Hello all!

I'd like to thank Cypher0 for being my first reviewer! thanks for staying (or coming to this fandom after it'd died like me. :) )

anyway here is the continuation of aNL. please review, tell me what you think!

Enjoy!

Chapter 4- "The Scratch"(1)

I woke up once again. This time with GLaDOS leering over my bed.

"Is it to your satisfaction?" GLaDOS asked before I'd even remembered I was back in Aperture

I leaned forward and looked around for the keyboard before I remembered I'd asked her to put it into my arm.

I looked down at it, I could barely see it concealed beneath the panels in my arm.

Since I couldn't reach the keyboard to ask how to activate the keyboard I just gave GLaDOS a questioning look.

"Tap the panels twice in rapid succession." she instructed.

I did as she said and the panels split in two down the length of my forearm, they then separated outwards from the separation line and the keyboard raised itself slightly so it filled the gap.

Cool.

I looked down at my legs, again they were missing toes, but at least they were slightly longer and had a smoother curve so they would support myself better. They still retained the stabilizer/spring of the long-fall-boots but had quite a few more points of articulation. Before I had my thigh and my knee, my ankles were locked in the same position and my knee could only bend so far before being stopped by the boot, now the top of the boot was shaved down so that my knee had more clearance, and there was more articulation in the ankle, I could now tilt, pivot, and rotate my ankle to allow for more stability.

It's much better, thank you.

"I want you out of my chamber as much as you do." she answered as an excuse for her kindness

Do you mind if I find an empty relaxation chamber? I asked as I rolled my eyes.

"No not at all."

You don't mind me being out of your sight?

"No, even you aren't deranged enough to try and kill me now." she answered

I began to walk out of the Central AI Chamber. It was at a slower pace than normal walking, but was definitely better than the previous iteration of my legs.

Along my walk I realized two things. One, I had forgotten to ask how long I'd been asleep, and two: I have no idea where the Relaxation Center was

GLaDOS, I have no idea where the Relaxation Center is. I admitted.

Suddenly a whole lot of clanking and clunking echoed down the hallway I was in. then it stopped and GLaDOS responded.

"I've blocked off every route that does not lead to the Relaxation Center. Simply follow the path." she explained

Also, while I have your attention, how long was I asleep for this time?... I typed… but I never sent it, I mean what did it matter how long I was out for? It's not like I'm worried she did something in my sleep… especially since I was asleep in her chamber for over 2 years.

So I decided to trust her and not bother asking, the answer wouldn't change anything anyway.

So I deleted the unsent message and went down the hallway.

Soon I found a whole bunch of Relaxation chambers. I entered one and found an unconscious body… not just unconscious but dead…

I left the room and checked the clipboard on the outside of the door.

Current subject name: Isaac Plais(2)

Admitted to Aperture volunteer roster: 3651 C.E(3)

Previous Occupation (if any): War Hero.

Skill set: Survival strategist, plan making.

Last revival: 4161 C.E(4)

I remembered this was near the ASHPD testing tracks… and if I remember correctly from when Wheatley woke me up, There are probably a ton of abandoned portal guns down there somewhere. I needed the portal gun to lift the body, I didn't trust my prosthetics enough to lift a dead body, especially seeing as I've been living off the Aperture Science All-Purpose-Long-Lasting-Food-Substitute(5) for as long as I can remember… honestly I can barely remember eating it, it was so bland… it was neither good nor bad, but wasn't ok either, it was just… nourishing and that was it. It barely even had a texture, it was almost like eating dense air.

So I began scouring the test tracks, every now and then I'd ask GLaDOS's help to make the course easier or open a way through, since all these tests were designed with the subject already having acquired the portal device it was impossible for me to complete it without one.

After the 6th chamber I finally found one. Next to it was a body, we were at the door and the cube was on the button, so I assume something went wrong with the emancipation grill since GLaDOS had said something about that before.

I picked up the abandoned portal gun and quickly left the chamber and found my way back to the Relaxation chamber I had found.

Using the portal gun to lift the body I walked out the door and into the next chamber down, I briefly glanced at the clipboard as I walked in the door and saw the name 'Jay Douge'(6)

'Well, Jay, you're getting a roommate.' I thought as I dropped Isaac at the door. And left the chamber

As morbid as it was I robbed a dead person's room from them and dumped them in some other random person's room.

I returned to 'my' room

"I see you've picked a room, I personally would have just defenestrated(7) the useless body… but at least now I have more fertilizer to start up the greenhouse, of course nowhere near as much as if I used you…" GLaDOS quipped.

I thought we were past the fat jokes? I asked but I smirked as I typed it.

"No, those will never get old." GLaDOS replied.

Also what does defenestrate mean?

"'An act of throwing someone or something out of a window', straight from the dictionary in my database." GLaDOS defined(7)

Using the portal gun I slightly rearranged the room.

Once I was satisfied with how it looked I went into the bathroom (I had found it by the door that Wheatley had come through, but some debris blocked my access to it back then)

I turned the knob to check if there even was any water access after all this time.

Surprisingly there was, however it did take almost a minute for the pressure to build fully.

I turned off the tap and checked the shower since I really needed one.

It came out frigid so I waited till it warmed up… it took half an hour for it to warm up enough to my liking.

I stepped in and cleaned myself off, then stepped out and got dressed into the same clothes as before. Thankfully GLaDOS had the foresight to make my prosthetics waterproof.

"Your hygienic practices are something I will never understand but I knew you'd pester me about it until I made them waterproof… so I did it from the beginning." GLaDOS explained as I stepped out of the bathroom.

Thank you.

"I also noticed you found a portal gun… while it gives me anxiety I hope I can trust you to not kill me with it?" GLaDOS said worriedly.

You do realize the only way I managed to kill you or defeat Wheatley was because I just redirected what you tried to kill me with. I reminded.

"True the portal gun alone is not particularly dangerous.

Really if you and Wheatley only used the neurotoxin and didn't use bombs or missiles you probably would have killed me. I added.

"Would it be taking it too far if I jokingly began releasing neurotoxin in your chamber?" GLaDOS

"What do you think, mother?" I guilt tripped.

GLaDOS was silent for a moment before:

"I will leave you to your rest." she said monotonously.

GLaDOS it was a joke.

"..."

I sighed before turning to the bed and going to sleep.

I woke up in my room alone, I was surprised, I'd gotten so used to waking up with someone surrounding me, poking me or leering over me.

I stepped out of my room and made my way to GLaDOS's chamber

She seemed upset when I got there.

And Blue and Orange were noticeably absent… actually they've been absent for the last little while.

Good morning GLaDOS.

"Nothing good about it…" she groaned.(8)

Is something wrong?

"... you know how when a test is completed and gives a euphoric response?" she asked

I nodded

"You know how it loses its strength the more tests that are completed?"

I nodded again

"Apparently the 'scratching sensation' that fixes the 'itch' also degrades..." she finally got to the point.

And Blue and Orange's tests aren't scratching your itch enough?

"Exactly. One test no longer fixes the itch, at this point it requires three, and Blue and Orange don't finish tests fast enough, even if I have both of them doing solo tests." she complained

What if perhaps I also did solo tests?

"Have you built up your strength yet?"

I did a fast paced walk around the room to show her I have.

"I'll find you a simple test." she answered

"Also, I'm gonna need this to make some modifications." she stated quickly

Then I heard a click and my prosthetic arm popped off, when I looked down at it, I barely caught a glimpse of the panel next to me rising back up to fill the hole my arm had just fallen down.

I gestured aggressively for the keyboard.

She groaned in annoyance but obliged begrudgingly

So you can just control my prosthetics remotely?!

"Yes, I control every single part of this facility, why wouldn't I add a failsafe that gives me complete control over the apparatus's I had given you?" she answered coldly

No thats… that's gotta be an invasion of my privacy or against some Aperture rule! I argued

"I am the queen of Aperture, I make the rules!" she shouted at me.

Well you're not a very good one!

"What did you say?!" she asked while glaring at me.

I don't know exactly what it is, but it's wrong, you can't just do that!

"And who says so?" she retorted smuggly

Morals!

"I do remember you throwing my morality core into the incinerator so…" she replied snarkily

What about Caroline?!

"Caroline was deleted!" she shouted.

I bet you're lying!

"I'm the one with access to an Aperture Science Lie Detector, so I guess we'll never know?!" she said, once again flaunting all that she has.

How about you be honest for once?

"How about you stop being an irritating little brat?!"

Shut Up! I typed as I literally slapped the enter key

"I'm physically unable to, but you are. Now, Shut. Up. and stop giving me a migraine!

I'M TRYING TO HELP SCRATCH YOUR STUPID ITCH AND YOU'RE BEING A JERK ABOUT IT! With that I stormed out of the room.

Orange and Blue were heading my way from the Reassembly machine, when they saw me they stopped to wave, but I just brushed right past them.

I arrived at my chamber and didn't really know what to do. I wasn't tired, or dirty, or hungry… I was bored… in a giant science lab the former test subject was bored… that got me thinking; when I was a test subject I was never bored…

I returned to the reassembly machines and waited till one of the two bots had to be reassembled.

Blue popped out of it first.

He looked surprised to see me.

I tried to gesture for him to bring me with him to the testing track.

After a few minutes he seemed to give up trying to understand my gestures and began to walk back to the test where his partner was undoubtedly waiting.

I followed him and once he saw me following him I think he then understood what I wanted.

We entered the chamber and Orange looked at me inquisitively, Blue simply shrugged his shoulders in response. Something I understood to be a very human response. Something I'd heard GLaDOS yell at them for.

Blue quickly portaled up to where Orange was and I followed, hitchhiking a ride through his portals.

We continued the test, my presence didn't change much. I just had to stay in a safe area till Blue and Orange managed to complete it, once they did I simply mimicked what they had done to get to the door. I only hoped my presence was somehow increasing the strength of the 'scratch' as I had dubbed it.

We continued to do this one, seemingly very long test.

The three of us were standing on a hard-light-bridge over some acid, behind us just above the acid was the entrance we'd come in through, Orange walked through the portal at one end of the bridge and came out on a raised platform above the entrance, the portal she'd come out of was on a slightly angled panel so the top touched the wall and the bottom touched the floor she was on.

She stood on a pressure plate in front of her which released propulsion gel onto the hard light bridge. Blue sprinted forward and went through the portal. Because of the gel and the angle the portal was at he went flying over Orange and landed at the exit door. He then placed a portal on the angled panel where Orange was and placed a portal where he was by the door.

Orange walked through and they were both at the door.

I was left on the hard-light-bridge as they walked through the door. I might be stuck on this bridge till one of them realizes they can't find me.

Then the door closed behind them… waving to get their attention was pointless now.

Then the lights went out… I began to get worried but I'm not sure why.

The facility was probably just conserving power…

Then I looked down and realized the light bridge was also running on power…

It fizzled and then disappeared

I began to drop towards the acid below, and I was thinking… 'this is all she had to do to kill me, was lock me in the chamber and cut the power…'

Suddenly the lights flared back to life and something constricted tightly around my waist.

My descent abruptly stopped and the entire room began to shake and spasm; almost like the chamber was having a seizure. Which I realized it probably was… in fact the entire facility may be having a seizure. Even the PA was garbling.

The claw arm that was wrapped around my waist jerkily lowered me down to the entrance door, on the opposite side of the test chamber as Blue and Orange.

Once I was set down the claw quickly wound its way out of the chamber and as soon as the claw left the room began to slowly stop shaking.

"Uuuhhhhhggggggggggg…" the PA announced.

I ran over to the wall and began to bang on it so GLaDOS could let me into the rest of the facility so I could find her chamber.

When no panels moved to allow me access I began to worry for her.

I couldn't find a way out, and I couldn't break out because the lasers never cut through the walls (even if they did there weren't any in the room), the gels wouldn't allow me to escape (again only propulsion gel was used in this test.) and the hard-light beams stop when they contact a wall.

There was no way for me to blow through the wall, or cut it open, I didn't have a way out of the testing track.

Then I saw a sort of office embedded in the wall high above, it was blocked by glass, but if I could break the glass I could get access to the rest of the facility.

I got Blue and Oranges attention and pointed at the glass office.

Blue put a portal on the wall opposite the glass and one below him to launch us across… but now we had to break the glass.

Orange placed her portals where I am and where they are, so I can get to them.

I went through and once I did Orange placed the portal that was where I had been at the light bridge, which was under the window.

She then pushed her brother off the edge and into his own portal

Blue came out the other side and basically 'belly flopped' (if you can even call it that, seeing as his 'belly' is his face and he was vertical instead of horizontal.) on the window it shuddered but managed to hold together with no cracks.

Blue landed on the hard light bridge and walked through Orange's portal, once he got back he took his revenge and pushed her off. She sailed through the air and also slammed into the window with her whole frame, causing the same effect.

Orange returned the same way Blue had.

Once there she pulled his core out of his frame and dropped it through the portal.

I cringed as it looked painful.

Blue's core also sailed through the air, since it was more aerodynamic it rocked the window much harder than the previous two (unwitting) attempts.

Blue rolled his core around so he could see what his body was doing, he slowly guided his body through the portal to pick himself up.

Once he returned he got revenge on Orange, as much as she tried to avoid it, her core was dropped through the portal, since it was dropped vertically when it came out the portal on the other side it came out horizontally; so it was longer than it was tall. This slammed into the glass with such force that it shattered and landed on the inside.

Blue moved a hard light bridge into position and me and him crawled up it. Once up Blue tossed the head of his companion down to its body so she could follow us.

Once up we left the office and began following the catwalks till we reached GLaDOS's chamber.

We found her form hanging limp and several of the panels weren't in their proper place.

I remembered back to when me and Wheatley had accidentally reawakened her last time.

It was in some kind of breaker room down stairs.

I left and found a catwalk that leads below

I found the tall cylindrical room and began reading the switches.

After a minute I found it. Climbing up I flicked the one that said 'Central AI Reboot.'

Once that happened a whole bunch of the switches around me flicked on and off, like the backup system switched off, other switches like turret production, neurotoxin production and panel repair all switched back on.

The little elevator began to raise me up and I was once again back in her room.

She was looking at Orange and Blue, but she must have heard the lift or received the message that it was active because she turned and sighed once she saw me.

"You're alright." She said, I couldn't quite tell if it was a question, statement of fact or a relieved confirmation.

I nodded.

"Why were you in there?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

The keyboard slithered out of the floor and in front of me.

Because I hoped it would help scratch your itch. maybe the more people in a chamber will increase the scratch?

"I myself don't know how the system for scratching, itching and euphoria works. But that was risky… you put the entire facility at risk."

I'm surprised you intervened knowing the system would punish you severely for it.

"Yes well, I already put so much time, work and effort into your recovery, it'd be pointless to waste it now."

"Also I'm sorry for… being a jerk earlier."

And I'm sorry for pushing you too far.

"Anyway… before you went and put yourself in harm's way I did this."

As she said it a panel revealed my arm, I picked it up and put it on. Then I noticed a plastic half circle, in the middle it had more plastic extensions going up and down.

"Place that on the back of your neck. So that the vertical wires align with your spine." GLaDOS instructed.

I did as told, once they were aligned the object shifted to perfectly correct itself. The two wires that went around in a half circle followed the inside of my collarbone and rested gently at the base of my neck. The two wires going up and down rested along my spine; the top one stopped just below the very back of my head. The lower one reached to the middle of my back between my shoulder blades.

"It will work more effectively if it is tucked beneath your garments.

I stretched out the back of my shirt so the lower wire went inside my shirt.

"Now, simply ask your mind for a ASHPD"

She worded it strangely but I did as I thought she wanted me to do.

When I did I was surprised to find that my Prosthetic had transformed from a hand into a Portal gun!

Whoa! I said into the snake keyboard.

"Unfortunately at the moment you can not have the keyboard and ASHPD active at the same time."

I transformed the prosthetic back to a hand by thinking of a hand. Doing so allowed me to activate the keyboard to say

Thanks! This is really cool.

"I'm glad you like it, now please go take that back scratcher and scratch my back?" She practically begged

I grinned and left the chamber to find some tests to do.

(1) so while writing this I realized that the 'euphoria' decreases in strength, but realized that possibly the same could happen to the 'scratch' (the sensation that counters the itch when a test has been completed.) so I thought what would happen... GLaDOS would become curt and grumpy and would be very uncaring... more so than usual.

(2) an homage or reference to Isaacplayz a good friend of mine.

(3) also another homage to Isaacplayz as his fanfiction username has 3651 at the end similar to how mine has 4161

(4) and as I just mentioned 4161 is my number basically

(5) a homage to a great portal fanfic by GlassGirlCeci titled how do you make lemonade anyway? I highly recommend it.

(6) J douge is fairly obvious... ... and well... we are both dead... inside aperture... so... lol I guess?

(7) I was on a discord channel the other day. and suddenly we just started talking about the word defenestration, which literally means the very specific action of throwing someone or something through a window.

(8) ahhhhh... grumpy cat was the greatest meme to grace the internet, R.I.P/f