[A/N]
Yet another short chapter! In order to keep the two scenarios in sync, I couldn't really make this one any longer. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
Up in the Central AI Chamber, intense whirring could be heard.
GLaDOS was twisting and turning. Whenever she was thinking hard, she tended to do just that. Why was she having such a hard time designing something so seemingly simple?
Sure, a standard base model should be in order, but she'd have to deal with great inaccuracy, not to mention a shortage in processing power. She couldn't simply put up with that. She was the Queen of Aperture! She deserved better than that!
So she simply continued her train of thought. The thing that annoyed her the most was not just how to fit the parts in without overheating, or how to make the body aerodynamic. She never had a problem with any of that.
The only problem was, the power source. Every iteration of her future android body had the same problem; power. If she had the right parts installed, there wouldn't be room for a generator. If the generator was installed, there wasn't any room for the parts.
Back to basics, she thought. She went back to her studies on the human body, hopefully finding a solution here. What powers them? Food? No, she shouldn't have to put up with something as dignified as eating, not to mention the excretion process.
Then it dawned upon her.
Breathing.
The whole facility was pumped full of oxygen anyway, so she shouldn't have a problem with that. She could use oxygen as a power source, without the need for a generator. No need for charging, no batteries running out.
It was perfect.
(-)-(-)
Meanwhile, five kilometres beneath her, crawling in the pipes, was the test subject.
She'd been in these pipes for far too long, popping open each and every opening she encountered, in the hopes of finding the old Aperture 'Library'. She wasn't about to give up, though. She never did.
After a while, she ran into a particularly large opening, and pulled it open. When she stuck her head through, she found herself at something that represented a sort of metal walkway.
Pulling herself out of the pipe, she saw some 'buildings' along the side of the walkway.
Maybe this is where the library is! She thought excitedly. She ran across the metal walkway, her head switching between looking left and right, in the hopes of finding it.
After a good few minutes of touring around, she discovered what she was looking for. The library. She couldn't see any white walls, so she'd have to search for them later. Focusing on the task at hand, she tried pushing open the door.
The door seemed jammed. Probably rusty, that's all. She stepped back as far she could, even thought that isn't much at all, and took a running start. When the heel of her boot connected with the door, it swung open.