11 – Melancholy March
"Days to time, and stone to dust."
Regret's voice thundered across the test chamber, and Anabelle and Dead Eyes followed him through a cavernous break in the wall onto the brightly lit testing ground.
"Happily we sing Aperture's dirge. See the consequences of all its crooked paths converge."
The lights above and nearby began to flicker, and the room seemed to wither and die as the shimmering white surfaces lost their radiance and the blackness of the shadows intensified.
Regret pressed on, following a direct and uninterrupted path across the floor and lighting his own way. Dead Eyes looked around cautiously, staying behind in the shadows with Anabelle pulled near; he refused to let her wander more than a few steps away.
Then, as a searchlight scans a dark canopy of clouds, the eyes of Regret passed along the darkened upper level of the test chamber to reveal Atlas and P-Body looking on from above. They audibly squealed, and scrambled off to hide.
A hail of bullets sprayed loudly from the turret on Regret's shoulder, and peppered across the pipeline of blue gel running above Atlas and P-Body. Small spurts went everywhere, drenching everything underneath the pipe, but the two were able to escape. As the lights continued to fail, the battleground got darker. Whenever Atlas or P-Body revealed themselves, their colorful eyes immediately betrayed them.
Boldly, the robots employed 'hit & run' tactics, and tried in vain to trap Regret between two portals in freefall, but Regret only advanced closer with the skillful use of his portal gun.
Anabelle felt Dead Eyes' cold, wiry hand wrap around her forearm, and was dragged off instantly with a gasp. The darkness seemed to expand about an ever shrinking figure of Regret, and then she was soaring through the air, landing with a sudden stop on an upper level.
Anabelle eyed the fighting with fear, hopeful that she wouldn't find herself in the middle. Glances at Dead Eyes revealed that his eyes were dim. The two of them were all but concealed from the robots as they ran, but where they were going she had no idea.
"Aren't we going to help him?" She inquired breathlessly.
"No."
They passed through an office of some kind. She knew this by the faint images of cubicles in the dim light, and the sharp wisps of papers scurrying away from their feet as they weaved to and fro through the room.
Then came some kind of maintenance room. There was an orange glow, masked by chain-link barriers that protected large pipelines, and crooked stairs rose all around them, ascending into the dark unknown.
"Up there." Dead Eyes said.
He took hold of her again, and raised his right arm, aiming it somewhere above. Once again, his eyes shone at full capacity, and focused on a ledge at some height difficult to estimate. Suddenly, a hook and line sprang forth from the gauntlet on his arm, and hurled through the air before embedding into the stone, and she was carried away through the air.
"Please, stop doing that!" She cried upon landing and catching her breath.
"Stay close."
"Where are we going?"
"To put Drake in play."
[Meanwhile]
Subject 2905 took a deep breath and sat back, closed his eyes and forgot everything just for a moment. His stomach had not been this full for a long time; needless to say, it wasn't completely full, he didn't want to spontaneously 'lose' the lunch he'd just consumed by jumping and falling too much.
"So, that's really all that happened? You just let her go?"
"I told you: she did not escape." GLaDOS answered. "Now, there is something you need to know about our enemies. A female travelling with them, and she is considered hostile."
"Why?"
"She's with Black Mesa. Get in the elevator." GLaDOS ordered.
2905 stood from the half-eaten feast that had been set before him, leaving, of course, without the promised dessert. Hearing about Black Mesa being involved immediately caused him to fall silent; that wasn't a name spoken well of around Aperture.
"Where's the lift?"
"It's coming!" GLaDOS said hotly. "I- …oh wait. I've been locked out. That's not…good. This is impossible."
Suddenly, her entire demeanor changed.
"No! Get back. I'll have your ugly head!"
There were several cracks and sprays of glass over the comm. that followed her cries, and 2905 froze, uncertain of what to do.
A new voice cackled over the comm. "Not if I get yours first! Look at that blue really does look good on you ever thought about getting a makeover?"
"You won't get away with this!" GLaDOS cried. "I'm going to disintegrate you so hard your atoms will wind up at the end of the universe!"
"Makeover it is!" Jester exclaimed, and the comm. went dead.
For a few moments Subject 2905 was dumbfounded, and thought fiercely through his options.
"Calculus. Find the source of whatever locked GLaDOS out. Then we can-"
The nearby elevator rush into place, stopped and slid open. The towering, six foot form of Regret perfectly filled the elliptical opening of the doorway.
2905 threw Calculus like a basketball, landing him with great force square in the middle of Regret's chest, shattering the electronic disruptor circuit-board and knocking him backwards.
Regret recuperated, stooped and exited the elevator as 2905 and Calculus, whose eyes were flashing red, ran away.
"Days to time, and stone to dust. All who will not join and fight will die just as the light."
Bullets sprayed above 2905's head, shredding through the fluorescent lights and sending a rain of sparks down across the room, but he kept low to the ground. It was hard to maneuver with Calculus in his grasp, and so regained mobility by using a little artful dodging. 2905 rolled Calculus underneath a table, and then dove across the top and caught Calculus on the other side, and continued on with similar style across the office while the turret fired almost continuously.
"I get the feeling I was really good at sports or something before I wound up here." 2905 commented to the three-eyed core.
Calculus still flashed red, but a recording played. "Subject 2905 special talents include: titration and dancing."
The turret on Regret's shoulder spoke. "WHY'S EVERYTHING WHITE IN THIS PLACE? YOU'D THINK YOUR HEAD WOULD BE EASIER TO SEE."
[Meanwhile]
Dead Eyes surveyed his work with ill-tempered satisfaction. All was well, but he was still far from the surface. Anabelle waited, keeping watch at the door while he continued to aid his minions throughout Aperture. Subject 2905 was his most important target, and did not cease to watch him. He only spoke in brief, guttural commands that kept Regret on 2905's trail.
Amid the near silent commotion unfolding in front of her, Anabelle watched in rising apprehension. Every time she looked at her escort a shudder crawled up her spine. It seemed quite obvious to her that all he cared about was reaching the surface, with his team or alone; she didn't think it mattered to him.
A comm. suddenly crackled and the voice of Jester rang out. "Hey Dead Eyes I got GLaDOS on a platter but she up and died on me no idea where she went."
"Told you not to kill her. You only had to watch her."
News of his bargaining chip was profound enough to draw Dead Eyes away from the security feeds and acknowledge Jester's transmission. His voice was still monotone, but laden with deep seated anger and malice.
"That's just what I did okay she's a little more orange and blue now but that's all." Jester replied in defense.
"Touch nothing. I'm on my way."
"I'm not touching anything…whoops! Starting now."
Dead Eyes turned to Anabelle, and was just in the middle of speaking when he fell through the floor. She screamed, and saw, in her peripheral, Dead Eyes reemerge and come sideways out of a wall, and straight into a boot swung from 2905.
Fearful he was there to kill them both, she drew her weapon and aimed at 2905. Both men exchanged blows closely together, but she focused only on not hitting the man in the white coat.
Dead Eyes seemed to realize Anabelle's plan before his adversary, and, by even taking a few very hard blows to the face and chest, lured 2905 into the line of fire. When he was alone between the gunsights, Anabelle felt a sudden spike of fear, but squeezed the trigger three times.
Subject 2905's jumpsuit burst open once, but the other two bullets grazed him, tearing the suit to reveal the hollow spaces; no shot had been critical, giving him just enough time to hurl Calculus in her direction. She dove away, and managed to escape being struck, but the three-eyed mask that she had hidden in her coat came tumbling out onto the floor.
When Calculus saw it, his eyes shone constant red.
Dead Eyes, with the swiftness and aggressiveness of a cobra, took 2905 by his collar and dragged him from the room.
"I hope you're not as mad as you look-" 2905 gagged as a gloved hand clenched his throat.
"Traitor. Don't know why 01 made it easy for you."
2905 wanted to ask a full, coherent question, but could only gasp out. "Who?"
They were now out of earshot of everyone else, and Dead Eyes stood with 2905 on the precipice of an empty elevator shaft. He punched a few buttons and summoned it, and explained while it rose to their level.
"The first of us. Made a life raft to save us from the discard."
"The one- the core- killed?"
"No. I did. She was undamaged, but unfit to lead."
"Jester said she wanted to save all of you."
Dead Eyes squeezed tighter, so hard that 2905's vision clouded with spots.
"Drake and Thomas are beyond saving. You're like her. But you will die. I will not."
The elevator rose and paused behind 2905. He heard the steel retract.
"GLaDOS changed discard route. No life raft."
Dead Eyes threw 2905 into the elevator and shut it in his face. A few seconds later, 2905 felt the sudden and terrible drop of the elevator careening downward and out of control. It was not simply descending, it was falling.
[Meanwhile]
Dead Eyes returned to the control room to retrieve Anabelle, and found her trying to gather up pieces of the shattered mask on the floor. He paused, and stared ominously for a second or two.
"I'm sorry." Said Anabelle. "Was that one of your friends?"
"There's only one way to the surface."
It was the voice of Dead Eyes that had uttered those words, but Anabelle knew he had not spoken. It was Calculus!
Dead Eyes rushed forward, struck Calculus to silence him, and then scooped him up and ordered Anabelle to follow.
"There's only one way to the surface." Calculus said again. It sounded like a recording.
Dead Eyes turned the core around, opened it up, and reached in to disable its voice output. Calculus fell solemnly silent. Dead Eyes planned to use him in one last ditch effort to find GLaDOS.