[A/N: I don't know a ton about this series or this character, so this fic is probably something that you should pass if you're a diehard fan that doesn't know how to compose themself like an adult and let people be incorrect about something. Ijs. I don't care enough about this for flames to affect me, and i eat up attention in any way that i get it, mwahaha.

For the rest of you, i hope it turned out okay enough. I tried, idk. Ending is shit tho.

But anyway, this is something that i wanted to do for my darling little sibling. I wasn't given any information about their Core FC, so i made one up specifically for this, i call it "CC." I usually try to make certain that an FC i make is not already something someone else has, but i can't seem to find many Core OCs. So i hope i'm not stepping on anyone's toes, and if i am then i'm very sorry.

TW/CW: sass, frustration, internal conflict, tiny bit if sadness, tiny bit of flirting, tiny bit of masochism??]

She was… difficult to swallow, to say the least. She was overbearing, crazy, and angry. She had resentment in her (albeit not without warrant) and she used it against each one of the creatures that forced her to where she was now. They obviously didn't like that.

So they tried to fix her. They made little things; they called them "Personality Cores;" to channel the good and the bad about her. It worked to some extent, at least being able to get her to stop being so uncontrollable for a little while.

Now GLaDOS was dry, salty, and unimpressed by much. Be it her electronic perogative or some semblance of the life that was viciously contorted into this bastard transformation of human to technology, she had a duty about her: understanding the world around her through measurement. Science. Experimenting. It was all that she had, all that she cared about, all that she was supposed to care about.

In these experiments and things, more technology was developed. Robots became more and more able to do things, setting up and performing tests and aiding in further robotics research. New Personality Cores were made to find the extent to which a human emotion can be replicated in a machine. They became their own little world, all loyally devoting themselves to science.

The robot fumbled the tool in its pincers. It was almost done assembling a new Core, but it had been having a hard time since it started. It dropped the components, tangled the wires, even put in the device upside-down in a sphere. The Core seemed fine, but the robot was definitely worse for wear, judging by its performance.

The proprietor of the operation entered the area. She was displeased with the quality of the work that the bot had done, and she was going to let it know. "I am genuinely surprised that you were able to incorrectly complete every step of this task and still manage to stand on your own feet. Why do you want to disappoint me like this?" She chewed the robot out and dismissed it to the Rehabilitation Center for system repairs.

The Core started up, its eye blinking open to a bright lavender LED. It surveyed its environment and noticed the large moving figure nearby. "Hello! Who are you?"

GLaDOS turned to look at the new addition to her collection of AIs. "Oh, you are able to speak. I did not think that was possible."

"It's nice to be surprised by good things." The Core spoke calmly and hoped that it helped her feel better.

GLaDOS blinked once. "You are an Aperture Science Artificial Personality Construct, otherwise known as a 'Personality Core.' You are a digital representation of human emotion to perform scientific research. Since i am here, i will personally assess your functionality to decide if you can continue testing, or if you are corrupted."

"I hope that you are satisfied with what you find in me!" The Core closed its eye and wirred in place.

"What is your designated personality trait?"

"I am Compassion. I represent the human ability to comprehend the feelings of another and respond in a manner that lessens suffering, used for human social interactions." It became friendly again: "I'm going to interact with the other Personality Cores here and help create a dynamic simulation of the human condition. I hope that i am sufficient!"

GLaDOS felt uncomfortable with how chipper it was. "...Okay. Perhaps we should get you to where the other Cores are..."

The Core brought its enthusiasm down. "I'm sorry that i am so excited. I will comply with how you prefer me to act." It blinked up at GLaDOS, waiting for her to tell it what she wanted. After a while of not receiving a response, it tried to approach her differently. "Is there anything that i can do to make you feel better??"

"I'm fine." She contemplated it. "You seem to be functioning properly in your directive."

"I am glad that you are satisfied." It closed its eye, keeping its mellow energy. "Is there anything else that i can do to help you feel happy while we are still together?"

GLaDOS examined the Core. So few of the AIs had ever had the capacity to even comprehend what "happiness" was, and even fewer ever wanted to share that experience with the ones around them. It was almost suspicious that the Core had even said that. "What do you know about 'happiness???'"

"Happiness is an emotional response to something that is pleasurable: typically in small and trivial objects and experiences, but also in a broader field such as quality of life. My directive, lessening suffering, often incorporates things that make a subject happy in order to comfort them. In a neutral environment, where there is no suffering, the best that i can do is to try to improve happiness." It paused. "What makes you happy???"

GLaDOS was satisfied with the answer, but not that it came from this little bot. She hesitated before answering. "Testing…" She watched the Core.

"That makes sense. It is a very important part of research." Apparently validating others was part of 'improving happiness.'

GLaDOS flipped through options on how to deal with this thing. She could just obliterate it, or she could have its insides ripped out and rearranged into something she would prefer. She could throw it in a pit alone for a thousand years and see if it would change its tone. It interrupted her thinking: "What do you like to find best in your testing?"

She didn't know how to respond to that. 'Answers' was the only option, but she wasn't sure what 'answers' it was that she was even after. "I'm not sure…"

It took the Core's response for her to realize that she had said anything. "I see. Perhaps it is the action of testing that makes you happy. You are happy when you are testing, rather than the result that you get."

"You are far too efficient in your prerogative. You're starting to get on my nerves." She brought down a big robotic arm and used the pincers to clip onto the Core's handle. She brought it up to her eye level and glared at it.

The Core stirred. "Oh no, that's not good! I am deeply sorry that my behavior has disturbed you! Is there anything that i can do to remedy this, or to make you less upset???"

She barked "you can stop talking!!!"

The Core looked at her earnestly somehow. It spoke quietly. "Okay."

"I'm calling over a management rail to take you to where the other Cores are. I'll decide what to do with you later."

She was clearly frustrated, and it was something that the Core was programmed to try to help fix. It fumbled the idea between its circuits, unsure whether to remain quiet to prevent annoying her further, or to attempt to console her. It couldn't make up its mind, so it shot something out there to buy itself more time. "W-wait!!!" GLaDOS glared back at it. "Ca-can you take me there???"

GLaDOS didn't understand why it still wanted to be around her, and she was still agitated. "Why do you want me to take you there?"

The Core glanced around nervously, still unsure of what to do. "D-directive…" It tried to use as few words as possible. "Help… you…?"

She contemplated this. If she took it to where the Cores were stored for testing, then she would be able to put it specifically between the Cores that would torture it best. Or better yet, she could change course to throw it directly into the incinerator if it got any more annoying: that would save her having to deal with it again if she didn't want to.

GLaDOS sighed. "Alright, fine, i'll take you there myself." The Core let out a high pitched, happy beep. GLaDOS canceled the management rail.

GLaDOS carried the Core a few feet away from her. It glanced around at its new home, but mostly kept its optics on its chaperone. It studied her and compared her to itself and the other robots that it had spied along the way. She looked different from all of those other things, she was unique. She was shaped differently, she didn't have the same kind of moving parts. She was suspended from above, and she was the only thing that the Core saw that was. She was special, she was one-of-a-kind. She was--

No, that can't be right. It wasn't programmed to crave anything for itself. It can't determine that something could make it happy. It can't produce its own feelings. Right?

It had to be a mistake, a flaw, a glitch. It would make GLaDOS upset to know that she was using a corrupted Personality Core in her testing, it would ruin them! That would certainly make her unhappy. It had to say something.

The Core beeped twice, but remained silent otherwise. GLaDOS looked at it. "What do you want?"

The Core blinked. It paused to decide on the fewest words, still intent on staying quiet to keep her satisfied. "I'm corrupted!"

GLaDOS looked it up and down. "What do you mean you're 'corrupted?'"

"G-glitching…"

"Glitching how?"

It would sweat if it could. "Incorrect…" That wasn't right. It tried again. "S… selfish???"

GLaDOS brought it close to her face to glare at it. "Use words!!! I can't help you if you don't tell me what the issue is."

The Core would have winced. "S-sorry. Trying to… not talk." It sighed. "I believe that there is something in my coding that is incorrect. I feel as if i am being selfish, which isn't something that 'compassion' entails. I must be malfunctioning."

"What do you mean you're 'being selfish?'"

The Core thought about how to say it right. "I want…." There was only one word: "happiness."

"Yeah, so???" GLaDOS was certainly still annoyed. "Aren't you supposed to deal with happiness???"

"Yes, but not my own! I should be concerned for others' wellbeing, not for mine." It shook. "I should only want to help others."

"Alright." GLaDOS relaxed, but kept the attitude. "So what would make you happy? Something that isn't helping others?"

The Core's pupil shrunk. It wasn't really sure that it was prepared to confess something like that so soon after first experiencing it. "I, um…" At the same time, it knew that dishonesty would make her upset again, and it really didn't want that. "Y… you…"

GLaDOS was dumbfounded. She wasn't sure what it meant by that. She glared. "What about me???"

It looked everywhere for an answer. It seemed to become more and more difficult to find the words. "Your.. companionship. Your presence. Your…" It looked all about her. "Pretty…" It didn't realize that it fluttered its eye, but it got scared and started beeping when it registered what it said.

GLaDOS was stunned. She increased the distance between them. "Okay, okay, i believe you. You really are malfunctioning. Now i just have to decide whether to get you fixed, or just get rid of you." She looked at it again. "What do you think would make me happier?"

The Core didn't know what to say. It knew what would make her happy, but it also knew what would make itself happy. It thought about the two sides of the situation, but it couldn't decide what to do. It realized this, and thought 'well, i did say that i was malfunctioning…' It would have taken a deep breath. "F… fixing me… yourself!" It blinked innocently at her.

GLaDOS was outwardly unimpressed with the answer. She did find it to be cunning, which she could appreciate; but she wasn't just going to do what some dumb, probably broken Core told her to. "Fat chance."

"You could fix me however you liiiike." It tried to offer in that suggestive tone. "Make me jaded, turn me inside out," it looked right at her: "remove my speakeerss."

"I can't lie: that is quite tempting." This little brat is getting too brazen now. It was definitely reaching beyond "compassion," but GLaDOS somehow liked how bold it could seem to get.

"Then fix me!" It wasn't making a threat or saying it sarcastically: it spoke enthusiastically and genuinely. "Do whatever you want to me! Deactivate me, even!! Do anything!" It insisted, "but YOU do it!" It made a cheery expression with its eye, looking almost masochistic when you combined it with its words. It was upsetting.

"Yuck! Why are you so excited about that?! Don't you care about self-preservation?! What about your directive???" Now she almost didn't want to keep talking to it, but it was such an odd creature that she couldn't really tear herself away.

It closed its eye happily. "Because i'm a defective Core!" It wirred and sort of swung itself with the motion. "And i want to be with you, be here around you!" It looked at her: "if you want this to be the end of me, then let me spend it with you."

GLaDOS would have sneered. She made an electronic hiss. "Well that wouldn't lessen my suffering! What about that???"

The Core blinked as it processed this. She was right: it wouldn't lessen her suffering. In fact, its behavior in these past few minutes had most certainly increased her suffering. It was catastrophically failing its mission, and it realized that now.

"I… i'm sorry…" The whole piece of machinery lost its energy. It stopped wirring and spoke softly. "I… i am corrupted. I really am broken..." Its eye paved invisible paths on the ground, desperately trying to find the words that could help. "Y.. you should send me to the incinerator. P-please, call the maintenance line: i don't want you to suffer anymore because of me." It looked at her, truly apologetically. "I am sorry. I am sorry that i put you through this." It closed its eye and became still.

GLaDOS made a series of beeps and tones that sounded like grumbling. She continued forward to her new destination. The Core remained dormant for the entire journey, silently reflecting on what it had done and why it should not have. If these were going to be its final moments, then it should spend them suffering to endure what it put GLaDOS through.

The Core was placed down gently. Once it realized that it wasn't moving anymore, it carefully opened its eye, uncertain and not wanting to be frightened by anything. It was now in a big dark room that had monitors suspended from the ceiling and a walkway with stairs, but there wasn't much else there. GLaDOS was in the middle of its vision, looking directly at it.

The Core didn't know how to act. It honestly expected to be thrown directly into the furnace without any pomp and circumstance, simply burning without any warning given as to when it would happen. It hesitated before it spoke. "Are… are we at the incinerator???"

GLaDOS sighed. "Nooo, we're not at the incinerator."

The Core was almost scared now. "Wh… why not??? I thought you were goi--"

"This is my chamber. I come here to be alone and plan out the tests that i want to do."

It didn't understand and was almost frustrated. "Why are we here???"

"I do independent research here, research for things that i am specifically interested in." GLaDOS looked at the Core. "You are quite the interesting Personality Core. I haven't come across one so intent on a directive and also so determined to get what it wants. You're something real special," she leaned in, "and you need to be studied. I intend to do that right here. We're going to spend a looong time together."

The Core blinked as it digested it. Happiness started to grow rapidly in its processors, and it made a long, melodic tone. "Oh wow!!! That's so amazing!!!" It jiggled with excitement. "I won't disappoint you!! I'll let you study whateeeever you want about me!!"

"I know you will," she almost crooned, "it would make me veeeerry happy."