Morality

Amanda Donahue had gotten into the Aperture Science internship program immediately following her college graduation, and as a chemistry major, this had been a dream come true. Aperture had been on top of the world in 1968, aiding NASA with technology centuries ahead of its time. Only Black Mesa had been as advanced in their field. And to think, it had started off as a shower curtain factory!

She had quickly risen to Head of Gel Testing, and through her dedication and steadfast nature, had innovated and perfected nearly every gel to come out of there. Her colleagues, all male, had been jealous at first, but soon came to respect her, if not tease her over her ethical nature. Amanda had just shrugged it off, laughing along with them.

It didn't take long before things began to fall apart.

After the disastrous result of the missing astronauts case, Amanda began to seriously wonder what was going on in other parts of the facility. "Why," she would often ask to no one in particular, "would we be involved in a missing persons case if we weren't the cause somehow?" The others told her that she was being paranoid, and to just ignore everything that wasn't gel testing.

But as the years wore on, and the test subjects became less important people and more hobos off the street, Amanda had marched straight up to Cave Johnson, pushing his whimpering little lap dog Caroline out of the way, and slammed her fist on his desk. "Would you like to explain to me why we're testing potentially life threatening material on homeless people?"

Such a move would probably get anyone else fired. But it was no secret that Cave was a sucker for lady scientists. He just regarded her with an amused smile. "Temper temper, Miss Donahue." He leaned forward. "We're just giving jobs to the homeless. Isn't that admirable?"

Amanda just glared. "I'm not stupid, Mr. Johnson. I can hear your little messages just as well as anyone else. SOMETHING is happening here, and I want answers."

Years wore on, and Amanda found more and more that she was disgusted by what she did.

She knew the reason they made testing mandatory for all employees: Aperture couldn't even get homeless people to test for them anymore. People were starting to talk and wonder what happened to all the city's homeless, and family members had gotten involved. Amanda had tried to quit several times, and each time, the increasingly sick Cave Johnson would throw more money at her.

Finally, after Cave died and Caroline disappeared, she decided enough was enough.

"They'll kill you, Amanda…." Doug Rattman, a young scientist with a bright mind, had come to Aperture for the same reasons she had all those years ago. Luckily, Doug was smarter than her colleagues, or at least, CARED that what they were doing was wrong. Yes, he was sort of paranoid and jumpy, but it was so nice to be believed for once.

"I don't care, Doug. I can't stay here any longer." Holding aloft a small manila envelope, she smiled. "I have enough evidence here to get Aperture shut down for good. I've sat around and done nothing for far, FAR too long."

Her friend gulped slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just be careful ok? I swear, sometimes I think the walls have ears."

Amanda touched Doug's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

Amanda never came back.

Doug waited two days, three days, a week, then a week and a half before he allowed himself to fully panic. They had got her. He was sure of it.

The behemoth of metal and wires hung limply from the ceiling. Hard to believe it could ever look peaceful, especially since it had tried to kill them.

Tom, the head of A.I. studies, walked in and clapped him on the back. "Alright Rattman, I think THIS core should do it." He turned his head, expecting to see a smooth sphere rambling on and on about whatever it was programmed to do.

Instead, the dark purple optic stared straight ahead.

Not blinking.

Not speaking.

Doug felt his chest tighten. Something about this core….. The other scientists attached it to GLaDOS, standing back in fear as they powered her up. Slowly, her optic opened.

"Good evening gentlemen. I know we had some disagreements in the past, but I think we can put our differences aside and continue testing."

Tom stepped forward, anxious. "What about killing us? "

The machine laughed a little. "I find myself with a moral code that would prevent me from just killing you. It wouldn't benefit science."

The scientists breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time ever, GLaDOS was allowed to stay on.

Doug Rattman doubled his prescription.