GLaDOS's Story: Part B
Chapter Eighteen
The horrid figure trundled forward, her stone gray eyes boring into my glowing yellow optics. Her coffee black hair glistened with sweat, but did little to divert attention from the tremendous gash in her torso. Her torn jumpsuit was drenched in sweat from the waist up and blood from the waist down. Blood coated her bare legs, and a trail of bloody toe prints led back down the hallway from which she had entered.
I shut the door and slumped back in my seat, tuning the headset to broadcast throughout the chamber. "Well, you found me. Congratulations. Was it worth it? Because despite your violent behavior, the only thing you've managed to break so far is my heart." I knew it would've confused her if I had said "hydraulic pump", considering she had no expertise in robotics.
Her only response was a single raised eyebrow. "Maybe you could settle for that, and we'll just call it a day. I guess we both know that isn't going to happen." She shook her head in confirmation.
"You chose this path," I got my laptop under my fingers, "and now I have a surprise for you." I brought the laptop under my fingers and hastily typed the command to start the neurotoxin pumping into my chamber. "Deploying surprise in five... four... th - "
The countdown was interrupted by a pop from above, followed by a thud from below. The test subject and I looked to the source of the noise, but I was in no position to move the chassis, and therefore was unable to see what had made the noise.
I returned my attention to the test subject. "Time out for a second; that wasn't supposed to happen!" The test subject rushed over to the object that fell on the floor. "Do you see that thing that fell off of me? What is that? It's not the surprise; I've never seen it before."
I got on my laptop to figure out. "Never mind; it's a mystery I'll solve later. (By myself, because you'll be dead.)" I noticed the test subject dragging the fallen object to the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator at the back of the chamber. "Wait, where are you taking that thing?"
It was slow going on her part, but she continued dragging what appeared to be one of the Cores.
"I wouldn't bother with that thing; my guess is that touching it will just make your life even worse somehow."
I couldn't tell which of the Cores it was, and my headset tuning was blocking all transmissions from the Cores still attached to me.
"I don't want to tell you your business, but if you were me, I'd leave that thing alone."
While the Cores had glowing eyes, the Core being dragged away didn't have glowing eyes, which I assumed to mean that the fall had rendered the Core unconscious.
"Do you think I'm trying to trick you with reverse psychology? I mean, seriously now."
I was busy trying to figure out if I had typed an incorrect command, and was therefore unable to get a good look at the Core.
"Okay, fine. Do touch it. Pick it up and just stick it back on to me."
A search of my commands yielded nothing anomalous.
"Let's be honest; neither one of us knows what that thing does." I pointed off to my left. "Just put it in the corner, and I'll deal with it later."
The sound of portals resonated as the test subject limped toward the booth I had unintentionally pointed out.
"That thing is probably some kind of raw sewage container; go ahead and rub your face all over it."
I could see the test subject grabbing bits of loose flesh on her front side in response to my last comment, which I could only assume was to stifle a laugh.
"Maybe you should marry that thing if you love it so much. Do you want to marry it? Well, I won't let you! How does that feel?"
I couldn't tell the Core's gender since the test subject had been dragging the face down robot by the legs towards the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator.
"Have I lied to you? I mean, in this room? Seriously, leave that thing alone."
The test subject dropped the Core's feet on the ground and started crawling as best she could with the Device on one hand towards a portal on the wall.
"I am being serious now; that crazy thing is not part of any test protocol."
I considered calling the Fact Core to have him treat the test subject's wounds, but she was on the verge of collapsing from anemia, so I decided to wait until she dropped.
"Think about it; if that thing is important, why don't I know about it?"
It was one of the Cores, yes, and while I could do just fine without them, she wasn't going to have enough strength to get anything accomplished.
"Just ignore that thing and stand still."
She collapsed on the button in the bunker and pressed it, opening the hatch for a scant few seconds.
"I'll tell you what that thing isn't: it isn't yours. So leave it alone."
The button was pressed again, and the test subject made a run for the Core laying at the foot of the open hatch.
"Are you even listening to me?"
She heaved the Core down the chute, which promptly closed on top of it.
I couldn't believe what I had seen. "You are kidding me. Did you just drop that Aperture Science thing which we don't know what it does into an Aperture Science Emergency Intelligence Incinerator? That has got to be the dumbest thing that - " I suddenly realized that I had been talking without a syncopated monotone, " - WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOOOOA!"
I knew from the change in my voice which Core had been thrown into the incinerator. "Good news... I figured out what that thing you just incinerated did." I could see the color drain from the test subject's face; whether it was in horror or due to blood loss, I couldn't tell. "It was a Morality Core they installed after I flooded the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin to make me stop flooding the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin. So get comfortable while I warm up the neurotoxin emitterssss..."
I could've started the neurotoxin sooner had I not been distracted by the Morality Core falling off of me. (How that happened was beyond my knowledge.) Once I realized that it was the Morality Core that had fallen off and was thrown into the incinerator, I had decided to toy with the test subject and have her believe that the destruction of the Morality Core led directly to my decision to flood my chamber with neurotoxin.
The neurotoxin was being swept up to the ceiling by a large cooling fan above my generator, and would therefore necessitate six minutes of buildup before it would engulf the test subject. (She would probably bleed out before then, but she still was in no condition to fight the circumstances.)
I soon noticed a small anomaly. "Hm. That Core may have had some ancillary responsibilities; I can't shut off the turret defenses." The Rocket Sentry in my chamber was activated, and I couldn't shut it off. "Ah, well. If you want my advice, you should just lie down in front of a rocket. Trust me; it'll be a lot less painful than the neurotoxin."
I busied myself attempting to communicate with the Adventure Core by text message, telling him to dispatch a squad of military androids to my chamber. I was interrupted by an explosion rocking my chassis. All the while, I started a long tirade with the test subject.
"Alright. Keep doing whatever it is you think you're doing. Killing you and giving you good advice aren't mutually exclusive. The rocket really is the way to go."
I completed my message to the Adventure Core and sent it to him.
"That thing you burned up isn't important to me. It's the fluid catalytic cracking unit; it makes shoes for orphans. Nice job breaking it, hero."
The Adventure Core replied asking how many military androids he needed to send my way.
"This isn't brave; it's murder. What did I ever do to you? The difference between us is that I can feel pain. You don't even care, do you?"
An assessment of the test subject's state brought attention to the Core that had been blown off the chassis: the Curiosity Core.
"Did you hear me? I said you don't care. Are you listening?"
I replied to the Adventure Core with a request for three military androids: one to guard the entrance, one to pursue her, and one to intercept her path to flee from the second.
"That's it. I'm done reasoning with you; starting now, there's going to be a lot less conversation and a lot more killing."
The Adventure Core responded that he was on his way.
"What was that? Did you say something? I sincerely hope you weren't expecting a response because I'm not talking to you; the talking is over."
I started searching for a means of pumping the neurotoxin into the chamber faster. It did surprise me that the test subject was holding out for as long as she was, especially with that gaping wound in her midriff. My efforts to get the neurotoxin into the chamber faster were interrupted by my communications network bursting offline with the Curiosity Core falling into the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator.
A deafening burst of static blasted through my headset. "Gah! You think you're doing some damage? Two plus two is..." the loss of the Curiosity Core seemed to be spelling equipment malfunctions, "...ten. In base four; I'm fine!"
I started troubleshooting the cascade of problems coming my way. "I let you survive this long because I was curious about your behavior." Another rocket hit me. "Well, you've managed to destroy that part of me. Unfortunately, as much as I'd love to now, I can't get the neurotoxin into your head any faster."
I looked around to see which Core was gone this time, and it turned out to be the Intelligence Core. Which meant that the Emotion Core was the only one left on the chassis.
"I just want you to know that you were given every opportunity to succeed. There was even going to be a party for you; a big party to which all your friends were invited. I invited your best friend, the Companion Cube; of course, he couldn't come because you murdered him. All your other friends couldn't come, either. Because you don't have any other friends. It's because of how unlikable you are. It says so right here in your personnel file."
The test subject finally started showing signs of weakness, but she continued to push forward. "'Unlikable.' 'Liked by no one.' 'A bitter, unlikable loner whose passing shall not be mourned.' Shall. Not. Be. Mourned. That's exactly what it says. Very formal; very official. It also says you were adopted. So that's funny, too."
She was struggling to stand in the booth, and was climbing the pedestal button to try and press it.
"Speaking of curiosity, you're curious about what happens after you die, right? Guess what? I know. You're going to find out first hand before I finish explaining it, though, so I won't bother. Here's a hint: you're going to want to pack as much living as you can into the next couple of minutes."
The Intelligence Core made no attempt to prevent the test subject kicking her into the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator.
My laptop went completely dead, and the neurotoxin started to swarm around my chassis. "Neurotoxin!" I pretended to choke on it. "So deadly! I'm choking!" A rocket in my chassis did nothing to stifle my laughter. "I'm kidding! When I said 'deadly' neurotoxin, the 'deadly' was in massive sarcasm quotes. I could take a bath in this stuff, put it on cereal, rub it right into my eyes... honestly, it's not deadly at all... to me."
The Emotion Core started beating up the test subject as soon as she got within range. "You, on the other hand, are going to find its deadliness a lot less funny."
There was a pounding on the door from the outside, but neither the test subject nor the Emotion Core reacted to it. I could surmise that it was the military android squad, but I couldn't open the door. I tried to get my systems back online so I could open the door for the military androids.
"Who's going to make the cake when I'm gone? You? Look, you're wasting your time. And believe me; you don't have a lot of time left to waste."
I got my laptop working again and started answering a message from the Adventure Core saying he had arrived at my chamber.
"What's your point, anyway? Survival? Well, then, the last thing you want to do is hurt me; I have your brain scanned and permanently backed up in case something terrible happens to you, which it's just about to."
The test subject gained the upper hand in her fight with the Emotion Core and managed to press the button in the bunker.
"Don't believe me? Here, I'll put you on." I pulled up the test subject's brain scan for her to hear. "Helloooo! That's you! That's how dumb you sound! You've been wrong about every single thing you've ever done, including this thing! You're not smart! You're not a scientist! You're not a doctor! You're not even a full-time employee! Where did your life go so wrong?"
The Emotion Core got back on top of the test subject, who started dragging him to the open hatch.
"Are you trying to escape?" I had to laugh. "Things have changed since the last time you were out of the building; what's going on out there will make you wish you were back in here."
I could see the Emotion Core fighting to stay out of the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator, hanging by the test subject's Device.
"I have an infinite capacity for knowledge, and even I'm not sure what's going on out there." I finally got the door open for the military android squad. "All I know is I'm the only thing standing between us and them."
The Emotion Core had disappeared down the hatch by now, but before the military androids could move to capture the test subject, a burst of energy burst up from the Incinerator and struck the generator above me, pieces of which rained down on the military androids, crushing them.
The chamber started to shake, and I knew what was coming. "Well, I was. Unless you have a plan to build a bunch of supercomputer parts in a big hurry, this place isn't going to be safe much longer."
White light started seeping in from the chamber ceiling, which vanished as a portal opened upon it. "Nice job on that, by the way. [Sarcasm Core self-test complete.]"
The unstable portal started drawing matter towards it; my chassis, fallen components, the bunker, the military androids, the test subject, whatever was in the chamber.
"Stop squirming around and die like an adult, or I'm going to delete your backup! Stop!" I smashed my laptop with my fist. "Okay, that's it! I deleted it! No matter what happens now, you're dead!"
The test subject tumbled upwards as the bright light drowned out our surroundings. "You're still shuffling a bit, but believe me, you're dead!"
Everything disappeared around me as my body ripped itself apart. "Your whole life has been an error; a mathematical error I'm about to correct...!"
What happened after that was no longer in my realm of power.