Unknown year.
The Resurrected Queen.
There was an abundance of hiding places in the ruined central chamber now that it was such a mess. Doug concealed himself behind a pile of debris, crouching down to wait. Chell and Wheatley had just passed through the room and were now traversing the walkways below, on their way to the breaker room. He'd silently followed, entering the room once he'd heard them jump down to the lower level. The cube had advised against pursuing them so closely, but Doug wanted to make sure that all was well. He wanted to see them leave the facility. Things were already deviating from the plan. He had no idea where the second test subject was, and Wheatley had steered Chell onto a different path to the one he'd intended her to take. Not that that mattered so much now that she was on her way to freedom, but still…It made Doug uneasy.
GLaDOS lay not far from his hiding place, as silent and defeated as she'd been the first time he'd seen her fallen chassis. He couldn't bring himself to look at her for too long. The nervous, paranoid part of him half expected her dark optic to flicker back to life and catch him in its cold, amber glow, like a frightened deer in car headlights.
"Not long now," the cube commented, its tone bordering on jumpy.
"No, not long," he answered softly. He didn't want to raise his voice, although he wasn't quite sure why.
The moments of stillness dragged on as he pondered what was happening in the breaker room below. The control for the elevator wasn't too hard to find, considering that every lever was labelled clearly. Belatedly, he wondered whether it might have been better if he'd summoned the lift himself and had just asked Wheatley to lead the test subjects to it. But although the explosions had ripped the back wall apart and made the route down to the breaker room accessible, the collapsed staircase had put it out of bounds for someone without leg springs.
The sound of an alarm made him violently jump, and he peered around the debris with wide eyes. A hatch down to the breaker room was sliding open, pushing small bits of wreckage aside.
"What did he do?" Doug muttered fearfully, hearing a mechanical whirring steadily getting louder.
The top of Chell's head appeared out of the hatch and he dropped back down behind the debris before she rose higher and caught sight of him.
The automatic announcer declared, "Power-up initiated."
"Okay, don't panic!" Wheatley yelled, not sounding as if he intended to take his own advice.
Doug risked another look over the debris, hands shaking in barely-repressed terror. GLaDOS was moving, pulling the pieces of herself back together like broken limbs stitched back on a doll. Then panels shot up around the hatch, blocking the A.I., Chell and Wheatley from view.
No, no, no!
"Run!" the cube screeched.
Doug was already moving, then abruptly stopped, gritting his teeth as he pivoted.
No, he thought determinedly. Running is what I've been doing.
"Don't be stupid," the cube berated him.
Ignoring it, he hurried back, this time leaping over the debris to hide behind the raised panels. Wheatley was wittering as usual, his frantic voice barely audible over the sounds of GLaDOS's healing chassis.
"Power-up complete," the announcer stated.
Trembling, Doug crouched low behind the panels, poised to move when he needed to, unsure what he could really do to help. He was acting purely on instinct.
"Hello!" Wheatley shouted cheerily.
Then came the voice that had haunted his nightmares, the voice that had stalked him for three years while he lived in hiding.
"Oh. It's you."
There was more expression to her tone than he remembered. Her morality core was long gone.
"You know her?" Wheatley put in, his confusion evident.
Doug had never explained to him exactly which human had taken GLaDOS down.
"It's been a long time," she went on. "How have you been? I've been really busy being dead. You know, after you murdered me!"
Doug cringed at the words, wishing he could see how Chell was reacting, hoping that she was still as strong as she had ever been. Desperately he wracked his brain for a plan, searching for a way to get her away from GLaDOS's gaze.
"You did what?!" cried Wheatley.
A new sound dragged Doug's attention upwards and he automatically ducked as two claws descended from the ceiling. He heard Wheatley's yelp of surprise, no doubt as he was tugged off the console he'd been plugged into. There was a clatter as Chell dropped the portal device. He heard it land just on the other side of the panel. The woman herself remained impressively silent, although he heard her raspy breaths as she struggled against the claw's grip.
"Oh no, no, no!" Wheatley was yelling, clearly terrified.
"Okay, look," GLaDOS said matter-of-factly. "We've both said a lot of things that you're going to regret."
There was an alarming crunching sound, followed by another short cry of surprise from Wheatley. Then Doug flinched as something flew overhead, landing with a crash in a pile of broken metal girders. He recognised Wheatley's crumpled form, his outer shell split, his optic dark.
GLaDOS continued with barely a pause. "But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."
The other claw moved away and Doug risked a glance around the side of the panels, certain that GLaDOS's attention would be fixed on Chell. The claw had grabbed her by the arm and was lifting her across the chamber. She was kicking furiously, trying to free herself.
"You can't help her right now," the cube told him firmly. "Take your chance while She isn't looking."
As silently as he could, Doug ran out from the panel and snatched up Chell's fallen portal gun before ducking back behind his shelter.
"I will say, though, that since you went to all the trouble of waking me up, you must really, really love to test," GLaDOS went on. "I love it too. There's just one small thing we need to take care of first."
While she talked, Doug hurried over and picked up Wheatley by one of his handles, praying that all his vital components were still inside him. The end of GLaDOS's speech sounded ominous, and he turned to see what was happening, darting forward to look around the panels.
The claw was holding Chell above the now-open incinerator. As he watched, it let go, and she dropped like a stone down a well.
"No!"
The cry tore out of him before he had time to consider the wisdom of it. GLaDOS rotated lazily, fixing him with her yellow-eyed stare.
"Don't think I didn't know you were there, Rat Man," she said calmly. "It's okay, I have plans for you too."
"Move!" yelled the cube.
Doug shot forward, firing a portal into the panels. He dove through it, hearing the claw descending behind him. His momentum carried him up, out of a piece of wall that was propped up on the floor. The awkward angle made him stumble, but he still managed to shoot at the nearest wall. The blue portal opened there with a pop, cutting off all routes from the main chamber. Breathing heavily, Doug lay still for a while, propped up uncomfortably against the cube on his back. Glancing around, he saw that he was in a test chamber, number seven, next to a wall that had almost completely collapsed. There was an observation office window nearby, its glass webbed with cracks. Doug mentally planned his route up to it.
"That was close," the cube said shakily.
"Too close," he agreed. "And Chell…she's… She's still alive, she has to be. GLaDOS wouldn't just kill her only test subject, would she?"
"I doubt it. Unless she was planning to use us instead."
"No," he said adamantly. "She's alive. You heard what GLaDOS said. She wants her to test again."
"So why send her down to the incinerator?"
"I don't know. I guess GLaDOS knows something we don't." Getting clumsily to his feet, he added, "We need to get moving. The plan has changed."
"And gotten more difficult," the cube huffed.
"Yes," Doug conceded, "but we're not giving up."
Working quickly, he drew his screwdriver from the bag on his back and began dismantling the contraption that made the pre-placed orange portals.
"What are you doing?" the cube asked indignantly. "You just said we had to move."
"And we will. After I modify this portal gun. We'll get around much easier if we have a dual device."
The cube fell silent as he worked. It didn't take him long to remove components from the panel and upgrade the device. He knew its workings inside out, and knew exactly what he was doing. When it was done, he picked up a fist-sized lump of concrete from the pile of rubble in the corner, judged its weight, then threw it at the observation window. The damaged glass shattered at once.
On the wall, the security camera suddenly shone red, lifting from its deactivated position to follow his movements.
"There you are," GLaDOS said through the room's speakers. "I knew it wouldn't take long before you broke something. Honestly, between you and that murderer downstairs, it's a wonder this entire facility hasn't fallen apart."
"Is she alive?" he asked, aware that he was perhaps revealing more than was wise.
"What makes you think you're in any position to ask questions, Rat? You worked with the people who built me, you helped that mute lunatic escape and find her way to killing me. Why should I tell you anything?"
Slipping his hand through Wheatley's top handle, he gripped the portal gun with both hands and stood up, the silent personality core dangling from his wrist like an oversized novelty bracelet.
"Is. She. Alive?" he repeated in a growl.
"My purpose is to test," GLaDOS told him scathingly. "For that I need a test subject. So what do you think?"
"Thank you," Doug replied with false politeness.
He fired an orange portal through the broken office window, shooting the blue one under his feet. Not yet used to the rapid flip of gravity, he staggered ineptly, grabbing the desk to find his balance again.
"Really?" she spoke up. "Why do you even bother?"
Struck by the question, Doug stepped up to the window to ensure that she would hear him.
"Because humans behave in all sorts of ways," he said calmly. "And you know what? It's no surprise that you act the way you do. You were faced with some terrible examples of humanity."
"Let's see…damaging company property, conspiring to commit murder, aiding a murderer… You're no better, Rat Man."
"I never said I was," he retorted. "But believe me, if I could have reasoned with you, I would have. It's kind of hard to negotiate when the corridors are full of neurotoxin."
He didn't wait around to discover if she had an answer to that, instead stepping out into the derelict pathway beyond the office, pulling the door closed behind him.
"You shouldn't have done that," the cube chided gently. "You shouldn't have given her ammunition."
"Shh," he soothed. "It's done. And Chell is alive."
He ran steadily, negotiating the corridors, finally ducking into the nearest empty office. There, he lay Wheatley on the desk and examined the extent of the damage. It looked mostly cosmetic, but he was no expert. His theory was that the core's systems had shut down as a safety precaution when the outer shell was breached.
"Shouldn't be too hard to fix," he muttered to himself.
A voice rose up to shout him down, but he ignored it, focusing on the cube instead.
"Why are we doing this again?" it asked. "It's his fault that GLaDOS is awake."
"I know," he agreed, "but he's our only link to Chell and our only ally."
"That's not comforting."
"Look at it this way," Doug explained as he worked, "Wheatley can open various panels in the test chambers and give Chell an escape route."
"Yes, but there has to be somewhere for her to go once she gets out of the chambers. It might take some time to find."
"That's okay. She knows what she's doing."
The office fell silent as Doug concentrated, utilising his skills as best as he was able. Finally, the core's optic lit up azure once more and he gave a yell.
"Arrgh! Oh my god, oh my...get off me, you stupid, bloody..."
"Wheatley!" Doug cut in sharply.
"Get off! I'll…I'll bite your legs off, you vicious…"
"Hey!" he tried again, giving the core a little shake. "It's me. You're okay. Calm down."
Stopping his rant mid-sentence, Wheatley paused to take in what had been said. His optic sparked, causing him to wince.
"Why can't I see properly?" he asked.
"Your optic cracked," Doug explained. "I wasn't able to replace it, sorry. You'll just have to deal with it."
"Ah." The optic sparked again, causing the core to look around nervously. "Okay then. I, uh, I think I can do that."
"Have you settled down now?" Doug enquired, folding his arms.
"Err….yes. Yes, I have. Sorry about the, um, the…"
"The 'I'll bite your legs off'?" Doug said helpfully, unable to hold back an amused smile.
Wheatley looked down briefly before fixing his blue gaze on the scientist. "I panicked," he explained. "Not, uh, not actually something I can do: biting legs off. On account of not actually having teeth. Or, in fact, a mouth."
Doug nodded, still smiling.
"Glad he pointed that out," the cube muttered sardonically.
He shot it a warning frown.
"Where are we?" Wheatley asked, glancing around.
"Just an office. It's not important." He leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. "Listen, Wheatley, what happened back there? I was in the main chamber, I saw GLaDOS wake up."
The core shifted his optic to one side guiltily. "I don't know," he said. "One minute we were looking for the escape thingy, next the whole bloody console is moving. I tried to stop it, but it just kept moving up. Hit all of the switches in the breaker room. Then…well, you know the rest."
Doug scrubbed his face with his hands, suddenly feeling incredibly weary. His leg was throbbing again now that his adrenaline levels had dropped.
"And the second test subject?" he asked, his tone betraying his pessimistic outlook of that particular man's fate. "What happened there?"
"Um…well, that wasn't actually my fault," said Wheatley, looking down. "I woke him up, like you said, tried to explain what was going on. He wasn't having any of it. Just kept yelling at me about wanting to see the manager. I told him everyone was dead and that he'd better stick with me cos I was escaping, but he just…ran off. Disappeared."
"People don't just disappear, Wheatley."
"They do when there's a bloody great hole in the floor," the core stated bluntly. "I followed him round the corner and saw that the walkway had broken halfway down the stairs. I reckon he ran right off the end of it."
Doug pressed his lips together in a grim line, suspecting that the robot's theory was correct. "Poor guy," he muttered.
There was a brief moment of silence as each waited for the other to speak.
"Okay, look," Doug spoke up at last. "We need to get Chell out of the test chambers. We're still going to escape, but we need her before we try."
"Why?"
"Because I say so."
Wheatley scrutinised him, his demeanour unreadable. Then the core made a small movement that somehow managed to look like a shrug. "Okay, fine. What's the new plan?"
Doug was still figuring that part out, but there was no way he was going to share that with Wheatley. "We'll get you back on the management rails. Then I need you to find her and try and make contact without GLaDOS seeing you. Let her know that you're trying to break her out. Okay?"
"Okay," Wheatley agreed.
"If she asks about…" Doug began.
"She won't," the core interjected.
"Huh?"
"She doesn't speak, mate."
Doug furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean she doesn't speak?"
"Exactly what I said," Wheatley told him with a subtle, irritated huffing sound. "She's silent all the time. Rude, if you ask me. I thought we were friends."
"But…that doesn't make any sense, why would she not talk to you? She knows you."
"I don't know. I think it's the brain damage, myself," Wheatley mused conversationally. "You know, not to be, uh, insensitive or anything, but there is a slight chance of her having contracted serious brain damage and all, so I would think that this whole silence thing is a by-product of that. I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it?"
Doug shook his head firmly, sitting back. "No, no. The brain damage thing is a lie. Employees were using the cryo-chambers as napping rooms, so the management came up with that as a deterrent."
"Oh, what?" Wheatley scoffed incredulously. "Surely you don't believe that."
Not feeling up to having an argument with the contrary sphere, Doug ignored the comment. "Well, like before, don't mention me."
"What am I s'posed to tell her though? You know, about how I'm...not dead."
"Make something up," Doug said with a shrug. He got to his feet, swinging the cube onto his back, then picked up Wheatley with the portal gun's gravity field. "Come on, we need to figure out where she is."
Leaving the office behind, the scientist, the cube and the core ventured towards the testing tracks, searching for the Queen Bee's favourite test subject.