GLaDOS was feeling good for the first time since inhabiting this human's body. Her face still stung, but the medication that the quack doctor had given her had admittedly been working. The air down in lower Aperture was heavy and earthy, and the sharp scent of rusted metal made her feel a sense of nostalgia. It was oddly relaxing.
Chell landed next to her with a clang of her long-fall boots and motioned down at Wheatley to follow her.
"I-I don't know if I can do that!" Wheatley called up at the women, gesturing to the blue repulsion gel splattered in front of him.
GLaDOS rolled her eyes, "You jumped after me out of the elevator shaft and you're too scared to jump upward? Really?"
Wheatley fidgeted with his glasses and replied, "I-I just- It's just- All the jumping and flying through the air," he stammered. "It's making me feel... funny. Queasy? Queasy, I think."
GLaDOS huffed but chose not to say anything as Chell gave her a look as if daring GLaDOS to start another fight. Fine. She'd remain civil for now.
Chell gestured for him to follow again, "Last jump," she assured him. "There are some offices up here we can take a break in."
GLaDOS decided not to wait around and meandered toward the offices on her own. She pushed against the door and it creaked, hitting the ground as the rusted hinges gave out under the pressure. She grabbed it before the thing could fall over and rested it against the wall.
She sniffed and scrunched her nose at the smell of decaying, mildewy carpeting. The place had once been overrun by Aperture employees, busy at their desks; drinking their daily coffee as they shuffled through filing cabinets for their paperwork.
"Welcome, gentlemen, to Aperture Science. Astronauts, war heroes, Olympians- you're here because we want the best, and you are it," GLaDOS gripped the wall as Cave Johnson's voice blasted over the loudspeaker in the room, the voice reverberating in her head unpleasantly.
"No," she gritted her teeth, "Not him. Not him again!"
"Who?"
She straightened up, Chell standing behind her with a questioning look. GLaDOS tried to relax, "Mister- The crazy lemon man," she caught herself. Mister Johnson.
Yes sir, Mister Johnson.
She repressed a shiver. Shut up.
"So: Who is ready to make some science?" The voice assaulted her ears and she whirled around, looking for the source of the sound so she could destroy it. She spotted the loudspeaker in the corner and went for it, grabbing a nearby swivel chair to launch at it.
"Astronauts, war heroes-"
"BE QUIET!" she shouted and lifted the swivel chair over her head. She went to throw it and-
"Stop!" Chell had grabbed GLaDOS's arm, Wheatley on the other side ready to grab the chair but clearly afraid to approach her.
"There's nothing there," Chell's brow was furrowed. Was that irritation? Certainly not concern.
"The speaker," GLaDOS insisted, "I'd like to take a rest without that man's grating voice intruding in on my thoughts, wouldn't you?"
Chell's voice lowered, her eyes locked onto GLaDOS's single one as if searching for something. "There's no voice. We didn't hear anything."
GLaDOS stiffened, "Cave Johnson's voice. How could you not have heard that? It must have echoed throughout all of lower Aperture."
"Maybe- hey, maybe I should take this," Wheatley grabbed the chair from her grip and GLaDOS let him, her hands suddenly feeling numb.
Chell simply shook her head and GLaDOS stared at her. It was real. She had heard it. She had definitely heard it. "Don't you look at me like that. I'm not crazy," GLaDOS said.
Chell shook her head, "Didn't say you were. We should probably get some sleep, though. It'll help all of us."
GLaDOS pulled away, suddenly feeling the need to get out of that room as quickly as possible. "Forget that. You two take a beauty nap or whatever it is you humans call it. I'm going to explore nearby. Don't wait up."
"You really ought to sleep too," Chell called after her.
GLaDOS simply waved her hand and continued out the door on her own, ignoring Chell's words and blocking out the moron's voice entirely. Forget them. Forget lower Aperture.
She wandered over to the other office buildings and tried to control the anxiety that had overrun her brain back there. Mister Johnson's voice had been so clear. So very real.
GLaDOS entered a smaller office, taking in the sights with her brand-new human perspective. The last time she had been down here, she had been nothing but a few wires and a lens attached to a potato. Everything was much clearer now. Much smellier too.
She turned the corner and jolted as she found herself face-to-face with-
"Mister Johnson."
Last time, she had made Chell stop and look at the photograph, scrutinizing it with the few volts of electricity she could manage. She had nearly overloaded last time at the sight of it. This time...
She realized her hands were shaking. Her legs, too.
Look at me back then. I wonder how long it's been.
"NO!" she cried to herself, "No! She's dead. Caroline is dead. I deleted you. I deleted her-" her voice hitched, and she grabbed the picture frame. "So why won't you stop talking?!"
Caroline was supposed to be gone. She thought maybe hearing the voice was a side effect of being stuck in a human body, but Caroline kept popping up. She wouldn't stay down. Like a parasite, Caroline had latched on and wouldn't leave GLaDOS alone.
She was taking over her thoughts, even dragging Mister Johnson over with her.
"Caroline, be a dear and get me that paperwork-"
"Caroline, my brilliant assistant-"
"Caroline!"
"Caroline-"
GLaDOS ripped the portrait off the wall and screamed as she slammed it into the ground repeatedly. It refused to break, so she whirled around and grabbed a pair of scissors off the desk and without losing a beat, stabbed through the canvas where Caroline's face was. Her vision grew blurry with tears and her ears rang. She was vaguely aware that she was screaming, yelling, probably crying, but the senses weren't connecting. All she wanted to do was destroy Caroline. Erase the both of them so that she would never see or hear them again.
Leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!
The portrait was in shreds, but she couldn't stop. Not until every single bit of canvas had been completely and utterly destroyed. She stabbed and stabbed and-
"GLaDOS!"
She stopped, the voice snapping her back to reality. She heard the hum of the electricity running through the lights above, the sound of wind echoing through the underground. Mister Johnson and Caroline remained silent.
GLaDOS was vaguely aware of Chell on her knees next to her, pulling the scissors from GLaDOS's limp hands. She heard Wheatley say something behind her, but it was unclear. Chell said something back to him, and she heard his footsteps as he treaded along the catwalk away from the office.
"Okay," GLaDOS's voice was shaky, and her breathing heavy, "Maybe... maybe a little crazy."
Author's Note: Long time no see! Sorry about the long wait :*D My trip got extended and I've been going through all kinds of stuff since I got back, so I finally had the time to sit down and get some writing done and... yeah. Anyway, hopefully I'll be back to regular updates, but I just started a new job and will be pretty busy. Thanks so much for your patience :)))