"For god's sake, we've been testing for, like, an hour," Alex muttered exhaustedly, directing a laser with a redirection cube, "There's no way we'll get away with this now."
Due to all this testing, the siblings were now cut up, bruised, and even burned. They even had to get past these white, egg-shaped robots called turrets that would shoot at them, and because of one Glade had gotten a long, deep cut on her right arm that went from her wrist almost to her elbow. Alex had to rip a sleeve off of Glade's jacket to make a crude bandage. The only way they would be able to lie to their mother about this would be if they said a gang kidnapped them!
While they were testing, they had obtained Long Fall boots and a portal gun that Glade carried. Sure, the portal gun was part of the test, but it was a little odd when the voice said that Long Fall boots were required for testing and extras were available in case a test subject's were to break. It just so happened that in the annex there were two pairs of boots, and though they were rusty and damaged, throughout the hour of testing they never threatened to break.
Then there was the fact that as they continued testing, the synthesized voice fizzled less and even began to sound less robotic, making the kids more suspicious. Not to mention that the test chambers were getting in increasingly better shape as they went forward.
"Hey, sis!" Alex suddenly called, just before Glade could shoot a portal to complete the test they were currently working on. He was leaning over a panel that was slightly jutted out from the wall.
"What's up?" Glade asked, jogging over.
"I've been looking at this panel thing, and it looks like those wires," he pointed to some wires that ran along the side of the arm-like machinery behind the flat part that was part of the wall, "Send power that control it. I think it's controlled by something like a computer somewhere, but I think there's a way to control it manually."
Oh, Alex. He would know anything that has to do with robots.
"So, what are you planning on doing?" Glade asked, though she already knew the answer.
"I've been rewiring it so that it would move aside so we can get out of here," he replied, grinning, "But it won't budge. I know that there's some sort of power source in this place, so it's not like it's just dead…"
Glade examined the panel's machinery. Although she preferred things that either blew up or shot fire, she knew about robotics. It was because she had shown him how to fix an RC car that Alex became interested in it.
Glade reached toward the machinery and switched two of the wires around. After a few sparks, the panel came to life and moved aside, revealing a catwalk. The siblings fist-bumped and ran out.
"Test subjects detected outside of the testing area," came the voice, "Please return to your designated testing area."
"How would a pre-recorded message know that?" Alex muttered suspiciously.
"That's not a pre-recorded message," Glade replied accusingly, "It was a trick. This place isn't abandoned."
They ran along the catwalk, glancing at the huge facility around them in awe. They had no idea this place could be so big! They couldn't even see the bottom when they looked down!
"Okay, so you've figured it out," came the voice, without a trace of static, "Good job! But we don't want to hurt you. Return to the testing area, complete your tests, and you will be able to go home safely. We will even provide you with cake."
Ignoring her, the two turned right on the catwalk and kept running. Suddenly, Glade heard a loud crash and the screech of bending and ripping metal. She looked back, and realized that some sort of plate had slammed the catwalk into the wall beside it, creating a huge gap between where she stood and the remains of the catwalk behind her. And Alex wasn't with her.
"Glade! Are you okay?" she heard her brother scream. The plate moved away, and she sighed in relief when she saw that he was safe on the other side of the gap. He must have tripped and she hadn't noticed.
"See? It isn't safe out here. For your own safety, return to the testing area," the voice urged.
"Oh, yeah?" Glade said in a mocking tone. She held up her injured arm, on which the makeshift bandage was soaked through with blood. "How were those tests completely safe?"
"Glade!" Alex called from the other side of the gap, backing away, "You keep going!" he turned and ran off, "I'll find a way out back this way!"
Glade also turned and ran along her side of the catwalk.
She wandered aimlessly for what felt like eternity without any sign of a way out or her brother. This place was, after all, freaking massive, and very little of it was overgrown or broken, once again proving that it wasn't abandoned. The voice kept urging her to allow herself to be escorted back to the testing area, and it was becoming more and more threatening. Untrustingly, Glade made sure to go anywhere but where she was told to go.
Glade found herself in front of a completely dark room with nowhere else to go and the way back sealed off. Cautiously, she stepped inside. The door slammed shut, and she was trapped in darkness. Suddenly, the floor fell away, and she fell, landing on what felt like glass. Lights flashed on, temporarily blinding her, and she saw that she was in a small room with thick glass walls and a toilet for some reason.
"There you are," came the voice sadistically, "I finally have you under control."
The room began to slide forward toward a wall of panels, which slid away. Glade gasped and backed away to the back of the room. Hanging from the ceiling was a huge robot, (please don't make me try to describe GLaDOS, we've all played Portal 2, right?). Glade looked up and could see, labeled near the top of it, or rather she, was the name GLaDOS.
"You know, the last test subject who managed to escape murdered me," GLaDOS said darkly, eyeing Glade, "So I need to be certain that what happened with that dangerous mute lunatic doesn't happen with you. In layman's terms, I-"
"Wait," Glade interrupted, trying to not sound squeaky, "Did you just say… mute?" Her mind was reeling with 'what if's, though she hoped she was wrong.
"Yes," the robot answered after a pause with a hint of confusion, "Meaning that she couldn't talk. But that's not important. She left 17 years ago."
Glade, feeling dizzy, leaned up against the back wall of the room and slid to the ground. The robot watched her curiously.
"Do you happen to know a certain dangerous mute lunatic?" GLaDOS asked. Glade muttered something incoherently. "What was that?"
"Was her name Chell?" Glade repeated, meeting the robot's gaze.
"Yes, but what does she mean to-" GLaDOS began, but then stopped, moving her 'head' closer to the teenager. "Oh, you are kidding me," she growled.
Glade heard something moving, and looked up in time to see a mechanical arm come down. It grabbed her and lifted her out of the glass room, dangling her over the robot. She struggled stubbornly, which only resulted in an amused chuckle from GLaDOS.
"If I were you, I would stop struggling," she suggested sadistically, "If you were to fall, I doubt the it would be pleasant."
Glade looked down and saw what she was talking about. She stopped kicking and resorted to simply glaring defiantly at the robot.
"Alright, what do you have to do with her?" GLaDOS interrogated.
Glade remained silent and continued to glare, but the mechanical arm tightened its grip enough to convince her that it could easily break her ribs.
"Ack! Okay, okay, she's my… She's my mom," Glade confessed.
The mechanical arm's grip slackened a bit, and GLaDOS pulled farther away from her.
"Just as I thought. You're the spitting image of her," GLaDOS commented softly, "And as for the boy who was with you?"
"My little brother."
"Full or half brother?"
Glade raised her eyebrow, as if she thought that was a stupid question. "Full."
GLaDOS looked away, as if she was thinking, before swinging back to face Glade again.
"This simple fact just made testing you and your brother a lot more interesting," she said, the mechanical arm bringing Glade around the mainframe to the other side of the chamber, "And don't worry about him. I've already captured him as well."
The arm stopped over some sort of circular opening, and dropped Glade in.