Portal: Love as a Construct

Part 118. The Return

Part 118. The Return

-

The next morning GLaDOS was up before he was, as per usual, and if he hadn't remembered that Claptrap and Carrie were supposed to return later he would've been quite confused about her good mood. "D'you know when they're coming back?" he asked her.

"In the afternoon," she said. "If he keeps to his promise of seventy-two hours, that is."

Wheatley, on his way to go and look out of his hole, froze in her doorway. "You don't think... they've had so much fun over there that um, that they'll be longer, do you?" he asked. She looked over at him.

"Maybe next time," she said, and she did not seem to be joking.

"Next time?"

"Mm," she answered. "You should go with them when it happens."

"I'm confused," he said. "Three days ago you could hardly stand that Carrie was going off like that. Now you're suggesting we both go? At the same time?"

"It's been three days and nothing has happened," GLaDOS said. "That's exactly what I needed to know."

"Something might've happened," Wheatley protested. "Just no one's told you yet!"

"If anything serious had, someone would have mentioned it by now."

"Unless they're all dead."

GLaDOS shook her core. "Now who's paranoid," she said.

"Was bound to rub off on me sometime."

//

It was later that afternoon and Wheatley was trying really, really hard to be a difficult opponent at chess – which he seemed to be failing miserably at, considering GLaDOS made all her moves just as quickly as usual – when GLaDOS all but slammed the panel containing the board back below the floor, causing him to frown up at her. "Gladys," he protested, "I was nearly – "

But she was looking elsewhere, in the direction of the doorway, and when Wheatley followed her stare he discovered that Carrie was back. The occasion was a bit quashed, however, by the fact that someone else was with her. "Hi guys!" she said, no doubt eager to talk about her little adventure, but whatever she meant to say after was silenced by a look from GLaDOS. She emulated a sigh and crossed the room to stop next to Wheatley.

"You had to know this was going to happen," he murmured to her. She nodded and turned to face the same direction as him.

Back in the doorway, Hammerlock was staring at GLaDOS as though he rather thought she would disappear if he stopped. His eyes kept tracing her chassis from core to ceiling and back, like he didn't realise she could see him doing it. She absolutely could, the acceleration of one of her fans telling Wheatley exactly how she felt about it, but before she either snapped or he felt the need to step in Hammerlock marched right in front of her and said, "Please pardon both my intrusion and my rudeness, madam. I – "

"I'll consider it," GLaDOS said coldly. "I know who you are. What do you want."

"Well, I simply had to know whether you were real," Hammerlock answered, folding his arms behind his back. "Your relationship with him aside, I'm sure you can agree that Claptrap is prone to exaggeration."

"Wheatley verified his claims," said GLaDOS.

"He did indeed," Hammerlock said, "but as he did so he implied he was not also in a relationship with you, so you might forgive me for having been skeptical until I was introduced to your daughter."