GLaDOS closed her eye, masking her surprise. She wanted to know who she was?
"Chell: Former Aperture test subject, murderous lunatic, and previously thought to be mute. I suppose I'll have to edit your file when I get back. Thanks for the extra work, by the way." GLaDOS tried to ignore the fact that her pulse was beating more loudly and frequently than before. Was it the effects of the medication she had been given or was Chell making her nervous? Hah, nervous. She would have to remedy that. "Oh, and you're adopted."
Chell answered, "Am I?"
GLaDOS looked at the test subject again. "Are you being serious?"
Chell frowned, "Do I look like I'm not? Do you really know anything about me or am I wasting my time talking to you?"
GLaDOS wasn't expecting this. She didn't know what to say. "I don't... I don't know. Your file was redacted. I could never access it."
"Are you lying to me?" Chell's voice lowered. Angry.
"I'm not," GLaDOS was sincere. She didn't know Chell's background. All she knew was her name. "Somebody wiped your file before you woke up. I never attempted to recover it. I was too busy being dead, you know."
Chell rolled her eyes and looked away, deep in thought. She eventually spoke. "Is there a way to restore it?"
GLaDOS genuinely didn't know. Aperture had been defunct for centuries while she had been deactivated. Sure, she had spent the last three years rebuilding her kingdom and it was coming along nicely (until the moron had to go and ruin everything). But if she could convince the former test subject that it was possible to recover her information, then maybe... Just maybe...
"There is," GLaDOS lied. "But I have no way of accessing that information right now. I need to retake control of Aperture first."
Chell squirmed in her chair, clearly anticipating what was coming next.
"You help me get my body back, then I'll help you figure out who you are," GLaDOS confirmed. And then she proceeded to tell the former test subject everything that had transpired over the past few days.
Chell didn't want to go back. Not in a million years did she want to step foot in that facility.
But GLaDOS seemed strangely genuine, similar to the way she had acted while attached to the potato in lower Aperture. Chell had never fully let down her guard around the AI then, though, and she had no intention of doing so now. She wouldn't roll over that easily.
"Why on Earth should I help you?"
GLaDOS frowned, "It's only fair we make an exchange. Besides, I'm being practical. If you don't help me recover my facility, I physically cannot help you recover your file. It's that simple."
Chell shifted in her seat, annoyed by the AI's logic. She wanted to know her background so badly, but the price was too high. "I won't go back there."
"Then I can't help you."
An impasse. Could Chell continue her life without knowing who she used to be? She could forge ahead, move somewhere far away from Aperture's presence. Find a new job. Make some friends...
Living was so difficult sometimes. She had never been able to shake off Aperture. Couldn't move on. Everyone around her could tell that something held her apart from them. That she was different.
She wanted to know.
Chell took a deep breath, "If I help you, you'll get me my file and let me go?" she wanted to be sure.
"Of course."
"No tricks. No more testing," Chell was firm.
"I give you my word. I let you go the first time, didn't I? I thought we had formed a bond of trust," GLaDOS said.
Chell almost laughed. Trust. Sure. But if she did this, there was also the risk that they would fail. If this new AEGIS AI captured Chell instead and forced her into testing... She wasn't sure she had the capacity to do it all again. It was a heavy risk.
"I won't do it again," Chell spoke.
GLaDOS seemed to know what she was thinking. "And you won't. AEGIS' programming is pathetically limited compared to my own. He stands no chance against the two of us."
"And Wheatley?"
GLaDOS chuckled, "Ha, that idiot is not coming with us. He'll just side with whoever seems less likely to crush him to pieces, and I promise you that won't be me."
"You could always try not crushing him to pieces," Chell suggested.
GLaDOS's brow raised as if the idea was completely foreign to her. "Or he could try not being the dumbest idiot alive. We all have our flaws."
Chell sighed. She couldn't believe she was even entertaining the idea, but...
"Fine. We have a deal."
She stood up and adjusted her shirt, glaring at GLaDOS. "But Wheatley is coming with us too. I need somebody to carry my things."
Author's Note: Okay, I lied. I got another short chapter written up today XD Please enjoy! (And also a special shoutout to my super sweet commenter on this story :) You're awesome)