed by the weight of her emotions.
As she got in the lift, she considered everything GLaDOS had said to her. Was Adam truly a monster? Was she, herself, just a deluded rebel child? Was the White Fang in the wrong about its tactics?
"Hey! How's it going?" Wheatley's voice broke Blake out of her thoughts, as she saw him through the elevator's glass doors, following her on a rail. "I talked my way onto the nanobot work crews fixing this shaft. They are really small, so - ah!" He turned partially away from her. "I know, Jerry. No, I'm on break, mate. On a break."
"Aren't you a little big for a nanobot?" Blake asked, drying her eyes quickly, trying to refocus herself on the subject of survival again.
"Maybe just a little," Wheatley admitted. "Anyway, I wanted to - what?" He turned away again, seeming indignant. "Jerry, you can't fire me for that! Yes, Jerry - or, maybe your prejudiced worksite should have accommodated a nanobot of my size? Thanks for the hate crime, Jer! See you in court, mate!" Turning back to her, he managed to get one last line in before she descended out of sight. "Anyway, just hold on for five more chambers!"
As Blake descended, she pondered this miserably. "Is it even worth it? Should I just give up and accept that I'm going to die here, like so many other people?"
From deep within, she could almost hear a retort. What am I saying?! I can't die here! Not after all of that!
"But what's the point of fighting?" she asked aloud. "After everything, don't I deserve this karmic retribution?"
This isn't karma! This is me feeling guilty! And that's fine, but I need to do something about it!
"Like what?"
Like get out of this place and actually talk to the people who matter. My parents, Ilia, Adam…
"Is talking to Adam really a good idea?"
Maybe not, but it needs to happen. And I can't do it if I'm wallowing in my own self-pity. I'm stronger than this.
With that, Blake reached her resolution, nodding to herself as the lift came to a stop at the next chamber. "Right. I've gone through too much to die here. And there's so much more I need to do." With that, she left the lift, not noticing how the space where she'd been rippled slightly, as though something were there, before the phenomenon faded.
