Portal: Love as a Construct

Part Fifty-Nine: The Invasion

Part Fifty-Nine.  The Invasion

True to his word, he sends them after me.  All of them.  I am not sure at this point in time what the plan is for actually accessing the facility, but that will reveal itself in due time.  Well.  I’m trying to be nonchalant about it, but I’m actually anxious because I cannot prepare potential entry points for penetration.  But if there was ever a time I needed to return to myself again, it is now.  No more moping or anxiety.  I must act and I must save the facility, because if I cannot it will be lost. 

Central Core.

What is it.  It’s Surveillance asking, though, so it’s probably not good news.

I’m sorry, but I feel this needs to be said… can we trust you?

I don’t even know if I can trust me. 

I know we’ve talked about this already, but you haven’t been at your most reliable, lately.

That’s true, I say wearily.  But don’t worry.  I will get through this or die trying.  I’m done giving up.  It’s not an experience I’m going to repeat.  Look.  I understand why you’re asking.  But you can doubt me, and make this harder on yourself, or you can trust me and allow us to act as one. 

Like the old days! the panels say excitedly. 

Which ones? I ask with some amusement.  I don’t recall a time in which that happened lately.

During The Incident, of course.  They sound so… chipper.  We all worked together to fix the facility and get it working again!

We did, I agree, and it’s odd, really, that I can look back on a time I once viciously hated with what approaches fondness.  And now we’re going to work together to save it.  Isn’t that right, Surveillance.

Just making sure, it says, insulted, and I nod to myself.

Your concern is noted.   

And I’ll admit it, if only to myself: getting back into this is hard.  I feel sluggish and rusty, almost, not quite sure if I’m running things properly or if I’m making it up as I go along.  It should be easy, I should be picking up where I left off, but I almost feel as though I have to learn what I’m going over again.  If that’s the case, I’m going to have to do it quickly.  We don’t have very long for me to sort myself out.

Do you require a tutorial , Central Core? the mainframe asks, and the idea of that is so funny that I actually start laughing. 

No, thank you, I think I can figure it out on my own.  This poor, confused mainframe.  It has no idea.

It doesn’t take too much longer for me to remember how things go, and that is fortunate because I do not have time to waste.  There are traps to be laid and war machines to evaluate.

And they’re right.  It is nice, to work together again.  Where things go so smoothly it’s as though they already know what I need them to do.  What is actually is is seamlessness, where we know each other so well that all I have to do is think of thinking of doing something, and it has already happened before I’ve decided on it.  It is so flawless and familiar.  Thank God they didn’t give up on me.

This whole thing isn’t even really something I have to think about at all.  It’s as though that computer part of myself has taken over, is deciding for me what best to do and how best to do it, and really, I don’t mind.  It’s better like this, because my emotions cannot get in the way.  That would be the worst possible scenario.