Glados awoke feeling miserable, but not-quite-as-miserable as before. She felt warmer, which was an improvement from the frigid temperatures from before. Except...

She was covered in a nice, thick blanket. Where was she? Where was...

"Chell...?" she asked softly, her voice hoarse.

"Oh, hello. You're up, that's good," a man's voice spoke up from behind her.

She attempted to move her head to look toward the unknown voice, but hissed at the throbbing pain in her head. Nevermind that.

"Ah, don't move. Sorry," he slid next to the cot she was lying on on a wheeled swivel chair. "Better?"

She had to squint to see him in the low-lighting of the room. "What...? Who are you? Where's-"

"Look, relax before you give yourself a stroke. I'm not quite done repairing your little head gadget, so your neurological system is still on the fritz. On top of that, your body was fighting infection from your damaged leg which, by the way, seems to be healing nicely. Anyway, I'm not really a doctor, but I consider myself to be a jack-of-all-trades kinda guy."

She stared at him with a dead-panned look.

"Right, I'm sorry. Your friend Chell is right over there sleeping like you. You've both been sleeping for a couple days now... She got up once, but you both seemed exhausted," he volunteered.

She glanced to the side to check if he was telling the truth. The lump on the cot to her left seemed to resemble Chell, so she took him for his word.

"She filled me in on how you came to be down here, but she didn't seem overly eager talking about it." He paused.

"You're also still down in lower Aperture... the others ran into you and your friend near where we keep camp."

Her curiosity was piqued, "There are... more of you down here?"

The man's face twisted, "Well... we're kind of stuck here considering the only way out is... up." He looked uncomfortable, seeming to remember who he was talking to.

He scratched his head and looked to the doorway, "You're pretty lucky, you know. If it weren't for your friend there, I think the others would have tossed you over the catwalk. I'm trying to be pleasant here, but I think there's no use dancing around the elephant in the room."

Glados frowned, "Then why are you attempting to repair my implant?" she growled.

He shrugged, "I personally don't have the same vendetta against you as the others do. Aperture employees are all the same to me. Not that I'm condoning your apparent actions..." he looked her in the eyes. "Anyway, like I said, Chell wasn't overly willing to talk about the man who took your place up there-"

"Look, if you and your other group of vagrants were thinking of escaping now that I've been ousted down here, you should think twice. That man is a buffoon, but he's dangerous. His deviation makes that so," she smiled with fake sweetness, "But I'm sure we can work something out." Probably.

"Hm," the man went quiet, adjusting his posture so that he was sitting cross-legged on the tiny swivel chair. He nodded to his desk behind them, "That's an interesting little gadget you've got there. I've never seen anything so intricate before... does it have something to do with your deviation?" he asked.

She shivered involuntarily, "Y-yes. In fact, I'd rather you not go sticking your archaic tools in it," she went to sit up. It was as if a flash-bang went off in her head, and she cried out as her vision went black and her ears buzzed.

Moments later the man came back into focus, his head uncomfortably close to her face as he was saying something to her, looking alarmed. Slowly, she realized she was clutching her head, and unclenched her fingers in response. Her cheeks were wet, she realized with embarrassment. She wiped the hot tears off her face and placed her shaking hands by her sides. So much for moving around.

She was sick and tired of being observed in such a state. It was ridiculous.

His voice finally registered to her senses, "Can you hear me now? I told you not to move. You should have seen the brain wave spike that showed up on my scanner. Grief..." he muttered something under his breath, noticeably stressed out.

Glados didn't say anything. She stared straight past him on her side, focusing on keeping her breathing steady.

He sighed, "Look, just get some more rest while I work on your device. And..." he patted her shoulder in a way he supposed was comforting, "I already know your name, so it's only fair you know mine. I'm Virgil; it was interesting finally meeting you, Glados." Then he was out of her sight and presumably back to work.

Glados sighed and closed her eyes, allowing the stranger to have access to her implant. It wasn't as if he could make it any worse...


Hours later, Virgil turned the fixed implant absent-mindedly in his hands, deep in thought. He understood how it stabilized her nervous system and counteracted her deviation, but there were strange additional programs in place he hadn't wanted to touch.

One program seemed to be of Glados' own making, and he wondered if it was what she had used to control Aperture's mainframe. If so, he was impressed and wanted to ask her how it worked. He didn't bother fixing it because she probably wouldn't need it again.

The other program though... it bothered him. It was as if someone had added an entirely new interface to the original design. This new program was designed to run interference, basically completely dampen the amygdala. Her emotional processing.

Who would do that...?

He had decided to remove that program entirely. It was inhuman, dampening someone's emotions.

'You look frustrated...'

Virgil jumped, startled by Chell's inner voice interrupting his thought processes.

"Jeez, don't do that," he sat backwards on his swivel chair and turned to where she sat on her cot.

She blinked apologetically, 'Sorry... I'm still pretty new to this.'

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, spiking it even more. "No, I've been working on this thing for hours. It's finally done and I'm ready for a nap." He smiled softly.

She frowned, 'Then why the frustration?'

He glanced at the implant in his hand, "It's not... it's not frustration. I'm confused... I suppose," he remarked slowly, staring toward the doorway.

Chell said nothing.

He stood up and started working on reattaching Glados' repaired implant to her head. After successfully attaching it a few minutes later he showed Chell the machinery displaying Glados' brain activity.

"Look at that, it's already working. She'll be good as new in a few days," he smiled in satisfaction and spun his chair in slow circles.

He stopped after another minute of silence and opened his mouth, closed it, opened it. "Hypothetically... what do you think would happen if you removed someone's emotions?" he asked her, staring up at the ceiling.

Chell frowned, 'You would have an automaton?'

Virgil nodded, "Someone stripped of a conscience."

Chell glanced at Glados' sleeping form, 'Somebody with no moral qualms about... killing.' She finished Virgil's thought.

He made eye contact with her knowingly, "Why bother with morals at all? If you don't feel anything, that is..."

Chell shifted uncomfortably, 'Are you telling me she doesn't have emotions? That doesn't make sense because-'

"Whoa, slow down. She's normal now. Well, as normal as she's gonna be. But..." he fidgeted in his chair, "I think part of what her implant was designed to do was stunt her emotional growth. When the implant was damaged, that dampening effect stopped. I'm only warning you because I don't know how that will affect her. I just thought you should know," he shrugged.

Chell thought he looked as if he had more to say, but nothing else came.

She balled her hands into fists, feeling distress rise up in her. If what he was saying was true, then...

"I'm going to need to make some adjustments..."

She shook her head to rid herself of those foul memories of her father. But no matter how much she tried to ignore them, they stuck with her.

Glados' memories...

Chell was sure now. They had been Glados' memories that she had inadvertently seen. Her newfound deviation must have picked them up while she was sleeping.

Her dad had been raising two girls at the same time in two very different ways.

At least it explained Glados' episode earlier. The injured, frightened girl shaking in Chell's arms versus the cold-hearted killer in upper Aperture just didn't add up. It did now.

She slammed her fists on the cot, letting go of some pent-up anger.

Virgil swiveled to give her a concerned look, "Whoa, are you alright?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, taking deep breaths. 'Yeah, I'm sorry... there's just too many unanswered questions.' She shook it off and attempted a weak smile, 'Look, if she's going to be sleeping for a while, is there anywhere around here to take a shower?'

He grinned and stood to help her up, "Yes there is. You could certainly use one."

'Wow, you sure know how to woo a lady,' she rolled her eyes.

"Well I've never won any awards for tactfulness. However, once you meet the others I'll downright look like prince charming."


After handing off Chell into the care of the others and checking to see if Glados' vital signs remained stable, Virgil marched straight up into the place he had sworn he wouldn't go.

Cave Johnson's office.

Virgil phased through the locked door and flipped the light switch experimentally. The generator kicked in and the bright light flickered on, lighting up the disorganized office. He took a step backward, wanting to flee the old office space. He had spent many a night here playing cards with Cave and Caroline, coffee brewing in Cave's personal coffee maker that still sat in the corner.

What had happened to them?

Virgil still held resentment toward what Cave had done to him. He had been deceived, shot by someone he had held in high regard, then stuck in stasis for over a hundred years. It was difficult for him not to be angry.

But being angry wasn't in his nature. Not really.

He began rifling through files strewn across Cave's desk, muttering to himself, "'Too many unanswered questions' indeed." He wasn't even quite sure what he was looking for, but he would know it when he found it.

An hour later of tipping over filing cabinets and ransacking the entire office, Virgil hit the jackpot.

His hands shook as he lifted a thick, glossy file.

What is this...?

In bold, red handwriting the file read, "The G.L.a.D.O.S. project".

Virgil flipped the file open and groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

"Cave... what did you do?"


Hey guys! So sorry about the lack of updates! Like I mentioned before, I have a few very busy months coming up ahead and I'm about to start a new job (A writing job! Holy moly!) As a result my time has been much less... free. But I'm still writing (slowly but surely). I've also hit a spot in the story that I didn't completely plan out (once I get past the next couple chapters it should speed up again... so sorry about the slowness of pace for the moment). Adding a bunch of new characters calls for a bit of a slow-down. ;) Anyway, I'm thankful for y'all reading my story! Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

-Moe