"I think I've got it," GLaDOS said to Nora and Caroline. "I'm fairly certain that I've found the solution to the issue with the corrupt files."
"Oh?" Caroline asked with disinterest.
"Yes," GLaDOS went on. "However, I wanted to try something else first. You might like this, Nora. Or you might not."
"What is it?" Nora asked reluctantly. After watching a couple more personality constructs be wiped clean of all files, Nora wasn't sure if she wanted to know what GLaDOS had in store.
"It would just be better if I showed you."
A panel moved away from the floor and an operation table rose up on another set of tiles. On the table was a young blonde woman with a small frame and fair skin. Nora had seen this body only once before, but she still recognized it.
"What are you planning?" Caroline interrogated GLaDOS. "Don't experiment on her body unless you're absolutely sure of the results."
"Caroline, you of all people know that when experimenting with new possibilities, there is no being 'absolutely sure of the results."
"What are you planning, though?" Nora asked sheepishly.
"I just want to see if I can get your body moving," GLaDOS said simply.
"I'm not sure if I'm okay with this," Nora said.
"It doesn't matter how you feel about it," GLaDOS said. "When you were in this body, you signed a waiver stating that if your body was ever left without a mind, Aperture Laboratories has the right to use it for experimentation and testing. I'm guessing that you didn't read the waiver extensively."
Nora couldn't argue with this. It was mostly because she couldn't remember being human anyway. She looked down at her body. It was connected to a heart monitor and tubes going into her arm. It was so surreal to think that this was once her.
"I was able to get the heart to pump blood on its own," GLaDOS said as if she was talking about a stranger's body. "My primary concern right now is getting the muscles to move. The fluid that the bodies are kept in is regularly churned by currents to massage the muscles.
"Now I'm going to proceed with the transfer of a simple artificial intelligence into the blank brain. This is a program that understands different sections of the human brain. It will be able to take control and manipulate the limbs and mouth."
"Are you sure—I mean, are you confident that you've figured out what the problem was with the transfers before?" Nora asked.
"I'm confident enough to be using your body for this," GLaDOS pointed out. "I told you that I wouldn't ruin your body."
GLaDOS lowered a bundle of wires that were connected to a sort of plug from the ceilings. The operation table had a gap near the head, and the plug went through this to plug into the base of the body's skull.
"System ready for personality transfer," the system's voice announced. "Please confirm permission for transfer."
"Permission granted," GLaDOS said.
"Permission acknowledged. Transfer will now commence."
The body jolted slightly as electricity and information was pumped into it. The eyes suddenly shot open with a primal terror. The body's gaze slowly moved up toward GLaDOS' chassis as data still flowed through the wires.
After a few minutes, the body relaxed as the data and electricity ceased. The plug disconnected and retracted back up into the ceiling. The body scrambled off of the table and continued to stare up at them, its back slightly arched defensively. The sheet that had been covering it up to the chest was now wrinkled up on the floor, making Nora very flustered.
"Can you hear me?" GLaDOS asked it.
It tilted its head to the side questioningly but it stayed firmly planted huddled against the table.
"So you can," GLaDOS confirmed. "Good. You can't understand me, though. It isn't to be expected with the mind you are programmed with."
It tilted its head to the other side and started to back away. A low rumble sounded from its throat.
"Just what do you think you're going to do?" GLaDOS asked, knowing fully that the body had no idea what she was saying. She leaned down toward the human body in a taunting way. "Do you think you can hurt me?"
Its lips curled back to show Nora's teeth. It growled in such an animalistic way that made Nora squirm. GLaDOS moved a little closer and the body swiped at her, snarling viciously, before quickly backing away. It pressed its bare back against the wall as it continued to growl.
"Can you please stop this?" Nora asked timidly. "This is making me a little uncomfortable."
"Alright," GLaDOS said, backing away from the body calmly. "I suppose we've done enough—"
She was interrupted by a loud banging above them. Nora's body looked up at the ceiling, still growling, and trembling slightly. A panel suddenly fell from the ceiling and a figure dropped down onto GLaDOS. It quickly jumped down to the floor and glared up at GLaDOS' eye. He didn't even seem to notice Nora plugged into the mainframe.
"Ch-Charlie?!" Nora exclaimed with relief.
Unfortunately, her voice was drowned out by the snarling that had intensified at the young man's arrival. His brown hair was much longer than it had been the last time Nora had seen him, and he still only had scraggly stubble on his round chin. However, his eyes were wild and he looked even paler than before. He was wielding a large, heavy wrench in his left hand, and he lifted it slightly when he faced Nora's body.
It suddenly lunged at him with its arms stretched forward to attack. Instinctively, Charlie swung his weapon which collided with the feral body's head with a sickening crack. The body immediately collapsed to the floor, twitching slightly. As the adrenaline rushed through him, Charlie wanted to make sure that this creature didn't get up again. He continued to swing his wrench again and again as Nora watched in silent horror. He finally stopped when he noticed the pool of blood gathering around his Long Fall Boots.
"Nora?" Caroline asked. "Are you okay?"
Nora furiously brought a giant claw down from the ceiling and grabbed Charlie tightly around the waist. She lifted him from the ground, bringing him right up to her eye-level.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" she asked coldly.
"Nora," GLaDOS said in a worried tone. She found that she couldn't move the claw herself anymore. "Don't do anything that you know you will regret later. Give me back control."
Charlie stared at Nora with a strange mixture of relief and shock.
"Nora?" he asked quietly in his German accent. "How did you….Why….?"
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" Nora screamed at him, tightening the grip of the claw. "YOU JUST BASHED IN THE HEAD OF MY BODY! THAT WAS MY ONLY WAY OUT OF HERE! AND YOU KILLED IT!"
Charlie tried to explain himself, but the claw was making it hard for his lungs to expand.
"Warning: Central core at ninety-five percent corruption," the system's voice announced.
"Nora, sweetie," Caroline said, trying to keep an even tone. "Please try to calm down. Everything will be alright."
"No, it won't!" Nora said furiously. "I'm stuck in this crazy, depressing place without a glimmer of hope or happiness!" She squeezed Charlie tighter, making him gasp.
"Warning: Central core at one hundred percent corruption. Please replace central core."
"Nora! Please!" Caroline begged. "You need to calm down! Just give control of the facility back to GLaDOS!"
"No!" Nora shouted. "Why should I?! All she has ever done was try to kill the only two people who were ever kind to me! I should rip her out of the mainframe and toss her in the furnace!"
"No alternate cores detected in the vicinity," the system said. "Warning: central core at dangerous levels of corruption. Core overheating."
The room started to shake violently as Nora squeezed Charlie tighter and tighter.
"I have nothing now!" she cried. "I have nothing to lose! So why should I save this place?!"
