Chapter 8
GLaDOS whirled around after hearing Chell cry out in agonizing pain. Normally when she heard humans make agony noises, it was a good thing. It meant she was testing and that science was getting done. If a human got injured or died? Well that wasn't her fault.
This was different somehow. Hearing the woman scream and seeing blood pouring out of her arm in quantities that would surely kill her if something wasn't done to stop the bleeding made GLaDOS feel something. Sadness? Fear? No definitely not. This was… compassion.
Chell began running towards GLaDOS, but the running turned quickly to stumbling and the mantis were not far behind. She appeared confused and her face grew pale. She grasped the open wound with her opposite hand as her eyes grew distant as though she wasn't all there. Finally, the woman passed out.
GLaDOS' processors whirred. A month ago, this was all she wanted. For this woman who had murdered her and destroyed Aperture Science to be killed. Now though, things were different. Chell had been a big help, and she had apologized for her actions. And GLaDOS had to admit that she had been somewhat lonely by herself in the sprawling scientific facility with no other intelligent beings around her. There were her bots, Orange and Blue, but they did not make for good company. Chell had become almost like a… friend. The AI knew that she needed to do something quickly to save the life of the former test subject.
GLaDOS leapt off of the chair she had been standing on and sprang towards her injured former test subject. "Chell!" She shouted the woman's name in her mechanical voice hoping it would get her to snap out of unconsciousness, but to no avail. First, the AI sent her two metal and silicone fists through the bodies of the two mantis men who had been fighting Chell, killing them both instantly. Thankfully, the combustible lemons had done their job and for the time being, there were no mantis left in the room. GLaDOS tore a chunk of fabric off the bottom of her lab coat, and tied it tightly around the area where the human's arm had been sliced. She took a look at the wound. There were two very deep cuts, on the left and right sides of the arm where the mantis claw had closed around it. The flesh had almost been sliced through to the bone. The android remembered when her arm had been sliced through by the mantis and shuddered. If it had hurt her, and she was an artificial intelligence, surely the human's pain had been worse.
What am I thinking? My core must be corrupt. Oh well, I'll deal with that when I plug myself back into the mainframe. GLaDOS thought as she slung Chell's seemingly lifeless body over her shoulder in a fireman lift.
The AI exited the room of cubicles back into the hallway of the building. All she needed to do was get them down a few flights of stairs, and down another hallway and she could run down the fallen wall and into the elevator. GLaDOS pushed the handle to get into the stairwell and quickly discovered a pair of mantis men hanging around in there. Rolling her optics, as they hissed at her, GLaDOS used the arm that wasn't hanging on to Chell and simply pushed one with enough force to throw it over the railing and down four flights of stairs. The other mantis ws easy enough to deal with, as the AI simply kicked it karate style and took it down.
Being a hyper intelligent android had its perks, GLaDOS thought with a smirk.
Five more mantis, who had probably heard the action upstairs, came charging up the stairs. Seeing this, and deciding it wasn't worth the time to kill them, GLaDOS tightened her grip on the unconscious woman she had slung over her shoulders - so as not to further injure her - and took a mighty leap over the rail. As she fell, the AI saw the faces of about ten mantis turn to watch her fall. They looked shocked as their eyes were already wide and their comparatively small mouths hung open.
GLaDOS landed perfectly on her long fall boots, and Chell was still alive and not further harmed from the stunt. The android adjusted the limp and fragile woman quickly to ensure her safety, and then dashed out another door into a hallway. All she needed to do to get herself and the human out of old Aperture and back to safety was run down the hallway, down the fallen wall, and into the elevator. The problem was though, that this hallway was long and there were mantis everywhere. They spotted the android and charged her instantly.
GLaDOS, being GLaDOS, didn't feel fear. After all, she was brilliant. It was an objective fact. GLaDOS was the most massive collection of wisdom ever collected, and these oversized insects were no match for her and her sturdy android body, even with Chell slung over her shoulders.
She smirked. "Come at me, you morons. I should warn you, however, that if any of you try to attack me, well, you're about to become the immediate past president of the being alive club."
The next few minutes were a flurry of fists, claws, and legs as GLaDOS fought mantis after mantis. Amazingly, she was able to keep Chell from being further injured as she fought the 'morons.' The AI had to toss the woman around a few times to keep her still unconscious body out of reach of the mantis, and being GLaDOS, she sort of forgot how fragile human beings are. The woman ended up with some bruises from the ordeal, but no further blood loss.
Finally, GLaDOS was able to run down the fallen wall, and into an elevator where she Positioned Chell upside down (hoping some blood flow would return to her head) and smacked the "up" button. The AI had narrowly outrun the mantis men.
The human's eyes fluttered open, and GLaDOS felt a surge of excited electricity flow through her circuits in response. "GLaDOS…. hi. Why am I upside down? Where's the cake?"
The android knew that Chell was likely confused due to her lack of sufficient oxygen, so she went along with what she was saying; "I'm sorry. The cake was a lie."
Chell's lips pursed into a pouting expression. "You promised cake."
"Yes, I'm aware. I promise all test subjects cake. My data shows that it helps them stay focused on the tests."
Chell said one more thing before losing consciousness again. "You're mean."
GLaDOS realized that she was relieved to see that this woman who she had once wanted dead was still alive. She smiled at the absurdity of it. The AI also realized that she, in fact, did not want Chell to think of her as 'mean.' She wasn't exactly sure why she cared, but a plan formulated in her robotic mind.
Cake.
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