A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to the rewrite of The Human Vault (originally published under my old pen-name of Michaela-le-Mongoola). It's now going to be a part of the Equilibrium series of stories that will eventually become full blown Portal/Half-Life crossovers. For now though, enjoy what will mainly be Aperture-shaped shenanigans.

As for a little more information, I just need to point out that the Portal games we play through are not the universe that is in this story. Instead, we have an alternative dimension (gotta throw that lovely PETI in there somewhere), but one that is very similar to the games so as to - hopefully - not be a jarring reading experience. I also need to point out now that this story follows the Chell is Caveline's daughter theory, so if you are not a fan of this particular fan theory I am sorry and I hope it does not completely spoil your read through if you choose to continue.

Now for the legalities; I do not own Portal. Portal and its characters are the property of Valve. I can only lay claim to my original characters and the plot of this story.

So, with all of that covered, on to the story! I'm planning on uploading a new chapter every Friday, so you guys shouldn't have to wait ages for any continuation if you really like this little read.

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Michaela out :) .

Chapter One

A New Subject

Deep beneath the quiet surface of rural Michigan lay a test chamber, one that shared the silent serenity of the world immediately above it. It was a room of bright white panels and polished glass, and was clean and sterile in every possible way. The low thrum of a distant machine was barely audible, but it did nothing to disturb the calm of the space. It was perfect.

At least it had been until the door to the chamber opened to reveal a surly man in a bright orange jumpsuit. Just the splash of colour was enough to disturb the tranquillity, but his voice broke it altogether.

"Hey!" He called to the nearest available object; a wall-mounted security camera. "Hey you! Yeah, you. I know you can hear me. I'm the human and you're the computer. You should do what I say, you hear? You don't get to boss me around. You listen to me."

From her large and empty chamber, the 'computer' uttered a prolonged and strained sigh. This human had no idea just who it was that he was dealing with. He was a wise-guy, and GLaDOS did not care for wise-guys.

The central AI of the Aperture Science facility hung from her ceiling, dominating the dark space with her size, her white bodywork, and her one judgemental eye. With a gentle and controlled grace she swayed, casting the bright yellow of her optic across the two inert forms of her Cooperative Testing Initiative robots, Atlas and P-Body, otherwise known to her as Blue and Orange respectively. She briefly considered reactivating them, purely so that she may watch the horror in their eyes as she blew them to pieces and had them reassembled, which was in itself an excellent form of immediate stress relief.

It was only the small but powerful voice in the back of her mind that stopped her and, much like the human in the test chamber, it was yet another voice that irritated her.

Caroline. The voice in her head. The conscience of a super-intelligence. They were one in the same, she and GLaDOS, but both so very different.

"Don't you even think about it," Caroline scolded.

GLaDOS need not ask as to what it was that she was forbidden from undertaking.

The human in the test chamber, however, had seemingly grown tired of having his thoughts go unheard, and in her mind's eye GLaDOS could see him march towards the security camera with purpose. Fortunately, he was too short to reach the equipment, otherwise GLaDOS was certain that she would have been witness to some mindless vandalization.

"Computer?" The test subject called, crossing his arms across his chest with dramatic flair. "I'm waiting for an apology, computer."

Enough was enough. In mere nanoseconds the wall panels that he stood between crashed together with a metallic thud and the ever-so-satisfying crunch of breaking bones.

Caroline screamed, and GLaDOS let out a harsh chuckle in reply. Caroline may have been her conscience, but the conscience could easily be ignored if the situation called for immediate action.

"Oh, come on," GLaDOS began, "he contributed nothing to science. In fact, he contributed nothing to society. I did the world a favour. But don't worry; you can thank me later."

"That was nothing more than cold-blooded murder." Caroline seethed in reply.

"You did ask that I not destroy those two." The A.I turned to look down on her two robots. "Perhaps if you were a little clearer next time?"

"You are utterly unbearable."

"Believe me, that feeling is entirely mutual."

With the will of her mind alone, the now bloodied chamber was quickly cleaned and rearranged to GLaDOS' very specific commands. The body of the test subject was on its way to the incinerator as the last of the newly arranged panels clicked into place, held together with the robotic metal arms that GLaDOS often considered an extension of herself. In a way, her destruction of the human had been akin to squashing a rather disgusting little bug under the palm of a hand – and this thought alone left her satisfied enough to now turn her attention to the location of every remaining human in the facility: the human vault.

It was a crass and ineloquent name, the human vault, but it was as Caroline had described it to be upon its discovery by Atlas and P-Body and so the name had stuck.

It also meant that GLaDOS now had far more test subjects than ever before, as the shadowy vault was both vast and filled from top to bottom with nothing but status pods full of unknowing humans. She could afford to lose some of her new lab rats in unfortunate testing accidents – and it just so happened that GLaDOS' new rules included death by provocation as one such unfortunate accident; it was, after all, much like a provoked slap to the face that may have been sudden and wholly enacted upon as a violent muscle spasm – only this slap was seventy-five percent more painful and one hundred percent more deadly.

Accessing the vault's files took but a second, and GLaDOS was greeted with a long list of test subjects, their testing numbers and their most prevalent traits. There were no names – after all, what use did lab rats have for such trivialities?

"Lazy," GLaDOS read aloud as she trawled through the data laid out before her, listing the traits as idly as she could. "Afraid of everything. Overconfident... Hm. I can work with overconfidence."

Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear Caroline groan, and GLaDOS chose to once again ignore her. Instead, she returned to her task at hand.

"This one is a prize: narcissist. I think I'll save this one for a Narcissus styled test. But with acid."

Caroline sighed. "Must you?"

"Yes, I must." GLaDOS quipped before continuing the list. "This one is a little more promising; he is intelligentbut lacks common sense! Oh, I could have fun with this one. He'll do."

The central AI watched as the subject's stasis pod was removed from its rack, leaving behind an empty space in just one of the many towering walls of unconscious humans. It was quickly borne away to the recovery room on a management rail, where the occupant would eventually wake from his state of enforced half-death. Unfortunately, this would take time. But GLaDOS was patient. She could wait. She would simply hate to lose another guinea pig because she woke it up too early, and only a fool would not learn from the mistakes of the past.

Caroline, who had been observing GLaDOS' thoughts, remained silent as the A.I watched the progress of the stasis pod. She remained to this day to be dumbfounded at just how far removed the computer had become from her own personality – the personality of the real, once living Caroline, from whom GLaDOS had been created. GLaDOS was a monster in every sense of the word, whereas Caroline was (or at least she hoped to be) the absolute opposite. Yet as often as she tried, Caroline could never make the A.I see just how far she had fallen from her original source material – in fact, Caroline often believed that there was very little reason for her continued existence at all. GLaDOS would have been overjoyed if she were to simply disappear. And as the computer had tried – and failed – to delete her in the past, Caroline saw no reason for this to be considered as paranoia.

It was a strange and uneven partnership that both the computer and the conscience shared; Caroline was witness to every thought process that went through GLaDOS' brilliant and yet terrifying mind, though GLaDOS herself could not even guess at Caroline's thoughts unless she chose to voice them. Likewise, GLaDOS had all the power and control that she could ever desire, but Caroline was left to helplessly watch as her attempts to curb GLaDOS' machinations went unheeded.

The two watched through their shared internal feed as the stasis pod neared its destination in the recovery room. Returning her scrutinising gaze to her testing robots, GLaDOS reactivated the pair and begrudgingly allowed them to step down from their docking bays without any snide remarks. Once the pair had chirped happily to one another and – much to GLaDOS' despair – hugged, they turned to look up at their mistress who glared down upon them like the vast and omnipotent A.I that she was.

"Orange, Blue," she began, commanding their full attention, "we have a new visitor to the testing tracks. Go and make sure that he will be comfortable for his upcoming time in the relaxation vault."

With no arguments, Atlas and P-Body marched away in the direction of the pod. GLaDOS was proud to say that she could do many things, but dressing a human in the appropriate testing attire was neither something that she could call a skill or even relished the thought of undertaking.

"Yes," Caroline began with a mock snobbishness, "have the help do the undesirable work. Heaven forbid you should ever have to sully yourself."

"Really now, I do more than my fair share of work for this facility. Some compassionate soul may even say that I do too much. Still, the help needs a task to complete, otherwise the help would be completely useless and, most likely, destroyed and reverted back into scientific calculators."

Caroline made a strangled noise, one that drew a chuckle from GLaDOS' audio admitters. She cared too much for those robots, and the threat of their ever-looming destruction was often enough to keep Caroline quiet for at least an entire evening.

The stasis pod was now in place and awaiting the arrival of the Cooperative Testing Initiative. In the brighter light of the recovery room both computer and conscience could finally see the subject a little clearer than before: broad shoulders, sandy brown hair, a strong jaw…

Caroline gasped.

"What is it now?" GLaDOS demanded.

"Mark?"

A pause, but then GLaDOS scowled, and not without adding a simulated roll of her eye. "Who?"

But Caroline could not immediately answer, as she surveyed the face that was so familiar to that of one of the most important people in her life. "It's Mark," she paused as she had to force words to forefront of her now chaotic mind. "Cave's nephew. He's Cave's nephew."

The A.I's curiosity was suddenly piqued, and she turned her attention to Caroline in full. "Mr. Johnson had a nephew?"

Cave Johnson was the founder and CEO of Aperture Science, and had been in full control of the facility long before GLaDOS had taken control of the helm. He had also been Caroline's husband, and together both he and Caroline had spawned a particular lunatic unto the world; a dangerous woman that the A.I would sooner like to forget. But this news came as a complete surprise to GLaDOS, who had never even known that Mr. Johnson had siblings, let alone a nephew.

"What is he doing here?" Caroline's voice broke through GLaDOS' thoughts. "We hadn't seen him for years. Why is he in stasis?"

GLaDOS hummed in thought, taking a closer look at the human. Yes, there was indeed a clear resemblance there. And then a new and unwelcomed thought graced her mind - would he be as destructive as her, that most foul progeny of Caroline and Cave, that had been the one to kill GLaDOS once before?

"He isn't Chell," Caroline scolded. "And I'd thank you to not think about my daughter like that."

"She killed me. I believe I've earned the right to think of her as I please. And your daughter is a lunatic. And I mean that in the most brutally honest way."

Caroline had already returned her attention to her nephew-in-law, encased within glass and nutrient gel, and balked at the thought of yet another one of her family members having to endure the rigours and horrors of testing.

GLaDOS' only concern was of his mental state in regard to stadium-sized super computers, and pondered over the very real possibility that he may share his cousin's terrible sentiments. It wasn't too late for her to send him back to the vault where he would be promptly locked away in his own little cell. Forever. Or she could just kill the thing whilst he slept. It was cowardly, but GLaDOS was fully prepared to be the lesser person if it meant that she could live with the peace of mind that another lunatic couldn't harm her.

"Don't you dare!" Caroline snapped with a venomous edge to what was usually a sweet and chirpy tone. "Don't. You. Dare."

"If he kills me, he also kills you." The A.I retorted. "Did you not think about that one, genius?"

"Mark is not a killer."

"You probably thought the same thing about your monster of a daughter. Look at how well that ended."

"You provoked her; she can be as stubborn and hot-headed as Cave, if the situation calls for it." Caroline paused for breath – as redundant as that was - and tried to compose her racing mind. "Mark was always a quiet one; placid and calm. He kept to himself and stayed out of trouble.

"He won't cause you any harm," Caroline continued. "Just please, don't send him through the Enrichment Centre. Just let him go."

"Go?" The A.I barked out a single, sharp laugh. "Go where? To go and be free to wander the facility? I don't think so. The surface? If he is as you say, placid, he won't stand much of a chance out there. Those lovely little alien friends of ours will soon see to that."

The aliens. Caroline shuddered, thinking of her beautiful daughter having to live in a world ruled by a domineering alien race.

Chell had not reappeared since she was exiled from the facility. GLaDOS had been sure to make sure that she would never be able to make her way back in. Neither computer or conscience knew the exact timeframe for the alien's arrival, nor what had prompted their invasion. The only thing they knew was that they had taken over in the entirety.

And Chell was out there, somewhere, and quite possibly living under their rule. Caroline could only assume the worst, but GLaDOS felt more concern for the aliens – she was their problem now, and they would need all the help that they could get should she decided to turn lunatic on them.

With Caroline now readily preoccupied with those thoughts of her daughter that never truly went away, GLaDOS returned to this 'Mark' human. She wanted to get rid of him. Now. It would be so easy to just throw him in the incinerator. But something held her back – a small curiosity of sorts, that pondered on the possibility that this human could be an invaluable test subject. If not, then tormenting him would be entertaining, and not just for his misery, but for the suffering of Caroline as well.

This was truly a predicament, but thankfully GLaDOS loved to settle predicaments. And whilst the foreseeable future was now one of uncertainty, GLaDOS was certain of one thing – testing was still the future, and the future started with her tests.