Glados collapsed against the back of the elevator and shook, finally releasing the emotions she had carefully controlled during her getaway act.

Control yourself. These recent displays of emotion are ridiculous.

She leaned her head against the back of the elevator and closed her eyes, attempting to ignore the unwanted presence beside her.

Lira cleared her throat, "That was easier than I thought it would be! I actually believed that it might take additional persuasion to keep them back," she glanced at Glados with a smirk, "But it seems your friends already had a healthy fear of you."

Glados' heart dropped slightly and she bit back a snarky reply, replacing it with silence. She didn't feel like having a chit chat with this woman.

However, Lira spoke the truth: Chell and the others believed every word. Glados hoped it meant that she was a really good actor.

Why do you care what they think?

They're pathetic.

They don't matter.

They were all waiting for a good reason to hate you again anyway.

"So why do I care...?" Glados spoke softly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she looked up at the tall Japanese woman, her scientific curiosity piqued, "How did you manage to keep them all fooled? I didn't even notice when you switched from clone Virgil to the illusion."

The illusion that fell to his death.

Lira brushed dust off her coat, "I've been doing this sort of thing my entire life. It was a piece of cake compared to missions I've taken in the past. Don't worry about how I did it; just be glad that it worked."

Glad.

Of course.


Virgil sat in the corner of the shared glass prison, silently studying his anti-deviation handcuffs while the Englishman talked up a storm. It vaguely occurred to him that Wheatley was having a conversation with someone. Probably with him, but who was paying attention?

"Oi, are you listening to me?"

Virgil averted his attention from the irritating anti-deviation handcuffs to his equally irritating cell mate.

"Nope."

Wheatley huffed and sat cross-legged on the cot, "Well you could at least pretend," he pouted, "I was asking about Chell."

Virgil narrowed his eyes, "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

Wheatley adjusted his cracked glasses self-consciously, "I know- I know I am..." he fidgeted his handcuffs, "But I'm really glad. I heard them say that she was alive."

A moment of silence.

"And Glados too, but I'm not sure that I feel as happy about that one-"

"You really should learn when to close that big English mouth of yours," Virgil sighed.

Wheatley ignored him, "Man alive, do you know what that woman would do to me if she was in charge again? She would keep me alive for centuries in order to torture me as slowly as she could. And after that, she would launch me into space and record my cold, suffocating death!" Wheatley waved his arms emphatically, stretching out on the cot and closing his eyes.

Virgil refrained from commenting, opting for an eye-roll instead. This guy.

Where I'm from men don't try to murder women while on a power trip.

Cave Johnson's image flashed in his mind.

Well, most men.

Chell and Glados hadn't given them all the details on what had happened, but he had gleaned enough to know that both women despised Wheatley. Virgil didn't really need to know any more than that.

After Virgil had come to, he had found himself stuck in a glass cage with the "moron" (Glados had insisted he was and Virgil found no reason to argue in this case). Shortly after introducing themselves, the two, still in their glass prison, had been whisked away to another darker laboratory chamber.

The new chamber was older, almost untouched. In it hung a huge black and white machine from the ceiling, completely motionless. What made the two men really nervous, however, was the chair underneath, covered in straps and strange machinery.

It looked like a torture chamber.

The large metal door to the chamber slid open with a loud grating noise, old with disuse. Virgil and Wheatley sat up attentively as Lira entered the room, followed by a shorter figure.

"Glados!" Wheatley squeaked with fear.

Where are the others? Virgil glanced around hopefully, yet the door closed behind the two and nobody else came.

"Hey, hey, if this is some k-kind of plan to torture me for information, it- it's not going to work! Are you listening? I'm not scared of you!" Wheatley pounded on the glass hysterically.

Lira glanced at the glass cage with mild amusement, "If you're trying to say something we can't hear you. I sound-proofed the chamber so Doug wouldn't have to listen to your constant rambling."

At the sound of his name, Douglas Rattmann stood up from a dark corner in the room, surprising Virgil. He hadn't even realized that the man was still there.

Rattmann inched forward with trepidation, reacting fearfully to Glados' presence.

Glados' face scrunched slightly at the sight of him, "It's the Rat. I'm impressed; I wasn't aware that you were still alive," she glanced at Virgil quickly, "First a ragtag group of boys in the dungeon, and a rat in my pipes. Is there anyone else in this facility that I was unaware of?"

Virgil studied the girl as she stood next to Lira. Lira made an imposing, authoritative figure and made the shorter, paler girl look meek in comparison. Glados' voice wasn't in her words; she just looked tired.

Glados looked around the dark chamber warily, "I don't think I recognize this chamber. You said you needed assistance with old Aperture research, but I don't see a computer terminal in here."

Lira ignored Glados and motioned to Rattmann, "Prep the machinery, please, Doug," she turned to Glados with a fake smile, "Oh this is definitely the place we need to be, sweetie. You might not recognize it now, but it'll become clear in a little while."

Glados appeared to bristle at Lira's tone, then got busy studying the giant machine hanging from the ceiling. "That... I've never seen it before," her voice wavered slightly.

The machine whirred to life as Rattmann fiddled with the weird torture chair.

"Not with those eyes, no," Lira poked Glados' head, who suddenly appeared fearful of the whirring machinery.

"You said you needed my help, not that you were going to torture information out of me," Glados stepped back as Lira laid an iron grip on her arm.

Lira clicked her tongue chidingly, "My dear, if I was going to torture you for information I would have saved me the time and put your friend in that chair. Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit..." she started to drag Glados, who tried to squirm away.

Virgil got to his feet, "Wait a second! Don't hurt her! Lira, listen to me-"

"Mate, they can't hear you, remember?" Wheatley intervened with a surprisingly passive voice.

"What is that machine?" Virgil asked him seriously.

Wheatley shrugged, "I don't know. If Glados doesn't know then there's not much of a chance for me, now is there?"

He grit his teeth as Rattmann and Lira strapped Glados into the chair, who appeared to be gathering her every wit to appear as calm as possible.

She wasn't doing a very good job of it. Virgil suddenly felt a little sorry about turning off the emotion-dampening program in Glados' implant.

Lights flickered on all over the giant machine, and the chassis lit up high above them decorated with six individual letters, eliciting a gasp from Virgil. He knew exactly what this machine was... he had read about it in a file.

The letters spelled G.L.a.D.O.S.

Oh no no no...

Virgil pounded on the glass desperately, "Wait! Wait! Don't turn that machine on! Please!"

They couldn't hear him of course.

He kicked violently against the glass, angry at his uselessness. "This machine-"

He hit the handcuffs against the glass, "-it killed my friend!" He sank to his knees in defeat.

It killed my friend Caroline.

He placed his head in his hands, "And I wasn't there to save her... I was stuck in a stasis chamber because of my own hopeful stupidity. Oh please..." he sank further to the ground and stopped when he heard a clang against the metal floor.

Something was banging around in his pockets. He probably should have checked those earlier. He never remembered what kind of tools he was carrying around.

He fished around his pockets with rising hopes, and instead pulled out a small black box.

Oh. The turret communication line. Useless.

Useless just like him.


Glados quelled her rising panic as Rattmann finished tightening the straps around her wrists. She couldn't believe the disheveled man was still alive. Out of all the genius scientists in the building, he was the one to make it out and avoid her watchful eyes for four years. She almost admired his audacity... considering he had none.

"Rat," she hissed at him as he backed away, finished. He avoided her gaze and crept to the side out of her line of sight.

Lira patted Glados' hand in mock affection, "It's alright, this will be over before you know it! Does this feel familiar in any way, my dear girl?" she bent over and looked into Glados' eyes, searching for something.

Glados huffed, "No, of course not. I haven't seen this room or this machine in my entire life, and I am well aware of the goings on in my facility," she emphasized. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably, however. Her body was going into fight or flight mode, pumping adrenaline in a way she wasn't familiar with.

Well, that's to be expected when you're strapped into an unknown machine.

Without missing a beat Lira swiped on her holo screen, throwing up images onto a larger viewing screen above them. "Well, then I suppose I'll provide you with a little more background. Does this look familiar?"

The screen simply read "The G.L.a.D.O.S. Project".

Glados felt her body go cold, "What..." her eyes were wide, "What is that? Where did you get this?"

In answer Lira swiped again, revealing an image of Cave Johnson with his assistant Caroline Short. "What about that woman?" her eyes bored into Glados'.

Glados felt a flash of fear similar to what she had experienced in lower Aperture. Why? What was so frightening about that image?

"Her name was Caroline Short. She was Cave Johnson's right-hand woman for many years, she secretly headed many important projects, and-" Lira glanced at Glados knowingly, "-she had an incredibly rare deviation. In fact, if used as a DNA enhancer it killed anyone who tried to use it. Therefore, she became one of the most invaluable members of Aperture."

Glados didn't like where this was going.

"So, Glados, do you know how you managed to successfully inherit this deviation?"

Her mouth opened, but she had no reply.

Lira threw up more images on the screen, watching Glados' reaction attentively.

There were faces on the screen. Sixty-nine identical faces, all around three or four years of age. Every one had pale skin and white hair done up in varying ways. All had the familiar sharp yellow eyes. None of them smiled.

"Sixty-nine clones. Sixty-eight of them dead at the age of four because the scientists in Aperture still didn't know how to stabilize the intelligence-enhancing gene. That is, until scientist Henry Cadwin perfected the implant that saved the sixty-ninth clone," Lira smiled, "Of course, you already knew all of this."

Glados hadn't.

She couldn't pull her eyes away from the dozens of faces covering the screen.

That's my face... that's me...

She started to shake again, her breathing becoming erratic, "No... I'm not a clone. I'm not..."

Lira pretended to look confused, "You've been here your entire life, haven't you?"

Glados felt ill. The faces all stared into her, accusing. All like Caroline's face, but so much younger. How could she have been so blind?

She snapped, "What do you want from me?" She blinked away tears that threatened to fall.

Lira frowned, back to business, "I need redacted information from you that only Caroline knew. I was on a mission to retrieve it when I decided to throw in the towel because it wasn't here. However, I was lucky to learn about you. The scientists must have hid this file from you on purpose... they knew just how dangerous you really are," Lira stroked Glados' hair lightly.

Glados attempted to move her head away, "You're kidding. I may have that woman's DNA, but I don't have her memories!"

"I think you do," Lira tapped the implant lightly. "I learned that this thing has many useful purposes, such as a mind stabilizer, an emotional dampening program, and of course, a memory dampener. However, I believe that a simple little program like that can be overcome when under duress."

Glados' heart nearly stopped. "W-well, I don't remember anything. I swear I don't know anything about that woman-"

Without warning, Lira flicked at the hologram, eliciting a screeching noise from the machine above Glados.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?" Glados couldn't keep the panic out of her voice.

Lira silently stooped over and strapped a metallic, rectangular mask onto Glados' head, eliciting a cry from the girl.

"N-"

NO!


"NO!"

"PLEASE! I don't want this! I don't want this! Get it off of me, please!"

"Caroline, it's alright; it'll be over before you know it!"


"Caroline, what in blazes do you mean?"

"I'm leaving. Virgil has been missing for months and I know you had something to do with it, Cave," Caroline hissed.

"Caroline, please, Virgil is alright," Cave tried to calm his uncharacteristically angry assistant.

"Then prove it! Tell me he isn't in one of those stasis pods!"

"I-"

"Tell me you aren't kidnapping Deviants! Tell me Aperture hasn't devolved into slavery. I'm leaving. Immediately. Here is my letter of resignation."

Cave rose from his chair, his face a cloud of thunder, "I Refuse."

Caroline remained silent, watching him warily. She couldn't trust this man anymore.

She whispered, "What I'm leaving behind is enough, isn't it? The Portal gun? What about the fact that I saved your life when you were dying from moon poisoning?"

That broke him. Cave sat heavily in his chair, rubbing his forehead wearily. "Caroline... My dear Caroline. I-" he glanced at the stack of files on his desk, an idea popping into his brain.

"Fine, I'll let you leave on one condition," he promised.

Caroline crossed her arms, "... yes?"

"The G.L.a.D.O.S. Project. I want to use your brilliant mind for it."

Caroline stepped backward and balked, unable to contain her shock. "Excuse me? But-"

"I won't back off on this, Caroline. You know how important your deviation is to Aperture! If we download your genius brain into G.L.a.D.O.S. then you will be free to go! It's a win-win scenario!" Cave flourished his arms, praising his own genius.

She fidgeted with her neck scarf, trying to keep her cool, "It isn't finished."

Cave rolled his eyes, "Of course it is. Don't worry your pretty little head over it, Caroline... Do you want to leave or not? It's your choice."


PLEASE! I DON'T WANT THIS!


"I DON'T WANT THIS!"

Lira watched with fascination as Glados grew more and more panicked, her terror evident in her screams.

"CAVE! PLEASE!"

Jackpot.

She had to yell over the sound of the mechanical screeching and Glados' wailing, "Doug! Turn it off! I think we did it!"

Doug switched off the machine hurriedly, snatching the metal headpiece from Glados' head.

"Retrieve the memories while they're still fresh," Lira snapped at him.

Rattmann obeyed, swallowing his pity for the terrorized girl strapped to the machine. They had never actually intended to attempt the download... they knew that the G.L.a.D.O.S. Project was a failure. Cave Johnson himself had shut it down after Caroline's death.

They just wanted to scare her enough to get Caroline's memories flowing again.

"Sorry, Glados, hold on for a minute," he whispered as he placed his hands over her tear-streaked face.

Glados cried out hysterically, "NO! LET ME GO-"

And Douglas Rattmann found himself deep in the mind of Caroline Short.


January 6, 1973-

"Turn off the machine!" Cave howled over the screaming machinery and panicked voices of the scientists. Caroline's cries had ceased nearly a minute earlier.

"You idiots! I'll fire each and every one of you! Turn it off!" Cave thundered.

The G.L.a.D.O.S. machine writhed uncontrollably above their heads, knocking multiple scientists off the balcony.

"We're trying, sir!"

Then the machine started to scream in a terrifying way: In the voice of a woman.

Two hours, six injured scientists, and a deadly gas leak later Cave sat at the foot of the chair where Caroline's body still sat. The G.L.a.D.O.S. machine had been forever silenced above.

Caroline wasn't dead, but in a vegetative state. Her mind was just... gone.

He had never intended for it to end like this.

Cave broke into tears, kissing Caroline's hands and apologizing over and over again to what was now just an empty shell. He had instructed the scientists to leave him alone with her and brainstorm a way to save her.

He had much to reflect on.

Where did I go wrong...?

Virgil. Virgil was when Cave had really snapped. The thought of turning on one of his closest friends had never even occurred to him. The weight of what he had done had weighed on him, and he took out his madness on Caroline.

Caroline who had held the weight of his world.

Why had he been so stupid?

She was the most intelligent wom- no, person he had ever met. And he was the one who had ended her because of his own selfish greed.

"I should have listened to you, Caroline. When did I stop following your advice?" he gazed up at her soulless eyes. No acknowledgment. Not a blink.

Nothing.

A tear dripped down his cheek, "I loved you too much to let you go."

Hours later his head scientists came together with a plan to save Caroline's deviation.

"You want to clone her?" Cave was dumbstruck.

It was madness. Even for them.

"The theory is sound," insisted one of them, a pudgy pale male who Cave didn't remember well. "Think of it: If it's her deviation that you're trying to save and others cannot utilize it by enhancements, then the only logical way is to inherit it. We can keep her body alive for as long as we need to perfect the process."

Cave glanced around the room, gauging reactions from the other men.

All of them, men. Caroline would have had the perfect solution. A genius one, I'm sure.

One of them nodded, "It'll work, Sir. It may take time, but..."

Cave sighed and bowed his head slightly. "Do it."

It became evident over the following years that the cloning process was going to be more difficult than they had at first thought. Each clone created had very little pigment (to which the scientists' couldn't agree on a cause) and every single one died by the age of four, screaming from nightmares and agonizing pain.

After the first three Glados clones (a name they had all decided was fitting... Cave flat out refused to name the clones after Caroline) Cave had isolated himself from the project. When he watched the life fade from their small eyes, he could only see Caroline die out again and again.

Over the years he visited her stasis pod, waiting for the day that she would sit up and smile at him.

To honor her he secretly had Virgil's pod removed from the assembly, burying his friend deep in lower Aperture. He couldn't let him go... he couldn't get himself to face his friend. But maybe one day someone else would.

At the ripe age of 74, Cave Johnson passed away, his ashes shot into deep space.

And Caroline continued on.


Oh my gosh, guys. I am sooooooo super sorry about the ridiculously long hiatus! I had never intended to go on hiatus, but you know, life happens, haha. I had also intended to make this a longer chapter, but I'm tired and I've been writing all day, so I hope it turned out okay! I want to get this story finished (because we are nearing the end already, wow). And it's been almost an entire year since I started posting it on here! Absolutely crazy.

Anyway, I'm sorry about all the angst. o_o

I've also posted Lira's character sheet on my DeviantART account! (Like I previously mentioned if you wanna see art for this fic go to dA and type my username LOSHCOMIXFAN into the search bar. I have a folder dedicated specifically to this fic). Hope you like her! Let me know what you think!

Reviews welcome! Thanks again for all your patience! You guys are amazinggggg ^-^

-Moe