GLaDOS awakens

Potato Science

Henry POV

The canteen was more empty than usual around lunch time. Henry sat alone at a table for 10. The of the tables didn't look much better from the head count. The food tasted blander than usual. Or was it just his imagination? "Hey there Henry. Would it trouble you if I sat down?" Henry, surprised, looked up. Doug had a food tray with some mashed potatoes and a cup of coffee. "Sure, no problem." Doug sat down opposite to Henry.

Doug slightly opened his mouth and then closed it again. it looked like he had more trouble starting a conversation than usual. "How is ever- How's GLaDOS holding up? Did they recover their memory yet?" Henry ignored the first attempted sentence and just shook his head. "No, I've been trying to look into what might be the problem with the memory, but I couldn't even find anything in that mess of data. There is a reason why we always made backups before even the smallest of changes."

"And? What abou... Is GLaDOS behaving?" Doug asked. It looked like he wanted to ask other questions, but couldn't bring himself to do it "Yeah, they are currently working on the ASHPD." Henry was starting to eat again. "How's the progress?" Doug took a small sip of his coffee not wanting it to get any colder than it already was. "No idea. They didn't start long ago."

There was a quite pling from Henry's pocket. He took out his phone and looked at the message. "Speak of the devil. GLaDOS just messaged me saying they got the first prototype ready." Doug looked very surprised. "Already?? That's quite quick. You mind if I come with you to check it out later?" Doug seemed about as excited as any scientist when it comes to functioning portal technology. "Why not? How about right after lunch?" Henry smiled a bit at Doug's reaction. "Sounds like a plan."

There was a weird silence between them, this usually didn't happen, but Henry blamed the current situation of aperture for that. Someone clanked one of their utensils against their plate, probably to get their attention. It worked. Both Doug and Henry looked up. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important. You mind if I sit down?" Paul stood beside Doug, having a half smile. He looked tired. "No problem." Both Doug and Henry said semi simultaneously.

Paul didn't like potatoes, so he got himself some rice instead. And of course, a cup of coffee. "And? Any progress?" Henry asked Paul seeming somewhat hopeful. Paul just chook his head 'no'. Henry sighed massaging his temples. "And you? How is GLaDOS holding up." Paul asked trying to change the subject. "Good... I think. Apparently, they finished a prototype for the ASHPD. Want to come along to look at it after lunch?" Henry asked, though he already guessed the answer.

"No, you know I have currently other priorities. It's a miracle I managed to get proper lunch today. These days I usually just grab myself coffee and some instant noodles." Paul sighed. "Yeah. Thanks that you are prioritizing that as much as you are. After all you aren't affected." Paul smiled a bit and then acted hurt... badly that is "Aren't affected? You make it sound like I don't care about you guys." Henry and Doug chuckled a bit.

Paul's phone started ringing. He answered "Sanders here. I something?" He took a bite of his food '''Mister Sanders! You have to get over to the lab quickly, we might have found something!''' The women on the other end was speaking so loudly that it was easily heard from the other two on the table. Paul dropped his fork immediately, grabbed his coffee and stood up. "Guess that with the lunch was only wishful thinking after all. Talk to you later" and with that he ran off.

"Let's just hope it's something good..." Doug smiled weakly. Henry took one last sip from his coffee then stood up. "We probably should get going too. Who knows what GLaDOS is doing with the prototype." Doug nodded "Yeah your right..." they stood up and started walking through the hallways. It was quite the way to GLaDOS' chamber but that's relatively small compared to the size of the facility. Though usually the hallways would be filled with a lot of scientists and researchers or even cleaning personal. Right now, you would be lucky to meet more than 3 people on the way.

Henry opened the door to GLaDOS' room. They were spinning. "GLaDOS? Are you alright? You are spinning." The moment GLaDOS took notice of the two, they immediately stopped and tried to brush it off "I'm quite alright. You two are here to see the prototype?" Doug and Henry nodded, though Doug still didn't seem all too comfortable with GLaDOS. They activated the screen in their chamber. It showed a mostly white testing room. A young man with black hair stood in the middle of the room holding some sort of bulky device. It looked quite heavy. "You can start now" GLaDOS said. The test subject nodded. He pointed the device at a wall, and something flew out of the front end and a portal formed where it hit. He did the same to another wall, then walked through the portal.

"Right now, the energy of the ASHPD is limited to about 8 portals before having to be recharged, but we should be able to extend that amount as time goes by." Henry nodded, noting something down in a notebook. "What is it's range?" Doug asked interested and seemingly forgetting his distrust in GLaDOS. "The maximum range has not yet been found, but for now I can say for certain that it can make stable portals as far as 230 meters apart." Doug nodded.

"I'm quite impressed at the speed you managed to do this. For now, please start testing the ASHPD and continue compacting it. It still looks quite heavy after all..." Henry looked up from his notebook. GLaDOS nodded to the best of their ability and turned off the screen. "Anything else?"

There was an excited glance in Henry's eyes. "Can I hold it???" he looked like a kid in a toy store. GLaDOS reluctantly nodded. "Where should I deliver it to?" Henry thought for a bit then eyed one of the buttons on the control station. At a speed that seemed like mach 10 he pressed the button. "Alright I activated a transportation line to your chamber. Bring it to your chamber, I'll get down." A small hatch in the wall opened with a transportation line sticking out. Henry went out the room. A few seconds later a panel in GLaDOS' room moved away and Henry walked out.

The ASHPD moved out of the transport line and Henry picked it up. He had trouble lifting it though. He looked quite excited, but Doug knew better. Henry shot a portal at the right wall and another at the left. "How exciting!" He walked through the portal. "Mmmhh feels weird. Not in a physical sense but a perceptual one. It feels impossible but here I am!" Henry seemed fairly excited. Doug couldn't blame him though. "Please be careful. The portals have been found relatively save, the device however has not. Mishandling of the gun might lead to injury or death." Henry nodded but didn't seem to actually pay attention.

Henry shot a few more portals until the ASHPD didn't have any energy anymore. "The functionality seems pretty good, so you only need to work on the energy storage and or consumption and weight of the device! We'll leave you to it now, Doug and I still have other things to take care of. See you later!" Henry excited the room through the side panel.

Doug stayed in the observation room for a bit. "GLaDOS?" Doug asked. "Is something?" GLaDOS turned around again moving their head towards the window. "How... How is your memory? Any progress?" GLaDOS didn't say anything for a moment. "Nothing much. Just a few things popping in and out again sometimes." Doug seemed down a bit "Alright. Bye..." Doug left.

"Good bye, Doug."

Sorry for the long wait, took me a while to come up with this chapter. Hope you had fun reading, space out!