Alone: A Portal Fanfic

Chapter 4 - Assistant

Selene

Even after all the time I've spent around her, I was still awestruck by how much power GLaDOS wielded. She controlled the entire Enrichment Center and could see and hear nearly everything that happened within it. Watching her rebuild the central AI chamber was amazing. In my mind, there was no doubt about GLaDOS. She wasn't just the Queen of Aperture. She was Aperture.

Of course, there were perks to being her assistant. The Aperture Science Audio-Visual Relay and Sensory Device was one such pearl. The ASAVRaSD was an old idea of mine that GLaDOS brought to life. It was a partial headset that I could use to talk through the speakers. However, its best feature was how it allowed me to both see and hear the camera feed. This made it so I could help GLaDOS monitor test subjects and the facility in general.

I now had a workstation in the central core chamber. It was split up into three stations: the office desk, the workbench, and the test chamber designer. The test chamber designer was equipped with an Aperture Science Three-Dimensional Holographic Interface Projector. It was a fun and interactive way to design test chambers. It quickly became my favorite station since it sort of felt like a game.

At the moment we were watching Chell, who had arrived in the first test chamber. "Sorry about the mess," GLaDOS told her. "I've really let the place go since you killed me. By the way, thanks for that."

Beep. "Sarcasm Self Test complete," the Announcer stated. Beep.

"Oh good, that's back online. Selene and I will start getting everything else working while you perform this first simple test."

"It involves deadly lasers and how test subjects react when locked in a room with deadly lasers," I explained.

Chell quickly completed the test. "Not bad. I forgot how good you are at this."

"You should pace yourself, though. We have a lot of tests to do."

GLaDOS noticed my activities. "What are you doing?"

"Multitasking. I am watching Chell test while attempting to figure out what happened to Rattman after he moved her to the top of the test subject list."

"I see. Have you found anything?

"Not yet. However, considering he managed to survive your neurotoxin, I don't think we should take any chances. For now, we should assume that Rattaman is alive."

GLaDOS hummed at that. "That is a sensible decision. Based on my own experience, I can attest to his ability to live up to his surname. Keep looking into it and let me know what you find."

I nodded. "You're the boss."

—

Chell

I wasn't sure who I hated more: Selene or GLaDOS. However, I was certain that the two of them despised me equally.

"This next test involves discouragement redirection cubes," GLaDOS informed me. "I'd just finished building them based on Selene's design before you had your, well, episode. So now all three of us will get to see how they work. There should be one in the corner."

The test was easy, so it didn't take me long to complete it. However, at one point I briefly saw Wheatley. I suppressed a smile. Nice to know he's alive.

Unfortunately, Selene chose to comment on it. "Don't get your hopes up, Chell. That idiot may be alive, but there's nothing he can do to save you. On another note, the test results are in: You are a horrible person."