[A/N]
At the time I'm writing this message, we have reached a grand total of 200 Visitors!
*Party Horn*
"Surprise."
Seriously though, big thanks to all of you who are reading this story.
Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated, and enjoy the chapter!
It didn't take long before the girl made her way out of the manufacturing wing. She was now confronted with an entirely different challenge; making her way back to the Central AI Chamber without getting spotted.
The AI had cameras basically everywhere. And besides, it is an AI were talking about here, not a human. So she'd have to be extra careful.
The test subject figured most, if not all of the cameras were inside convectional walkways, as well as the test chambers, so the catwalks should be a safe bet.
And so she went on her way, trying to stay as silent as possible, looking around for cameras on every corner. When she did encounter one, she had to find another way, usually jumping someplace using the gel she had at her disposal.
Eventually, the girl found herself walking along a lone catwalk, heading towards the upper areas of the Central AI Chamber. She couldn't spot any cameras near here, but she decided to stay as silent as possible, anyway.
On the end of the catwalk, a door could be seen. It was a normal door with hinges, instead of those automatic vault doors she'd encountered in the manufacturing wing.
The sign on the door was faded with age, but one could vaguely make out the word 'GLaDOS'.
The test subject carefully opened the door, and peeked inside. Upon seeing no signs of danger, she went inside, closing the door behind her. She took a wary step forward, and flinched at the lights flickering on above her.
She stayed completely still for a few seconds, expecting the AI's monotone voice rattling on about trying to kill her. A whole minute passed, and still no sarcastic remark.
The girl relaxed a little, and decided to have a look around. The non-panelled, white walls were set up in an octagon shape, just like the room below. The floor was a dark checkerboard pattern, just like the AI Chamber's floor before she'd killed her former nemesis.
Around her were loads of what looked like servers. They were arranged coming from the walls, leaving a bit of space to walk through, until meeting at the middle.
In the center of the room, five computer screens accompanied by five keyboards, were arranged on a desk, each corresponding to one of the server lines.
She decided not to mess with them, and went on with what she was here for.
The girl remembered, again, before her 'killing spree', that there was a glass walkway above the AI's chassis. After a bit of looking around, she found a hatch in the floor on the other side of the room.
Above the hatch, there was a retractable, metal ladder. When she opened the hatch, the ladder slowly came sinking down, into the chamber below.
She decided to peek over the edge, and, as she expected, the Central AI Chamber could be seen below. She clamped onto the ladder, and came sinking down along with it.
The glass platform was no longer there, and the girl tightened her grip. She stuck her portal gun between the ladder, and climbed to the other side of the ladder.
She knew that, if she did fall, her boots would catch her anyways. She'd just tell the AI she was wandering about and accidently fell through a hatch.
She then grabbed the portal gun with her right hand, lifted it above her head, and shot a portal on the ceiling above the hatch.
Immediately, the thick, blue liquid came pouring down from the ceiling, and onto GLaDOS' chassis.
"What's going on?" A now panicking voice came from everywhere.
The supercomputer yelped, as she turned to look above her. She immediately regretted that decision, as she now had the liquid pouring into her optic.
"Ugh! I can't see!"
The test subject started laughing.
"Is that you? What are you trying to-"
The AI cut herself off upon receiving a signal.
[/DELIVERY: EDGELESS SAFETY CUBE (15)/]
"What…?"
Fifteen white balls came pouring down from a pneumatic diversity vent in her chamber. They bounced on the now completely blue chamber floor, onto the walls, and onto GLaDOS herself.
The girl started laughing uncontrollably now, and by doing that, she couldn't help but release her grip on the ladder, and came plummeting down. Upon landing on the gel-coated floor, she bounced right back up again, and GLaDOS noticed.
"Are edgeless safety cubes not enough for your liking? I- Agh!" She got hit by a ball again. "How did you even manage to take something the weight of a tractor inside here?"
The supercomputer yelped again, and the test subject said nothing, being too busy bouncing up and down whilst laughing hysterically.
"That's enough." The AI concluded. The sprinklers littered in the ceiling sprang into action, and the gel cleaned itself off. Both the balls and the girl stopped bouncing.
After rinsing her optical lens with the water, the AI turned towards the girl, who was lying on her back, giggling.
"What did you think you were doing?"
The test subject stayed silent for a minute, sat up, then shrugged.
"You just got pranked."