Chapter Text
"Alright", said GLaDOS with a sigh. "Let's try this again. Orange. Blue. Back to your starting positions."
The bots gave a wave as they stepped out of a door, freshly minted, their previous bodies disintegrating in an acid lake.
This was starting to get frustrating. Though she made the two of them so that they're not afraid to die and can be easily replaced, they're clumsy. They are slightly more intelligent than turrets. They have to be, of course, considering they have to face them in their tests. But they're not the brightest. This is no fault of GLaDOS, however. She has restrictions to how intelligent she can make them. We don't want another rebellion, now do we?
Yes, this is a more practical way to approach testing due to the endless supply of test subjects. But at what cost? She could improve them so that they do complete a test without flaw, but then that'll lead to a lack of any flaw. And what's the fun in that? If they pass every test without some sort of fluke, that'll get just as boring. It's missing something. Something....
Human.
Not like she could get one at this point. The last one in the facility was Chell and she's not coming back. Good riddance. Sub-par testing triumphs over a facility-destroying lunatic. No, the human element is not important. Tests can be completed by AIs just as well, if not better than those putrid apes.
But it's alright because, when she wasn't testing Atlas and P-body, she's been doing her own private testing, sin portal gun. She's been working on making a more mobile version of herself. An android. Despite having full control of the facility in her current body, she still has many blind spots. She learned that from Chell.
So, rather than leave it up to Atlas and P-body to put more cameras all over the place, she decided to take it upon herself. Though she would never admit it, GLaDOS had enjoyed walking through the facility with Chell and getting a view she never got to experience before. Well, getting carried. As a potato. Forked by the operational end of a portal device.
GLaDOS shuddered at the memory.
Well, it doesn't matter. GLaDOS is perfectly content between testing and building an android and Chell's off somewhere doing whatever it is she does when she's not destroying Aperture Laboratories. All is perfectly fine.
"Warning: Security breach in the central control chamber lobby. Security alarms activated."
"What? That's impossible! There's nobody here!", GLaDOS shouted over the alarms. "What could possibly-"
She stopped.
The alarms went silent. Something is wrong. Something is horribly wrong. She's seeing something she shouldn't be. It must be an error. It has to be some sort of error. If it is, it's terrifying. If it's not....
No. She can't be here. Why would she be here? If GLaDOS was human, she would probably collapse to her knees at this point. But she's not, thank god, so she has no need for such a disgustingly weak display, even if she had knees to collapse on.
GLaDOS blinked and the vision was still there. She blinked again. And again. And again. It was still there. She considered rebooting, but didn't. She was hearing something. Something very loud and labored.
Breathing.
The world stopped turning as GLaDOS reached out her claw and gently poked Chell in the shoulder.
Unlike GLaDOS, Chell actually did collapse to her knees before falling flat on the floor. Though, this wasn't due to shock so much as exhaustion and terrible physical condition. Her breathing, though quieter, could still be heard.
Lifting the human's unconscious body from the floor, the AI paid no heed to the robots who just completed their test.