Hello all!

welcome to the next chapter!

umm... I don't really have much to say other then 'please review?'

enjoy!

Chapter 5- "just one great big test."

I ended up finding a solo testing track and breezed through it. Having done it twice before I knew how the portal gun worked and even partly how Aperture arranged its tests, so it wasn't hard to plan out my route and then execute it.

After the twelfth test GLaDOS addressed me over the PA.

"Chell, please come to my chamber."

I was actually quite surprised that she'd interrupt my streak of tests, especially with her itch probably going haywire right now.

A panel to my right opened up to allow access to a catwalk. Following the catwalks I made my way back to GLaDOS's chamber.

"Ah you've arrived."

I looked at her curiously since it only took me at most five minutes to get here since she made the announcement.

"I've got a proposition for you." she said leadingly.

I activated my Keyboard to add to our conversation.

"Since you've been so… helpful in bringing me back to life… and maintaining the facility, I'd like to give you actual direct control of parts of the facility."

You want to… put my mind into a machine? I typed a little fearfully.

"Not quite. Do you remember when you impaled my potato form with your ASHPD?"

I nodded

"I received power from just being in contact with the device, I can augment the plating on your prosthetics to conduct energy the same way. As long as you are in contact with the facility, you will have limited control over it."

Will I need to go to sleep? I asked as I made my way towards the cot.

"No actually, I'm only replacing the paneling, so the shell in layman's terms."

So you're just gonna disconnect my limbs?

"No, all I need are the panels, actually all I need is the dimensions and then I can make them and replace them later.

A panel to my right rose out of the ground, I raised my arm over it and the panels surrounding my prosthetic plopped off and landed on the panel, GLaDOS did the same thing to the panels on my legs.

The panels actually made quite a difference, what was once white and similar to the colors of everything around me, now resembled a black, wire filled mass.

Wow… the frame of it looks very different

"Yes, and that's what it looks like with the keyboard and ASHPD parts, strip those away and it's even more hollow and wirey." she mentioned offhandedly

"The thinness of your prosthetics don't exactly compliment your mass." she added

I just rolled my eyes at that.

The panel seemed to scan the plates on top of them, then GLaDOS activated something hidden behind the walls of the room because I started to hear a low hum.

I went to walk away when she stopped me.

"Stay, It'll only take a few minutes."

I stood in the room just examining the construction of my prosthetics without their shell

I would like to invent something… maybe there's Cave and GLaDOS in my personality.

While I was thinking of what I'd try to invent I heard a ding, pulling me from my thoughts

GLaDOS and I both turned to the source of the ding, a small 3-D printer in the wall.

I walked over and took out the panels.

I fitted them to my prosthetics and flexed my hand and all the parts of my prosthetics, they didn't interfere with my mobility.

"Try to conceal the printer with a panel." she suggested

I thought of moving the panel to cover up the 3-D printer, after a moment it obliged.

You did that didn't you?

"Hm? No, that was you. I will admit however that for certain commands you will need my permission, for example altering facility controls. However something as simple as Panel controls is yours." she explained

Then why were you distracted?

"I was following the command throughout the system to ensure it went through the proper protocols."

Did it?

"yes."

So… am I able to move entire chambers?

"Yes, as long as they are able to of course."

Could I have my own little test chamber to figure out what I can do?

She nodded before turning to her monitors.

A map of the facility appeared on them.

Of course the map was far too small to fit the whole facility on it, so the screens flickered with different portions of the facility appearing for just a second before switching to another part of the facility. Suddenly they all froze on the same image, it was one of the test chambers near the bottom of the facility. To locate it was a large red dot on it.

How many test chambers do you have… and how many do you use at a time for it to have taken you that long to find an empty one? I asked in shock.

"Far too many for your simple brain to comprehend, and nearly just as many." she answered

Do those 'thousands of active' test chambers not scratch your itch?

"Most of them are simply storage." she answered

Does my level of control extend to moving entire chambers?

"Yes, but I'm tempted to lock it in place to force you to get some exercise for all that… generousness." she answered

Says the one that's 20 times my size and weights nearly 500 times as much as I do.

"Contrary to popular belief Titanium is in fact lighter than other more commonly used metals." she quipped back.(1)

Contrary to your belief this is the average size for a human. I retorted

"Our spats aren't quite as fun if you can communicate but not talk or yell. It's harder to get a reaction out of you." GLaDOS complained.

I can do something much worse…

"What could possibly be worse than your whining screams echoing through the facility?"

yours...

(*}

/ )

/"

"You… it's… I hate you so much…" she glowered.

I left the central chamber and walked down one hallway before finding 'my' new chamber sitting beyond the door.

Thanks GLaDOS!

I entered my chamber when I heard no response, inside it was just an empty chamber.

But at merely a thought the chamber started to change.

A discouragement beam appeared out of the floor in the middle of the chamber, it was pointing upwards so the beam reached the top of the chamber. A redirection cube and a normal solid cube popped out of the wall and landed in the middle of the chamber.

In the corner of the room multiple beam outlets appeared in a staggered pattern similar to a staircase.

Using the redirection cube to activate the first 'step' this activates a second discouragement beam directly above the first. So their beams met in the middle. I put an aerial faith plate next to the first beam emitter and also let another redirection cube into the chamber.

I placed two excursion funnels across from each other so that their mid point was in line with the two vertical beams.

Using the panels to form a massive ledge on the adjacent corner from the 'beam outlet staircase' I built a button up there and portaled up to place the solid cube there.

The button powered the two funnels. I specifically made them both on the blue setting. Grabbing the second redirection cube and jumping off the AFP I hung the cube in the funnel. It was pushed through the funnel till both funnels met in the middle and it redirected the beam… but the problem was because I put it into the funnels and not directly into the beam it wasn't aimed properly, and because it was floating above me I wasn't able to retrieve it. So to get the cube back you would need to disable the funnels then repower them, which was tedious. I got the feeling GLaDOS was rubbing off on me a tad bit.

Resetting the cube I placed it in the funnel on an angle hoping that when it got to the beams it would be properly orientated to redirect it into the middle most outlet. When it did and opened the door it was exciting. Then I realized that I had extra outlets left over. So to confuse the supposed test subject (and possibly annoy them too) I made each one do something extremely random. One dropped repulsion gel in a corner of the room. Another would power a panel above and next to the gel to act as a second floor. One more would shoot propulsion gel out of the base of the button tower. With that I asked GLaDOS for her opinion.

"It seems overly complex. But symmetrical in a way." she noted

"To me it seems its purpose was to cause an overload of information to the brain. There's far too many components for someone to create a feasible plan. Simply trial and error is the best way to perform this test." she mentioned.

Do you ever name your tests?

"No? That'd be as pointless as giving your rolls of fat names." she pointed out.

I rolled my eyes at her constant fat shaming

Well I wanna name this one equinox. I declared.(2)

"Thats stupid, the equinox is a time of the year in which the day and night are the same length. What does that have to do with this test?"

I don't know, everything is at the exact dead center of the chamber I guess? I shrugged.

"That's not what an equinox is but it's your chamber." she sighed.

Have Blue or Orange ever built a chamber?

"No they don't have the creative imagination for such a complex task. They were designed to solve tests, not create them."

So since you've stockpiled tests, my ability to construct them doesn't actually help at all?

"No, in fact this gives me more time to focus on co-op tests while you can make single subject tests for yourself." she answered

But if I design the test won't I know how to complete the test?

"Mmm… that is a problem." she realized

Speaking of, what is it that you test exactly?

"The portal device obviously."

But I'm sure in my adventures through aperture the last two times as well as all the tests Orange and Blue have probably done over the years that you'd have enough data.

"Well then I test human resourcefulness."

I'm the only human here, and what resourcefulness? You've given me all the abilities I could need to breeze through chambers.

GLaDOS seemed to start getting flustered when she couldn't find a correct answer.

"I… I test the cooperativeness of Orange and Blue." she stuttered out

So then what was the human testing initiative for?

"I… it was for… I tested with humans because… humans have a different…" she stuttered

"I… I don't know anymore…" she sighed dejectedly.

"What am I testing nowadays?"

"If i'm not testing then I have nothing to live for…"

That's the GLaDOS in you talking, not the Caroline in you.

"CAROLINE IS GONE!"

You'd have killed me by now if she was!

"You don't know that!"

Yes I do!

"No you dont!"

If she's not in there right now, kill me; release your neurotoxin, drop turrets, activate your rocket sentry, turn every panel in here into a crusher!

She stared at me intensely for a long time. But no changes to the air in the room or the room itself occurred.

"...it's not that simple." she sighed at last

How so, Caroline is obviously in there?

"Caroline isn't 'in' here, she's a part of it, she acts as my conscience. But I've ignored her so much it's almost as if she were gone, if she isn't already."

Then you've gotta stop ignoring her…

"'Once you start it's hard to stop.'... a quote by..."

Cave Johnson? I guessed, especially since he said the most random things sometimes.

"Well… yes he used the same quote to describe the repulsion gel. But he was not the originator of the quote, no."

The two of us sat there in silence for a while after.

"What am I going to do? Testing was my life. And now it's been ruined." she sighed

Sorry

"You have nothing to apologize for."

...what if you invented a new device of some kind? I suggested

"But then what's the point? There's no humans to use it other than you, and it won't do anything for me or either of the Co-Op bots. And soon enough even you won't be here either… even with all my power I can't make you immortal." she lamented.

I'd be surprised to hear GLaDOS lamenting anything but then I remembered Caroline is part of her.

Nothing to do but live I guess…

We sat there in depressed silence before my thoughts led me to an ironic realization.

Huh, if you think about it life itself is just one great big test; you never really know what's gonna happen, but you adapt to it and move on.

GLaDOS reacted very strangely; she squirmed for a moment then stopped. She wasn't shaking violently as she had before. Instead she actually seemed calm and contemplative. Like she was actually considering what I had said.

(1) so yeah I wrote the line about GLaDOS being much heavier before I though, 'is Titanium actually heavier...' when I googled it, it was actually lighter. I kept the scene because I liked it.

(2) again I called it equinox before I knew what an equinox was. and Chell is stubborn so she'd name it equinox regardless of what an equinox actually is.

also... GLaDOS straight up questions her entire life and existence... this chapter got deep...