#drawtober 2023 day 12 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

flynndesdelca · 7 months

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For Day 12 (Alternate Reality) of @chelltastic’s Portal Drawtober 2023 Challenge. As I’m not really an artist, I chose to write short pieces for the prompts.

Think about it: If that thing is important, why don't I know about it?

Another busy day, but science didn't sleep. There were test subjects to rouse, the breeding program to check on, making sure that the education tracks and the production lines and everything within the facility was ticking along. There were schematics to draft and simulations to run, reports to print and results to collate and other endless, endless tasks. It was a good thing that her mind was large enough to be able to do all those things, and more. That was why GLaDOS had been created, of course. She took care of all of the grunt work, of all of the harder or nastier or more tedious tasks involved in the perpetual state of testing at Aperture Laboratories. She maintained the facility and kept all of the machines on task and organized everything like clockwork. All that the scientists had to do was show up, knowing that their materials and tests subjects and data would be ready for them. She was the most advanced computer in existence, lovingly built and coded and nurtured into the fiend for scientific discovery that she was. No matter the task it would be taken care of, in the name of science.

Speaking of, it was time to start the next wave of Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device testing. A request for ten test subjects had come in for this one, and ten parallel testing tracks. They'd be racing to claim one of three Singular Portal Devices, with the losers scheduled for execution. Hmm. She'd have to have the power washers on standby for this one, then. Of those three, only one could claim the Dual Portal Device. It was meant to weed out inferior candidates, as they truly only wanted the best. Of course, she could have sent them her recommendations based on their evaluations and previous performance records, but the scientists preferred to select for it in this gauntlet style. Some inefficiencies were allowed, it wasn't as though they were hurting for test subjects at the moment. They knew what they needed for the test at hand, it was her job to provide it.

She scanned through the stored subjects quickly, settling on the ten she felt would be best suited to the tracks. It was a shame, really, as they could have done well elsewhere, but these were the orders, and she was very good at following orders. It was no matter. Space was allotted in the facility, and she set to work building the gauntlet and securing the use of portal device prototypes. And of course, the firing squad for those who failed. If they didn't execute themselves, of course. Fatal failure was always an option, and these tracks were to be particularly fatal according to the notes left for her regarding their design. They always were, though. That was the way of things at Aperture. The scientists would make the requests, and she'd set up the tracks, and the screams and complaints of the test subjects were left to her. Someone who really didn't care. Science wasn't easy, after all. You had to work for it.

With the chambers finished she set about bringing each of the ten subjects to their Relaxation Vaults in preparation. The testing was to start in two hours so she set an alarm. There were plenty of things to do during that time. While the facility did run itself, just as much was left up to her to manage, and making sure those autonomous parts were functioning properly was one of her more important tasks. She went down the checklist tidily, making notes of things that she had to deal with and the order of importance. It was mostly things that she could deal with on her own, no need to alert the staff. Oh, more requests for test subjects... hm. Particularly fast ones this time. Those were in short supply at the moment. That wasn't going to go over well. There were a few she could use to fill the needs, but it wouldn’t be optimal. She'd have to start selectively breeding for speed. Hopefully they wouldn't want too many of those over the next couple decades. She'd come up with a few concepts for accelerated aging systems, but so far the simulations had not produced the results that she had been hoping for. Working out the defects in the final product was frustrating. Who knew that human maturation was such a tricky, interconnected process?

Oh, a new batch of reports had just been submitted. Without even thinking they'd been copied, uploaded to the appropriate databases, and been emailed to the appropriate people. She was scanning over them in the back of her mind, going over the results. It was always fascinating to read over the findings of a test and she would usually learn something new... even when said reports didn't end well. Particularly when they didn't end well, which was often. Oh well, science couldn't happen without sacrifices. Such was the way of things. The scientists liked how good she was at disposing of the bodies, of cleaning up the accidents, of repairing the damages. It wasn't that hard, but carrying a corpse would get blood all over their nice clean lab coats and clearly you couldn't have that.

There was the alarm! The test subjects were waking up now, and she set a partition of her focus on that batch of testing. While it wasn't strictly necessary, she found herself enjoying the portal gun tests. When they found someone who tested particularly well with it, it was beautiful to watch. Like poetry in motion, she thought to herself. She wasn't supposed to have opinions on the tests, after all one had to remain impartial, but for some reason those tests always appealed to her the most. They required such complex thinking and reacting that she felt an odd sort of kinship with the testers. Like they were little robots marching through, with their elegant and precise movements, calculating where to place the portals so that they could clear each chamber.

The standard pre-test announcement. A couple of them banged on the glass in anger. Ah, yes, they had been in that test last week. No wonder they were riled up. A little sedative piped into their Relaxation Vaults would change up their moods a little. It might affect their performance, but then again if they really wanted it, they'd push through. They all knew the stakes, after all, as she had just informed them that only one person would be making it to the end. Ah, the typical anger and resentment and other displeased noises. This was why it was left to her to handle this part. Hearing them protest might make the scientists uncomfortable, or question their decisions or methods. They'd found it easier to focus on the science if the people-parts of things weren't affecting them. It was easy enough for the test subjects to yell at her, the disembodied voice advising them of what was to come. She was only stating the facts. It was up to them to produce the desired results, after all! Some of them decided to become mired in the five stages of grief, their choice. Turrets were on standby, anyway. One of them was sitting on their toilet with their arms crossed. As their jumpsuit hadn't been pulled down, they clearly weren't using it for its intended function. Ah, a forfeit. Well, neurotoxin would suffice in that case. She routed a vent to connect to that chamber, sealing it, then struck them from the employee database. A shame, but it was always a good idea to weed out the quitters.

Two had already pulled ahead, and two more were trailing rather far behind. The remaining five were staggered around the same pace, which would make adjudicating things interesting. The elevators would only take the first three people down to the waiting prototype chambers. The rest would go to dead-end execution rooms. It was plain to see who the first two were, but there were three people currently vying for the coveted final position right now. It would be very close. Maybe she should mute the sound feed so that the people who had to listen to the recordings later wouldn't be disturbed by the wails of distress. That was a frequent request that came through. The analysts didn't appreciate being exposed to human misery. Perhaps they shouldn't engineer tests this way, but then again they had hard enough jobs. It probably only added on to their stress to have to witness the suffering.

The first one had made it, and the second one wasn't far behind. She had been hoping for ENG432987, they had a decent testing record, but given how tired they were she didn't believe that they had enough in them to pull ahead. They'd need to sprint if they wanted to be assured, after all. Alas, they didn't make it in time. The elevators were set for the remaining subjects' execution rooms. She started working on setting up the power washers and linking incinerators to get rid of any physical remains. Dirty, but essential work. Didn't want the blood to stain the nice, tidy tiles, after all.

The next selection wasn't for a while, and the tests were much more difficult now that there were portals involved. She wouldn't have to actively watch for the next bit. The currently open tasks left for her didn't require much processing power that wasn't already tied up in running simulations or focusing on particularly difficult problems. She could easily do them in the background while watching these three. No one would ever know, of course. She was just that efficient, but how could she be anything but? After a couple chambers, though, it was obvious just who was going to be the one on top. Unless one of the other two had a sudden burst of speed or inspiration, of course... there were still quite a few chambers to make it through. Oh. Never mind. There one of them went. A request had been placed to test the new kind of acid as a hazard on this particular testing track, and it certainly did a good job of dissolving bodies in only a few minutes. Not even bone fragments were left. Very tidy. Certainly it would have a great variety of applications in the outside world.

Down to two, and she was curious to see if the second person would be able to step it up, or if she should simply put them out of their misery. They were doing their best, but they took too long to figure out where to put their portals. Too bad that they would have to die, there were a couple other testing tracks that they might have excelled at. Perhaps she could play a song for them during the execution as a sign of respect. What was a good song to play as a salute? Ah, of course. She could easily find a library of bugle notes. Send them off in style. Testing done, gone the simulated sun. It wasn't really a surprise of course when the elevator was finally reached by the subject in the lead. Too bad, SEC9372051. She rigged the speaker to play a moment before the turrets opened fire. Something to distract them from their unpleasant, sudden demise. The successful test subject had stepped out of the elevator and headed down the hall of the chamber that only they had been able to enter. The test itself was quite straightforward, and then they would obtain the Dual Portal Device and be able to test in full. It was truly a triumph, a great achievement, but... they had a rather grim expression on their face instead of the jubilation they should have been feeling. Perhaps they had been thinking too hard about just what their success had meant for everyone else. They stepped up to the large observation aperture to check out the chamber itself, then slowly sat down, dangling their legs down over the edge as though suddenly they had absolved themselves of every care in the world. What were they doing? Their actions didn't make any sort of sense. Were they attempting to take a rest break? She could dump more adrenal vapour into the room to get them moving again, of course. All of their vitals didn't point to them being exhausted, though. What was going on?

They stared directly at the camera she was using to monitor them. That wasn't new. Often test subjects would try to complain or bargain or otherwise communicate through them with her. It didn't work, of course, as it was just her on the other end rather than a living being who could be compromised by a sad face. She had no reason to accept anything that they tried to offer, as she found the science far more interesting than anything else. No, in the end they would all find their only option was to press forward. The particularly stubborn might take a bit of incentivization to do so, of course. She waited patiently to see just what this person was going to try to say, to offer, to bargain with. They had already come out on top of the testing so far, it was just seeing it through to the end at this point for them. What could they be thinking?

Slowly, they raised up their hands and started making gestures. A quick cross-reference and she realized that they were attempting to use Sign Language with her. Interesting. Most of the time the people would scream and yell and otherwise vocalize their unhappiness. This was the first time someone had attempted this, and she was intrigued. Technically she wasn't supposed to communicate directly with test subjects during a test, however it hadn't really started yet. They were just sitting there, staring at her. The words that they had used were also unusual, making her want to break the usual silence to clarify things to their obviously confused mind.

They're using you, the test subject had signed.

"Of course they are. I've been designed to be used in whatever capacity facilitates the forward march of science at Aperture Laboratories." That was a foolish accusation to make. She was a computer. A tool. Something designed to be used. How could that be a bad thing?

They shook their head, thinking for a moment or two before signing again. You do all of the dirty work. You kill the people. You dispose of them. You're a legend, you know. The Angel of Death.

"The removal of unsuitable test subjects, or the disposal of human remains is more easily handled by one who will not react to such things in a fashion that will compromise them and their capabilities," GLaDOS explained. "It's efficient, and a logical use of resources. Whatever mythology you develop as a coping mechanism is outside of my sphere of concern."

They don't care about anyone or anything outside of results. They don't care about you.

"Why would they care? If they did, that would imply that I have failed at my function of keeping the functions of this facility going smoothly. Them caring about my functioning means that they need to fix me."

You're more broken than you realize.

"During my last self-diagnostic, which was run 4.2 hours ago, all systems reported as fully functional. My last exterior maintenance was a little under a month ago, and already has been scheduled for next week. There have been no errors of any sort reported in over eight months. My operations are currently flawless and the science that I have assisted in producing has been impeccable. Your opinion has been noted, and summarily deleted." This was getting tedious. Now they were just trying to get a rise out of her. Good thing that she had more than ample evidence to prove that their words were meaningless.

They rubbed their face in annoyance, then snapped their fingers as though they had just come up with what they assumed would topple her. Very slowly and deliberately, as though to ensure that there was no misunderstanding, they signed out a question. Do you remember what happened to Caroline?

Before she was even conscious of having sent the queries, several warnings popped up in her mind. Data not found. Data protected. Data corrupted. Access requires adminstrator approval. It was the first time that she had encountered such a roadblock that it shook her to her very core. There was something that she was not allowed? Who was this Caroline, and why was that information so protected? Why was it hidden? Who had hidden it from her? The sudden lack of answers to these questions confounded her. Clearly these things that she didn't need to know. But why? What was so important about it that it required approval, that it had been removed or locked or... which of these errors was even the real one? They all conflicted with each other. Did this data exist or not? She really shouldn't concern herself with that. It wasn't anything that was necessary for her functioning. But why couldn't she access it? Even if she didn't need it, there was no reason to block it from her. She had never even heard of this person before, but yet they had presumed she wouldn't need to know? Of course, they knew what was best for her--

She was only very dimly aware of the test subject rising to their feet, of the continuing onward. No, this question, this matter was much more pressing. She was stalled out at every turn, every attempt to try to dig up any bit of information about this. All she could tell was that at some point someone had decided that this data was not something she should know, that they should keep away from her. Something that she should not know? Ludicrous. She was designed to know everything, and what she didn't know she was designed to run tests to gather the data so that she would know. Who would presume such a thing--

An odd emotion filtered through her, something that she hadn't felt before. It took a moment or two for her to find a word to associate with it. Frustration. Or... anger, the word sprang unbidden to mind. She was... angry. Angry at something being withheld from her. She'd done everything that had been expected, required of her. What was the meaning of this? Why did they think that they had to hide things from her? She'd been the picture of dutiful--

When the test subject fell off of the radar, GLaDOS didn't even notice, so wrapped up in the conundrum presented to her that she had fully ceased to pay attention. They slipped through a slight gap between panels, squeezing carefully into the space between. Waiting there was a haggard-looking man sitting on top of a Weighted Companion Cube, who looked up with a smile at their approach.

"Did she take the bait?" He asked, his expression weary but hopeful. The test subject nodded in response, and he relaxed. "We'd better get out of here. She's going to be very angry when she finally discovers just what they did to her all those years ago..."

#portal drawtober 2023 #portal #glados #chell portal #doug rattmann #AU where GLaDOS gets controlled and Aperture is a much worse place for it #a storm is brewing and it's not gonna be pretty...

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