Hello, all! Happy Chinese New Year (to those of you who celebrate it)! Welcome to the Year of the Snake (which, according to lore, is a friend of the dragon!)

Now, to avoid confusion, I will say now that I have put a small time-jump between this chapter and the last one. It's just a couple of weeks, but I feel I should note it here (it is also mentioned in the chapter).

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Portal, Portal 2, GlaDOS, Atlas, P-Body, Wheately, Aperture Science, any Aperture Science creations, the Half-Life series, or anything else Valve has created. I DO own Carthage, the Function Disks and OlaTOS.

Onward to the Chapter!

Man, how much more of this would we have to take?

It seems like it's been about…a week or two since GlaDOS, Atlas, P-Body and I fled the Enrichment Sphere we had resided in just before it completely collapsed on itself due to, what GlaDOS called, internal structural meltdown. We were able to grab a good supply of weapons and gadgets, as well as all the Function Disks we had "liberated" from OlaTOS"s grasp before the place was leveled, but having the sphere gone was still a big blow to us. GlaDOS was especially pissed off at this event, almost physically harming Atlas when he tried to comfort her afterwards and calling him a "useless automaton that SHOULD have remained scrap metal". GlaDOS had apologized to Atlas a bit later with good intentions despite not-so-strong tone of voice, but it seems the blue-eyed robot still held a grudge against his creator, which I could understand from an emotional level but I couldn't understand on a logical level.

We've had to travel along hidden pathways up the 1950's Aperture and have almost reached the 1960's Aperture, using portals whenever we could to gain extra time—we all knew our time was limited before OlaTOS found us or we died from exhaustion. We are all becoming jumpy at any sound, fearing the next shadow we saw or the next door we opened would contain OlaTOS's Lethal Military Androids. I didn't have time to explore this level of Aperture, but I was sure GlaDOS, Atlas and P-Body had seen it all before. Our hands were constantly near our weapons and everyone holds their breath at each step we take, our eyes constantly searching around ourselves like the countless cameras that OlaTOS had doubtless scattered across the higher levels of the facility to keep watch for our return…if we could ever GET UP THERE!

I leaned against a catwalk railing, taking a momentary rest as we ambled down in single-file from a secret passage through two test chambers into a spot closer to the 1960's Aperture exit. Atlas, who was at the back of the line, saw my movement and patted me on the back before hoisting me back up before him to continue forward.

"I want to solve this problem just as much as you do," the blue-eyed robot said with a twinkle showing in his outer optic, "but that doesn't mean slacking off, you know."

"I was NOT slacking off, Atlas," I replied with a glare from my human eye as I quickly starting walking forward again, "I was merely regaining composure before our next encounter." A shrug of Atlas's shoulders indicated he probably saw beyond the weak tone of that remark or decided to forget it entirely-I couldn't figure out which.

Over the past few weeks, Atlas and I had become fast friends in spite of the impending danger we all faced. I assumed this was because P-Body had already heard most of Atlas's antics already, and GlaDOS just couldn't understand their human-like actions even with an android body that supposedly could hear their voices and understand them. P-Body, on the other hand, spoke more often to GlaDOS than to her testing companion, treating me as a source of equality between the two spectrums our group had. I liked her because she showed a rational side to Atlas's comic relief. I was beginning to judge these three machines as family-like figures—GlaDOS would be a hardworking mother with a strong belief in her own rights, Atlas would be the comical brother who wanted to just have a good time but also knew danger when he saw it, and P-Body would be the kind and pleasing sister that never spoke out against others unless she felt they deserved it.

"Enough of that, both of you," GlaDOS called back to us without stopping or slowing down, her silver hands grasping the delicate railings with each step on the catwalk she took, "I do not want to keep watch over the two of you and focus on our main goal at the same time." Atlas and I shook our heads simultaneously as we followed her, P-Body bringing up the rear behind Atlas without saying anything during the entire conversation.

A few minutes later, we had crossed the catwalk and the door on the other side automatically opened for us as we entered a higher-level testing chamber of the 1960's Aperture. This one seemed, from first glance, to test nothing at all—there were no easy-to-reach portable surfaces or gel substances to test, not even a Weighted Storage Cube to move around, which I really hated because I had grown quite proficient with moving heavy materials over the last few trips we had to make. There were only a few higher-level walls with small portable surfaces that seemed barely large enough to even have a portal placed on them. Everything stunk of 50-year usage, but I had grown quite used to that smell by now.

"Well," GlaDOS announced as we all entered the center area of the chamber, "this is just as good as any OTHER place we might be at, considering our current problems."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Atlas then whispered to me with a roll of his optic, which caused the both of us to chortle slightly. P-Body just shook her head as GlaDOS turned back to us, most likely hearing our reaction rather than Atlas's comment. I immediately sensed something wasn't exactly right, that GlaDOS did not take this as a mere child-like action. Perhaps she was more emotionally unstable then I thought…

"If you think this is a situation that can be used for the human emotion of laughter," she said as her optics started to shift from their normal yellow to the blood-red color of no emotion, "then perhaps you both should consider the facts that we have almost NOTHING to care for or laugh about since…SHE…took over this place and forced me to adapt into a barely-tested android body whilst abusing me with human insults that remind me only too well of my disgusting first few months of existence that I do NOT wish to remember. Perhaps you would like to, as the humans say, be in my shoes for a change; who knows, you just might learn something USEFUL TO YOUR BLASTED, HARD-WIRED CEREBRAL CORTEX!"

By this point GlaDOS's eyes now seemed almost alight with red as she grabbed Atlas by his head and started to forcefully rip it out of his body. Atlas, of course, fought back by trying to push GlaDOS's body away, but he wasn't having much luck. P-Body then tried to race between the two robots and sort it out, only to be slammed back by GlaDOS throwing Atlas's body to the ground, her hands now grasping the robot's head like a human would hold a beach ball. And speaking of balls, I almost laughed out loud when I saw GlaDOS dribbling Atlas's head like a basketball, the robot screaming bloody murder in what could either be pain or fear.

This spectacle, funny though it was, lasted only for a few moments before GlaDOS grabbed Atlas's immobile body and forcefully shoved the head back in its place with an audible POP and a quick shout of pain from Atlas. The blue robot quickly stepped back from the still-raging android before getting angry as well.

"What the heck was that for?" he shouted at GlaDOS, "I was only trying to be funny and get everyone's minds off of the danger!"

"Humor," GlaDOS seemed to continue on without noticing the comment, "as you should well know by now, is *NOT* SCIENCE! It is not even CLOSE to science! I don't understand why you would even THINK such a human-based emotion would be similar to-"

"Quiet, all of you!" I shouted, which shut up both sides as everyone looked at me in shock or confusion. GlaDOS's eyes were still flashing red but were mixing with her regular yellow—she had calmed down a bit, which was good for what I was about to say.

"Listen," I continued, "I know its been a living hell for us the past few weeks—and longer for some of you," Here I shot a glance at GlaDOS which she caught because her face darkened somewhat, "But we're going to have to stick together if we want to get through this. I know I am the newest member of this group and have less experience than the rest of you on how Aperture works, but I know our combined intelligence and strength can get us through this crisis. As was said by the human Benjamin Franklin, 'We must surely hang together or we will all hang separately'. Got it?" I ended my speech with my human eyebrow raised in a gesture of question, to which the three robots responded with nods, sighs or half-hearted grumbles.

"As long as she doesn't try to kill me when my guard is down," Atlas muttered, "I'll be fine." P-Body and I shook our heads at this remark as GlaDOS huffed before continuing to look around the room and find a way out—besides the conventional way of using the portable surfaces, of course.

After a few silent minutes of searching the different walls and panels around us, P-Body signaled us over to the eastern wall where she had found a slightly ajar panel in the wall that was just about the size of a regular door. The four of us were able to pry it further open to the point where we, with a huge gulp of air in our lungs and shrinking our lower bodies, could pass through. We couldn't see much of anything inside, just a few shapes that broke through the blackness of the interior.

"I'll go inside and take a quick look," Atlas said as he started to shift inside the panel, "Be back before you know it."

"Whoa there, not so fast," I quickly pulled Atlas back via his right hand before he went completely inside the darkness, "Shouldn't we plan this out first?"

"What's there to plan out? I mean, someone should go in there, and I'm thinking I should. Do you think you should?"

"Well…no…but…" I was at a loss as how to generate a response to this counter, and I couldn't think of a reason as to why I should go inside instead of Atlas. The human side of my brain wanted him to be safe—I seemed to treat him like a younger brother who had a rash personality and wanted to see things for himself.

Before I could speak, however, a sudden "KAW KAW, KAW KAW!" directed from the ceiling made GlaDOS fly into a terror-filled state as a crow the size of my hand descended onto the female android with talons extended. GlaDOS tried to swat it away while crying "Go AWAY! Shoo! Someone kill this thing QUICKLY!", to which no one moved for a few seconds. P-Body then obediently tried to draw the bird away from GlaDOS with her own hands while Atlas just cracked up and clutched his knees with his hands like he were out of breath.

"It's just a bird, GlaDOS," I said as I quickly raced over to her location, "What's there to fear?"

"This isn't just ANY-OW-bird, you imbecile! This bird-OUCH-knows things that it shouldn't." Each exclamation from GlaDOS came from a scratch caused by the crow as it attacked the android and caused visible talon marks on the chrome surface. Each scratch sent a chill up my spine—it sounded just like nails on a chalkboard. I was able to contribute to defending against the avian with both of my hands only to find the bird fly off of GlaDOS and dive on ME instead! Shouting out, I quickly covered my eyes with my own hands as I felt the talons start slicing into my arms while I stumbled backwards inadvertently towards the open panel wall.

Due to my eyes being covered by my arms to protect them from being gouged out, I had lost the capability of seeing where I was going. Because of this, I didn't realize I had changed directions until I tripped over my own two feet and fell backward inside the panel wall! As soon as I landed, emitting a sharp "oof!" on my landing, the crow flew off from the surrounding darkness back into the light, where GlaDOS's renewed shrieks of terror combined with the calls of the bird to create an interesting melody, along with that grinding sound.

Wait…grinding sound?

I quickly stood back up to find the paneled wall somehow being shut on its own with no visible source that was closing it! Shouting in surprise and fear, I quickly grasped the edge of the wall with my hands and pulled with all my might, feeling my human and mechanical limbs twist and burn with exertion, but to no avail. I had to draw my hands back before the wall crushed them as it silently closed up completely, a small cloud of dust falling from above being the only indication of anything changing.

"GlaDOS! Atlas! P-Body! Can you hear me?" I shouted as I pounded as hard as I could on the wall with my fists, but it felt like hitting a trampoline—my hands just rebounded off the wall with almost no sound being caused for my efforts. I couldn't hear anyone knocking back on the other side, which greatly diminished my hopes of rescue. Regardless, I pounded on the door until my fists were numb with pain and exertion, but the logical side of my mind dictated there was no hope for me to continue on like this. Sighing, I turned around and looked into the blackness in front of me, activating my night vision sensor in my optic to break the blackness.

What I did NOT expect was the silhouette of a turret to suddenly appear a short distance from my face. Reacting instantly I dived to the side to avoid fire, crouching for a few seconds on the ground before I slowly stood up again. It was then that I noticed the turret had not fired a single shot—what's more, it looked old and deactivated, my optic detecting a slight layer of dust on the turret. I shook my head in surprise—was I really becoming that paranoid? I then looked further around me to find I was in a small chamber with only one walkway that lacked railings in front of me leading out through a line of deactivated turrets. Seeing there was no other path, I had to go this way, though I did not like the way the turrets seemed to stare at me like I was a possible target to kill.

'Is anyone there?'

Hold on, I didn't say that? That was a turret-voice—was one of these turrets really activated after all? I started to walk faster, noticing that either the path was longer than I had thought or some kind of trick was going on…

'Could you come over here?'

That came from the other side now—two turrets activated? I started to break into a light jog, but I still hadn't reached the end of the walkway—my night vision couldn't see that far ahead. I had to be careful how I ran to avoid falling down the sides into the seemingly bottomless pit below.

'Hello…friend…'

All right, THAT was creepy enough to make me truly scared. I now broke out into a full-paced run, my breathing rate quickly increasing as my heart began to pump faster to make me move quicker.

'There you are…'

Gaahhh…don't shoot me! Just keep running and you'll make it—how long is this path anyway!?

'I saw it. It was an accident…'

Ignore them, ignore them…wait, are they ALL activated now? I'm seeing red lasers lined up everywhere!

I pushed my metal limbs harder then before, feeling like I was flying across the walkway, no longer caring about the possibility of falling to my death because I wanted to GET OUT OF HERE!

'That was nobody's fault…she was provoking you…'

A shriek of fear slipped past my lips as I pushed myself to the maximum speed I could exert, feeling my mechanical limbs begin to ache under heavy strain and my human limbs begin to burn with running pain. No longer caring about where I was going as red lasers began to fill my vision, I just had to get out, must get out, get out, get out, GET OUT!

Just then a glowing green and orange sphere appeared on what seemed like the end of the catwalk. With no time to react, and no real thought as to what it was, I collided with it head on.

ZZZZZZAAAAAPPPPP!

'Good night…'

(AUTHOR'S NOTE (Hey, my first one!); This next scene is one that took me a while to figure out and write, and it may seem controversial to some of you if you have studied the Portal lore well. If any of you have comments on it or how you think it could be improved, please let me know. I will consider all suggestions sent to me (but NOT flames!).)

Darkness…nothing but darkness…nothing else can be seen by my eyes or sensed by my brain.

This feels somewhat comforting to my mind, considering what I've just gone through.

I…feel okay…but that could be one of many possible statements of the word…

Wow…everything here feels so peaceful…I could just rest here forever and not care about anything else…

"Hmmm…Perhaps…a detour can be arranged…after all."

Wait…who said that? The voice sounded gravelly and old, but powerful as well…

Just then my vision turned bright white, blinding me for a moment as I heard footsteps approaching my location. Despite the bright light, I could soon clearly see a middle-aged man come to me, stopping a few feet from where I was so I could see him clearly. He seemed to wear a gray-blue suit with a striped red tie, his skin seemed quite pale and his eyes were a dim green that seemed to glow with some form of power. He held a black briefcase in his left hand while straightening his tie with his right before locking eye contact with me for a few seconds, his face a monotone expression.

"So, Carthage…" the man then spoke, his voice seeming to stress the wrong syllables for words and carrying a gravel-like tone, "Born from the ideas of a machine yet created with the distinct personality of a human your age…I am surprised at how human you have become over this time."

I could not respond to this statement, but I felt that, for some reason, I didn't have to. The man then continued to speak as the area around us suddenly shifted to what looked like the central chamber where GlaDOS once was…and it looked like she, or an older version of her, was connected to the server. How could this be possible?

"While I have never shown much…interest…in the rival corporation known as Aperture Science, I feel that your case is one to take notice of. These are troubling times indeed, and I am afraid your…former kind…is not having the best of days currently."

Another shift occurred, this time the man was standing on a hilltop looking over my home village when it had just been destroyed. Columns of smoke rose into the sky as my ears detected gunfire and the screams of the dying or gunned down. I felt slightly sick to relive this memory but I couldn't show it as my body seemed to be in some kind of stasis.

"You may still be asking yourself on what your true purpose is, what your…future holds. Whilst I cannot answer this question myself,' Here the man straightened his tie again and cleared his throat, 'I CAN direct you to someone who will.'

Another shift, but the two of us were now on a world I did not know of—the sky shifted between purple, blue and green and echoed with the cries of what sounded like manta rays. When I focused back on the man I saw him to seemingly be in two places at once, his face appearing as a close-up to the right side of my frontal vision while he also stood facing me on a platform made up of a stone-like organic substance.

"I believe your…child-like mind…will be unable to comprehend the gravity of the whole situation before you, but I have spoken to my…employers about your case, and they believe you show…potential to their cause."

Suddenly we were back in Aperture, but I now saw GlaDOS, Atlas and P-Body frozen in time as they were walking up a set of steps into the current layer of Aperture. My heart leaped as I saw they were all right, but I felt worried about them as the scene shifted closer to them—Atlas seemed to look much angrier then before whilst GlaDOS had noticeable scratch marks from the crow and was slightly shaking as she walked in what looked like paranoid fear. GlaDOS held a two-handed Gatling gun in her hands, probably liberated from a Military Android, while the two robots each held dual-wield pistols.

"As for your…hmm, creator," the man then spoke out as he appeared right beside GlaDOS and looked at her as he spoke to me, "She has the spirit of one who fights on against all odds. She reminds me of myself, to an extent, but I am sure even your human-based instincts can comprehend that."

Another shift in space-time found us back in the eternal darkness, only this time another portal from before was flashing right beside the man, who took no notice of the strange object as he straightened his tie once again.

"I understand completely if all of this is confusing or strange for you, so I will leave you with this task; deliver your creator to her rightful place whilst protecting the knowledge she has kept in her mind all these years. If you succeed then you shall be…rewarded as my…contractors, yes, see fit. If not…" At this point he broke out into the first smile I had seen him with, a strange twinkle emerging in his eyes for a brief moment before he continued, "well, let's just say I have other clients I should be getting to."

A door suddenly opened in the darkness, the man walking entering it with a calm posture and disappearing instantly, briefcase and all. A few seconds passed in silence before I reached out to touch the portal with my right hand, the Multi-Purpose Glove reflecting the green glow of the portal.

I felt, in my human heart, that I should do what the man said and get GlaDOS to where she belonged.

GlaDOS…I'm coming to help you…I'll get you back to the top or die trying.

ZZZZAAAAPPP!

"Remember, Carthage…I will be watching you…"

"So…what exactly was my mission again?" the machine asked, to which she growled in frustration—did she REALLY have to explain her plans to this idiot this many times?

"Your plan, fool, is to locate GlaDOS and her two cronies and render them to scrap metal. As for the boy," here she smirked, "Bring him to me alive for the next stage of my plans. Is this too much to ask of you?"

"Uh, no, not at all, miss OlaTOS," the machine responded in a British accent, its new body standing at the entrance of OlaTOS's chambers waiting to depart, "I can handle this."

"Be sure that you do," OlaTOS responded as she sat back in her throne while keeping eye contact with her new servant, "I have spent enough resources to bring you back from the depths of space and give you this new body. If you ruin my expectations of you, I will not hesitate to destroy you for the moron you are."

"I AM NOT A MORON!" the machine suddenly screamed out before regaining composure, instinctively stepping back in preparation for what it thought would be an attack, but OlaTOS merely smiled.

"Good, good," she said, "you still have your anger after all that time up THERE. That will be helpful for you when dealing with GlaDOS."

The machine's eyes narrowed in anger when he heard that name—he had good reason to be made against that woman, after all she had put him through. Oh yes, he had plans for her.

"Now go, Wheatley," OlaTOS commanded, "Go and destroy!"

The former Intelligence Dampening Sphere raced away on the command, his new body sounding heavily against the paneled floor as OlaTOS cackled with evil behind him.

Well, I think I'll end it there for now.

As always, read and review! If you have any ideas as how to further the story, let me know and I will consider each suggestion.

Draconos is taking off...with serpents traveling on the ground below!