Corruption

Part 18 - Crap Turrets

If they were where Chell thought they were, then it was time to get busy. She was about to get up when she heard a crackling noise from the speakers. It sounded like a fight. Then, his voice, strained with effort called out "Chell... run... please..." A short burst if static signified the end if the message. Chell looked at GLaDOS, the at the ceiling. She paled as a whirring noise filled the air, along with the acrid smell of neurotoxin. She held in a breath and ran, GLaDOS's metal boots clanging behind her. She used her arm to latch onto the rail, momentum pushing her forward. Little starbursts popped in clusters at the side of her vision, but she kept running. She knew she had to stop eventually. Looking behind her, GLaDOS had a glimmer of fear in her eyes as she tried to keep up. Chell stumbled, lungs screaming. She felt like she could fly... 

GLaDOS saw that Chell was struggling. She caught Chell as she fell and shoved a gas mask over her mouth. Because why wouldn't she have a built in oxygen mask? As she walked, carrying an unconscious Chell, she found the turret control room. She had an idea. The master turret had been fixed and turret production at normal. Well that just wouldn't do. She knew the machine would continue from memory so all she had to do was catch a 'crap' turret and put that in place of the master turret. One problem, the door was locked. Luckily, the glass had been broken by something vaguely spherical. She fiddled around for a second before the locked clicked and the door swung open. Now for the crap turret.

Catching a turret proved to be a difficult task. Out of 9 rejects, she hadn't caught a single one. They either went too high or too far away. She'd been hit by one, her shell slightly dented. 10 tries later, she finally caught one. It rambled on as she brought it back. She opened the door and half threw the defective turret onto the scanner. They were deadly, efficient but bloody heavy. The scanner accepted it and GLaDOS dusted the soot off her slightly grey lab coat. She sat with Chell, regulating her breathing and pulse manually, until she drifted off to sleep mode.

Chell slowly came around, throat desert dry. She reached to her mouth to find an oxygen mask. Where was she? She looked around eyes flicking to the crap turret. She didn't... Her suspicions were correct. GLaDOS had done the exact same thing she had done. The hole was still there! She prodded GLaDOS gently. The robot made some faint boot up noises and opened her eyes. She was overjoyed Chell was alive but had no idea what to do next. Luckily, Chell did. She stood up, slightly woozy, and practically dragged GLaDOS to the neurotoxin generator, somehow repaired and fuctional. Seeing as she didn't have Wheatley or a portal gun anymore, this was a lot harder. She led GLaDOS up to the control room and gestured for her to 'do her thing'. GLaDOS pulled up a keyboard and began typing. She knew this system inside and out. If she could just alter the code, she could cause it to self destruct. She pulled out her USB stick and opened a file called 'Kill.py'. All Aperture codes were written in Python. So if she hit run, the entire system went down. So as to spare the rest of Aperture, she sectioned off the control code for the generator and hit Execute. The effects were instantaneous. The massive generator began to cripple and fold like a crushed tin can. The implosion was somewhat entrancing. Chell had already seen this and instead opted to go out the way they had come and wait for what happened next.

The tube shattered. Both GLaDOS and Chell heard and came running. Chell grabbed GLaDOS's hand and ran towards it. The feeling of flying made Chell positively sick for the umpteenth time, but GLaDOS was screaming in delight. As they came up to the junction, Chell gripped onto GLaDOS's arms. The two giggled and continued zooming along. A few minutes later and they were out. As long as nothing had changed, then they were safe. They walked in silence, apart from the occasional witty comment from GLaDOS.

GLaDOS recognised where they were: bring your daughter to work day. It had been held in the back office, away from anyone important. There must have been 5 or 6 families. Anxious fathers, knowing what was to transpire yet blissfully unaware of the travesty to occurr, Proud, albeit bitchy middle class ones, gossiping and discussing other people's children and products and 7 or 8 kids, the oldest being 12 ish. The youngest being 5. It was all going so well, until the sirens started roaring and lights began flashing. No one survived. Chell had stopped at one of the exhibits, the potato growing into the roof. She looked at it, saw the scribbled name on it, and stopped.

Chell was crying and GLaDOS couldn't blame her. The pair just stood there, looking at Chell's name, faded but legible. After a few long minutes, Chell poked her and walked off, wiping her eyes. More walking ensued. GLaDOS set herself a reminder to install more lifts and escalators as well as making the place more interesting to walk through. Finally, they came to a passageway. It opened up into a plain white chamber. A simple test. Chell was wary, glancing back the way they'd come. Something didn't add up.

GLaDOS was just as wary. She knew this was a trap, however subtle. As the pair moved slowly forward, Chell heard a painfully familiar whirring noise and ran the way she came, GLaDOS in tow. They ran, chose  a different route and found themselves at a junction where the hallway split off in 2 different directions. GLaDOS looked at Chell and said " So, which way?"