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Chapter Fourteen: The Core

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"Hey."

Wheatley plopped down unceremoniously into the empty seat beside her. He had brought from downstairs a heavy plate, containing a bacon and tomato sandwich, which he placed in front of her with a brave attempt at a smile.

"For you," he said, rubbing at his own stomach. "Man alive. I'm bloody stuffed. God, how come you never told me that human food tastes so good?"

Chell smiled and shook her head and shrugged, grabbing half of the sandwich and taking a bite. It wasn't like she'd previously known, either. Just like almost everything else about humanity, it had been one of those things that she felt like she had once known, but had no real accessible memories of.

The bacon sandwich was delicious. Halfway through, she got up to go and search for a glass behind the bar which she filled with cold water to quench her thirst. By the time she had sat back down, the rest of The Coalition had resumed their seats and Clifford was calling for silence once more.

"I hope you all enjoyed your lunch," he began pleasantly, smiling as murmurs of agreement were heard around the table as various guests massaged their full stomachs. "Because unfortunately, we still have a lot to discuss… but before we resume the topic of Aperture Science, let's first talk about the Core Project."

These words caused a stir. Ann and Jose, who had been having a silent argument over who was to get up and refill their glasses, stopped moving at once; a handful of the engineers seated beside them, who had been slouching sleepily in their seats, sat up straighter; Jeffrey straightened his glasses with interest and Mayor Jacobs, who had been shuffling through his notes, lowered them and fixed Clifford with a very serious expression.

"I have a lot I would like to say on the subject myself," Clifford continued seriously, "but I think the beginnings of the tale would be better told by the person whose story it is. Would you mind, Mayor—?"

"Right," mumbled Jacobs awkwardly, who turned at once to the laptop and began typing something. A second later, the overhead projector whirred to life and displayed the blown-up image of a newspaper headline dated two weeks previously. He cleared his throat sharply. "May I begin?" he asked.

"Of course. The floor is all yours."

While he fiddled some more with the laptop, Chell examined the article displayed upon the projector's screen. Beneath the thickly block-lettered title, there was a black-and-white photograph of Jacobs himself wearing a self-satisfied smile with his assistant by his side and two more members of his engineering team looking excited beside him. They were standing in front of a chain-linked, barbwire-topped gate. Beyond this was some kind of industrial-park-slash-factory-yard filled with semicircular-roofed hangars, stacks of storage barrels, iron grey shipping containers, and even the corner of what looked like an electrical substation. What drew her eyes most, however, was the building directly behind them; as black as fresh asphalt, it was a windowless pinnacle that rose harshly from the gravel lot. Much taller than the image could reveal, its slick-looking surface was broken by just two features; one, a plain pair of greyish steel doors and, two; a security camera aimed at this egress, watching with a single, glowing eye.

Tearing her eyes away from the image, Chell scanned the article quickly.

AI-BRIGHTER FUTURE: Mayor Reveals Ten-Year Plan Set To Revolutionize

Mayor Jacobs met with officials last Monday to announce the completion of the last phase of what has widely become known as the Core Project. What started long ago as a single man's dream is now to become a reality—at nearly fifteen years since its inception, the supercomputer that will oversee the distribution and operation of the highly-anticipated PAIR(TM) Companions has been declared safely operational, and distribution of pre-purchased PAIR(TM) Companions is set to commence this coming Friday.

PAIR(TM) Companions, short for Personal Artificially Intelligent Robot Companions, are Lunar City's very own brand of life-like personal androids—capable of functioning as assistants, servants, lovers, and much more, PAIR(TM) Companions are built to last. The totally waterproof, weatherproof design is courtesy of the Core Team's patented SynthaFlesh(TM); an internal battery capable of holding a one-week charge that is compatible with both standard power outlets and USB devices guarantees a long-lasting life; and a near-infinite knowledge capacity and memory database is accessible through the constant wireless uplink each PAIR(TM) Companion shares with the Core supercomputer itself. With internal frameworks constructed from nearly indestructible stainless steel and the lifetime guarantee that comes with every SynthaFlesh(TM) custom model that boasts durability, weather-resistance and an authentic human sensation, PAIR(TM) Companions promise to be the leading android available on the US market today.

This trial run of PAIR(TM) Companions is exclusive to Lunar City residents only. "I am pleased to say we can provide as many as one PAIR(TM) Companion per household," said Mayor Jacobs, standing outside of the PAIR(TM) Companions factory and testing center on Monday. "The trial period is set to be for one month, in which we will closely monitor the operation of the Core system and a select group of PAIR(TM) Companions, and how they interact with their human owners. This is a very exciting event for Lunar City. We will be the fourth city now in the United States to introduce an artificially intelligent android design for the public's personal use. We have proposed a ten-year plan to the State, detailing the improvements we would like to see in the surrounding state of Michigan and, eventually, the country as the PAIR(TM) Companions and Core system are proven to be a successful and worthwhile endeavour." (Continued on pg. 3)

Chell tore her eyes away from this, thinking hard about what she had just read. So that's what The Coalition had wanted the pieces of the facility for. They had robbed Aperture so that they could study its technology to see what it was that gave it its 'spark' of life and to recreate it, and eventually incorporate it into their own designs. They had even succeeded in building their own supercomputer AI, the basis of which Chell hoped very much had not been based on GLaDOS, so that they could send these things—these androids, robots, whatever—into the city resident's households, so that they could become slaves…

And the things had been deemed safe enough to use and be sent into these people's homes where they slept at night?! Was she really the only person around who saw several major problems with this? Either her experiences inside of Aperture were to blame for her lack of trust toward AIs, or she really was just a good deal smarter and more sensible than most people around…

Chell's eyes found Clifford, who was helping Mayor Jacobs find a missing document. How could he have gone along with such a plan, she wondered? He knew what had been the fate of his brother's facility. He knew what the GLaDOS project had done, and that all of those innocent people had been murdered… so why had he gone along with it, and helped Mayor Jacobs create this AI? Furthermore, when was humanity ever going to learn from their mistakes and just give up on creating artificial lifeforms?

"Ah," the Mayor sighed, having found the document he was looking for. "There we go. Okay. Got it. So."

The ballroom became silent, save for the rustle of Clifford pulling his notepad back toward him. Jammers took a loud gulp of water, and Jose scratched his nose, leaning his chair back on its hind legs while yawning hugely.

"All right," began the Mayor, sounding nervous. "Well, you all know the story of how The Coalition came to be, and how our team each led their own divisions in order to build the Core's facility and surrounding base. And if you don't, it's up there on the screen for you to read. I don't have time to go over it, and it wouldn't make interesting listening even if I did."

Finally, thought Chell, he had come to terms somewhat with the fact that he could be extremely dull to listen to at times. She could almost jump for joy—only, doing so would disturb the meeting, so she decided to save celebrating for another time.

"Anyways, the problem—well, I don't know if I'd even call it that. Everything was fine as of two weeks ago when this article," he used a laser pointer to indicate the projected image, "was published. We had the Core powered on for full systems check and monitoring over the course of a few days before this, and all of the PAIR-bots had been distributed that Friday without an issue."

He paused here to have a sip from his own glass of water. "But that following Monday, our observations picked up something strange. It was a really small change, almost meaningless… but a relatively tiny chunk of the Core's processing power seems to have disappeared altogether. We can't find a reason for it. It isn't because of the PAIR-bots, and it's a brand-new machine… but, as I mentioned to you previously, Clifford, if we can't figure out the reason behind it, I doubt there even is one."

"As I mentioned to you last week, I would hardly say that it is no reason to worry, Mr. Jacobs," said Clifford respectfully, not looking up from his notes. "Given the circumstances that have happened near simultaneously—"

"Yes, yes, I know," said the Mayor in annoyance. He tapped his foot nervously on the ground. "Dear Clifford here thinks that the reactivation of GLaDOS—or, more precisely, the Command signal she sent out shortly after—affected some of our equipment, and may have, er… disturbed the Core somehow."

"I have one question." said a voice that caught Chell off guard—Doug had been keeping very quiet this entire time. He addressed Mayor Jacobs with a deep frown etched on his lined face. "When you say that your AI was disturbed by GLaDOS's signal," he said strongly, "Do you mean to say that you hypothesize that, because their base design essentially comes from the same source, that your AI could not only understand the Command, but might also have felt some revelation that the signal had come from another artificially intelligent lifeform?"

The Mayor coughed dryly. "Yes and no. Clifford thinks so, and I mean I'd be a fool if I said I didn't think it had the capacity to decipher its meaning. If it even received this supposed signal—none of our other instruments did."

This made Clifford look up from his notepad. "Ah," he said quietly. "But the signal that was sent out may not have been detectable by regular monitoring equipment. The specific algorithms detailed were very unique and I doubt that a supercomputer as intelligent as GLaDOS would broadcast such an important Command without having a way to ensure that unwanted 'listeners' could not 'hear' it. I think that GLaDOS was using a signature that only Aperture-based equipment could detect."

"That makes sense," said Doug.

"Yes, and moreover, I happen to know that the signal was only picked up on our equipment that we had created by using Aperture technology as a basis, and not machines of standard manufacture."

"Okay," continued Mayor Jacobs, clearly unnerved by this new piece of information, "So the only ones that can hear her are you and the Core, and only when she wants you to."

"Exactly."

Chell had been listening to all of this with rapt attention. Beside her, Wheatley wore an expression that clearly said that he had understood little of this; undoubtedly he'd be asking her to explain it all again later. Momentarily she ignored him, churning it all over in her mind as she listened.

"But you have to remember that the Core is not artificially intelligent in the same sense as this GLaDOS is," said Mayor Jacobs with the air of a man trying valiantly to defend himself. "If I remember the story right, Clifford, you said that she was created from a human conscience? Hence the acronym, Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. Our AI is not human. It does not have a conscience, or a voice, or a personality… because it is just a brain with thousands of bodies to take care of. I doubt it makes any difference, whether or not GLaDOS's signal reached our mainframe."

"Are you sure?" asked Clifford, frowning. "You said yourself you don't know what caused the drop in processing power."

"Of course I'm—! What are you implying, I designed, I would know—"

But Mayor Jacobs broke off as Clifford held up his hand.

"We are not getting anywhere by arguing about this," he said, sounding tired for the first time. "We simply do not have enough information to know exactly what we are dealing with. Mr. Jacobs, I am sorry to say, but the last time I heard someone mention to me that they knew exactly what they were dealing with when it came to artificial intelligence, nothing short of a disaster occurred. This was why I had warned you many years ago to forget about artificial intelligence and refused to take part once I learned what you desired to do. But luckily, I was smart enough to realize that a man who has an idea too often becomes obsessed with it as you have, and I did not forget because I knew you would not, either."

The Mayor looked as though Clifford had just slapped him hard in the face.

"I agreed to help you because it would be beneficial for all of us if you had someone to watch over you. I knew you would not rest until you had built your Core and that you would find a way into Aperture Science, no matter how hard I tried to stop you. At least this way, I was able to monitor exactly how much and what kind of equipment you salvaged to build your machine. Otherwise, the results may have proven disastrous once again."

"B-but," stuttered the Mayor, slowly overcoming the shock of Clifford's harsh words. "I—"

"It does not matter anymore," Clifford cut over him, his voice full of disappointment. "What matters now is that we find out as much as we can about the situation—and I do mean the entire situation—for I am very afraid that the reactivation of GLaDOS will have some kind of effect on your Core. What kind exactly, I cannot tell you, but I'm sure it will have one, as they are essentially siblings. I feel very uneasy about all of this."

"So do I," injected Doug. "My heart is telling me that this is not at all good news. I hope I'm wrong when I say that if GLaDOS could reach your AI by wireless signal, the process is most likely to be able to work in reverse and it may as well have already investigated wirelessly in return. Think about it. She would then know that we used her technology to build another machine, and I cannot imagine a less welcome influence on your AI than GLaDOS herself…"

The gravity of Doug's words spread through the room like an icy draught. Even Chell swallowed hard. That was the last thing they needed, for GLaDOS to discover all of this… everything that they had so foolishly done…

"It is decided, then," said Clifford finally. "Several of you will need to revisit the Core and do a thorough examination of its 'brain'. I want to know where this processing power has gone to, and it wouldn't hurt to redouble its firewall, either. Mayor, I trust you will lead your assistant and required engineers back to Lunar City this evening, and that you will report your findings back to me."

Jacobs sagged in his chair. "Yes, of course," he said defeatedly.

"Thank you. Now that Assignment A has been explained, all we have left is speculation… I wish to talk for a minute about what the worst-possible outcome of this situation may be. It's always helpful to be prepared for the worst… Doug? What say you about this?"

"Well," answered Doug. He took a long draught of water before continuing. "I would say, the worst-case scenario would be that GLaDOS could manipulate the Core, and by extension, gain control over these… androids. She may then use them to take the entire population of Lunar City hostage. Her primary function is testing—to her, it would mean yet more expendable human lives."

"Fair in point," said Clifford. "Could not have said it better myself. Now, I need your help," he nodded respectfully to all of the members of The Coalition, and then to the Aperture-escapees, "for I'm actually uncertain what the best way to proceed here is. I have a few ideas, but I would like to hear what you all have to say about this first."

The room filled with whispers as everybody put their heads together and discussed this. Chell, however, was motionless and ignored Wheatley when he leaned over into her ear and asked what she was thinking.

It was rather complicated, what was going through Chell's brain. So far, she had agreed wholeheartedly with almost everything Doug had said. Most of it, she didn't think she could have said better herself, even if she had a voice to communicate with.

Doug was the only other person at the table besides Wheatley who knew fully what GLaDOS was capable of, but that did not necessarily mean that he knew more about her than she did. Chell did not agree that GLaDOS would try to extend her rein of control outside of the facility; she was not the type of person who desired control for the sake of control in Chell's opinion.

GLaDOS was simple in her motives, swift in her execution, and endlessly brilliant. She was just too smart to bother with the surface world, even if she had ran out of test subjects. It would pose a serious risk for her, to attempt to override the Core and seize control of Lunar City in such a way, and Chell personally thought that it was exactly the kind of drama that GLaDOS did not like; especially as she'd only just gotten rid of the most troublesome test subject she'd ever met. To start a potential war was just not her style. She liked simplicity and testing. She was tired of trouble.

Chell recalled the final words GLaDOS had said to her before she'd kicked her out of the facility. You know what my days used to be like? I just tested. Nobody murdered me, or put me in a potato, or fed me to birds. I had a pretty good life. And then you showed up. You dangerous, mute lunatic. So you know what? You win. Just go.

She had not recounted these words to Doug or Clifford. While she had recounted enough for them to understand the gist of what had happened, she had not gone into that great of detail. It seemed private, somehow; the last words the AI had spoken had carried a lot of meaning with them, and even now, she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

No, Chell was mostly certain that GLaDOS would not care about the goings-on outside of her facility, but it was also true that even she could not always foresee what GLaDOS would do. There were always variables. Purely guessing was not enough when the potential consequences were so troublesome. The best thing to do would be to set controls in place to make sure the worst outcome could not happen. But how to do just that…

"I fink we haz an idea," came Jose's thick voice at length.

"Let's hear it, then!" replied Clifford pleasantly.

"We vere discussing," continued Jose, "Zis device zat you gave to Clancey. You say it make zis GLaDOS tired, ja? Vy not continue using zis, is already inside Aperture! She sleeps, and everything good, right! No problems."

"Ah," answered Clifford, looking suddenly solemn, "but there is a problem with that, unfortunately. While even if we were to leave the device inside of the facility after we rescue Clancey and his men, the WPT was not designed to operate continuously forever. At some point in time, it would overheat, and GLaDOS would wake up again. It is not a permanent solution, but a quick fix for when no other option is available."

Again, the room broke out in quiet whispers as everybody tried to come up with a solution. "You sure you don't have an idea?" asked Wheatley in her ear.

Chell shrugged, but something was growing in the forefront of her mind. The best idea she'd got was taking shape and, not wanting to draw attention to herself just yet, she secretly pulled out her notepad and began to write, hunched over so that Wheatley could not see.

"What about the encryption?" asked the red-haired man named Richard. "Surely what we have in place is enough to stop GLaDOS if she really decides to try to break into the Core, Clifford? We've had the best team of computer scientists around working on this thing, after all. We've had to make sure that all of the PAIR-bots would be safe and resistant to hackers, too. It's not like the Core is unprotected."

It was Doug who replied to this. "It will not be enough," he said seriously. "She may be three decades old, ancient in terms of this millennia's technologic breakthroughs, but she's more determined and smarter than any human or machine you will ever meet."

Chell finished off the last bit of what she was writing while Doug finished speaking, and knocked hard on the tabletop, twice. Every member of the The Coalition looked at her, and she pushed the little notepad across the polished tabletop. It came to rest beside Clifford's cup with a slight bump.

He picked it up and began to read. She watched his face grow into an appreciative smile as he did so. She nervously twisted her hands in her lap. Surely they'd all think she was insane, but it really was the best—and least expected—thing she could come up with.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have found our best solution," Clifford announced, much to her surprise. "Miss Chell, thank you. What she is suggesting—prepare yourselves, for this is quite the unorthodox idea—is that we go into Aperture, not only to rescue Mr. Clancey and his team, but with the intention of having a discussion with the AI herself. One with the goal of persuading her to vacate her own facility temporarily."

There was an outburst around the table.

"Are you serious?" asked one of the engineers.

"No, he's not," answered another, shaking his head.

"I think he is."

"You're wrong—this is madness…"

"No, it's suicide! Talk with her? That's impossible—"

"I think you'll find that you're wrong," said Clifford calmly. "It all depends on the situation—for example, I can think of at least one person present here today whom GLaDOS may be willing to hear out."

There was a short silence, during which Chell felt very awkward.

"We cannot, of course, tell her all of the truth. We must find a way to make it seem in her best interest for her to help us instead. It will doubtlessly be very challenging, and very dangerous, but," he grinned widely despite the many horrified expressions throughout the room, "I have an idea. Miss Chell," he addressed her and instantly she sat up straighter in her chair, "I know that I have no authority over you, as you are not an actual member of The Coalition, but I have a request…"

She was rather nervous all of a sudden. Fifteen pairs of eyes had flicked toward her, and she felt sure she knew what was coming next. She'd already thought long and hard about it, and she had made her decision during the lunch break—that was, if Clifford was about to ask her what she thought he was.

Sure enough, "I would like you to accompany James, Henry, Ryan, and I back into Aperture Science as a part of Assignment B," he asked, watching her closely. "To rescue our trapped friends, and to persuade GLaDOS to take up temporary residence inside of an android body of her choice."

The weight of his words was heavy on her heart, despite how confident she'd felt about her decision. It was so heavy that she felt them pressing into her chest as though they were hanging in the air itself. Slowly, with just as much sincerity and meaning behind the motion as Clifford had used in his voice, she nodded.

"That is wonderful," said Clifford, looking very pleased but very tired and extremely old. "We'll be leaving tomorrow at dawn. And when we are finished with this meeting, I should like if you could hang on a moment and have a few words with me in private, Chell, if that is all right…?"

Feeling somewhat stunned beyond comprehension at herself now that it was all starting to sink in, she nodded slowly once more.

"Great," he said finally, before addressing the rest of the room again. "Now, if any of you have remaining questions, now is the time to ask away, then, so that we will be all free to go and spend the evening at our leisure before it gets too late in the day…"

Chell slumped down in her seat, numb from the inside out. So it was really happening, then. She had just put forth this absolutely ludicrous, downright dangerous idea, to solve a problem that wasn't even her problem to begin with in order to help keep a group of people she'd just met safe—and now, she was going to walk right back into Aperture Science and face the construct that had spent the entire time they'd known each other trying to kill her, just so that she could try and manipulate her into leaving the one place she'd lay down her life to defend. The engineer who had spoken earlier was right. It was suicide.

And yet, she couldn't bring herself to deny that there was a part of her that needed to do it. It would be wrong, if she didn't—she was the one person out of the entire group who GLaDOS had showed respect towards, if you could call it that. She was the only one who had ever stood a chance against her.

GLaDOS had been generous with Chell's freedom once. Chell didn't know if she'd be generous with her freedom twice—but, she thought, as she grit her teeth in determination—there was only one way to find out.

That was the thing about being in the most tenacious ninety-ninth percentile. You never give up. Ever.

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