Chapter 7:The Past Hurts

The next morning Grayson awoke to an eerily dark room. He feels around for a flash light and turns it on,casting the light around his room. A knock emits from his door. Grayson gets up and walks over,opening it to meet a light of equal power.

"Something is wrong with the power." Glados said,adjusting her headlamp. 'No kidding. Any clue why?" Grayson signs groggily.

"External withdrawal. Whatever's sapping our power has very high power needs." Glados said.

'Wait,what about you, how are you still running?' Grayson asked. "All Autonomous employees in Aperture have an independent Self-Charging battery,and can function under 1.1 volts." Glados said.

'So no less than a potato battery.' Grayson signs.

"Indeed. Come,we must go to the emergency armory and prepare for the worst." Glados said.

What an amusing thought to have,to imagine Glados in a potato,with her rich voice coming from a tiny speaker.

Grayson nods,and follows Glados out of the room. They quickly run down the hall,and to a panel marked in bold red lettering that reads 'Emergency armory' and an arrow pointing at a lever. Glados quickly pulls it,revealing Aperture Multitools and light armor.

They each grab one of each,and load up on ammo. Grayson puts the flashlight he had down,and turns on the armor's sight directed flashlight. 'For Emergency equipment,i feel a little underarmed..' Grayson signs as he analyzed the handgun like multitool.

"I don't expect a huge engagement either. This was intended for human intruders." She replied.

After locking the armory,they headed to the core. Their flashlights cast into the reactor room. The silence was almost deafening. Grayson casts his light on the reactor console,as Glados walks over to it. 'Something feels off...' Grayson thought. Glados opens the computer,"Ill put us on the reserve reactor." She said,starting the reserve reactor. The lights turn back on in a bright red hue.

'WARNING! -1- Intruder detected in Section 2'

"That's really close." Glados said quietly. 'Got a plan?' Grayson signs. "First we need to establish a front,then attack when the intruder least suspects it." Glados said. 'That seems a bit underexplained.' Grayson signs. Glados scowls at him slightly,"Let's get going then,you'll find out why." She said.

They both ran down the empty corridors,and stop. Heavy metallic footsteps filled the empty halls. Glados turns her flashlight off,as does Grayson. Slowly they peer around the corner to see a masculine male looming in the red light,his skin made of a blue-green opalescent metal,that was closely bound with skin. He paused,before turning toward them.

As quickly as he did,they disappeared back around the corner. He glares in their general direction,His red optics scan the hall,to find nothing there. With a low growl he turns back around and resumes walking. Grayson and Glados tail behind him,avoiding being seen. They soon find that the being was retreating down an elevator shaft that was separated from the rest of the building. Glados runs over to the door and casts her light into the inky blackness,to find the shaft empty. For the first time,Glados was actually chilled to the bone,and for her,that means this danger is very real,and very imminent.

"Grayson,what I'm going to say is very important. We need to go down there and deal with whatever stole our power." She said. 'Okay,sorry to be rude and all,but are are you blind?! What the hell do you expect these pea shooters to do?!' Grayson signs frantically.

"You can stop yelling first off,and second off,no I'm not blind. I know very well that we are outmatched. But if we don't deal with it soon,it will be back. Besides,these tools have plasma coated 10mm rounds,so we might at least hurt it. " She said.

'Whatever you say.' He signs. Glados took a few steps back,and deploys fall bracers,and faithfully leaps into darkness,Grayson following suit.

They soon land in an old elevator bay,their landings resonate through the building. 'Well,if he didn't know we were here,he probably does now.' Grayson signs. "Your optimism is noted,White." She whispers,as she quietly walks over to the entrance. Grayson turns off his light,as does Glados,suspending them in almost pure darkness. The light of Glados's optics was the only thing giving light to the chafts. Quietly Grayson starts to pry open the door. As the door opened wider,a very unwelcome feeling came about. 'Absolute silence from here on out okay?' Grayson signs. 'Way ahead of you.' She signs back.

Very quietly they sneak into the elevator bay,their eyes well accommodated to see in almost absolute darkness. As they quietly made their way down the corridor,piano music was heard distantly. Slightly chilled they keep walking,following the soft chords of the piano's song. They enter a room with the large metal man playing a piano. He stops briefly to let off a loud and sick cough,and resumes. Under new light the titan was clearly like them,human,but machine as well.

Glados pressed her multitool against the back of the male's head,"You have something that's our's." Glados said.

"Aww. Im sorry. I've already used the power." He purrs,putting his hands up. "And it's good to see you too,Glados." He said. The large male's voice sounded like Cave Johnson's,only it was coming through an obsolete speaker.

Glados pressed the multitool against his head more,"Who the hell are you? How do you know me?" Glados asked. "Ah,now there's an interesting topic.." He said with a dark sense of wonder in his voice. Grayson was grabbed by a male of equal mass,trapped in a restraining hug. Glados didn't hesitate,as the man kept playing. "Let him go." She said.

The man chuckles,"Why should I? You're powerless." He said,as he rose. Glados backs up warily as she came eye to eye with the machine. It resembled a human,but the metallic color now looked faded under candle light. His face was barely distinguishable,but what Glados could see was the glare of a set of turret optics,which had been repurposed for the being.

Grayson yelps slightly,as his armor began to cave in some as the machine that had him was slowly getting tighter.

Glados started to move to his aid,when suddenly the machine moves with sudden speed,knocking Glados aside. She slams against the wall with a reverberating crash,that travelled through the emptiness of the facility.

Grayson pants as he starts to panic in his captor's arms. He grabs his multitool,and growls as he unleased plasma coated lead into his captor. He yells and lets Grayson go,allowing him to get free and come to Glados's aid.

He was stopped short as his entire world went black. The captor looks at his partner,as his fist rose from Grayson's back. "Get them separated before they wake." He commands.

The injured captor grabs Grayson and Glados,dragging them to separate rooms. "It's time to test." He purrs sinisterly.

//Warning! Traumatic damage detected//

>Run Diagnostics

>Scanning.....

>Core Mainframe.....Online

>Main Battery.....Online

>AUX. Battery....Not Responding

>Core Life Support...Online

>Misc. Subsystems.....Online

>[Untitled Wireless Connection]....Not Responding

>>Initiate Startup Sequence

//Warning;Your wireless connection will be disconnected. This could include important processes that ensure the safety of the Laboratory. You can reconnect in Resting Mode,or in the apocalyptic circumstances of an absolute shutdown. Are you Sure?

>Yes

>Initializing...

Glados woke,restrained to a chair. The captor purrs,grabbing her chin,"Caroline,honey,it's time to wake up." He said. "Who the hell are you talking about?" Glados spat. He purrs softly,and Glados yells in pain as electrical currents invade her circuits. "I said wake. Up." He said.

She laughs,"I dont know what the hell you mean." Glados said. The being chuckles,"Maybe i need an introduction. I am Cave Johnson. I built this place,and I built you." He said.

"You didn't build me. Your lackeys did." Glados Spat..

"I owned them. I still built you." Cave said. He then chuckles evilly,"And your friend...Weiss was it?" He asked curiously. "It's White." Glados said with a soft growl.

"Ah,thats right." Cave said,as he turns away.

Glados froze,as he turns away,"What are you getting at?" She asked. Cave laughs softly,"Well,your partner is dedicating his life to Science,working for me. Honestly I'd hate to take your revenge from you,but science must go forward." He said.

Glados started struggling. Given how crazy Cave's recordings were at the time,she was certain he was more of a threat than Grayson was. "Babygirl. Hey you're alright.." Cave said,leaning in close to steal a kiss. Glados rears her head and headbutts him,hard. Cave reels back in surprise,and slight pain. "You will NOT kill Grayson." Glados said. "And how will you stop me huh? A simple headbutt isn't enough to kill me." He growls.

Glados gave an unnaturally calm smile,she leans forward,"Cave,come here. I want to tell you a secret." She said. He steps closer. "If I couldn't kill Grayson,what in the name of science makes you think you'll be any luckier?" Glados asked.

"I have my methods." He said.

"Doubt it." Glados said.

Cave leaves in irritation,closing the door to the room behind him.

Grayson gasps awake, and looks around the puzzle room he was in,finding it barren. "You know Cube and Button based testing started all of this you know. In this very Testing Sphere." Cave said over the chamber's speakers. "Oh you'll want to watch your step,some of those floor panels are loose." Grayson looks around,finding something off about this test. There were black tiles,and white tiles arranged in a rather odd pattern. He looks at the tile he was on. It was white. Out of curiosity,he looks around his spot and finds a loose bolt. He grabs it and throws it at a black tile. It fell,revealing a sea of asbestos below.

Grayson grimaced some. "Ive also taken the liberty to remove the braces on your legs. Don't fall now." Cave chuckles evilly.

Grayson walks backward some,and jumps over a black tile to another white one. He repeated this several times,almost falling a few times as he made his way across the trapped room. He soon reached the door,which slammed shut behind him.

Grayson sighs and looks around as he walks along a catwalk. The smell of stagnant asbestos filled water made Grayson gag slightly as he made his way through the broken lab to the next test.

"You remember Repulsion Gel right?" Johnson asked. "Well,as you've probably heard,one unlucky son of a gun got blue paint. Maybe it'll be you that gets paint." He chuckles.

That made Grayson's blood run cold. He may have been augmented,but as far as he knew,humans augmented or otherwise didn't have to fall terribly far to hurt themselves in Aperture.

He makes it to a rather tall room. He peers over the edge,to find an EXTREMELY long drop. And somewhere in the middle,was an exit door. He also saw a tiny sky blue square that Grayson hoped was Repulsion gel. He pats himself down,pulling a rolled blunt out. He puts that in his mouth,and continues searching for something to drop. He grumbles slightly and takes off one of the sneakers that his Fall Bracers were replaced with.

He drops it.

There was a soft thud of an impact,followed by the sneaker quickly returning to him. He grabs his sneaker and slips it on. Even for Aperture a test of this size without fall bracers was daring,but he had to do it if he wanted to help Glados. After taking a deep breath,Grayson steps off the edge.

He fell rapidly,reaching the bottom and bounding off the gel,and lands Not so gracefully. He wheezed slightly from landing on his back,and the shock of such a long fall. He leans up,and shakily continues walking. If Cave doesn't kill Grayson,this will CERTAINLY be an experience to tell Glados about when it's all over.