Corruption

Part 11 - Unwanted Commentary

This dull cycle of testing continued until Chell came across a large chamber with a small office high above. The ever-present Cave Johnson was rambling about homeless people, astronauts and glass but she had long since tuned him out.

She shot a portal high above her and the other on the floor below her. She fell through, regained her balance and looked to her right. Only then did it click in her mind as she realised what she had to do to reach the suspended office. She shot the portal on the wall to her right and jumped. She flew through the portal she had put in the floor and went rocketing over the expanse and landed in the office.

Chell looked around and saw a familiar figure lying on the ground. She walked around the divider and looked down on the broken form of her nemesis. GLaDOS looked up and her face lit up. "Oh my God. It's you. Quick, help me up." Chell warily stretched her free hand out towards the dilapidated android who gladly took it. She wobbled a bit but finally stood up before stretching. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you. Seriously, I was starting to think that I would die down here. What did that idiot do up there?"

As if on cue, the ground shook as a deafening clang resonated from the ceiling. GLaDOS scowled and started ranting about atomic fireballs before she collapsed and her glowing yellow eyepiece went dark. As GLaDOS was far too heavy to move, Chell sat down and waited. It took a few minutes but she finally rebooted with a pleasent ding as she shot up, disorientated. "What happened whilst I was out? You... Haven't moved. Well, I'm up now, start waddling." Chell narrowed her eyes but hit the red button on the desk beside her and dropped down to the floor. GLaDOS soon followed, landing gracefully. Chell made her way up to the platform once more, moved her portal and jumped. She was catapulted over the chasm and onto a metal platform. Chell rolled, stood up and kept walking towards the lift. A clang behind her and a disgruntled "Oof. Ow." behind her, told her that her 'partner' made it across as well. They entered the lift together and waited. There was an awkward silence as the unlikely duo rode one step closer to freedom. They walked out the door into yet another test. So Chell fell back into her rhythm of tests, this time with the odd commentary. Until they got to a particular test

"Caroline, are the compensation vouchers ready?""Yes sir, Mr Johnson." GLaDOS mimicked the spritely assistant, made some confused robot noises and shut down for a few minutes. Once she had rebooted (again), they were on they're way. Eventually, they reached the hatch to the more modern part of Aperture. The floor rumbled again. Chell and GLaDOS looked at each other and sighed. This was going to be one hell of a ride.