Chapter 4. The Traumatic Experiences of Illiana Delso
Who would blame her for Crying? The girl who lost her family, yet kept her soul hard.
"Hush, Hush..." The Woman told her daughter, even she put the little girl into a closet "Remember, stay quiet in here, and then we'll come and get you, alright?" The little girl tilted her head "Momma? Wha's happening?" She asked, even as her father moved something out of her sight onto the doorway "Just stay quiet, Ana. And remember what we said. You stay in here, until someone comes to get you. James knows where you are, so does Alfie. If we don't... don't come back, you go with them." Ana watched her Father, her confusion obvious in her eyes "Daddy? What do you mean? Why wouldn't you come back?" There was a loud bang and the light shook "Just... Stay quiet for me... Stay safe..." The little girl was pushed back slightly, further into the closet as the door closed.
The worst part about the dark was the silence, the only outward sound Ana's breathing as she stayed as quiet as possible. The gunshots were sparse, but the screaming... The Silent dark left only the screams in Ana's head, the ones she knew deep down were her parents. She was trying not to cry, not to give herself away, but when the door opened and James was stood there she broke down, holding her arms out to him as he tried his best to comfort the little girl, but for her... Nothing would ever be the same again.
Ana spat the blood from her mouth as she stood up, facing the bully who had laughed at her, still goading her as he turned for his cronies applause. His mistake. She burst forward, her arm going around his neck, her foot finding his legs and then she lurched forwards, taking him to the ground quickly and smashing his head to the concrete. She stood slowly, the teachers running over to check the boy as she glared, none of the group meeting her eyes "Don't even think about mentioning it again..." She growled, her mouth turning into a snarl as she turned away, stopping when the teachers hand clamped onto her shoulder "And where do you think you are going, young lady?"
"You could've killed him!" The principal's voice was loud, strained as he stared at the girl before him "Illiana Delso, what do you have to say for yourself!?" She narrowed her eyes in return "He had it coming. Maybe HE SHOULDN'T HAVE BROUGHT UP MY PARENTS!" The principal paused at that "Ah... I see... Miss Delso, what do you think is going to happen now?" She shrugged "You'll send me home, back to the orphanage with a report, maybe exclude me for a day?" The principal shook his head "Unfortunately, we have exhausted that option, and it clearly doesn't work. No, you are to be sent to a psychiatrist, working with the Aperture Science Corporation. You will be required to enroll as a patient in their "Testing for the Cure" Program. Once you finish that course, they will help you with employment.
"Illiana Delso. I'm... I'm here for a Testing Program?" Ana stood infront of the lobby, glancing around the building "Illiana, Illiana Illiana... Ah! Found you. Yes, if you'd just follow Mr Craul, he will escort you to your room. Mr Trevors will be along soon for your first Session." Ana nodded, looking up and following the indicated security man along a series of catwalks to the room she had been issued "So... How long have you worked here?" She asked the man she was walking behind "About 3 years. Welcome to Aperture Science Kid." The guard grunted as the door opened to let her in "Good luck with whatever course you're on. You'll need it in here..." He walked away, leaving Ana staring at the closed door "What... What did you say?" She asked, before sighing and sitting down.
It was later in the day when there was a knock at the door, the man outside speaking with a pronounced, Austrian Accent "Miss Delso? May I enter?" He asked, before the door slid open anyway. She had been lying on the bed, but now sat up "You must be... Mr Trevors?" She asked, getting a nod in response "Indeed I am. Now, my files say you have a childhood trauma related to your parents? Would you like to talk about that?" She swallowed weakly, before shaking her head "No... No thank you..." She mumbled, getting a tut in response "Fine. Please, focus on this watch. Now then, let your mind lose focus and slip away" She nodded to him, before he asked again "Now, what happened to your parents?" She was swaying slightly, as she answered "They were killed in action, for the military. I was at the base at the time, because there was no one who could look after me. All I can remember really is the screaming..."
"I see. And we have reports of you attacking people multiple times? Was this brought on by the lack of parental control, do you think?"
"No... It was because they taunted me about my Parents death, so I got angry and attacked them."
"Mmm. So, it's something that certainly still troubles you, to this day?"
"Yes... It... It really is."
"Well... That does it for our first Session, I would think... Goodnight, Miss Delso." He snapped his fingers and watched as she slumped backwards onto the bed.
Ana stretched her arms as she looked around, wondering how long she had been out for this time. The regular voice wasn't there, now it was a voice asking her to follow an escort outside the door "Huh... Okay..." She opened it and saw a nightmare of flesh and steel "What the hell!?" She kicked the thing in the gut, slipping past it and finding her way deeper into the facility, looking for a hiding spot. There had to be one somewhere, right? She was panicking now, hearing gunfire and screams again, but she didn't know if it was in her head or real anymore. It was by pure luck she stumbled onto a nest of sorts, food and water stockpiled along with a blueprint for a grenade, and plenty of spare parts to build the thing "I... I'm okay... I'm okay..." She told herself, over and over again "The dark isn't real, my soul is light, the Dark isn't real my soul is light..." She told herself as she cobbled together grenade after grenade, placing as many as she could into the aperture jumpsuit and stacking the rest for whatever other blighted soul may stumble across them.
She'd continued like this for years, scavenging what she could from stores across the facility, taking parts from robots to build the grenades. It was only natural that GlaDOS took notice and decided this one needed to be dealt with. And so it was the plan came together, the lines being specially tooled to create two unique bots, built to resembled her parents to the most perfect point. Whether or not they'd pass close inspection was immaterial. If Ana was that close, she was already caught. As it was, she barely thought about the possibility of a trap, tears in her eyes as she went to hug her mother, before it all went Black...
The last thing Ana remembered was seeing her parents.
It was beautiful, seeing them again, after so many hellish years in Aperture. Too beautiful. A trap.
Ana's eyes opened, and she puked, all over herself. She was... strapped to a table? Her arm hurt, and she looked to it. Or, she wished she could. Her neck was restrained, only so she could look forward. Something rattled in the background, metallic, yet...
BOOOOOOM!
The Ceiling shook, debris raining down on her. Footsteps rang in the hallway, not far from where she was. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but it was raw, parched for thirst.
She must have made some noise, however, because the footsteps grew louder, as the doors wooshed open, shedding light into the previously darkened room.
The light hurt, and Ana realized why she had puked; her eyes were unfocused, causing nausea. She could just make out a figure, cloaked in shadow, looking into the room. "Hello?" He shouted, his voice gruff, hurried. She hadn't heard a real human voice in... forever! Her mouth opened again, trying to make a sound. The figure, not hearing anything, turned to leave.
She had to get his attention! She grunted dryly, moving her right arm.
A loud, hollow clank echoed throughout the chamber, and the figure stepped into the black room again. Wait. Clank?
The figure, quite big and obviously a well-built man, stepped over to her, turning on a flashlight as the door closed. "Huh..."
"Wha..?" Another voice, much more hesitant, and a female, like her. "Do?" It sounded like she had trouble speaking. She must have slipped in unnoticed to Ana.
"Nothing, kid. Just another one of Glados's fucked-up experiments. Some kinda cyborg." The man spoke to his ally, and the sounds of a gun being cocked were heard. Ana tried to scream again, this time out of fear. "Just gonna put it out of it's misery. Won't take long, we'll be back to the fight soon enough."
Ana closed her eyes, feeling the cold metal of a pistol pushed up against her temple. Tears slowly slid form her face, and she awaited her death.
But the gun never fired, death never came. Instead, the pistol was kicked out away from her skin, much to her and the male's surprise, due to his loud exclamation. "Kid! Whaddya do that for?! I let you in on our mission here because you offered to help, I will kill you just like this piece of shit!"
"Not... Cy..." Tully struggled to speak. "Ah... live. You... Me. Twah-Twi." Ana's eyes opened, seeing perfectly fine in the darkness, for some reason, even if it was green-hued. They were arguing, to her right if her hearing served her well. The male, likely in his late 20's, leaned over her, blinding her with his flashlight.
"Not...? Fuck, you're right. Just a sec." The gun was raised again, and fear shot through Ana's brain. But she wasn't the target this time. With a shot, and sparks flying everywhere, the restraints released her body from the metal table, and she fell to the floor. "Sorry 'bout that." the male apologized, holding a hand out for her to use.
She grabbed it, but barely registered the feel. Because it was muted. She never felt his hand, only saw the shiny metallic... HOLY SHIT, SHE WAS A CYBORG! She stumbled backwards, away from the arm that followed her, tripping and landing on her butt.
"Hey! Hey, calm down, you fuckwit! You're not going anywhere except with us, got that?" Crush said, picking her up almost effortlessly and standing her up. "Wow. Didn't expect to see an actual sentient Cy that wasn't under Glados's control. I'm Captain Craul, You are?"
Tully stood off to the side, obviously afraid somewhat. But to her nature, she didn't run or make any showings of it.
Ana opened her mouth to speak, still parched. "A.. Wah..."
Crush nodded, reaching into his backpack and producing a small bottle. "Untainted water, drink up. hopefully it doesn't short you out." Ana took it greedily, and drank until it was empty. Uh-oh, bad mistake. Her stomach rolled again as her eyes focused. "Hey, relax. We don't know how long you've been under."
"Under?" She asked, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "I'm Ana, by the way."
Crush nodded, whether to her answer or question, Ana didn't know. "Yeah. Getting that shiny new arm. Looks like a few other modifications as well. You're just lucky we arrived when we did, otherwise you might be like one of those mindless cyborgs Glados puts in our way."
Ana took another swig, feeling her stomach settle enough to drink more. "Oh, those. I know how to fight them, somewhat."
Crush raised an eyebrow, obviously interested. His mouth turned upwards in a tight smile. "Oh? Mind... showing me how?" He asked, putting a piece of metal in her cyborg arm. "Hope you know how to fire a gun...?"
Ana shook her head, but kept the gun all the same. It felt powerful, and that was something she needed right now. "Grenades. fizzed out their circuits, like a, uhm..."
"EMP?" Captain asked, reaching into his pack again. It held all manner of things, and this time he showed her a small, pineapple-shaped ball. A grenade.
"Yeah! I found a blueprint, that's what this is based off!" She said excitedly, grabbing it and examining it with her human hand. She would have been lax to admit it, but she had grown somewhat used to her unnatural arm in the few minutes she had been awake. Maybe those new subroutines? What even were subroutines?
Crush's smile grew, and he let her take the explosive. "Then you know how to make more. We've been finding them around the facility, and using them, but Twilight's been reverse engineering them, but it's obvious she's getting constrained. She could use the-"
The door didn't slide open silently this time. It exploded inwards, and the three humans crouched and protected themselves from the debris as light shone in the light room once again. Without hesitation, Ana pushed a few buttons on the MKO, tossing it in the middle of the invaders, protecting herself again as it exploded, then raising her inhuman arm and gun and firing six precise shots into the heads of a small swarm of cyborgs, surprising not only her but her two comrades as well. The way out was clear.
The Captain's smile grew to a grin, as he looked between Tully and Ana. "Ridley. Get this girl some camo, ASAP." The girl ran off, out the door. The officer turned back to Ana, extending a hand. "So... Ana, was it? How'd you like to help us destroy Glados?"