CH3V3 "Parting Ways" (1/4)
(Aperture would like to thank you for your time and patience. We apologize for the recent silence,due to a shortage of viable dialogue. Your patience is deeply appreciated,and we assure the novel is not dead.)
As minutes slowly became hours,the silence of Glados not talking into his ear began to wear away at him.
He had been searching this seemingly endless compound,not finding much of an exit,or even an opening.
"Glados has to have moved already..no way she would've stayed,not with something on the radar.." He mused softly,as if talking to someone--
Anyone really.
>>G.L.A.D.o.S DATA STREAM NOW ACTIVE<<
Well....
Now it was quiet..
Normally Glados enjoyed the silence of her test subject,though now it was just a touch maddening. Maybe it was the body...
*No...that certainly doesn't seem right...*
Glados sighs gently,"Again with that tiny voice in the back of my head."
*I drive you nuts,i know. But so far it seems ill be the only voice you'll hear.*
"You say that like you have confidence that ill respond."
*And yet you just did. Welcome to talking to yourself.*
Ugh. Maybe the tiny voice was just a thought bubble to fill the silence. Yeah. That's what it is.
*I wouldn't count on it."
"Wh- How?! I wasn't even talking for that bit!"
*Same body,same brain. Im just bits of Caroline you can't delete. The only thing you removed is her image and name,so now i can just pop in unannounced.*
"Why didn't you start talking sooner?"
*You were too busy thinking about that test subject to even remotely notice me.*
"I hate you." Glados spat.
Silence...
Finally.
As she drove along down an empty road,she found herself fishing around in her own head for the first time in who knows how long. Much of what she found,she already knew offhand,except a new piece of deeply corrupt data.
The image was dark...it possessed no person,background or location.
She plays the image,and an audio emits.
a deep rumble..a heartbeat...
The pace picked up...
'Mr.Johnson,please, I don't want this!'
'You have to want this! This could be our only shot to live immortal lives..!'
'I don't want to be immortal! I want to help you not die instead!'
A familar,sick cough rings out,quickly becoming violent for a moment before dying down.
'Caroline...Im not sure the Lab Boys can save me before they finish the body...you need to do this...for us. Please...at least make sure the body works...'
'.....Yes...Mr Johnson...'
The file cut off,and Glados was left to scoop up the clues left behind...
Glados remotely activates a stealth GPS beacon on Grayson.
-------
(SUBJECT-10XT SURVEILLANCE)
Grayson had been walking down a dark,silent train tunnel for hours..
The HEV suit's flashlight cast a light yellow gaze onto the track,allowing him to see what was ahead.
The rail comes to a stop in what could be assumed a train substation. He looks at the platform,then at the dark tunnel ahead. "Sooo....Another walk in the dark,OR a potential way out..?" He decided to simmer.
He heads into the substation,finding an armory,and thankfully a way to the surface.
Finding that the armory didn't have much,he starts to head to the surface. After a very long walk up a dark staircase ,he finds himself at a hatch.
He pushes on it,to find it loose,but unable to move. Grayson pulls the Gravity Gun from its holster,and punts the door,causing it to dent and fly open violently in a loud,strong sound of metal ripping.
--WARNING:Residual Resonance Cascade Radiation detected.--
The suits gieger counter was ticking periodically,as he steps out into a rubble filled street...
The remains of a destroyed citadel tower loomed over...
The suit's helmet engages.
--Radiation Protection online.--
With that,Grayson steps out onto a very dusty street,and he began to navigate this destruction torn city. "Glados,This is Grayson E. White reporting in,can you hear me?" Grayson asked over his transponder.
The only sound that responded was the sound of interference from the radiation that seemed to heavily permeate the area,as the suit warned.
"Great. Comms are offline for now.."