Author's Note: Completely unrelated, I have Annie Lennox's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" stuck in my head and all I can think of is GLaDOS. Am I obsessed? Not at all. ;) And Marilyn Manson's "I Put a Spell on You" passed my mind. Dunno what that had to do with anything, lol.
~~0~~
23
"With your help, we might eradicate heart and lung disease with this next test! Full disclosure: I'm going to achieve that by trying as hard as I can to make your heart and lungs stop working, then pump you full of some medicine I've been working on. Footnote to the disclosure: You're incredibly brave and we here at Aperture are very proud of you!"
Chell could hear Cave's continuous rant echoing down the corridors from the entrance to the Incinerator Room.
"Know what it's like being machine?" Cave called after her. "Every sense is heightened. You see more clearly than you ever had as a human! What makes you think Caroline could be happy with second best? Yeah, I know you've been screwing around with her. I watched you for a long time, poisoning her mind with your touchy-feely bullshit. Not in my house, sister! Not on my watch! She was mine while you were still swimming around in your daddy's nutsack!"
Cave moved down the pristine corridors of Aperture, peering through windows and doors with a deep, rattling hiss escaping him. He suddenly grinned and glanced up to the ceiling.
Chell heard a cracking of metal below her and she quickly fled, just as the floor split and Cave burst through it in a shower of sparks and metal fragments, roaring inhumanly. She ran as fast as she could, hoping that she could lead Cave to the Incinerator Room as planned without her being torn to pieces. GLaDOS' plan of having Cave follow her had backfired now that he found Chell. It was obvious that he wanted to kill her for reasons Chell really didn't understand entirely.
Well, Cave had gone completely insane. But perhaps what Simon said had some truth to it. Cave Johnson had been down in Old Aperture for a long time, probably. Just...alone with his thoughts and delusions of power. She couldn't imagine what that could do to a person. Cave had already been crazy from the start. Now here he was; stronger, much more dangerous. He moved like a Rhino on speed with no intention of stopping any time soon.
"Tell you what," Cave called after her, "you don't even have to do all the work! You can just stand still and let me kill you! You're a winner in the end, test subject!"
Fuck that. Chell quickly raced into the Incinerator Room, which seemed much bigger than she remembered.
The floor she walked upon was grated that groaned with each step she made and she could see the seemingly endlessness of molten liquid below. There were walkways that led to other exits and a glass observatory where she could actually see Wheatley and the others. They waved at her and Chell weakly waved back.
Suddenly, the wall exploded behind her and she quickly ducked to avoid having metal flying in her face. Cave emerged from the smoke, cackling.
"Gotcha!" he hissed.
Chell's eyes wandered about, seeking out the AI, but she didn't see GLaDOS anywhere.
She whirled as soon as Cave swung one of his legs, smacking her in the abdomen. The force sent her tumbling across the metal floor and stabbing knives of pain shot up from her midsection all the way to her head. She struggled to stand as Cave slowly advanced on her.
"You're not taking Caroline from me!" he snarled.
Wheatley watched the scene from the office frantically. "Come on, he's gonna kill her!" he cried. "We have to do it now!"
"Not yet!" Rick sounded hesitant. "Boss lady's got a plan."
Cave chuckled and watched as Chell faced off against him, defiant and tenacious as ever. Though she was obviously in pain, she made an effort to stand tall and proud as ever. Then, he frowned, glanced around before regarding her suspiciously.
"You're up to something, aren't you?" he snapped.
Chell slowly smirked. She couldn't help it. That seemed to piss Cave off as he advanced menacingly. "Oh, so you think you're funny, do you?" he spat, "Don't eyeball me! Don't snow me! I know an eyeball when I see one! I'm the goddamn big cheese in this fridge, lady! I ate little sassy asses like you for breakfast back in my day! You think it's funny? Well, let me show you how funny it is!"
Cave lunged at her, swinging his massive spider legs. Chell attempted to dodge them and ducked beneath his body.
"Sit still, you wriggling little parasite!" he spat.
Chell seized her portal gun on the floor and jumped onto Cave's back. He thrashed and jerked, attempting to throw the human from him before smirking and rotating his head all the way around so that he could look at her. Chell's eyes widened in horror and he laughed, twisting the rest of his upper torso so that one of his arms seized her wrist tightly, keeping her from jumping free.
"I got more tricks than a hooker, sister!" Cave announced triumphantly.
Chell winced and struggled to be free, but Cave's clawed hand began to close tighter on her wrist to the point that it became unbearable. She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth.
"Since you've been a thorn in my side long enough, I think it's time daddy took away your toys."
With that, he twisted Chell's arm that held the gun to the point that the bones broke in his grasp and the flesh ripped from the jagged points of his claws. Chell's horrible scream of agony practically rang throughout the entire facility, echoing for miles. It was heard by Jack from Chell's room, who curled in the pile of lab coats on her bed with a whimper of fright. It was even heard by Simon in the faintest of echoes. He could feel it vibrate through the walls just the slightest and lifted his eye. He chuckled softly.
"He found her..." he murmured.
O
Chell whimpered in agony as she was hanging there with her bloody, massacred arm in Cave's grip.
"You know, I should have probably mentioned this before!" he said, "I remember what happened to your parents. I was poking around the facility a bit. See, Caroline's been a naughty girl, but hey, I can see why she did it. They were all rotten assholes. Your parents too. Know what they did for a living? They were programmers working alongside the Rat! Doug Rattmann, remember him? He babysat your little ass for your folks because they didn't want some drooling little weakling tying them down! Know why? They were Science lovers!"
Chell didn't want to believe him. "You're...wrong..." she choked. Her arm had lost all its feeling at this point.
"Oh really? I'm Aperture's top dog and YOU tell me I'M wrong?" Cave continued with a cruel laugh. "I had everybody's file and read them to bed for the laughs, sister! Yeah. I had yours too. Now, what I didn't know until later on was that your folks tried to keep the fact they had a test-tube baby growing in the facility behind my back. See, they couldn't have kids - there was a problem with their biological factories. So HE took one of his boys and SHE took one of her girls and grew you in the labs. Hell, it was to my knowledge that they did a little Frankenstein work on your DNA too. They thought they could make you the smartest home-grown bastard of Aperture. Didn't exactly work out when they got caught."
But I thought 'what the hell, keep the little brat. She'd be good for Science, right'? Well turns out you had more balls than some of our men here. Didn't want you screwing anything up. So they decided not to test you yet until they figured out what to do with you. Dropped you like a baby on its head. Oh but it don't stop there! Caroline ended up killing them in her rampage! Yeah, that's right! You heard me! The one you're fucking spent her entire life fucking you!"
Chell grimaced with fury, but her chest felt like it was slammed repeatedly; it wasn't from Cave's attack either.
"Cave!"
The monstrosity of science blinked slowly. He turned and GLaDOS was standing there behind him.
"Put her down, Cave." The way GLaDOS spoke...she sounded less mechanical and more...well...human.
Cave eventually released Chell, who fell to the floor in an undignified heap. He smiled with delight and watched GLaDOS slowly walk up to him.
"You were right, Cave. I haven't been myself." GLaDOS continued, watching the horrified look on Chell's face. "But the human doesn't have to die. She could serve the cause of science. After all, we don't have many living test subjects around here."
Cave seemed absolutely thrilled. "I knew you'd see it my way, Caroline."
GLaDOS strolled over to him and he leaned down. Chell felt herself getting sick when they connected mouths in a passionate kiss. It went on for a few seconds too long before GLaDOS' eyes opened and she met Chell's gaze. It was then that the human understood.
A trap.
Finally, when they parted, GLaDOS smiled a cheerfully human smile at him. "We've always made some good science, together, sir."
Cave chuckled deeply and his entire body vibrated. "Yeah, we sure as hell did."
GLaDOS smiled and it had darkened once more. "Let's do so more."
Suddenly, there was a flash of metal and Cave was lifted into the air. He kicked and thrashed like a trapped insect and Chell watched the sight in shock. A manipulation claw had swung out from the ceiling, at the cause of Wheatley and the others and was holding Cave over the bubbling pool of molten metal. She looked at GLaDOS and the AI smirked at her before looking up at Cave.
"Caroline, put me down now!" he spat. "Put me down or so help me God - "
GLaDOS chuckled softly. "Always giving the orders, but never taking to mind how others would feel." she said. "There was a time that Caroline had loved you, but I'm afraid to say that time has long since passed." Then, she laughed mockingly. "Oh who am I kidding? I'm not afraid to say that at all."
"Caroline, I am ORDERING YOU!" Cave spat, practically frothing at the mouth. "LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!"
GLaDOS' eyes widened and she grinned, raising a hand. "Yes sir, Mister Johnson."
Cave seemed to understand and his eyes widened. He shook his head rapidly. "No wait!" he cried. "Wait a second!"
Finally, the claw opened and Cave was sent plunging into the molten metal below. Chell watched as he thrashed in the fluid, screaming as he slowly sank into it, disappearing with the parting sight of his flaring eyes. She looked toward GLaDOS, who watched the sight emptily without remorse.
"You planned this all along?" Chell asked, looking at her.
GLaDOS smiled and nodded. "It wasn't hard. He was nothing more than that moron endowed."
"I heard that!" Wheatley called down at them from the office.
"I know!" GLaDOS called back, smirking.
The two started to walk away while GLaDOS pulled Chell close to her. "We need to have that arm of yours fixed." she murmured, a touch more fondly than usual. "I forget that humans are nothing more than bags of meat with brittle, calcium-enriched endoskeletons."
Chell had practically forgotten about her arm given the fact that she couldn't feel it anymore. That was probably bad.
Suddenly, the sound of deep, heavy gurgling drew their attention behind them. Their eyes widened as a long, molten-covered claw began to reach out from the pool. Chell shook her head and took a step back in disbelief. GLaDOS was also shocked.
"No, that's not possible!" Chell gasped. "How's he still alive?"
"He's constructed from primitive material!" GLaDOS exclaimed. "He should have been reduced to nothing more than a memory."
Sure enough, Cave was slowly pulling himself out of the molten metal, his metal body glowing bright red. What was even more horrifying was the fact that his entire human face had been melted off, revealing nothing more than a terrible, glowing chrome skull beneath with glowing red optics. He let out sick, disgusting sounds, reminding the two of an engine that wouldn't turn over. Even those watching from the office couldn't take their eyes away from what they were seeing. He looked like a true monster that had emerged from the depths of hell.
"Caroline!" he gurgled.
"GLaDOS, do you have another plan?" Chell hissed.
"Oi, prick!"
The two women looked up at the sight of Wheatley at the office controls, grinning triumphantly when Cave looked in his direction. "Piss off!" the android cried with glee.
He pulled several levers and manipulation claws seized the monstrosity. Cave howled and it sounded like a horrible mixture of someone choking and wailing all at once. Rick cackled and pressed a button beside the other android and Cave was unceremoniously ripped in half. Chell grimaced at the sounds and watched in amazement as cleaving the monster in half revealed a heart that beat wildly beneath a metal ribcage. Once it contacted the molten metal, it was extinguished and the life in Cave's optics faded.
"Is he dead now?" Chell murmured, peering over the edge.
GLaDOS nodded her head coldly. "Yes."
The sounds of cheering in the office above made her bring her optics up with a weary groan. "That little idiot is never going to let me live this one down."
"Whoo!" Rick shouted, triumphantly. "That's what you get for messing with us, asshole! Aww yeah!"
He slapped Wheatley two high fives before bumping his chest against his, but the force of it knocked Wheatley to the ground.
"Oh shit, sorry!" Rick said, bending to help him back up.
Once the cores walked down to join the two women, Wheatley just seemed completely eager to boast about what he'd done. He started rambling and making wild gestures like an excited two-year old. "Wow, did you see that?!" he exclaimed, to Chell who was hanging on GLaDOS' shoulder. "He came out of the lava like 'graaagh ugggggg' and you were like 'oh no' and so I swooped in and kicked him right in his buggy bottom." He grinned widely at her. "Remember?"
Chell smiled weakly and nodded.
"Cool your jets there, freshman." Rick laughed, patting Wheatley on the shoulder.
GLaDOS didn't seem too pleased to share in Wheatley's accomplishments. "If you don't mind, idiot, her arm is in dire need of repairs," she snapped. "So unless you're going to do anything useful for a change, I suggest you back away."
Wheatley watched them go and he just smiled, absolutely proud of himself. He had a feeling he'd made things better between himself and the human.
O
Note - More Cave Johnson altered lines from the Perpetual Testing Initiative. Props to anyone who can draw Monster Cave for me. I'd highly love you for it. XD Maybe even Simon or Jack. Fanart of my fanfictions is like Christmas in July. I also let Wheatley have his moment. Haha.