Author's Note: So I'm back from hospital. So much beeping from machines and getting woken in the middle of the night by a big yellow torch light hovering over me so I could get stabbed with needles and have all my blood taken. It was terrible. Plus I had a calcium overdose when they were fixing up the function of my parathyroid glands and ended up with vomiting and diarrhoea and I was shaking as if I had Parkinson's. Also, everything was grey and white and there was nothing to look at. Bandage around one arm to secure the IV line and I'm covered in bruises from all the needles. It was like being a test subject. I'm on more pills than I can count. All I need is a jumpsuit instead of these T.E.D stockings. I did have to wear these big white boot things for a while that squeezed my legs and made sure I had decent circulation.
Now I know how Chell feels, and why she looked drugged out and messed up in the first Portal game.
I completely understand why she wants to kill GLaDOS.
Anyway, I didn't get anything done while I was in hospital, so that's why there hasn't been an update in a while. But here is one now instead.
That robot thing wandering around was weird and hostile, but there was no denying that it knew what it was doing when it came to cleaning the place up, Mrs Keegan reasoned, looking around her spotless home. She'd thought the place had been looking pretty spiffy before, but she could see just how much difference GLaDOS had made in just her short little stint as a maid. The carpets were looking far newer than they ever had before. It was even better than the time she'd had to hire a professional cleaner when she'd done her back in. She could have sworn that the android had just replaced it with brand new flooring it was that good. The dishes were spotless and there wasn't a speck of dust to be found in the place. Even the polished wood of the mantelpiece and floorboards positively glistened. It was a far cry from the mess Chell made.
That girl was a nightmare when it came to cleanliness. She'd just about had to be house trained with the way she walked mud in everywhere. It was like the girl had never even been outside before and didn't know that you could even get dirty feet. Mrs Keegan had considered whopping her on the nose with a rolled up newspaper a few times during her stay, but the girl was apologetic when she'd realized what she'd done, and cleaned up after herself once she'd figured out what all the bottles of cleaning supplies were when they were thrust into her face. She'd always done a fairly hopeless job though, but as long as she got most of the mud cleaned up and remembered to take her boots off at the door if she'd been outside, then the old woman was happy to mop up the streaks on the wood that the girl just couldn't seem to get rid of no matter how hard she tried.
It made her wonder whether Chell had spent a long time with GLaDOS just cleaning up after her. Maybe she was some rich kid with a fancy scientist for a daddy that just gave her robots to do everything for her. It seemed the only logical explanation as to why she couldn't even perform the most basic of tasks that everyone knew how to do. The girl was puzzled by the simplest of contraptions sometimes. Like the microwave. Even snooty rich folk knew how to work one of those, but not Chell. Come to think of it she didn't act terribly much like a snot-nosed brat. She was quite timid around people and for a long time wouldn't even look them in the eye or stand near them. She was certainly a puzzle.
Mrs Keegan sighed, and swung her legs over the side of the bed, sliding her feet into her slippers. Perhaps a cup of tea would help her to get off to sleep. It sounded like Chell could use one as well, because she could hear the girl's footsteps shuffling around up in the attic. Shrugging on a dressing gown and sneaking off down the stairs, it didn't take long for her to brew up a couple of cups of tea. She didn't quite know how the pale girl upstairs liked hers so unbearably bitter, but the sweetness of the sugar she'd placed in the cup the first time she'd had some had startled the poor thing, just like the lemonade had. At least she'd gotten used to that.
Setting the cups and saucers down on a tray, Mrs Keegan wandered back up the steps with a practiced ease, the crockery not so much as even rattling. She'd found that the sound had often broken the tranquillity of the night and had frightened Chell a few times during the first weeks of her stay to the point that she'd just about leapt out the window until she'd remembered where she was. She was certainly a puzzle. Balancing the tray carefully as she opened the old closet door to the attic steps, she was pleased to find a sliver of light pouring down from the door that was still cracked open a few inches. That made picking her way up the narrow pathway much easier.
Not wanting to be terribly nosy, but also not wanting to disturb Chell in case she had fallen asleep and it was GLaDOS walking around, Mrs Keegan peered in through the crack in the door. It appeared the bedside lamp was on, but neither of the two were lying down. Where were they? She tilted her head around further and finally saw GLaDOS standing next to the tiny little bed that was actually looking clean for once. Where was Chell though? The old woman blinked.
Oh.
Oh dear.
Her gaze followed the same path as that of the android, to where the test subject was kneeling in front of her on the floor.
Chell's lips had firmly affixed themselves to the inside of GLaDOS's thigh, her eyes seemingly unable to decide whether to stay open or closed as they fluttered. One hand appeared quite enamoured with a certain piece of black lace that was far too raunchy to be considered polite to see in public. The other hand remained gripping the android's other leg somewhere up underneath that skirt that was also far too short to be tasteful.
Not that the girl wasn't getting a good taste of everything, Mrs Keegan noted, with the way her teeth tugged at the garter so she could press her soft lips to the artificial skin beneath it.
The tray very nearly slipped out of her hands and crashed to the floor. She didn't mean to stare, but the sight of the girl showing that much affection for anything except that strange cube she brought with her was just a sight to behold. It was also terribly sad.
Did she seriously have to find affection in that robot thing? There was a perfectly gentlemanly young man across the road who was more than willing to take her out to dinner and shower her with all kinds of delightful attention for as long as they were together. As the saying went, it was better to be an old man's darling than a young man's slave. But the boy was an absolute sweetheart, and he'd never treat her badly for as long as they lived. It really didn't make sense for Chell to be forced into being with a robot no matter how smart it was. Especially one that was also incredibly rude to her.
The girl was painfully shy – that much was obvious. And with the state she'd found her in, clutching what looked like her underwear while wandering along the side of the road; it just lent itself to the fact that she must have been abused in some way, shape or form. No wonder she always shied away from physical contact. She probably just didn't trust anyone. With a robot though, she didn't have to. It could be programmed to just lay there and allow the girl to take what affection she needed without having to worry about the other ramifications. While there was no doubt that GLaDOS was intimidating, there was also something about her that Chell had a little faith in that made the prospect of being with her a whole lot less scary than being with a real person.
She must just need a little time to adjust and see that nobody here was going to harm her. It just wasn't going to happen if she didn't get out and about though. She couldn't be allowed to remain cooped up here. A little prompting might be in order.
As terribly sad as the situation was with the girl clinging lustfully to the robot's lean legs and putting her mouth in places it shouldn't have been going on woman or machine, Mrs Keegan decided to just back off and avoid making the situation more awkward. After all, she didn't want to frighten the girl into hiding under the covers in embarrassment for days on end. Or anger GLaDOS for that matter. Annoying something that could lift a truck was most likely a very bad idea. So the idea of sharing a cup of tea together was abandoned, and she snuck back down to the kitchen. Naturally, a load of sugar was dumped into both cups by the blushing widow, who couldn't quite get the sight of the two of them ot of her head.
There was no denying that it looked like Chell had been quite enamoured with what she was doing, despite incalculable expression on the face of her chosen partner. Although there was a tingle of warmth left in Mrs Keegan's chest at seeing the girl enjoying herself for once, there was still that twinge of innate wrongness that lingered about. She shouldn't have been witness to what she had seen, but now there was no way around it.
Chell was painfully lonely and seeking out sexual affections from a machine was her way of dealing with whatever trauma she had been through.
Thankfully, it could be remedied. She just needed a little time out in public and with Billy to see that he meant no harm and that he could be trusted. He certainly wouldn't push her into anything. She could see it now. A date or two here, a walk through the fields there, showing her around the farm, maybe get some ice cream together down at the store. Hell, she could even lend them the old truck to sneak into the ancient drive-in theatre in the next town. It'd be just like the old days when she'd met her husband all those years ago. It would be terribly cute to see what kind kid would come from those two.
It would probably be a sweet little rascal with Chell's dumpy lips and atrocious lack of housekeeping skills, and Billy's shaggy mop of hair. It would almost be like having grandkids again. Absolutely adorable. If Chell could keep her head on straight, remember what day it was and that if she wanted food she'd have to cook it, she'd make a great mother.
Downing both cups of tea, Mrs Keegan quietly shuffled back to bed with that pleasant little thought in her head.
Girl or boy though?
That was the real question.
