Glade's POV:
Glade sneaked along the back of the Black Mesa facility, hoping she'd find an inconspicuous way in that wouldn't trigger any alarms that there might be. She found a rusty door that was opened by pushing on a lever that ran horizontally on its front, which was unlike the other high-security doors she'd seen so far. She adjusted the small backpack that was slung over one shoulder and cautiously approached it. The pack contained only a few weapons that she dared to bring-a few homemade explosives, of course, a lighter, a small bottle with some flammable chemicals in it, and a pocketknife her mother had given her.
She was about to open the door when a familiar voice came from close behind her.
"You really don't know what you're getting into, do you?"
Glade spun around at the sound of GLaDOS's voice, expecting to see an android or a cube with legs and a camera sticking out of it. However, what she saw looked like a normal woman. She had long, light blond hair that was tucked neatly behind her ears and wore plain black clothing. She crossed her arms and fixed Glade with a disapproving glare with her light brown eyes. After a few seconds, however, the natural-looking brown color seemed to melt away to reveal dark yellow optics instead of eyes.
"Wh-… What are you doing here?" Glade stammered uncertainly.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" GLaDOS countered, "Your mother did tell you to stay in the facility."
"But if we don't do something, she might…" the girl trailed off, looking back at the door, "She might be dying in there…"
GLaDOS's arms dropped to her sides and she took a step closer to the girl. "She's spent a week at Black Mesa's mercy," she said firmly, "She's probably already dead."
Glade glared at her. "She wouldn't die that easily."
"Of course not," the AI replied with a chuckle, "But Black Mesa's harsh. If she didn't tell them what they wanted to know, which she hopefully didn't, they'd have just disposed of her."
Glade backed toward the door. "She might still be alive."
"It's doubtful-"
"We should at least check!" Glade yelled fiercely, "If she's alive, we help her, if she's dead, we get revenge!"
With that, she spun around and pelted through the door. She ran through the corridors of the facility, thankful that she never ran into anyone, since she seemed to be in an unimportant maintenance area. She heard the android chasing her and, worried that she was able to run faster than a normal human, took as many turns as she could and hoped that she wasn't entirely used to that body.
Luckily, she seemed to be right, since after running for as long as she could, Glade had lost her. She took a short break and tried to figure out where she was and where she was trying to go. She did what most would do when trying to find something and having no idea where to go: She began to wander aimlessly around.
This part of the BM facility seemed to be completely empty, since she didn't run into anyone except a janitor who was fast asleep in a supply closet, and obviously hadn't been in use for quite a while. The dark metal walls had patches of rust covering them, the concrete floor was dirty, and the florescent lights hanging from the ceiling were either flickering or completely out. There were also scorch marks on the walls, making Glade think that there must have been a fire here, and maybe no one was around because no one bothered to repair the damage.
After about 20 useless minutes of wandering, she seemed to finally be nearing the more used areas of the facility, considering that the hallways and rooms, though still empty, were at least cleaner.
She sighed with disappointment when, after entering a random room, she found it to be a dead end. However, there was a map on the wall for a fire escape rout, so she decided it wasn't completely useless. The room looked like one of the labs in the school section of the facility, with white walls, rows of tables with sinks equipped in them and assorted vials and beakers filled with various substances scattered around. She approached the map, which was faded slightly, began to try to decipher it.
Of course, she didn't find any sections called "Prison" or "Interrogation Rooms". She wondered if they might have put her mother with the test subjects, but there were two separate sections for them, one labeled "A" and the other labeled "H", which isn't anywhere close to alphabetical. She checked the map for sections B through G when she heard footsteps and voices approaching in the hallway. In a panic, she dove into a cabinet under a table, breaking several vials in the process, as someone entered the room she was in.
"No results from your test subject?" came a slightly teasing young male voice.
"As unyielding as ever," came an annoyed reply from an older male.
"Look, all you have to do is break her," advised the first voice as the glass of a beaker clinked, "Then she should spill the beans on them."
"I've tried that. Several times. That woman won't break like the others," the second voice said exasperatedly while liquid poured into a nearby sink, "I told you, we need leverage for this one. She has children. Have they found them yet?"
"Nope, not a trace of them."
"Where could they have possibly gone? It's not like they have any other family to go to."
"There, probably."
"Hmm."
Glade's heart had pounded so loud that she was surprised they never heard her. She heard the door close and stayed hidden for what felt like eternity after their footsteps receded. Her mind raced over what the men said, and felt certain that she knew what they meant.
Her mother was alive.
They've been trying to "break" her.
They were looking for Glade and Alex.
They figured they were at Aperture Science.
Glade climbed slowly out of the cabinet, making sure that the room was empty. She realized the glass from the broken beakers had cut her arms, and blood had stained the light blue shirt and jeans she was wearing. She had never forgotten the days she spent in Aperture's medical wing, shivering even though she was burning up, after she had developed a severe fever due to an infected gash on her arm, and ever since then she had been more cautious about cuts. She found some white cloth in another cabinet and quickly bound her wounds before going back to the map on the wall.
The only sections for test subjects were "A" and "H". Glade figured that if she went to one and found that it wasn't the one she was looking for she could just go to the other, so she ripped the map off the wall, folded it, and tucked it into her pocket.
She cracked open the door and peered outside, making sure she was alone. The coast clear, she set out at a rapid pace for Test Subject Section A.
She traveled towards the more used, internal parts of the facility, the concrete floors turning to grey tile and metal walls to stone brick walls painted white. She had to hide from more and more people, and spent a lot of time curled up in cabinets and closets, hoping to not be discovered. Deciding that she couldn't waste more time, she entered an empty room and used a desk as a step stool to climb into the air vent.
After crawling through the metal tunnels as quietly as possible, Glade noticed a flaw in her plan. She had no idea where she was going; the map, of course, didn't show the ventilation system. She stopped over a grate and peered into the room below. She couldn't see anyone, but there was another map on the wall that she could use to figure out where she was. She carefully removed the grate and jumped down onto the desk below.
"Gladys?"
Glade's blood froze as she spun around toward the sound of a familiar voice. A young man of about 19 sat in front of a desk covered with several beakers, one containing a boiling red substance, and a clipboard in his hand. He had neat brown hair, dark eyes, and wore a white lab coat that was too big for him over a blue dress shirt and black slacks. Glade relaxed slightly. He was Jacob, the attractive young assistant in Professor Amet's Health and Safety class. He made the excruciatingly boring class enjoyable by yawning loudly and openly criticizing Amet's boring teaching tactics. He was liked and respected by almost every student, and even stood up for some of them when they got into trouble. Glade felt she could trust him.
"What're you doing here?" Jacob asked, setting his clipboard down and standing up, "You and your family have been missing for a week!"
"I… I'm looking for my mom," Glade stammered in reply.
He shook his head. "I haven't heard of her since the three of you disappeared. Where have you been?"
"I know she's here," she insisted, avoiding the question, "I saw the Black Mesa guys come to our house to take her. When I got here, I heard some guys talking about her, calling her a test subject and saying they have to break her."
"I haven't heard of anything like that happening here," Jacob said, his eyes widening.
"If she's a test subject, I'm heading for one of the test subject holding sections. Section A," Glade explained. Jacob cracked a smile.
"Unless your mom's a rabbit, you won't find her there. A's for animals," he explained, "The people who volunteer for experiments go to Section H."
Glade's eyes narrowed. "My mom didn't volunteer. I'm starting to wonder how many of those other people actually volunteered."
Jacob shrugged. "They always told me they volunteered."
Of course they told him that. He was a nice guy, and would have told the police if he knew Black Mesa was doing that.
"You're shaking," he said, giving her a concerned look. He pulled a water bottle out of a cabinet. "Here, have a drink. It tastes metallic 'cause of the filters, but there's nothing wrong with it."
Glade accepted the water and took a long drink. Jacob walked up to the map on the wall.
"I thought that the higher-ups were keeping some things from me, but if what you said is true, who knows what else is going on here," he commented, "Se the grey lines on the map? Those are maintenance hallways. The doors say "Authorized Personnel Only", since they lead to the control panels of the big machines, but they aren't locked. You should be able to reach Test Subject Section H without running into anyone through them. Keep the water."
"Thanks," Glade replied, glad that he understood and taking another drink. She pulled out her own map to see where the nearest entrance to the maintenance hallways was, and peered out the door to make sure no one was around. The coast was clear, and with a final nod to Jacob, she set out again.
Jacob watched her go. A minute after she left, he pulled out a radio.
"Yep, I found her," he said smugly into it, "She has the water and is heading for the maintenance hallways. Over and out!"
"I've told you a thousand times that you don't have to say 'over and out'," came an annoyed reply.
"Chill out, Dr. Ater," Jacob said, turning the radio off.
Glade sprinted down the maintenance hallways. Jacob was right; the place was empty. Once again, the walls were metal and the floors were concrete, but it was much cleaner. The florescent lights, however, were dim and far between, making it dark and hard to see the map. She was getting close to the Section H when an alarm suddenly went off.
"Intruders spotted heading towards Test Subject Holding Section H, please remain calm," came a pleasant female voice over the intercom.
Very close to Section H, Glade burst out of the maintenance hallways and into the main hallways. She came to a four way crossroads, and panicked for a second when she saw someone in the middle of it, but relaxed when she realized it was GLaDOS.
"I certainly hope you've realized the danger you've put both of us, and Aperture, in," the android said with calm fury when she approached.
"She's alive, and we're close to where they're holding her. If we can just get there-" Glade began.
"The flaw that both you and your mother share is that you never think ahead," GLaDOS interrupted, "What do you plan on doing once you get there? How do you plan to get past them?"
She gestured to two of the hallways of the crossroads. A squad of guards was racing down each of them. The ways out were the way Glade had just come from and the other led away from Section H.
"We may have to split up," the AI said quietly, slipping a smaller version of a single portal device to the girl, "Find an empty room, fire a portal, go through it and close it immediately."
"What? But-" Glade stuttered in confusion.
"If they get you, they can use you as leverage. Believe me, if they hurt you, your mother will talk," she explained, "And an advanced android can do a lot more than a teenage girl. Go!"
Glade was shoved toward an empty hallway, and GLaDOS sprinted down the other.
Without thinking, Glade raced forward and ducked into the first room she came to. Firing a portal on the wall, she jumped through it into the familiar bowels of Aperture. She spun around and shot a portal on the wall again, shutting off the connection to the Black Mesa facility. She was safe.
But she couldn't relax. She stood shakily, still staring at the two portals. What about GLaDOS?