I Don't Want Your Cake

GLaDOS was thankful she couldn’t see herself.  Without cameras, she could only see what was right in front of her.  Oh but if she had a mirror.  No longer was she in a lifeless chassis, which made it so easy to hide emotions.  She need only keep her voice steady, and no one would be the wiser to what she felt. Anger, hate, or fear.  Now? She possessed a humanoid body, and with it, expressions.  With only a twitch of a muscle, her face could shift which emotion it showcased. Fear being the current focus. Her optics flashed with momentary terror, and she found herself leaning back ever so slightly, despite knowing it would do nothing to the shot that could so easily kill her. She didn’t want to die.  Not again.  She had spent so long reliving her own death, lying in the rotting remains of a prison-like chamber, only allowed to see her own mistakes, over and over, forever.  She couldn’t do that again.  Still, her wants were not very high on Chell’s list of concerns.  The core could feel the hate coming from the girl, escaping her in waves.  She wanted revenge.  She wanted to get something back, from all Aperture had taken.  In a strange way, GLaDOS supposed she understood that much.  Had she not done the same? “…Don’t. Killing me will do you no good. You’ve done it once, haven’t you? Now you’re free, and I fully intended to leave you alone. Killing me now does nothing but further soak your hands with my blood.” The AI spoke slowly, her tone unsteady. She had no idea if this would even work.  But she had to try.  Normally she would’ve attempted to disarm the former test subject, but it was far too risky. “I do not have the energy to lie to you right now.  Do you think I’ve been wandering around this hell for fun? Do you really think that you’re the center of my world, and that I’ve come for you?  I came here because I’d be dead otherwise, and considering I’ve tried that once, I wouldn’t recommend it.”

The AI’s words did little to calm Chell. Perhaps She was telling the truth and had no intention of harming her? As nice as that thought might have seemed, Chell found it extremely unlikely. The AI lied. She always lied. She didn’t get enough enjoyment out of nearly ruining Chell’s life and then letting her go so now she was back for a third round. Chell wasn’t going to sit by and let it happen. She wasn’t going to have her life taken away. Not again.

Chell cocked the gun, placing the barrel ever nearer to the AI’s head. She could do it. She could pull the trigger and that would be the end of everything. No more AI haunting her behind every corner, no more Voice whispering to her in the night. No more claws reaching out from dark places to pull her back into a hell Chell had no words to describe. It would be so easy. Chell felt her finger tightening on the trigger.

Yet she couldn’t pull it. Call it fear or grace, Chell couldn’t bring herself to pull that trigger. Perhaps it wasn’t the right time, or perhaps the look of terror on the AI’s face struck too close to home, looked far too human than Chell would have ever considered Her. Whatever the reason, Chell slowly relaxed the gun, but kept it held firmly by her side.

Chell took a deep breath, fixing her eyes hard on the AI. She had heard a phrase, one that the people in the area had come to associate with Chell. ‘If looks could kill’. Chell hoped that was the expression she was putting off in this moment, because that’s exactly how she felt.

GLaDOS’s newfound face showed momentary confusion as she listened to her own voice, clearly not expecting what she had heard.  That was new.  As was basically everything else she had experienced.  For the first day she had to get a handle on walking around.  Stumbling around a wheat field for a good couple hours.  She had gotten the grasp on that, now she had this?  Not to mention temperatures effected her a lot more than she would’ve guessed.  She could feel the sun on her skin during the day, then feel the chill of night as the moon took it’s place.  She was all over the place. Lost and confused in a world she didn’t know, and a body she couldn’t understand. But she supposed none of that would matter if she was dead. “Will it make you feel better if I told you that I wasn’t expecting to find you out here? I’m not even looking for you. I said I wanted you gone, out of my life.  I don’t like being killed by you, shockingly.” The core didn’t move, standing her ground and shifting her gaze to meet Chell’s.  It was odd, seeing those steely grey eyes this close.  Not from the fuzzy optic on a potato, and not from cameras, watching from above.  No, this time they were face to face. And she couldn’t lie, it was… fascinating.  Seeing that determination and guarded expression up close for the first time. “I’m here because… I need something from the surface. Not human test subjects, before you accuse me of anything.” GLaDOS was hesitant to explain just WHAT she needed and why.  Saying, ‘I had to run from my own facility with my tail between my legs because if I didn’t I would’ve died,’ didn’t exactly seem like it’d help with the already damaged pride that she possessed. 

Chell didn’t lower her weapon, not even a little. In fact, she tightened her grip, releasing the safety and ready to pull the trigger. She still didn’t understand how, but her enemy stood before her and that meant any formalities were thrown out the window. It was life or death and she had fought too hard to die so easily.

Chell’s eyes narrowed, her lips pulled back into a snarl. It would be so easy to pull the trigger now, to watch whatever was behind that fake skin of hers erupt into hundreds of pieces as the remains of her head fell in showers down to her feet. Oh, how good that would feel, after everything this monster put her through, how good it would feel to finally get some revenge.

Everybody likes revenge.

Chell could still hear those words playing in the back of her mind. She was right, Chell did like revenge. But as much as she liked it she couldn’t allow herself to go through with it. She wasn’t a monster, nor did she mean to become one. She wasn’t like her, and she never would be.

GLaDOS hadn’t expected to run into anyone in these woods.  Humanity was probably dead anyway, and even if it wasn’t, she doubted humans would spend their time living in a forest that was no doubt filled with things that could kill them.  Mankind was stupid, but not that stupid. the core hadn’t expected to see anyone, but it hadn’t even crossed her mind that she’d run into someone she recognized. With a shotgun. Her first reaction was to blink in shock, eyes staring directly down the barrel of the weapon that was being shoved in her face.  It took her a moment to fully process.  Her chassis was fairly bulletproof, being made of strong metal.  This body however, not so much.  It was stronger than the average human, but since it was originally intended to be a human replica, and GLaDOS had little time to fix it, it was far from bulletproof. Especially not to a shotgun at point blank range. For a moment, she was silent.  She wasn’t sure if she was seeing things or not. Was this really Chell?  The human she thought she’d never see again, and never have the pleasure of being almost killed by again.  She didn’t know what to say.  Hell, she wasn’t even sure if she should say ANYTHING. The last thing the core wanted to do was reveal herself to someone who wasn’t exactly very fond of her, who also happened to have a weapon that could blow her head off with the slightest twitch. But she, unlike some people, was not so stubborn as to refuse to speak in situations less than ideal.  “…Would you mind getting that out of my face? For once, I haven’t done anything to you.” The voice that escaped her was both familiar and alien.  It was her voice, though it didn’t sound right.  It wasn’t as robotic as it should be.  It sounded… almost human.  

Recognition swept over Chell’s face for a moment before it was pushed under again. That voice, no matter how different it may be, Chell would recognize everywhere. It haunted her every step, always waiting for her to slip up, for her to show weakness and take her out before she had a chance of fighting back. 

This was the voice of her greatest enemy, and yet it was the voice of her savior.

Chell didn’t lower the gun. Not yet. Part of her wanted to blast that presumably metal head off of its equally metal shoulders, but Chell resisted. She wasn’t going to kill this thing, not yet at least. Luckily the sheer shock of hearing Her voice wasn’t enough to make her pull the trigger subconsciously, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t going to still consider it.

First, however, she wanted answers. However, asking them would prove to be difficult.

GLaDOS was unsure if other humans even still existed, as at the moment the only living things she had run into were some random animals.  There was clearly something… different about these creatures, even the simple ones like rabbits and birds.  Mutated in some way.  She longed to study them,  but now wasn’t the time. She had to find humans- or at least, old human dwellings-, and scrape together the supplies she needed.   She could only hope that she could even come across the materials she needed. The core hadn’t even thought about the fact that she’d have to interact with humans, should she find them. It likely wouldn’t be easy.  She looked… mostly human.  Her skin was incredibly pale, but not completely white.  She could be mistaken for a human with incredibly fair skin.  Her hair was artificial, but it too could technically be seen as a very, very light blonde.  After all, this body was originally going to be made to look as human as possible. It just had a few… GLaDOS-y additions.  Her eyes were gold. A striking yellow.  Far from natural, but considering the two headed squirrel she had seen earlier, she could explain it away as something to do with weird exposure to whatever it was that made the world look like this. She could TECHNICALLY pass.  But that didn’t mean she didn’t stick out.  Even if it wasn’t for her appearance, she walked and explored like someone who had never seen the surface.  She was slow and careful in her movements, always trying to scan the area around her to look for a danger.  Like a deer, constantly jumpy.

As the figure approached closer Chell realized it was a person, or at least of some sort. They looked like they hadn’t seen sunlight in ages, and the way they walked was somehow strange and uncomfortable. 

The better question was what was this presumably unexperienced person doing in the middle of the forest? The wildlife in this area was hardly docile. Everyone knew a deer’s fangs could puncture through muscle and tissue, and that even the poison from a frog was enough to leave the strongest man a melting pile of decomposing skin and fluids. 

This person was of no business to Chell, but she couldn’t help the feeling of responsibility over this person’s safety. After all, it made sense for those stronger to protect those weaker. Chell would have almost thought this person was a child if it weren’t for the height she was able to identify as the person got closer. It appeared to be a woman, a housewife most likely, somehow gotten herself lost in the woods only God knows how.

When the woman was close enough, Chell jumped down from her perch, holding up her gun to aim at the woman’s head, on the off chance she were in fact a threat. No words were spoken, just the long barrel of a shotgun pointed to her face and very calculating silver eyes inspecting her.

The first thing Chell noticed were the eyes. They were a bright golden. Unlike the yellow of the sun, their color held an unnatural trace, something that made Chell’s skin crawl. 

But it wasn’t the unnaturalness of the color that bothered her. It was the familiarity that came with it.

(( Rp starter for @tenacityatitsbest )) GLaDOS never thought she’d set foot outside.  It just wasn’t where she belonged.   Aperture Science had been her home-and prison- for her entire life. It was like a tomb. Her first and final resting place.   But as it turned out, fate had other plans. It had been about five months since the facility had almost been destroyed in a takeover by a moronic core, and then saved by a mute lunatic.  She had let Chell go, and hadn’t seen her since.  Wheatley was stuck in space, and the facility was in shambles.  It took awhile, but eventually she got it looking alright. She thought she had fixed everything, but she wasn’t completely right. An error message had popped up on the core’s monitors one evening, warning her of a power core failure.  At first she had been confused, squinting her optic at the screen to see if she had simply seen it wrong.  Power core? What power core? After searching her databanks she discovered that back when human scientists had run Aperture, they had maintained a power core that kept almost all of Aperture running. It didn’t need to be switched often, only every hundred years or so.  And they had last changed it around when GLaDOS was created.  She killed them all, then got herself killed for… a little over one hundred years.  Now, it was almost completely out of power.  When it ran out? The test chambers, hallways, reassembly machines and even GLaDOS herself would be out of power. Forever suspended in place. So naturally, a mild panic followed.  There wasn’t any replacement inside of Aperture. The scientists didn’t think they’d need to buy one for a long time, and now, there wasn’t anyone to get the materials for a new one.   GLaDOS didn’t particularly feel like dying again, so she got to work on the only idea that came to mind.  Getting it herself. After Chell left, she had been in need of test subjects. The co-op bots worked for awhile, but it wasn’t the same.  So, she started making something new.  Robotic humans. Artificial beings. Androids that looked and acted like humans would.  But she hadn’t gotten very far.  Only a shell of a body was done.  She didn’t like this idea, but she had to try. Within a day, she had worked endlessly on the android. Giving it as many features as possible, and shaping it into something that didn’t look like a walking pile of trash.  Then, with only hours of power left in the facility, she started a core transfer. It hurt. it was terrifying to think she’d be leaving her body once more.  But it was better than death.  Everything went black for a moment.  And when she opened her eyes, she was staring at her own chassis.  It had worked.  With little time to waste, she got into an elevator and made her way to the surface. And that was where she had been for the past three days.  She hated to say she was lost, but she was… a little out of place. She was never meant to be on the surface.  Now, here she was.  And it didn’t help that all her data was based on the earth one hundred years ago.  It seemed all her databases failed to mention the apocalypse, and the effects it had on the earth.  Her maps were practically useless, and her data on wildlife was lacking.  She had only just barely gotten out of the wheat field, finding herself in a nearby forest. Maybe she could just go back down to Aperture. Sit in a lifeless facility for the rest of her existence.  At least that would involve less BIRDS.

Living on the surface wasn’t what Chell had expected, but it was far better than what she had known before. The heat was unbearable, glaring down from the sky in angry yellow rays. But Chell would have chosen the heat of the sun over the cold walls of Aperture any day. 

It was obvious something horrible had happened on the surface, and some small part of Chell was almost glad she hadn’t had to endure what caused this cataclysm. Food and shelter had been her first priority, but finding such was harder than she might have expected. There were people on the surface, but none were too friendly. Not that Chell minded. She wasn’t friendly herself, nor did she care to get friendly with other people. All she needed to be able to do was trade goods for food and that was it. Any further relationships were unnecessary and avoided.

Every day Chell made her way out of her shed of a home and went into the woods to hunt. She was good at it, as it turned out there wasn’t much difference between hunting and testing. Part of that bothered her, bringing an all too familiar twinge to her stomach as she waited for just the right moment to make her kill, but it was necessary. She needed food and supplies to live, a little discomfort would have to be put up with.

Starter for @aperturesapiens

The sun had slowly begun to set in the sky. The summer heat was finally starting to die and with the night came a chill that hadn’t been in the air for months now. Chell had grown to hate the cold. It was too familiar, too much like the nightmares she tried to leave behind. But there was nothing for it but to build a fire and fight against the cold that threatened to permeate into her rugged home.

The home wasn’t much more than a few solid wooden walls and a ceiling that had seen better days. There was a stone fireplace and a place that somewhat resembled a kitchen, but no indoor plumbing or any working electricity. If it were up to Chell, she would have had it this way, anyways. The less automatic working parts the better in her mind.

Chell stoked the fire. It was finally starting to grow into something warm and comforting. She turned her head to look at the new person sitting in her home. She didn’t like strangers, particularly ones who claimed to be scientists, no matter how former. But there was something about this person that made Chell reconsider her standards of companionship. And this insane part of her mind had thought inviting such a person into her home was a smart idea. She still had yet to see if this would prove to be a fault in her judgement or not.