Announcement: I changed the story's rating because the beginning of this chapter gets a little… raunchy. Just bear with me; it'll make sense if you read the whole chapter.
Deep down in the earth, in an abandoned facility no one remembered, two souls strived to reach the surface again. One ventured out into the mysterious underground to fetch materials to aid the other in their return. That would be Chell. Meanwhile, GLaDOS stayed at her desk, diligently piecing the key to their escape back together.
GLaDOS pushed another strand of black hair behind her ear despite knowing that in a few minutes it would be back over her eyes. That was the problem with the hair on this body's head. It was too short to tie up in a ponytail but still long enough to get in her eyes. How she hated it. And to think some humans vainly took pride in their hair.
For several days her routine had been sleeping as little as she could, waking up, working on the portal gun, eating (at Chell's insistence) some expired food, excreting said food, and either falling asleep at the desk she'd claimed for herself or Chell just about forcing her to get some rest. How could she possibly care about sleep when there was so much science to be done? Still, GLaDOS couldn't deny her work was exhausting. It took both skill and concentration; one slip-up and she'd be forced to start all over.
Despite the difficulty, rebuilding the portal guns was a challenge GLaDOS almost found herself enjoying. She probably would have enjoyed it even more with access to the tools in her facility instead of the salvaged items that were very clearly a few centuries old. The ASHPD was a product made before her creation and seeing the mechanics woven into it was exhilarating.
Okay, it wasn't as exhilarating as testing. Nothing was as exhilarating as testing. But it was better than sitting around like an invalid. Each day passed and the ASHPDs started to look more like ASHPDs. GLaDOS was grateful they were even repairable since they had been freefalling and didn't have the protection Chell had given hers the first time.
With Chell being more obedient than she'd ever been during testing, even the painful task of finding supplies was much less of a hassle than GLaDOS had expected. All she had to do was order her to find Object X which looked like [mundane human adjectives here] and Chell was off. Sure, sometimes it took some… motivation but Chell was just as determined as she was to get these things working again.
And her voice had been getting better.
GLaDOS theorized the water had been the catalyst for her rapidly healing vocal chords. The improvement had started when Chell had brought back the bottled water. One sip and she could already feel the difference as the liquid coursed down her throat. Each day she spoke a little more and a little less blood came out. Now her vocal chords were practically functional again. Granted, she couldn't yell but she could definitely carry on a conversation.
Yet ironically, her urge to speak had died down. It was only because she had work to do. She had so much work to do. And GLaDOS had every intention of throwing herself into it until she'd made these ASHPDs even better than before.
It definitely wasn't because she was scared of Chell's reaction or anything. Honestly,
I hate you too.
Besides, Chell wasn't even here right now. She was on another errand, a particularly long one at that. GLaDOS had sent her out to look for wiring that could power at least 18000 volts. Without that, the ASHPDs might as well be little plastic toys for children. Hm… children testing. GLaDOS would have to look further into that idea once she got her old body back.
As for now, there was nothing much she could do until Chell got back except tweak a few gears and bolts. Her fall boots lay discarded on the couch; they may have been revolutionary in terms of science but in terms of comfort they were absolutely painful to clink around in all day. GLaDOS looked at her progress for the thousandth time, proud of what she accomplished. And when Chell got back with her supplies, she'd get more science done!
Tell her.
Why on earth did that little voice in her head keep insisting she do something so unnecessary? Maybe Caroline had come back. She hoped not. But seriously, what point was there in telling Chell now? They were making progress and once she was done using Chell she'd send her back on her merry way out of Aperture into the cruel, human world where'd she most likely be torn about by birds. Evil, evil birds.
"I'm back." Chell announced as she casually strolled into their room carrying yet another cardboard box.
Speak of the insignificant little human! Well, technically Chell was taller than GLaDOS. But soon she'd loom over Chell in her glorious chassis. No more teeth, hair, nails, skin, nothing!
"Did you find the wires?" Chell nodded. "18000 volts?" Another great thing once GLaDOS got her body back was losing this tiny, delicate little human voice that made her sound like she'd crack if Chell so much as tapped her shoulder.
Tell her.
Chell looked so innocent, so oblivious. If she knew the truth behind the woman she thought was Caroline… who knew what could happen? But at that moment, GLaDOS realized she couldn't let her worries about the aftermath hold back what she needed to tell. It was essential to her and Chell's survival.
Now was the time.
"Look… there's something I need to tell you." GLaDOS said nervously. There was nothing to be afraid of. There was nothing to be afraid of.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"What if that… thing running the facility isn't who you think it is?" Why was she getting so quiet? It only took a few words and it would be out there. She had to go through with this; it was the only way to make things right between the two of them.
Chell frowned, clearly confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I…" GLaDOS stopped for absolutely no reason. Just keep going. It would be so much easier when she told the truth. "What if the entity you know as GLaDOS was forced out of the mainframe and into a human construct and forced to test alongside you and happened to send you and herself crashing down into older Aperture where they're currently stuck now?"
…
That did not sound anywhere near as cohesive as she'd structured it in her head. If Chell didn't automatically hate her for keeping that a secret for such a long time, then she sure as hell thought GLaDOS needed psychiatric help. She should have listened to her rational side. This had been a bad idea from the start and nothing would have been gained from-
"So you're telling me this whole time you've been GLaDOS? And now you're telling me?" Was that a hint of… amusement in her voice?
"Yeah…" GLaDOS said, wishing she could take it all back. "I just thought you'd want to know."
Chell raised an eyebrow. "You're serious?"
"No, I made up that story to entertain dying test subjects, YES I'm serious!" Why did GLaDOS feel like Chell wasn't taking this seriously at all?
"So wait." The tone of Chell's voice had whiplashed from amusement to… intrigue? "You're really GLaDOS?"
"Yes." GLaDOS felt like she was being forced to explain this to a five year old. With brain damage.
"Wow." Chell blinked in astonishment. "That's crazy… But thanks for telling me."
Well. That didn't go anywhere near as badly as GLaDOS thought it would. She wasn't sure if she should be grateful or just weirded out by Chell's odd behavior. Even now, Chell was staring at her like she was everything the moron had said would be in the bottomless pit. Maybe if she ignored her she'd go away and things would return back to the way they were only seconds ago.
"Look, I have work to do." GLaDOS swiveled back around to her desk. "Just go do whatever it is you do when you're not-"
"I think I always knew it was you." She was still here? GLaDOS looked back to see that Chell was smiling again. GLaDOS was really starting to hate that smile of hers. On other people it would look fine, but on her it looked… uncanny.
They'd been staring at each other for at least ten seconds now. Wasn't this the part where Chell broke eye contact and stopped acting like even more of a lunatic than usual? This was ridiculous. Maybe if GLaDOS focused more intently on her work she'd just go away and bang some rocks together or something.
"Great, I'll get you a prize for attentiveness." Said prize was not dying down here surrounded by old relics. GLaDOS turned back to her work, intent on tuning Chell's irritatingly perky voice out.
Suddenly GLaDOS felt five fingers brush her shoulder. "Don't you think it's better this way?" GLaDOS jumped at the feeling of someone else touching her. What in the hell was she doing?
"I think it's nice that now we have no secrets between each other." Chell said, her fingers tracing GLaDOS's shoulder blade. "Well… there is one thing I've been keeping from you."
GLaDOS didn't like this. She didn't like this one bit. She wanted Chell out. She wanted her so far away that not even the moron in space would be able to find her. "Tell you what: we'll talk about your little secret later when we're-"
"Actually, I think I'm going to talk about it now." GLaDOS winced when Chell's grip tightened on her shoulder. Before she could resist, Chell had pulled her by her wrist out of the chair she'd been perfectly comfortable in. "You know how you feel, when you've felt a certain way about someone for a long time but you knew you could never admit your true feelings."
NO. And more importantly, she didn't CARE. She just wanted Chell to let her go! She didn't want this! Why wouldn't she listen to her? She didn't want this! She didn't want this!
Chell jerked GLaDOS up close to her so that they were merely centimeters apart. She had to get out of here. She didn't know what was going on but she hated it. Somehow Chell's arms had wrapped around her in a position that left her with no escape route.
"I'd really prefer you look at me when I'm trying to tell you such an important secret." Chell said, false disappointment in her voice. Like hell would she look at her. GLaDOS would rather choke on her own neurotoxin than take part in this demented game Chell was trying to rope her into.
"I said, look at me." Chell yanked her hair so that they were eye to eye. GLaDOS involuntarily screamed. The space between them was nonexistent, with Chell wrapped around GLaDOS like a boa constricting its prey. "Anyways, the secret is… I hate you. I always have. I've just never found a way to finally get rid of you once and for all."
"Stop! You're hurting me!" GLaDOS cried out. Chell didn't seem to care. She tried to pull away but Chell was stronger and taller.
"Do you know what the best thing is? Now that I know how, I can do this." GLaDOS gasped as she felt a sharp pain drive into her stomach.
It was a knife.
Dull and rusted, the blade was buried into her stomach with Chell's grip tight on the handle. "I honestly, truly didn't think you'd fall for that."
What? How had she fallen for this? Where had that even come from? GLaDOS knew better! She groped helplessly in self-defense but Chell's hand held firm. "I think we can put our differences behind us." Chell whispered in her ear, digging the knife in deeper and deeper with each word. "For science."
GLaDOS was speechless, eyes glued on the knife buried in her stomach. There was so much blood. How could so much of it come out of a body? And how could it be her own? She wasn't supposed to have blood! She was an AI, a machine! But not now. Now she was dying at the hands of someone who hated her. And this time it was real.
Her murderer she'd thought as a friend suddenly pulled the knife out and GLaDOS fell to the floor, breathing laboriously. She tried in vain to pull herself up but the effort only brought on more pain to her abdomen. She couldn't leave like this! She had so much left to do! How could Chell do this? Why? Why? Why? GLaDOS lay on the floor, the carpet soaking up her blood and her breathing growing shakier and shakier. She looked helplessly at Chell, silently begging for an explanation. Chell looked back at her, an apathetic expression on her face. But GLaDOS saw her true feelings in her eyes. In those eyes she saw triumph.
She was happy she'd finally killed her worst enemy once and for all.
This was it. This was how she would die. Alone save for the one person she thought she could rely on. She could barely feel her body yet the pain was overwhelming. She wanted to get up and fight back. But how? She'd had her chance; she was just a few seconds too late. The pool of blood around her kept growing and the bigger it grew, the blurrier everything else got. The last thing she saw was the cruel, merciless face of a woman in orange who'd already killed her twice. Her lips moved.
"You monster."
She barely heard it. The point was she did.
"Wake up!"
Her eyes flew open to Chell frantically shaking her. GLaDOS sat up and immediately put her hand to her stomach. There was no blood. No wound. No knife. But there were hands. And arms. Those were connected to an entire human body. And here GLaDOS was hoping the part about being human was part of the dream too…
Chell looked at her, eyes wide with concern. She wasn't holding a knife, right? Her hands were empty… but she could still be concealing it in her jumpsuit- What GLaDOS thinking? This was reality. It had just taken a moment for GLaDOS to realize that. In reality, Chell wouldn't stab her, let alone threaten to stab her. Not yet anyways.
"Goddammit." GLaDOS muttered, pushing her disheveled hair out of her face. She'd knocked several tools to the floor in her fit of sleep. As she gathered them back up, Chell looked on, not going away for some unfathomable reason.
"Are you okay?" Chell asked, worry in her voice.
GLaDOS ignored the question. "Did you find the wires?"
Chell shook her head. "Not yet. I just had to-"
"Then look harder."
"I'm sorry; I came back to get some water and you were tossing and turning at your desk talking in your sleep-"
Talking? "What was I saying?" GLaDOS asked tensely. If something had slipped out…
"I couldn't make it out; you were too quiet." Thank god that bullet was dodged. "But seriously, are you okay?" So Chell was worried more about her sanity than finishing the portal guns? How nice to know!
"Am I still living and breathing? Then YES, I'm perfectly fine. Hell, I'll be even better if you find those wires already." Until she had the wires, there was little she could adjust on the portal guns at the moment.
Chell hovered over her like a deadly bird. "Are you sure you're okay? This is the fifth time I've come across you like this…"
"Do you want to die down here? Get the wires and leave me alone." Chell did the opposite. Of course she did. Just like when GLaDOS had politely asked her to die. "Please."
For some reason, saying that just magically made Chell obey anything GLaDOS wanted her to do. Hell, she could ask her to jump into a bottomless pit and she'd probably do it if she added "please" to the end of her request. With one last worried look, Chell turned on her heal and left to search for more spare parts.
Meanwhile, GLaDOS examined her work so far. She wasn't even close to being done. Not without the wires. Not without all the other materials that she couldn't find because she was stuck down here. Why couldn't Chell find them faster? GLaDOS knew she should have looked for them herself, being the far more observant. If only these stupid legs would work instead of staying curled up in the office chair like deadweight. The last time she'd tried walking she had ended up with the humiliation of Chell carrying her back to her work station.
GLaDOS turned around again to make sure Chell wasn't standing behind her with a knife. Naturally she was long gone. Why were these… hallucinations sticking to her like Caroline? GLaDOS had filed through every scientific explanation she could think of but nothing added up. She knew very well that Chell wouldn't try to kill her.
At least not until she found out.
What if she never found out? She didn't have to; after all, at the moment she had no idea the person she was working for had also tried to kill her more than once. It was incredibly likely things would stay the way they were right now.
Tell her.
But she couldn't! Not when everything… what was she doing? How could she possibly be arguing with herself again? It was like this every time she woke up: recover from the nightmare, battle her conscience (to think she even had one was appalling to her), and carry on until exhaustion forced her to sleep again. But why? Why was this happening again? She'd thought deleting Caroline would have expunged that little human thing called a conscience but no.
Every time she saw Chell, she wanted nothing more than to throw her out the door and keep her away until she was needed again. Yet she also wanted to spill out the whole story of how she'd been forced out of her body and have Chell believe her and not kill her for it. Couldn't she just settle on one and be done with it? Indecision was so… human. All these human emotions were so confusing but what was even more confusing was why she was getting them. Who knew? Maybe there was still some of 517 left inside her.
The thought made GLaDOS shudder. It had been so easy to forget that just a few days ago someone else had lived in the flesh and bone construct she'd unwillingly invaded like a virus overpowering its host. She was half gone anyways. Sometimes she wondered if the remnants of the former host's mind still lingered within her own. Because that would be just great. Another voice to add to her head; she obviously didn't have enough.
GLaDOS stared at the hands once again, bending the fingers and straightening them to assure herself that they really did belong to her. How long would it take for her to get used to them? Hopefully, she would never have to get used to them if she finished the portal guns quickly enough.
Speaking of those, she had to get back to work. Every time she stopped she could feel her eyelids dropping again, tempted by the idea of sleep. Well too bad! This body would just have to get used to her schedule and sleep did not add into the formula. GLaDOS willed herself to pick up a tool and resume her but couldn't bring herself to do it. Everything was so… warped. It was like every time she attempted to concentrate her mind would drift to other things.
Like Chell violently murdering her when she found out who she really was.
Enough working. She'd been working all day and possibly all night; she had no perception of time down in the dark, desolate area of Aperture. There was no point in attempting to work more if the work was sloppy. But she had to. GLaDOS rubbed her eyes and picked up the wrench, determined to continue. Now where was she? Was she working on the front or the back? She couldn't even remember something so SIMPLE. Why did she pick up the wrench anyways? Wasn't she using the screwdriver? Where was she even…
It was useless. GLaDOS pulled herself out of the chair she'd practically been glued to for the past few hours (or was it days?) and shakily managed to walk/crawl over to the adjacent couch. Days and days of being stuck like this and she still couldn't walk properly without those fall boots. Last time she'd tried, Chell had to carry her back. It was utterly embarrassing.
She just had to lie down and let herself "recharge." She wouldn't have that problem if humans weren't so flawed. It just went to show it was another thing humans couldn't get right. If there was one thing humans did get right though, it was cushions. GLaDOS sank into the dull green fabric of the couch almost relaxed to the point where she could fall asleep again.
But if there was one thing she couldn't do, it was sleep. Not yet anyways. GLaDOS stared blankly upward, counting the cracks on each ceiling tile if only to keep her mind awake. If she closed her eyes the ceiling would morph into a monster wearing an orange jumpsuit. Then it would kill her.
But why? GLaDOS never saw the point in studying the human mind (all that mattered was each mind was capable of solving tests) but she knew the definition of dream was: a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. And that was it. There were no prophetical elements to it as some humans claimed or hidden symbolism behind the nonsensical imagery the mind could fabricate. It was nothing more than the human mind taking the science of rationality and interpreting it into imagination. A fantasy, and nothing more.
So why did it feel so real?
She could still vividly recall what Chell had done. She'd tried to penetrate her. Do horrible, sick things to her. But she hadn't, not in real life anyways. So why did it feel so real then? GLaDOS could still feel the human's hands wrapped around her like a snake constricting its prey, the forced human contact, and worst of all, that knife. Sometimes it was deadly neurotoxin. Other times it was turrets. Acid. Bottomless pits. Incinerators. Every method Chell could kill her somehow managed to get inside her head.
GLaDOS curled up into a fetal position, burying herself as far as possible in the cushions. Maybe if she went in deep enough she'd disappear entirely and wake up back in her facility watching Subject X fail at Test Y. Then she'd say something to commemorate said failure and grab another disposable test subject to start the routine all over again.
If only.
What was she doing? At this point she was stumbling blindly through some sick, twisted test that was next to unsolvable. She hated things that were unsolvable. But not as much as Chell. And the human race. Only until now she hadn't realized just exactly how much she abhorred the species.
She hadn't even thought of how to transfer her conscience back into her chassis. The transition from that wretched potato was quick and painless but as a human? The transition from computer to human was scientifically easier in terms of merging data with the human mind. But the other way around was so much more complex. She didn't know how Caroline's own procedure had gone but she didn't think it was as simple as the pull of a switch. Not mention she might even need extra assistance just to complete the transfer…
Tell her.
She needed to. GLaDOS knew it had to be soon. She just didn't know how. How could she tell Chell when she wanted nothing to do with GLaDOS? Or… the thing she thought was GLaDOS anyways. What was the difference? Either way, Chell would kill her just like before; she knew it would happen. No… that was her imagination clouding her rationality over again.
It didn't matter by this point. No matter how hard she tried, GLaDOS couldn't picture revealing the truth to Chell ending up well. Or alive on her side of the situation.
"I'm back" a familiar voice said from across the room. Of course she decided to come in now. Just when GLaDOS felt somewhat close to feeling relaxed, the lunatic of her nightmares was back in the flesh. "How are you holding up?"
"Go away."
GLaDOS only heard her footsteps near toward the couch. How typical of her to disobey. Maybe if she told her to stay alive she'd die. "I'll be gone in a few minutes. I'm pretty sure my presence won't kill you for just a few minutes."
Only if she was secretly conspiring to kill GLaDOS. But of course she wasn't. Not in reality. "I'm just tired." Tired of meaningless hallucinations that were far more influential than they should have been.
"I know you are." Chell said softly. GLaDOS felt her sit down; the couch leaned to the right to accommodate her generous body mass. "I am too."
For what seemed like centuries, the two of them remained still, the silence only broken by each of their small, insignificant breaths. GLaDOS noticed how over time, the pace she breathed at began to match and even synchronize with Chell's. It was odd to say the least. And awkward. But maybe that was just Chell.
It should have been a soothing moment, a small period of time where she could ease her own tension. But she couldn't, not with Chell breathing down her neck. She probably had a knife hidden somewhere on that jumpsuit of hers; that was why she never changed out of it. Or a gun. Or poison. Or GLaDOS was letting paranoia invade her mind again for no reason at all. But she just knew something terrible was going to happen.
Chell's voice finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "Look, I know you don't exactly… enjoy being around me…" She just didn't enjoy the fact that a twisted version of Chell spent her nightmares tormenting GLaDOS for her own sadistic pleasure. "But we're making progress. And I just wanted to say I really appreciate what you're doing. And yeah, I know it's hard for you-"
Then GLaDOS felt five fingers brush her shoulder.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" GLaDOS screamed, flying onto the floor and distancing herself as far as possible from Chell's still outstretched hand.
She would NOTlet that woman penetrate her. Chell quickly got back off the couch and tried to approach her but she quickly crawled behind the couch.
"Caroline, what's wrong?" She was so sick of that insipid name that didn't even belong to her. She hated that name. She hated it almost as much as the real Caroline. Hell, she hated both of them so much it really didn't matter which one she hated more.
"Were your eardrums emancipated? Just… don't come near me." GLaDOS changed the subject. "Did you find the wires?" She'd better have. This was the second time she'd sent her out and if she dared to come back empty handed…
"No… I…" Chell tried to explain. "It's just I can never tell how many volts each wire powers and the voltage you're looking for is… it's difficult to find."
She should have known. GLaDOS scoffed. "Only YOU could make something so simple seem like something that would take a thousand scientists to accomplish. I'll bet you're not even LOOKING."
"In case you haven't noticed, I AM looking unlike… Why are you acting like this?" she said, bewildered and a hint of ire in her outburst. "What is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me? There's NOTHING wrong with me!" GLaDOS snapped angrily. "You're the one who isn't competent enough to find some goddamn WIRES any old moron could look for!"
"I don't see YOU scavenging through this hellish relic." Chell accused, her voice raised. "Do you even realize how hard it is getting your high-maintenance orders right while you've been sitting on that bony ass of yours doing nothing but-"
"Don't you DARE accuse me of doing nothing! If it weren't for me you'd probably die of your own brain-damaged stupidity by getting pecked alive by birds!" GLaDOS shot back topping Chell's volume.
She knew that look on Chell's face. It was the one that indicated she was mad as hell but trying not to show it. She'd seen it many a time when testing. "Do you KNOW how many times I've had to risk my life trying to get out of this hellhole? And all YOU'VE done is berate me for not being fast enough to your liking just for some fucking science project-"
How DARE she call the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device a science project.
"THEN FINE! How about I destroy it then?" GLaDOS raised her fist over the still-in-progress ASHPD. "Apparently, we don't need this since you're the EXPERT in portal technology! Hell, we don't even need to escape! Let's just kill ourselves right now!"
"You wouldn't dare." She hissed inching closer and closer to GLaDOS.
"Wanna test that?" Of all the lies GLaDOS had fed Chell, she really hoped she didn't see through this one. "You've spent your pathetic life doing nothing but testing. This shouldn't be hard for you!"
Chell looked hard at the portal gun, as if contemplating her options. A few seconds later she begrudgingly backed away, eyes blazing with fury. But GLaDOS didn't care if she was mad at her; she was just relived she hadn't seen through the bluff.
"The last time I was down here I managed just fine without you." Chell said, turning toward the door. "I'm pretty certain I'll be fine a second time."
"Go then. See if I care." GLaDOS ordered coldly. With one last spiteful look, Chell turned on her heel and made her way for the exit. "Your sheer mass is giving me an eyesore anyways."
Chell stopped at the doorframe at the comment and whipped back around in a millisecond, eyes boring into GLaDOS again. The two of them glared at each other like two wild animals, poised to kill.
"What? Anything else you need to pointlessly complain about?" She dared her. Say one more thing and she'd kill her. She didn't need neurotoxin or her facility to do it. She just needed her bare hands and a clear shot.
"You sound just like her." Chell said venomously.
Tell her.
"THAT'S BECAUSE I AM HER!"
Oh no. She'd said that out loud, hadn't she?
"What?"
In every moment Chell had been hurled another cruel surprise at her, from the "surprise" of Test Chamber 19 to the moron's betrayal to the pointless serenade and legitimate freedom given to her, GLaDOS had never, ever seen her shocked. But now Chell's face had gone pale, eyes frozen on GLaDOS as if she were some turret that would fire at her if she so much as batted an eye. Guess there was a first time for everything, wasn't there?
GLaDOS saw something else behind her eyes. But could it really be what she was thinking? It looked like… fear. Behind the shocked, but still determined exterior through the cracks GLaDOS could make out the terrified glimpses of fear. The same kind of fear a fly would have if it just realized it had been living with a spider.
"What did you say?"
GLaDOS ran through a myriad of theories and ideas she could try to piece together to make a reasonable explanation. But no matter how hard she tried, no matter how many lies she tried to fabricate on the spot, nothing that wasn't stupid worked. It was out. And the crazy part? She just didn't care anymore. Because once again, she found herself reveling in the shock and fear of an old test subject who she'd longed to see look this terrified.
"You heard perfectly well what I said." This was it. No turning back now. Now she had to give her an explanation. And it had to be done delicately so that… so that…
She didn't deserve a sensitive, delicately thought out explanation. GLaDOS felt like hurling the ugly truth on her like a rain of bullets that would rip into her skin and leave her as nothing but a hollowed out shell of a person. This person had killed her. Twice. Why should she reserve hand-holding for such a heartless monster? And so GLaDOS tossed all the worries of consequences and fears and other things that didn't matter right now. She was telling the truth even if half of her knew she would regret it.
"I am the Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System." The words spilled out like vomit and she couldn't stop it. "A backup copy of me forced me out of my body and now I'm stuck like this until I can get back my facility back."
A/N: Sorry this took so long. It's one of the most crucial parts in the story and I really wanted to get it right so I hope you like it despite the… awkward intro. So yeah… about that cliffhanger… eh heh… you people are going to hate me for it, aren't you?
