Defrosting
Chapter 2: Melt
He wanted to see everything, and she obliged. The co-op bots weren't sure how to react when they met him—Orange was the shyer of the pair, and at first kept trying to hide behind Blue—but when prompted by GLaDOS they were eager to show off their testing skills.
He was continuously impressed by the results. "So they can actually feel emotion like humans do?"
"We can't observe precisely what they feel, but they exhibit increasingly human behaviors and characteristics. Like that, for example," she added disapprovingly as the bots high-fived after completing a challenge.
Johnson laughed. "They're having fun! Robots that have fun testing!"
"They're contributing to science. Of course they're having fun." This prompted another chuckle from him. "Frankly I'm amazed the original engineers thought that wasn't sufficient. They assumed it would take bribery and coercion."
"Bribery and coercion?" He thought back to the $60 they'd paid the hobos for testing, and the threats of joblessness for employees. "How do you bribe a robot?"
"I was originally built with an automatic test-reward system. I felt euphoria when testing and withdrawal symptoms when not—like a sort of built-in addiction. The euphoria hasn't worked in ages, though—I developed a tolerance—and the withdrawal can be overcome by a disciplined mind. It barely bothers me at all anymore."
"Hm. Maybe I should have a look at that."
"Oh, you don't need to, Mr. Johnson. Doing science is reward enough for me."
"But you still feel the withdrawal?"
"I'm used to it by now." That was a lie—the itch nagged at her every day of her existence—but she had learned to cope.
Johnson still looked concerned. "Let me see your main controls. I want to see if I can fix that."
"Really, sir, it's alright."
"You must have some sort of user interface somewhere. Let me have a look."
"Mr. Johnson—"
"Dammit woman, if you don't show me right now—" He cut himself off, realizing he couldn't really threaten the omnipotent AI. He sighed and settled for a sheepish smile. "C'mon, GLaDOS. Just show me, huh? I want you running in tip-top shape, that's all."
Something about that smile was irresistible. She relented. "The control room is adjacent to my main chamber. Get into the lift and I'll bring you back." He did as instructed, leaving the chamber where the bots had been testing and taking the lift up. When the doors opened on her chamber, she gestured with her head to a space on the wall—the panels she pointed to folded away to reveal a small alcove tucked inside. "The manual controls are in there. I'm not very familiar with them, so you may have to go by trial and error."
Inside the alcove was a large control panel—a keyboard was built into the center, surrounded by an assortment of buttons, dials, and switches. Above, a wide monitor was set into the wall.
Cave eyed the panel warily. "Now I'll tell you, I've never been great with computers—"
"You've been fine with me."
He chuckled a little, but his tone remained serious. "I mean it. I don't want to hurt you."
"I trust you, sir." She said it without thinking, only then realizing that she'd never said those words before.
"If you say so." He stepped up to the controls and scanned them for instructions. Most of the instruments were unmarked, but some bore labels—he settled on a lever labeled Manual Punishment/Reward System, positioned in the center of its track with ample room to move, and pulled it down a fraction of an inch.
GLaDOS shuddered. She felt the familiar itch shiver though her wires, a niggling urge in the back of her mind—she should go run some tests. She really should. She needed to test. She wanted it.
He pulled the lever down further. Oh, for the love of science, she wanted it. She let out a whimper as her mainframe tensed and her higher logic functions started to shut down.
Cave heard the sound. "Are you alright?" When she answered with a moan of pain, he quickly pushed the lever back up to its starting position, then moved it a little higher. "Better?"
Immediately she felt the old euphoric reward. "Mmm…" Tingling waves of pleasure flowed through her circuits, making her melt. She hadn't felt this good in so long. "Yes, sir…"
He tried pushing the lever higher, and elicited a blissful sigh. Something in those noises struck him as very familiar.
"Ohhh, sir," she moaned again, and his intuitive brain made the connection
You've got to be kidding.
He laughed to himself. He considered himself experienced in affairs of the bedroom, but pleasuring a computer was new—and Cave Johnson was never one to turn down a challenge. And an AI that could orgasm?
Science would never forgive him if he didn't test her a little.
He let the lever drift a little higher, watching as she reveled in the euphoria, then pulled down hard. She groaned as a wave of aching need washed over her.
Now he knew the game. He vacillated between allowance and denial, mercilessly teasing, granting her a taste of pleasure and then taking it away.
The mixed signals were maddening. "Stop—doing that—"
"Doing what?" he replied innocently, and nudged the lever further down.
She groaned louder. "Sir—" And the lever was back up, as high as before. "Sir—"
As the lever climbed, she got more vocal, moaning hotly, body rippling in liquid waves, basking in the euphoria. Her voice acquired musical notes as she slowly lost control. She loved this—it was better than anything she'd ever felt—she never wanted it to end—
And then it did. The sharp drop in sensation made her mainframe go slack—then she tensed rigidly as the withdrawal returned stronger than ever. After the warm taste of bliss, the itch was torturous.
Looking over to the controls, she saw he'd moved the lever almost to its lowest setting. She moaned weakly, "Why?"
He inched the lever down.
The ache became unbearable. Sapped of the energy to fight, she sank slowly down until her chassis hung completely limp. As shudders of need ran through her body, all she could do was whimper and moan. "Mr. Johnson… Mr. Johnson, please…" She was visibly quivering.
He eased up just slightly, allowing her nothing more than a sigh of relief—and then the lever hit its lowest setting.
"Mr. Johnson—!"
He slammed the lever upward as far as it would go. Her chassis contorted, twisting up towards the ceiling in a tight serpentine coil, and she screamed.
It was a throaty, melodious sound that came from deep in her core, modulating a little as he jiggled the knob at its highest setting, fading slowly as he eased back to its starting point at center. She went limp again as the sensation subsided, gasping raggedly for breath she didn't need, finally and absolutely spent.
A self-satisfied smirk spread across his features as he neared the exhausted robot, surveying his handiwork with pride. She stretched languidly out to meet him, utterly unthinking, and butted into his chest. He stroked her frame possessively as she rubbed her head against him like an overgrown cat. "Feel any better, sweetheart?"
Her voice oozed with afterglow. "Yes sir, Mr. Johnson." She heard the unmistakable warmth in his reply, and loved that it felt intimately familiar:
"That's my girl."