Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long! This is actually the last chapter. (I know this was an awkwardly short story. I... have no excuse. Haha~) Being the last chapter, I'd like to thank everyone who read this and everyone who reviewed it. (: I truly appreciate the support. You'll be seeing plenty more of me. I will warn you that there will be extreme fluffy and pairing-related stuff. I also pulled a bit of a Wheatley with the spacing. It got completely messed up and I have no idea how to fix it.
Without further annoying commentary from me, enjoy the final chapter.
"GLaDOS." Knowledge whispered. GLaDOS looked back at him. "What, exactly, are you going to do to Morality?" He asked, a hint of anxiety in his voice.
"I was thinking of crushing her and dropping her in the incinerator, to be blunt." Knowledge's face went white.
"Could I, ah, offer a different solution?"
"I suppose I'm open to suggestions."
A smirk would have adorned her face if she had one. What kind of idiot did they take her for? How could she not see that coming?
"Morality!" GLaDOS snarled. Morality only laughed.
"So you found me. Was it worth it?" Her optic narrowed at her. "Something you once said, right?" She scanned over the group, making sure they were all accounted for. "Say, is someone missing?" She counted them once again. Pity, she'd wanted to get them all in one shot. Curiousity's face reddened. "That space guy, yeah? Where'd he wander off to?" Something in Curiousity snapped. The small, mousy young woman pushed her legs forward, rage in her eyes. Morality focused in on her, readying a mechanical claw to stop her. Before she could finish computing her reaction, a spiderweb pattern spread across her optic.
"You... You killed him! You killed him!" She pulled her arm back, preparing a second blow. The mechanical claw grabbed her about the arm, pulling her from the ground. "You killed him!" Her legs kicked blindly, hoping to hit something, anything. Hot tears ran down her cheeks. She was tossed back towards the group, knocking them down like bowling pins.
"Stay down." Morality growled. The panels making the floor fell away, dropping the group into one of the small glass boxes. Her vision was compromised, but her traps still worked just as planned. Rick sidekicked the glass, to no success. Knowledge simply shook his head.
"Can't you see that body is corrupting you?" He stared at her, sadness in his eyes. He pressed his hand against the glass.
"I'm the only one who can handle it." GLaDOS let the rage in her fall away.
"No! You're the corrupted ones!" Morality tried to focus in on them, her optic only giving her a kaleidoscope view. "I'm not corrupted! I'm Morality! Everything I'm doing-"
"Check for yourself. How long do you think you can outlast the testing euphoria? The corruption?" That man's voice. It was so familiar.
"Who..."
"Incoming!" A voice called from the ceiling. A metal ball crashed through the glass, landing on the floor.
"Ow, ow, bababa." His optic was a small dot. "Still lots of gravity." He searched around, finally catching sight of the girl he was looking for. "Curiousity!" Curiousity stared at the core, eyes wide and teary.
"...Space?"
"I missed you." He kept his optic fixed on her. Curiousity took the core into her arms, pressing him close to her body.
"Come on, let's take her out!" Anger grabbed onto a wire and slid down.
"Fact: We're all going to die." Fact hesitantly slid down after her.
"Better late than never." Wheatley climbed through the shattered glass.
"No! No!" Morality's optic darted around madly. Bombs. She had to use the bombs. She sent one flying towards the glass chamber. Shattered pieces flew in every direction.
"Having a little trouble seeing?" Rick yelled. They'd made it out.
"No... Agh!" Another bomb. Another.
"This woman is crazy." Fact grabbed Anger by the wrist and darted to the other side of the room.
"Happy Explosion Day, gorgeous!" Rick swung by GLaDOS on his grappling hook, grabbing her by the waist and out of the way of a bomb. "Got any plans?" He placed her on her feet, attempting to slip her a small kiss. GLaDOS shoved him away.
"Uncalled for!" She hissed. "If we all get out of here alive, I'll let you do that." Her fingers clamped down on his, pulling him with her. A bomb landed where they had been standing.
"Stop running!" Morality turned in every direction. In the corner sat Curiousity, clutching Space in her arms.
"Am I going to die here?" She whispered. "Why did this have to happen?"
"It's okay."
"Don't move." Morality shrieked, readying a bomb for their direction. Curiousity stood, hands still clamped around Space. Her face had a new, brave look. She wasn't afraid. She'd be brave. Like Space was. The two looked at each other for a moment. Curiousity closed her eyes, Space his optic. This time they would go out together.
"Morality, this is insane!" Knowledge stood in front of them, arms outstretched. "Don't you remember?" He stared into her cracked optic. "That cake recipe? I tried to teach it to you. The real you." All the noise in the room stopped. Only silence remained.
"Knowledge?" Her voice was small.
"So, you do remember?"
"I..." He had been so kind to her. All that time. How could she ever forget? "Yes."
"Core transfer initiated."
"Wha- No! No, you tricked me!" Her optic spun. Fury filled her.
"Knowledge, get Space and Curiousity and move!"
"No, stop!" The floor beneath her opened. "Stop, no... Please, stop!" Tools. Mechanics. No, no, get off. Her consciousness began to slip away. It wasn't like before. They weren't replacing her. They were shutting her very life down. Her connections with the body began to sever. My god, what have I done? She only wanted to... What did she want? Everything flowed away. Knowledge probably hated her. She hated her. That body was a monster. Filling her with corruption. She deserved this. Her thoughts quieted as she accepted her fate with dignity.
"Is everyone okay?" GLaDOS looked around. Minor injuries. Nothing too serious from the looks of it. Morality had been silenced, her core tossed onto the ground. All life was gone from it.
"How long?" Knowledge wiped sweat away from his brow.
"Depends. Last time-"
"Hey, gorgeous!" Rick spun GLaDOS around to face him. "I recall someone telling me if we all survi-" GLaDOS quickly planted a kiss on his lips.
"You never kiss me like that." Anger kicked Fact in the shin.
"I don't like you."
"Well, I wouldn't want you to kiss me anyway!" She snarled, pushing Fact to the floor. GLaDOS pulled away from Rick, turning her back to him.
"That was Caroline's thank you. Not mine."
"Oh, of course." Rick grinned.
"GLaDOS!" Knowledge called. "She's awake!" He brushed hair away from the newly-conscious woman's face. Her eyes darted around, terrified. She tried to speak, but no sound came out.
"Morality." GLaDOS glared down at her. She shrunk into Knowledge like a child afraid of a stranger. "You should thank Knowledge. I wanted you dead. He wanted you alive. He's a very convincing man." Morality frowned. She didn't deserve it. "But just letting you off the hook would be... silly." GLaDOS put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be testing. Nothing too life-threatening. Just testing until I feel you've redeemed yourself." Morality made a tiny whimper. "Knowledge has agreed to accompany you."
"It'll be fun." Knowledge gently pressed his lips against her head. "We can talk about cake." GLaDOS smiled to herself, making her way to her next order of business. Curiousity laid on the floor, kicking her legs. She held Space by the rails, keeping him upright.
"Hello Space, Curiousity." The two looked up at her. "Have you both made a decision?"
"Is it okay to stay like this?" Curiousity smiled sheepishly. "Space says I'm beautiful."
"Very well. Space, are you content as a core?"
"Bababa, doesn't matter as long as Curiousity is here."
"I'll look for a suitable body." GLaDOS turned and walked away, leaving the duo to their excited squeals.
A tear threatened to fall as Chell looked at the lift. Why did she feel so sad to leave? GLaDOS would go back in her body and this sweet Caroline she knew would be gone. It was best to go back outside. Aperture was not the place for her anymore.
"Chell?" GLaDOS tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped. "Are you ready?" Chell shot a hesitant look at the former cores. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she'd miss them this time around. Especially-
"Chell, wait up!" Wheatley ran over, putting himself between her and the lift. "Not even a good-bye?" He frowned. She stared up into his eyes, contemplating her course of action. Her hands grabbed him by the collar, pulling him face-to-face with her. "Hey, m-" His words were cut off by a kiss.
"...Perhaps you'd like to go as well?" GLaDOS rolled her eyes.
"Are you serious?" Wheatley grinned.
"One less moron sounds fantastic." She winked. "Get out of here." Wheatley's rambling continued as Chell pulled him into the lift with her. Her smile really was beautiful. "Remember when I said not to come back? Well, I mean it this time. Don't come back." She flashed them a smile, raising her hand to wave. The doors closed, and as they disappeared into the ceiling, GLaDOS could have sworn she heard a 'thank you.' Must have been her imagination.
"Are you ready, gorgeous?" Rick called from the door to the hall. Her body would be ready for another transfer soon. A strange feeling of sadness ran through her.
"Go set everything up. I'll be right there." She shooed him away. He nodded, disappearing behind the doors. GLaDOS' eyess traveled back to her robotic form. The facility had a few minutes before its vital functions needed to be controlled once more. She smiled, placing her hands on her hips. She'd stay Caroline, at least for a little while longer.