Nothing was happening.

Doug Rattmann sat next to the pod where his cube- Lira's body lay, still asleep. She was alive, her breathing so shallow that he could barely see it. The cube was silent.

Interestingly enough, Lira was still wearing her original clothing whereas all the other test subjects he had ever seen had been changed into Aperture uniforms. She wore an Asian-style black coat, bright pink leggings, and black flats. He also took a moment to examine her facial features. She was Japanese, obviously, since her last name was Nakajima. Her long raven hair framed her sharp, pale face. There was no movement. Not a twitch.

Her brain functions had all but stopped after he had initially reconnected her consciousness to her body. There had been an initial burst of brain activity and then... nothing.

He knew it. He had known this would happen. Lira's body hadn't been able to take the restoration process and now he was left completely and utterly alone.

Doug groaned and dug his fists into his forehead, shaking slightly. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't-

Lira took in a deep, gasping breath and a startled Doug nearly fell backwards off his chair. He grabbed the electrogram pad off the stasis pod and watched as the brain activity spiked and fell to normal parameters. They had actually done it!

Lira rapped on the lid of the pod, rubbing her head with her other hand.

"Oh, sorry," Doug leaned over and opened the pod for her and heard a sigh in relief as a rush of fresh air flooded in. "Wait, don't sit up yet. I need to check your vitals and make sure that there wasn't any permanent damage done and-"

"Douglas," Lira coughed, her voice scratchy from disuse, "I'm fine. It worked." Then she sat up and promptly plucked the empty Companion Cube from the counter.

Doug tensed up, "But- But you- I-I-mean-" he stuttered. His face was flushed with embarrassment and it dawned on him that he couldn't remember how to talk to human beings properly. Especially beautiful ones with scarcely a hair out of place. He suddenly felt very foolish and self-conscious.

"You need to relax. The process went just about as smoothly as I said it would, right?" she flashed him a quick smile and her bright pink eyes pulled away from examining the Cube to reassure him. Pink eyes. Just like the hearts on the Companion Cube.

"What... what is your Deviation anyway?" Doug sat forward, his scientific side taking over his lack of social skills.

Her expression turned dark and she quickly swallowed it down. "Well, I..." her eyes looked slightly uncertain as she seemed to weigh whether or not to trust him with this information. She broke eye contact with him and touched his knee lightly, making him jump.

"I can do this."

And suddenly Doug Rattmann was staring at a carbon copy himself. Clothes and everything.

He jumped up with newfound energy and quickly ran around the pod, examining the clone from every angle. "That's incredible! You're a shape-shifter?"

"Yes," even the voice was his own. "But that's not all."

'I can copy the deviation of anyone I am mimicking as long as I am using their image,' her voice interrupted his thoughts.

He gaped, "That's... fantastic."

Her features shifted into a different female's; someone Doug didn't recognize. She lifted up her hand to reveal bright pink flames. Then she shifted into a thin dark-skinned male and made her hands invisible. Doug grinned like a child, intrigued by this raw power.

Lira shifted back to her own self and groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Are-are you alright? I should probably get you some water or something-" he quickly stood up and looked around like a lost puppy.

She held up her hand, "No, it's fine. It's just... been awhile. My Deviation may have a lot of strengths, but shape-shifting is..." she trailed off, "It's a bit painful actually. I admit I got caught up in showing off." She smiled weakly at him and then it was gone. "I have a healing Deviation as well to counteract the damage that shifting does to my body. It's the only reason I believe my consciousness was left intact and why I survived the restoration process. That's why I knew I would be fine, but I apologize for worrying you, Douglas."

He was silent for a moment. "A healing Deviation along with a shape-shifting Deviation? How did that happen...? I mean, it seems a bit..." he trailed off and reddened. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to probe."

Lira smirked, "You are a scientist and I would be highly disappointed in you if you didn't question me. I was born into a Black Market organization called Red Vista that handled Deviants. They took my father who was a shape-shifter and my mother who was a self-healing Deviant and, well, bred them. That's what they do." She looked at him again and he shrunk under the weight of her gaze. There was a lot of pain in there...

"I've slaved for them my whole life doing their dirty work. Shape-shifting is a rare gift that very very few can handle... as you can tell. It's useful for all sorts of underground things. I won't go into the dark details, but you get the picture."

"How did you end up here, then?" Doug asked softly.

That evoked a humorless laugh, "They assigned me to Aperture for information retrieval. When I was in the middle of fulfilling my mission I decided that this was my chance. I wanted out."

She crossed her legs and smiled mischievously at him, "I let them catch me after showing them what I could do. I knew that Aperture would throw me in a stasis pod and I didn't care. I was done. Red Vista wouldn't be able to get to me down here."

She growled, "But I didn't know they were going to rip my soul out and stick me in a metal box for the rest of my life," she practically spat and heaved the empty Companion Cube across the room. Doug jumped slightly as it banged against another pod and echoed loudly.

"I'm... I'm really..."

"Doug, I don't need to hear any more of your apologetic platitudes," her gaze softened as a hurt expression flickered across his face. She sighed, "Sorry. I know you didn't have anything to do with this experiment. I just... I just want freedom."

Doug stifled his own rising anxiety and gave her a reassuring grin, "Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's go get some."


Wheatley wasn't feeling very well.

His head pounded mercilessly and he twitched constantly as excess electrical impulses ravaged his body. Every time he had tried to disconnect himself from the mainframe the entire building shook and spewed off warnings of reactor meltdowns and malfunctions of every kind. Glados must have booby-trapped the mainframe before he had taken over control.

That must be it.

So he stayed connected at all times. And it wasn't as if he wanted to disconnect, since the mainframe gave him so much power and energy and- and-

Man alive, it hurt so much.

Would the reactor actually blow if he dropped the connection for just a couple of hours? Was it just a cruel trick on Glados' part?

"What do you two think?" he croaked at Atlas and P-Body, who both started to chitter loudly in response.

He groaned as his migraine drove another spike through his skull and hissed, "Nevermind. Nevermind. Just... deactivate yourselves, won't you?" The two robots fell silent and he didn't care to check whether or not they had actually done what he had asked.

"Done and done."

Wheatley's head shot up at the unknown voice and he found himself face-to-face with Chell, who was standing over the two deactivated robots.

He gaped and ignored his body's protests as he stood from his throne to face the woman he had doomed to death.

"It's not... It's not possible. I thought I—"

"Killed me?" she spoke. Her words were sharp, her expression was sharp, and sharp needles were pricking his brain...

He stumbled and dropped to his knees, the physical effort too much for his over-stressed body to take. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry. I know you don't want to believe me, but-" he gasped as he ran out of air.

"You don't look well," Chell remarked emotionlessly.

Wheatley stifled another groan, "No, luv, I'm fine... I'm fine. It's just Glados. She did something-" his eyes widened in horror and his mouth twitched, "Glados. Where is she?"

"She's not here."

"No, no... you were working with her. You're here to take back control of my facility. MY facility!" his voice grew panicked.

"Listen to me-" she started.

"No! This is my facility! Everything is under my control! And you-" he looked up at the mute woman who continued to haunt him.

The mute woman.

"You aren't Chell," he set his jaw and glared up at the imposing woman standing above him.

"Well, I'll hand it to you, boy. You aren't a complete idiot after all," Chell's image faded away to reveal a strikingly tall Asian woman instead. She leaned down to him and tried to back away.

"Get away from me, get away from me, get away-" Wheatley moaned and grabbed his head as he tried to activate defense mechanisms in the room, to little avail.

She made a tsk sound at him and grabbed him by the chin, ignoring the small pathetic shocks he gave her in response. "Listen, boy. I wouldn't call myself a doctor here, but I'm going to prescribe you something for your head."

"It's called sleep." He whimpered as she grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and slammed him into the ground. His vision blacked out and he cried out as his tenuous hold on the mainframe finally gave way.

And then there was blissful nothingness.


Chell grasped the catwalk railing for dear life as it shook mercilessly, threatening to vault her over the side. The metal shrieked under the pressure and she squeezed her eyes shut.

I'll be okay. I'll be okay. I'll be okay-

After what felt like hours, the shaking ceased and she slowly opened her eyes. The catwalk miraculously had stayed intact and she wasn't plummeting to her death. She shook as her nerves tried to relax and she gasped with relief.

Virgil came barreling out of the infirmary, fear written plainly on his face. "Oh, goodness, Chell. You're okay," he placed his hands on his knees and breathed in deeply. "Here, let me help you up," he extended his hand and lifted her up effortlessly.

'Is Glados...?'

"She's fine," he waved his hand and the worry lines returned as he looked down the catwalk toward their main 'home' area. "But I'm going to go check on the others. That's the worst quake we've felt yet." He gave her a worried look and took off down the catwalk.

Glados peeped out of the infirmary, uncertainty written on her features.

'What do you think you're doing?' Chell narrowed her eyes at the other woman.

"Pft, leaving this wretched infirmary. Are you really going to bother stopping me while your other cavemen friends are in potential danger?" Glados raised an infuriating eyebrow and Chell had to work to cool her own temper.

'If there's another quake then you'll be safer in the infirmary,' Chell said pointedly and started to walk briskly down the catwalk after Virgil.

"Yes, well, where's the fun in that?" she heard Glados call out after her.


Craig let a hiss escape through his teeth as the large cement block pinning his left arm down shifted slightly.

"Hubble...?" Big Dipper's orange frightened eyes looked up into his with concern.

"It's fine, Charlie. Relax... they're going to get us out of this," Craig repeated his mantra to Big Dipper again. They were going to be okay.

Big Dipper, himself, and Ray had been in the kitchen preparing a meal for everyone when the place had started to shake apart. The three had found themselves under tons of crumbling cement blocks and screeching metal within seconds, their quick thinking and deviations the only things saving them from a crushing death.

Craig had opened a pocket dimension for Ray to jump into, since Ray had no need to breath for a decently-long period of time. Big Dipper used his Deviation to the full by keeping the crushing weight above them as light as he could... but he could only extend that power so far. The boy was maxed to his limit and it concerned Craig immensely.

Craig himself used his own human strength to keep the crumbling rock from crushing the both of them. The two had exhausted their power and were hoping the others could get them out of this predicament.

Charlie's head fell against Craig's side and the tons of rock above him started to feel a bit heavier.

"Big Dipper, hey, do you want to hear some interesting space facts?" Craig grasped to get Charlie's full attention. Get him to concentrate on keeping his power up or they would be crushed. Get the boy talking.

Big Dipper sniffed, "No... you don't know anything about space, Helios," he hugged Craig harder and the rubble felt a bit lighter again, "But I'll tell you some facts so you can learn something new, okay?"

"Okay... that sounds good," Craig breathed a sigh of relief.


'What's going on over here?' Chell came running up to the group of men surrounding a collapsed facility and arguing loudly to each other.

Rick looked pained, "Charlie, Ray, and Craig are still in there. I tried to dig them out, but it started to collapse further... we don't know what to do."

Rick looked guilty, Chuck seemed frustrated, Hugo was unreadable, and Virgil was kicking himself. "Alright, I'm going in to check on them. I'll be right back," Virgil announced and disappeared through the rubble.

'Can he pull them out?' Chell asked the others.

"If he grabs one of them at a time, maybe. His power has limits too," Hugo replied airily.

Rick's expression darkened and Chuck started to whistle nervously as Chell heard light footsteps behind her.

'I told you not to come out here,' Chell warned Glados. She gave Rick a silent look not to try anything. It wasn't the time.

Glados smiled slyly, "Well, you should be glad I did. If there's one thing I am good at, it's puzzles," she gestured to the collapsing building.

Rick couldn't help it, "This isn't a puzzle. There are people's lives at risk here. Not that you-"

"Hey, watch it, Adventure Man! This is my fight to pick, not yours," Hugo broke in and shoved Rick aside, "Oh, you have no idea how long I've waited to wring your-"

'Enough! Hugo, you aren't intimidating at all, so stop trying to be. Rick, push your vendetta out of your mind for two seconds while we figure out how to save our friends. Got it?' Chell barked authoritatively in their heads.

Both men winced and nodded grudgingly.

'And you,' Chell turned to Glados' smug face, 'You should go back right now. You aren't helping anything.'

Glados' mouth twitched in irritation, but she made no move to follow Chell's orders. Chell was going to say more when Virgil walked out toward them, his expression grim.

"Well, the good news is they're all still alive. Ray is safely tucked away in one of Craig's pocket dimensions while Charlie and Craig are using their own power to keep the building from completely collapsing on them. The bad news is if I pull one of them out, the other will be crushed. I... can't grab both of them. I'm sorry," he ran his hands through his hair, the stress plain on his face.

"You're saying we have to sacrifice one of them? Virgil, how-" Rick exploded.

"No! I'm not saying that! I don't know what to do, but we'll figure it out, okay? We just need to be quick about it is all," Virgil paced back and forth.

Chell did a quick count in her head: Rick was incredibly strong, but his Deviation was only making things worse. Hugo was useless. Chuck was also pretty useless. Virgil could save one person, and considering Craig was the one keeping Ray alive, it was pretty obvious who it would be. Glados was of no help... and neither was she. She just hoped-

"I would give you my calculations, but I'm going to assume you all know what needs to be done here. Since the 'pocket dimension' Deviant is the one keeping the other boy alive, that's the one who you need to rescue," Glados piped in unnecessarily.

Chell cringed as the others all exploded at the same time, ready to take their frustrations out on the other woman.

"How can you say that you heartless piece of-"

"It should be you under there-"

'Stop! STOP!' Chell screamed in their minds, causing everyone to grab their heads in pain. She whirled on Glados, pointing in her face, 'We are saving all of them! Not one. Not TWO. But all of them! We just-' She gripped the catwalk's railing in frustration.

'-Need to CALM DOWN!' and with a burst of pent-up energy she ripped the railing straight off the catwalk.

There was a collective gasp, including Chell's own as she dropped the piece of railing in fear, and it dangled precariously from the catwalk.

'That was broken, right? I didn't actually-'

"You did. You totally ripped that railing straight off. The metal railing, Chell!" Rick gasped with excitement.

To prove him wrong, Hugo walked over to the other side of the railing and proceeded to try and tear it off, to no avail. "It must have come loose during the quake... that's the only explanation."

"I don't think so," Glados cut in, her eyes dancing with scientific curiosity. "I'm processing a theory right now. Chell, try it again."

'This is stupid. It was a fluke,' but she obediently did as Glados instructed and attempted to rip another piece of railing off.

Glados pointed to Rick, "You. Try it."

Rick shrugged and ripped the rest of the railing off with ease. "It's my Deviation. Easy."

"So it is... Now Chell, try again," Glados pointed to Chell.

'We're wasting time-'

"No. Try it again."

'I said-'

"Try again, Chell," Glados punctuated.

Chell let out a strangled noise in her mind, 'I TOLD you, this is-' she gripped the other side of the catwalk and tore the railing off with the ease of ripping paper. 'Ridiculous...?'

Chell spun on Glados, 'What's going on here? I don't understand...' anxiety dripped from her voice.

Glados grinned, "I knew it. Your Deviation isn't telepathy, Chell. Your Deviation is a Copy-Cat power. You copy other Deviants in whom you've come in contact."

Everyone's mouths dropped in shock and the railing with it.

'A... Copy-Cat power? But... that doesn't make sense! I haven't copied anyone else's Deviations. Not yours... Wheatley's... and it doesn't explain where I developed my telepathy,' Chell rambled.

Glados held up her hands, "I can't prove anything, but I've got a good hunch. I think you can only copy certain types of Deviations, which is why you don't have mine or the Moron's. I also believe it's only activated when you are under duress, like now. You may be able to improve it with time though... as for the telepathy, you may have simply come into contact with it at any point in your life. I can't really say. But it's all so fascinating! Don't you realize the potential here?" Her energy was palpable.

Chell silently pulled herself together. She could freak out later. 'Okay, fine. If you are right, and I'm not saying you are... how does this help them right now?' She nodded to the collapsing pile of rubble.

Glados shuffled her feet, "Simple. Grab Virgil's hand and see if you can copy his Deviation. If you both use the same power to go in, you can each grab one of your trapped friends."

Virgil's eyes narrowed, "That's a big if. If she can't control my ability correctly then she's only putting herself in danger... I can't allow that," he folded his arms.

Chell looked to him and set her jaw, 'I'll try it. If there's a way to get them all out of there then I'm willing to try.' She held out her hand to him with a pleading look.

Virgil grimaced and looked away, sighing, "Fine. But if this goes awry..." he shot Glados a look and she flinched uncharacteristically.

Chell gripped his hand for five seconds in total and then pulled away. 'I didn't feel anything...'

Glados scoffed, "Did you feel anything before? Relax and focus on phasing out your molecules."

When Chell repeatedly attempted to run her hand through the rubble and nothing happened, Rick spoke up, "Just try to focus on being a ghost! You can do it, Chell!"

"It's possible she can't even copy Virgil's power..." Chuck spoke up worriedly.

"Pfft, it's possible that Glados is full of it and Chell can't do anything at all-" Hugo doubled-over when Rick elbowed him in the stomach.

'Polaris? Polaris, is that you?' Chell's stomach knotted when she heard Big Dipper's voice invade her thoughts.

Polaris... the Guiding Star.

'Charlie! Charlie, I'm coming! Don't give up, okay? I'm coming to get you!' Chell took off running through the rubble without a second thought, her body gliding through solid matter as if it was nothing.

A piece of Chell's mind began to freak out, but she pushed it down. Grab Charlie and run. Grab Charlie and run. Grab-

Virgil appeared next to her as she made it to where the two were trapped and he gave her a reassuring grin. "Just do what I do," he spoke softly.

The next thing she knew she was on the ground gasping for air and Charlie, Craig, and Virgil all next to her doing the same.

She felt someone lift her into a suffocating hug and she grinned, 'I did it... I copied his Deviation...'

"That was so incredible, Chell! You're a crazy one-of-a-kind lady!" Rick spun her triumphantly.

She slumped tiredly against what was left of the railing and watched as they escorted an exhausted Craig and Charlie to the infirmary. 'Hey, don't forget to free Ray!' she called out after them.

Craig cracked a smile and gave her a tired thumbs up with his good arm in response.

Then she was alone with Glados.

"Overwhelming...?" Glados asked the slumped-over Chell.

The question startled her. 'I suppose... I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea.'

"All the possibilities," Glados agreed.

'This doesn't mean I'm letting you run any tests on me,' Chell growled.

Glados scowled, "I never said that."

Chell leaned forward and placed her head between her knees, 'I know... I'm sorry. You were only trying to help. So... thank you, by the way. If it wasn't for you, I don't know what would have happened.' The apology felt awkward.

"Well," Glados sniffed, "If it weren't for you the plan wouldn't have worked. I was admittedly grasping at straws. It was... largely a lucky guess," she turned and grinned at Chell. A rare sight indeed.

Chell snickered, 'Whatever, Glados. If anything good came of this, it's that you may have won the trust of those "cavemen". You should be pleased.'

"Hmph, as if I care what those heathens think of me," she muttered.

'You should. You know, people aren't all that bad once you get to know them. Yes, people can change you for the worse if you let them. But it works the other way around...'

'People can change you for the better.'


Hey, guys! In order to celebrate Harry Callaghan's release of Meet the Cores 3 yesterday I decided to make the time to write up a new chapter for y'all. Also, it's a thank you for all of your patience with me. I know updates aren't as regular as they started out... so I appreciate your support! I also know I don't always respond to everyone's reviews, so I apologize. I usually try to get back with you, but when a certain amount of time goes by then I just feel weird responding later... haha. Sorry! But I so appreciate all your feedback, be it good or bad. :)

Anyway, the story's coming along. Albeit, little by little... We're getting there! (And y'all probably thought I was being unimaginative by giving Doug and Chell the same Deviation, right...? ;) mwahaha). Enjoy the chapter and have a wonderful weekend!

-Moe