GLaDOS swayed back and forth from the ceiling in the main chamber like a serpent hanging from a tree. Thick cables winding down and coiling into a central location to support the body of Aperture's queen. Through her movements, the soft lights would glint off her chassis to further prove just how massive she was. She was beautiful as she was dangerous.
"What the hell is that…?" Barney mumble, just loud enough for Chell to hear.
She shrugged her shoulders in response. "My ex," she said. No hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"And we both know I could do so much better than you," GLaDOS said, making it clear she heard them both.
Chell glared at GLaDOS while the rest of the group looked on in surprise and confusion. She hadn't expected the AI to join in.
"All joking aside, now that you are here, what do you intend to do? How do you plan on fixing this problem?" GLaDOS said, as her optic shifted between each member of the group.
No one spoke up for the time being.
"Anyone? Don't tell me I have to come up with the plan as well," GLaDOS said, her face shifting to look directly at Chell. The two engaged in an intense staring contest as if daring the other to try something.
"We- we need some sort of resonance device. Something that will allow the rift to stabilize so we can close it properly," Gordon said as he moved to stand next to Chell.
"Something similar to the source code back in City 17?" Alyx asked.
"Yes, I have thought of that and have wanted to pursue it, but there is one small issue…" GLaDOS added as she moved a few panels from the walls to reveal several screens.
The screens flickered to life with security feeds, and the rift was on display for the group to see. It was a flickering mass of pure energy. Bolts of energy in a multitude of colors erupted from the tear in reality to lash wildly in all directions, heading no mind to the surroundings. The rift seemed to widen and grow with each flare of power, tearing catwalks and structures apart to only leave behind white-hot metal and rubble.
"Oh god-"Shepherd mumbled as his fists clench.
"That is only the beginning. Please watch the screen," GLaDOS instructed.
On the screen were two robots Chell recognized from the central chamber the day she left Aperture. They looked to be hesitant as they approached the rift. They were right to be cautious as there was a sudden surge in energy, and both were instantly caught in the beam, which lead to both exploding in a mess of sparks and wires.
"The same thing happens to organic material as well. Plants, birds, rabbits… It's all the same."
"Harmonic reflux," Gordon and Barney said at the same time. The former looking surprised that Barney knew what that was.
Barney just sent a smirk to Gordon and shrugged his shoulders. "What? You have to be the only egg head around here?"
Barney remembered his time experiencing harmonic reflux during his escape from Black Mesa. He had stayed behind to let Dr. Rosenburg and the other scientists go through the portal first to hold off the military. Just as he had jumped into the portal, the soldiers launched grenade rounds into the room, causing a malfunction with the teleporter.
Barney had been caught in a constant teleportation loop that sent him to random places all over Black Mesa and into Xen. It wore off, but that could have been due to the military's destruction of the lab or the power finally depleting. Like Gordon, he had been stuck in the same situation after the teleporter accident in City 17. He became stabilized after they shut down the machines.
'You can't enter the beam. It will tear you apart,' Kleiner had yelled to stop Barney from interfering back at the City 17 lab.
If anyone touched a person caught in the reflux, they would meet a gruesome end.
"Yes, it seems-" GLaDOS started but cut off as if distracted by something. "One moment… We have a minor infestation."
A series of clicks and beeps came through the unseen speakers, followed by a distant explosion that echoed in everyone's chests.
A worried glance passes between the group as what the 'infestation' could be. Three guesses what it could be, and the first two don't count.
"If you have thought everything, then why do you need us?" Alyx asked, moving to stand by Chell in the center.
"To fix your own mess," GLaDOS said while swaying her body to the side as if the answer was obvious.
She was lying. Chell could tell that much after having dealt with her for so long, but getting her to admit it was half the fun.
"You don't actually know how to fix it, do you?" Chell stated, one of her hips cocking out in the process.
That made GLaDOS go silent as she swiveled to glare at Chell. "Do not question my intelligence. Fixing it will be easy to complete now that you are here."
"So why not fix it yourself?"
Another beat of silence from GLaDOS.
"I think I liked you better when you were mute…" She finally said. "Fine, I'm too distracted to do it myself. Something up there is attempting to bypass my security system and firewalls. It's taking a lot of effort to keep them from getting in, and I need to focus on that while you fix the rift."
The others look to Chell while she kept her eyes fixed on GLaDOS. Yes, the robot was a known liar, but in those moments of truth… It was raw. GLaDOS would never admit that things were hard for her and yet acknowledging that she needed help wasn't something to be taken lightly.
That's why Chell gives a single nod of her head. "Then let's go to work."
Magnusson moved forward to grab Chell by the shoulder. "Chell, you can't b-"
"I am," Chell said, not looking to her friend. "While I'm gone, I want you to stay here with Crow and Apollo. Worst comes to worst, this is the safest place you can be."
"Chell-"
"Just stay here and be safe!"
Arne couldn't find the words he wanted to say. Instead, he squeezed her shoulder and said, "Don't bother coming back if you die out there."
"Wouldn't dream of it. I'd have to deal with seeing your mopey expressions again," Chell responded without thinking.
"Again?
"Remember Abigail from Accounting?" Chell said.
Her words' gravity took a second to register, but Arne couldn't hide the ecstatic yet perturbed grin.
"Typical. You would remember something so menial," he pouted.
"If it means messing with you, then it must be important," she smirked.
While those two had their bickering moment, GLaDOS had moved aside a few panels from the floor to reveal several pedestals. Two contained pristine portal guns while the others had small palm-sized devices of unknown use and several pairs of long fall boots.
"Line up and grab what you need," GLaDOS commanded.
Shoes were traded out for the long fall boots. The small devices were revealed as electronic maps of the facility with programmed routes already running. That would come in handy…
Chell grabbed one of the two portal guns as her original was back at White Forest while Adrian took the second. He ran a hand over the sleek chassis before inserting his hand into the end of it and feeling the buttons.
Chell gave him a rundown of the internal triggers while pulling out her navigation pad to study their route. There would be a few tricky areas, but nothing that caught her eye at the moment.
While they busied themselves with the portal guns, Gordon examined the long fall boots and looked at his metal plated legs. He pursed his lips and adjusted his glasses as they had started sliding down his nose due to the angle he had his head.
"How am I…" he trailed off, holding up one boot and gesturing to his legs while looking at GLaDOS.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
Before anyone could react, a panel opened up beneath Gordon, and he disappeared beneath the floor. Alyx and Chell were on the defensive immediately, while Barney dove to the panel's edge, trying to find his friend.
There was the sound of metal clanging and sparks shining in the darkness, with Gordon letting out grunts of discomfort small curses at what was happening to him.
"Bring him back!" Alyx demanded.
"Relax," GLaDOS sighed as a claw lowered from the ceiling and disappeared into the floor's hole.
Gordon was slowly raised up, the large claw wrapped around his waist, glasses askew, and an annoyed expression on his face. He was then rudely dropped back to the ground, but instead of a heavy thunk of him falling over, he almost looked graceful in his landing.
That's when everyone noticed the modification GLaDOS had added to Gordon's suit. Connected to the legs of his suit were two black curved pieces of metal. With each step, they would bend with his weight and absorb all impact to the point it was like walking on soft grass.
"Will the long fall upgrade suffice?"
Gordon lifted one leg off the ground and prodded one of the additions to his suit with interest. "Yes. They should."
The group of five humans and a giant robotic guard dog moved along the catwalks single file. Chell took the lead as she was the only one familiar with the surroundings. It turned out to have an added benefit as the other four were having trouble getting used to the long fall boots' springs. There were quiet curses from the group, but strangely, Gordon was the first to get the hang of walking in them.
Chell instructed Crow and Apollo to stay back with Magnusson to keep him safe if anything were to go wrong. They tried to object, but she needed them to stay behind. She could handle anything inside Aperture, but needed to make sure Arne would be safe.
It's not that she didn't trust GLaDOS. She didn't trust the AI one hundred percent, but that wasn't the point. Chell wanted to be sure that all bases were covered. This was Aperture, and anything could go wrong at any second.
Barney was walking right behind Chell, his AR2 pointed at the ground but ready for action at a moment's notice. He bit his lip as he looked into the expansive abyss of blue-tinted mist that stretched in every direction to only be dotted by large cube-shaped structures, support beams, and distant lights. It felt so empty. "So…" He started. "That was the robot that tried to kill you before."
"One of them at least," Chell mumbled, sparing a glance over her shoulder.
"And you had to deal with all those passive-aggressive comments the entire time?"
"Yep."
Barney had to suppress a laugh. "Sorry… but no wonder you can stand Dr. Magnusson."
Chell didn't have a response, but it did make her chuckle.
After a few seconds, she responded with, "I'm telling him you said that."
She didn't see the slightly panicked expression on Barney's face.
Near the rear of the group, Adrian keeps his eyes locked on the back of Gordon's head. This was the man who slaughtered his way through Black Mesa. It was hard to see at first, but with the way Gordon moved, eyes fixed and scanning his surroundings… Adrian could see how he survived.
Hey… I don't think we were really introduced," Adrian finally said. It had been several hours since they were in the mess hall of White Forest, but this was the first time he had actually addressed Gordon directly.
Gordon looked back at Adrian and nodded. "No. We haven't."
And awkward silence stretched between the two—each wanting the other to break first.
"I'm Gordon Fre-"
"I know who you are."
"Oh…"
Another silence stretched.
"I- I'm Adrian, by the way. Adrian Shephard," he said.
More silence.
"This may not be the best time, but- but I was at Black Mesa too. I saw you jump into that portal," Adrian finally said. "The lambda lab, I think?"
He knew this wasn't the right time, but Freeman needed to know. Adrian couldn't risk the man figuring it out on his own and deciding to take out some sort of vengeance for his colleagues. Even if Adrian had nothing to do with that.
"You were the guard?" Gordon asked.
"No," Adrian said.
Shephard remembered the lone security guard within that chamber. He'd seen the man lying in a growing pool of blood as those flying creatures with bulbous head continued to pelt everything around them with yellow bursts of energy.
Gordon's eyes traveled to the vest that Adrian wore, and recognition hit him like a brick.
"You were a-"
"Marine. Yes."
Adrian watched as the crowbar in Gordon's hand twitched with the amount of force the owner had on it.
He knew it was coming, but Adrian didn't stop it from happening.
Gordon rounded on Adrian, pushing the man into the catwalk's railing and using the crowbar, had the length of it pressed against the former marine's chest to block him from getting up.
"Gordon, stop!" Barney called out.
"Don't you know what he is?" Gordon called out to his friend.
"Yes!" Barney yelled, moving back to put a hand on Gordon's shoulder. "But I trust him. Gordon, look at his face. What do you see?"
Adrian's face was blank, sweaty, and… young? Gordon blinked at that as he realized he couldn't be older than twenty-five. No. He shouldn't be that young. Anyone who survived Black Mesa would need to be around Barney's age or older. That would mean…
Him. He had something to do with this once again.
"You don't have to trust me right now, Freeman. But I had nothing to do with what happened at Black Mesa. I never hurt anyone," Adrian said, not bothering to push against Gordon; instead, he kept a death grip on the railing to prevent from going over.
Several tense moments passed before Gordon roughly pulled away from Adrian. "I won't hesitate if you give me an excuse. I lost too many colleagues to your people."
Adrian rubbed his chest where the crowbar had been pressed. His PCV protected him, but it was mainly out of habit to check for injuries.
"I lost my people to your actions too. Their orders were barbaric, but that doesn't change the fact that you have blood on your hands. No one came out of Black Mesa without scars," Adrian stated.
"The difference between them and me… I tried to fix my mistakes. They just tried to cover it up," Gordon replied coldly before turning on his feet. He then moved to the front near Chell.
Adrian looked to Barney with a sheepish expression. Barney, on the other hand, looked to Gordon with a worried expression. Alyx glared at Adrian while Dog let out a few concerned noises before nudging Adrian to get moving again.
This group…
It's a bomb ready to blow at a moment's notice. Adrian only hoped it wouldn't go off too soon.
"I see your conflict resolution needs work," GLaDOS's voice came from their datapads. So, she could still see them? That was good to know.
"You'll want to take a right up ahead. In a few hundred yards, there will be a staircase. Take it and enter the chamber it leads to," she instructed the group.
They did as instructed, the silence fell over the group again, but it was a lot tenser this time around.
When they approached the door GLaDOS mentioned, Chell froze. In front of them was a circular blast door, and as they approached it, the locks turned in place and rotated until a hiss of steam escaped the seams and beckoned the group entrance. Chell still stood in place, not wanting to venture any further.
"Yes, I get your reservations, but it's the quickest way."
Chell glared at her datapad and attempted to fiddle with it to find another way around. All other routes would take hours longer and require backtracking.
"If it makes you feel better, the ones you will be moving through will be familiar. You've completed them before. I've even turned off the high energy pellets and lasers," GLaDOS continued. "There truly is no faster way."
Chell's whole frame shook in anger before she finally snapped out of whatever trance she was in and walked into the chamber. The others followed behind her, and once all entered, the door slammed shut and locked behind them.
Chell's body took on a far more defensive posture as she glanced towards a giant black screen. It flickered into life, and a large number fourteen came into view.
"Welcome to the Aperture Science Enrichment Center," Chell finally grumbled out as she once more leads the group through the test chamber.