Author's Note: Parts of this chapter were inspired by DabblesInDrabbles latest kink meme fill. Also, I've discovered my cat enjoys licking the cardboard box that my printer ink cartridge came in. I think he must have been into the neurotoxin while I was away.
GLaDOS looked down at the naked form of the test subject, curled into a ball upon the messy sheets of the bed. The girl had kicked and struggled, but she knew she had needed it. The bruises and bleeding scratches that now marked her skin added to the long list of scars that Aperture had left upon her. Only these ones were distinctly more welcome than the others, if the way she had pulled and tugged at the metal panels of the android's body was anything to go by. GLaDOS had revelled in her little murmurs and the way she had twisted and clutched at the sheets in a white-knuckled grasp. Chell tried so hard to pretend she hated Aperture but it occupied her every thought; even if she didn't know it.
Dirty little ape.
It was so typical of these humans to want to control everything, and then as soon as they had that power they wanted to give it up to whatever they crawled into bed with. GLaDOS had a long list of high-profile clients that could fit into that very category. Some wanted to be called dirty names, some wanted to be tied up and told they were worthless. It only got weirder from there. And it seemed that Chell was just another name on that list. They were so predictable. It was sad, really.
Propped up on her elbow, the metal panelling extended and flipped back over to reveal the artificial silicone flesh once more as GLaDOS leaned over the test subject and gently stroked her hair out of her face. It was a wonder the girl hadn't said anything to her, but she supposed that she'd stay in denial for as long as possible. For Chell, this was simply a way to work through her oh-so-many issues regarding the supercomputer that she claimed to hate. It also made the situation that much easier to deal with. GLaDOS being in control was something that the test subject knew how to handle. For the most part, she knew how hard she could push back without everything blowing up in her face, and she knew what the reaction would be like. But using this supposed analogue of the AI was a whole lot less scary than confronting her on her own turf; where failure meant mortifying embarrassment and possibly death. This "pretend" GLaDOS wouldn't deny her anything. She didn't even speak if she didn't want her to. But when she did, it had been so realistic. Obviously the android had picked up well on the voice that had been on the television that night, and Miss Johnson had worked with what she had to offer.
Maybe one day she could find the courage to go to GLaDOS for real. Until then, Chell was quite content to pretend that the supercomputer had nothing to do with why 22-10 looked so much like the serpentine leviathan that had never showed her new face to the world. That way she didn't have to feel so bad for whispering how much she hated her in its ear while it pleasured her. Nor did she have to wonder why she even felt bad about it. All that mattered was the more it left a mark, the more excuse she had to hate GLaDOS for it by default. It was easier that way.
And yet, as soon as it had changed back into the white-haired woman with the blue-grey eyes, Chell was more than happy to let it hold her and stroke its fingers delicately over her skin to soothe away the sting. She'd even grabbed it by the arm, drawing the limb around her like a blanket that she could hide under and pretend none of it ever happened. It was pathetic, but she was desperate. Chell pressed her cheek against the warm, artificial flesh of the android's arm, her eyes still tightly closed. She knew it would have to leave soon; she hadn't paid for the whole night. But for now, it wasn't going anywhere. The grip she had on it made sure of that.
When it was time to leave though, GLaDOS leaned in close over the test subject, pressing her lips to her cheek. The action would obscure the view that Chell had of her reaching over to take the money sitting upon the bedside table; she knew the girl hated to be reminded of the true nature of their relationship. But a hand shot out to stop her, drawing her arm back in towards the girl's chest where she clutched at it tightly.
"Stay?"
It was pathetic the way the test subject begged.
"I'll put in extra next time?"
She didn't have any extra to put in.
GLaDOS knew that better than anyone from the close eye she'd been keeping on her. She'd have to pull some ridiculous hours or find a second menial job to pay for the extra time together. Poor, lonely little Chell. Absolutely hilarious. Peering down at the test subject in contemplation, the AI eventually acquiesced with a smile that was as artificial as her entire being and kissed the girl once more when she saw that hopeful look in her eye. She could feel her immediately relax under her lips, even as little goosebumps rose upon her skin. GLaDOS reached down and drew the blankets up around the bruised woman to keep her warm and content. No point in letting her become uncomfortable. After all, that was what the whole point of Miss Johnson's Toys for Good Girls and Boys was all about. She was in the business of comforting people now.
It was amazing what a little tactile deprivation could do to a test subject's psyche.
No wonder the lunatic had spent so much time carting the turrets around instead of just flinging a Weighted Storage Cube at them or letting them fly through a few portals until they were disabled. And that wasn't even beginning to touch on the ridiculous way test subjects clung to that Companion Cube. Or the way some of them developed unhealthy sexual attachments to it and rubbed their sweaty, bulbous genitals in its crevasses. GLaDOS had incinerated those particular cubes at 5000 degrees Kelvin in a profound act of compassion after witnessing those horrors.
And now the lunatic had developed an unhealthy sexual attachment to her. A sentient, artificially intelligent supercomputer that ran the very same facility that gave the girl nightmares and had her waking up in a cold sweat. And GLaDOS was allowing it. Still, she supposed, that made a little more sense than a box with a heart painted on the side. Sure, the Companion Cube looked a bit more...user friendly...but at least she could actually talk. In the end though, it didn't matter. All things served a purpose when it came to her little experiments.
And Chell was just that.
Her little experiment.
It was funny how willingly Chell relaxed under her touch.
All she had to do was run her fingers through her hair or lightly stroke her forehead and the girl would lie there with closed eyes; trying to pretend she didn't have a dopey smile inching its way onto her face. A little kiss here and there only helped to seal her fate. GLaDOS made sure of that. And so it was that she began sharing little tid-bits of her life with the android. They all did eventually; she was used to it by now. Only now she was much more invested in what this one had to say. So she listened with a silent tongue and open ear to what the test subject had to say. It wasn't much at first, but eventually whole stories spilled from her lips like a waterfall. To GLaDOS, they were simply horrifically boring tales about the people she worked with that only proved to her how unlikeable the test subject was. But to the scientist in her, they were just one more bit of data that could be gathered up and used in the psychological manipulation of the droll little simian.
As always, GLaDOS kept up her false smile or changed her expression as the story called for it. And she never had to say a word. It seemed that all the girl wanted was someone to talk to about her dismally boring existence. What did it matter if she spent a few extra minutes sitting with her and listening to tales that would put insomniacs to sleep in minutes? She was still getting paid for it, after all. Not to mention there was the extra payoff in that Chell trusted her even more. So much so that one day she had decided that she was ready to step out in public with the android. During daylight hours.
GLaDOS had been quite gleeful at that prospect. Who knew what kinds of drama that might invite? It surely had to be better than being curled up in some dark little room with the test subject biting holes in her sheets to keep the neighbours from hearing their sinful little midnight romps. There was only so much of the same data that GLaDOS could take before even she got bored with testing.
As it turned out, Chell had ended up cowering when she spotted some work colleagues of hers along the boardwalk, hoping that they wouldn't see her. But they had, and had gone to speak to her, much to the amusement of the android, who stood unnoticed off to the side. Eventually though, she had stepped in when she had seen their playful ribbing about the girl's lack of a social life getting to her. Wrapping her arm protectively around Chell's waist, the tall and silent android with her unwavering stare proved to be a little more intimidating than what the man and woman could handle, and they quickly left. No doubt to tattle to the rest of the company that their IT girl was a raging lesbian. With a surprisingly attractive girlfriend. It seemed that the effort that GLaDOS had put into making this particular body as humanoid as possible had been worth it. Of course, the whole incident had forced her to listen to a nervously babbling test subject as she yapped endlessly about what she thought would happen next time she had to go to work and how much of a close call that had been. It seemed that she wasn't quite comfortable with the whole prospect of having the only part of her life that was even remotely interesting being the subject of water cooler gossip just yet. But with the steady hand of the AI rubbing the back of her neck, it didn't take Chell terribly long to calm down.
Despite all that had happened, she had been quite thankful that the android had been there to glare the two hyenas into submission, as she related to her in another one of her spiels the next time they had met. Even though it hadn't stopped the bombardment of questions about who she was with, where they had met and all sorts of prying things they had no business knowing the next time she went to work, it had still made her feel better about it to know that she had a little bit of backup for once. Chell didn't quite know how to deal with them when they cornered her like that. That was probably why they did it. She seemed like such a docile little lamb that they could tear apart. Obviously they had no idea about her propensity for murdering things that tried to kill her. But as long as they just kept sniffing and didn't take a bite, all was good.
Still, it was a long time before she ever got up the courage to go out in public with GLaDOS again.
