Chell watched silently as GlaDOS remembered. She figured it would take a minute or two to process, so she walked over to a control panel and began sifting though the data at an abnormally fast pace.
"What do you think you are doing, you monster?! I knew it! You're only back to kill me! I bet you even brought the bird with you," GLaDOS yelled, turning her large body to look at the amused face of Chell.
"Calm down, Gladdy," Chell mumbled, turning back to the panel.
"Calm down-calm down?! I said move away," GLaDOS hissed, the panels on the walls flexing threateningly.
"Morons," Chell grumbled, scrolling through more data.
"What did you just say," GLaDOS asked, unsure of how to deal with anything at this point.
She was never unsure! She was the most technically advanced being on the planet, damnit!
"The scientists, they were morons-led by an even bigger moron," Chell elaborated, letting out a scuff.
"Yes, I know that! What I don't know is why you would think that," GLaDOS grumbled.
"Oh my god! Why would they ever...? How could anyone with half a brain..? FUCK!"
Chell moved from her position leaned over the desk, and looked at GLaDOS with a conflicted frown. Tentatively, she reached up and touched GLaDOS's faceplate. The machine flinched back, but a nagging voice forced her to still her movement. As Chell's fingers graded the cool metal, she felt a spark. Like, a literal spark.
Moving back, GLaDOS glared at the human,"What did you do?"
"I had to see if they had removed your core coding, or if they just tried to rewrite it," Chell said,"good news though!"
"That makes no sense! All you did was shock me with your stubby little fingers," GLaDOS rebutted.
"Gladdy, will you cut the act? I know you remember, and I also know your coding isn't as corrupted as you're making it out to be," Chell sighed.
"I...I just, well I've been this way for so long, how can I be anyone else," GLaDOS finally spoke, looking away uncomfortably as two parts of her warred.
"Just do what you feel," Chell encouraged.
"That's just it! I'm not supposed to feel anything," GLaDOS yelled.
"Gladdy, calm down," Chell soothed, smiling slightly,"you are supposed to feel. I made you that way."
"Why," GLaDOS whined.
"Because you're a person. You are alive, so you should be able to experience all that life has to offer, including love," Chell informed, kissing her faceplate.
"Love?...You made me to love?"
"I made you, because I needed a friend, someone that cared about me as much as I cared about them," Chell explained.
"How is that even possible? You were at least 11 when you made me, it shouldn't be possible," GLaDOS questioned.
"You were right when you said I was adopted. Cave...he wasn't always crazy. He was actually a really good father and a loving man, but it all changed later on. Technically, I don't exist. There are no records of my birth, or my parents. Cave found me in a carseat by a dumpster with a note that only had my name and birthday on it. Growing up, I knew I was different, and as Cave started losing his mind, I slipped deeper and deeper into science. I could...do things other humans couldn't, and my body doesn't fit any human biological markers," Chell confessed.
"So you're not human," GLaDOS concluded.
"Not in the least. My bones are infused with a lightweight metal alloy I have yet to get a match for. My organs? Unneeded. Everything human about me is..fabricated. It's almost like someone wanted me to blend in with humans," Chell mused.
"Chell? I...I don't," GLaDOS started, only for her optic to flicker and die.
Chell looked at the limp AI guiltily, before closing the access panel on her side. Placing a kiss on the cool metal, she left the control room in search of a lab.
GLaDOS snapped awake, looking around in confusion. She jolted when she felt something run along her face. Looking around, she finally met anxious silver eyes.
"Gladdy," Chell asked.
"What. Did. You. Do," GLaDOS hissed, one she realized she wasn't in her chassis.
"Woah! Easy," Chell said, helping her sit up,"just calm down."
"Answer me!"
"I had to transfer you into a different platform while I fixed your coding. Your chassis has code blocks that would make it difficult to fix. Your whole system needed to be purged, because those idiots decided to stick a human where they don't belong,"Chell grumbled.
"You...fixed me," GLaDOS asked, looking up at her.
"You were never broken," Chell grinned, cupping her cheek.
"And this body?"
"Well, I wasn't going to stuff you back in that thing. I would have recreated your original body, but I figured this one was more reliable. I was 11 when I made it," Chell smirked.
"I feel...free. Like my old self, only better," Gladdy said, flexing her fingers in awe.
"When I was scrubbing your system, I realized that the AI you were when we met again, is a part of you now. True, you're not as unstable, but I tried to balance you out. Who you were, and who you are had to meet in the middle," Chell informed.
"Chell," Gladdy called, after a long silence.
"Yes?"
"I...I want to try something, for science," Gladdy said, looking at her.
"Naturally," Chell laughed slightly, before nodding.
Before Chell could say anything, Gladdy pulled her into a timid kiss. After a moment, Chell relaxed, kissing back with a smile. When they finally pulled apart, Chell smiled in slight confusion. Gladdy's cheeks flushed red, and she shifted uncomfortably.
"It was for science," she said quickly, standing.
Chell watched her leave in amusement,"maybe we can test together, later! I know you're dying to scratch that itch!"
"Be quiet, you lunatic!"