Chapter 67

Dens and Chambers

Diga fell down...and far. She screamed but...her body had automatically twisted itself upright. She hadn't expected Cassandra to pull a stunt like that. She had fully expected to die as she fell down a huge shaft that was entirely dark, save for the glowing lights underneath Diga's armor.

Instead, she made a loud thump as she hit the ground. No pain, nothing more that a slight hissing sound.

She was alive? She found herself on a grey panel, which was only just another part of the facility.

By this point Diga, was almost done with everything. Nothing was simple anymore.

She lived at least, but wasn't entirely convinced that everyone was entirely sane. She'd fallen to yet again a different part of facility for the umpteenth time. But a scent caught her nose. She knew that scent very well.

Diga tracked the source of it. She constantly whiffed the air as she scattered around it's trail so much that she was practically obsessed with it. He was close.

Doug was close.

She would normally be ecstatic to know he was nearby, but her emotion tolerance as of late was minimal, due to all the chaos that had previously ensured. She wanted him out of here. As well as everyone else. She knew she wouldn't be able to save everyone, and that's what broke her heart the most.

She then came across another automatic door. This was it. There was no doubt that Doug was in there.

Diga stood up straight as she entered, seeing the room as a huge dome made of grey-white panels. A large black construct that seemingly had dozens if not hundreds of different cables and wires that twisted downwards in a huge block like piece.

"Dragonborn..." A deep voice echoed, causing chills to run down Diga's spine.

"You're here at last..."

She stopped as the construct started to move, stunned at the monstrosity before her. When it spun half circle, her face went white at the sight she saw.

"Doug..." She muttered weakly, saddened at the gaunt man, slouching there, staring at her with a disturbed grin.

A whirlwind of powerful, insane emotions flooded her, but she had restrained herself well. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.

"I'm...sorry about your sister and Farkas...the sister...you never knew and the man you loved, respectively..." Doug worded, with sounds of bitter sorrow.

Anger was one of the flooding passions that spun inside, but pity ran through her too, a disgusting portion, that ran through from the top of her head to the tip of her toes.

"Sorry is not going to bring them back Doug." Diga spoke; in a way that was perfectly calm, but it definitely had an underlying sting to it. Perhaps Sandra sacrificed herself to seal the rage to prevent chaos from ensuing? She did not understand...she did not understand...this...

Ugly tears ran down his face as he began to sob. Dear Talos...he became this wretched, gangly creature, holding his front of remorse. He was a good person, but why he had to do this was beyond Diga's comprehension.

She could not afford to bow to this, no matter how it hurt not to kneel down and to touch his face.

"I've contacted the party escort bots. I'll bring up their corpses...give them a proper burial."

Doug said once he got himself together.

Her eyes locked with his, with the stern, strong frame to support her. He didn't get it, he couldn't just brush it all away this easily.

"You do not understand this land." She spoke of boldly, standing tall. "Their souls...I will never see them again. Syndia...to the undying darkness of Sithis...and Farkas, his soul stolen by Hircine. By all the matter of how things are here Doug...I am...debilitating whether yours was taken as well."

Doug was left speechless as his beady, glowing eyes struggling to meet with hers, travelling all over the chamber. He moved forward, almost making Diga jump as he grabbed hold of her chest plates.

"I am...I have... sold my soul, my Dovahkiin, for this...It needed me to do this...I'd...I wanted you to live!" He pleaded, his voice choking with desperation followed by concerning echoes.

She was more...disappointed in his utmost actions. He was clearly sick, in mind, body and soul.

It pained her greatly.

"I respect that. I do not, however, condemn you to risk the lives of everyone around us. Those, whom I've fought to protect myself. Do not cross paths with power you can never hope to control. Perhaps part of this is my fault, I will admit. I appreciate what you have done so far...but..."

She told him outright, praying he will learn from his mistakes...and others.

"You do not want this to get worse...from what I've been told, you should have learned from GLaDOS and Wheatley's examples. Why torture yourself like this?"

Dougs lower lip began to quiver. She couldn't imagine what possible reason he had that would warrant him to torment himself in such a way, to curse himself in such a way.

"Because...because I love you." He breathed. The first words of genuine honesty and heartache.

She had to admit that struck a chord with her. She's had admirers proclaiming their love for her in the past, but...this hit her the hardest. And she'd known this for a while...it just took this horrible situation to get him to admit it.

"I know you do Doug." She muttered softly. Some scents are recognised through differing emotions. Pheromones detected by those with the strongest noses. It wasn't magic...it was what he would call, science.

"You have a beautiful soul." Diga pleaded, her voice almost cracking. " And I know you honestly have the best intentions. But this...machine. It will kill everyone, including yourself. If you love me enough, you'll stop hurting yourself...and all those stuck here, bound to suffer."

It looked like it pained him to think about it; eyes that bounced from every side of the room he could look at...those blood stained eyes...

"Believe me Diga I never wanted to hurt anyone...I can't...gyaahhhhh I CAN'T HELP IT!" Doug cried.

The panels on the walls had shifted up slightly, revealing the red lights that glared at her.

She couldn't afford to let this affect her, but everything had sworn to force her to pure instinct, with only pure will power holding her back.

"Let me help you then." She said strongly, as she strode up to him and grasped his hands into hers. "Together we can stop this!" She said strongly, as she strode up to him.

Doug looked down at her hands...and looked at them for a very long time. It made Diga uncomfortable, but she wanted to wait for him to make a decision. His eyes scrunched, as if he was agony as red lights flashed around them and an annoying, booming noise beeped repeatedly.

"No...I don't want to hurt her! Stop it!" He yelled as he forced himself out of Diga's grasp, forcing his chassis to pull backwards.

It deepened Diga's worry for him, feeling that there was definitely a darker force turning his hand, causing her to step closer.

"Doug let me help you. I want to set you free from this burden...I believe...I know that you weren't totally to blame." She called out.

His eyes leered at her, telling her a thousand different thoughts, a conclave of that which could have been his own and the darkness pinning horrible ideas into his mind. Even with all the machines that he was attached to, he had to be certain he was in control and could actually stop this himself.

"I know...I know. You always help. I've talked to all those you've helped in the past. But this...this is beyond your knowledge of understanding. Aperture is not your place. Skyrim is your rightful home and you have the right powers to protect it. We are not meant to be here, we're everything wrong...so wrong...we are like the Daedric forces you sometimes fight...my intention is contain everything of ours here...ensuring none of it escapes!" Doug noted.

Diga thought back to all the incidents they had thus far. Incapacitation of Whiterun's citizens, the deaths of Syndia and Farkas. Surely they may have been on his conscience...but...

She sighed "You're not meant to be here, either Doug...you..."

He suddenly projected himself forward, startling her as she instinctively reached for her blade as she stepped back slightly.

"I know...I know...I know...I know...IknowIknowIknowIknowIknow...I know..."

His words echoed across the entirety of the chamber, sending chills down her spine, as the lights continued to glare at her, his hands above his head as he muttered continuously.

"Doug stop!" She yelled.

The hands dropped his head rose once more, to meet with her demand.

"I'm sorry...but...the voices...they never stop. I cannot rest easy and it gets harder to fight...I'm constantly injected with adrenaline and it gets overwhelming..." He explained with exhaustion.

She was right. Something else was definitely affecting his state. She may not have been a woman of science, but rather a woman of instinct.

"Diga... at least...I have one request if you are willing to assist me." Doug started, his voice surprisingly calmer. "Even though I don't...maybe I do deserve it. I have enough real time data to analyse my actions to make a informed decision about it."

The Dragonborn was slightly relieved that he was on board to accept her help after all, but his tone, sudden shift of mood made another pit in her gut.

"Yes Doug...anything!" She answered, almost more enthusiastic than she had intended.

He then smiled slightly, pleased with this small progress.

"I want...I want you to kill me...please." He responded, voice stern, yet desperate and sincere.

Diga froze. She wanted to make sure she understood what he just said.

"Excuse me?"

Doug nodded and continued to smile.

"Yes. You must be the one do it."

She blinked twice. No...he couldn't. She shook her head her face fell and the energy she had nearly left her completely.

"I can't...why? Is there no way around this?" She called out.

Doug chuckled, perhaps it was her that was being naïve.

"It's nothing really to do with the logistics of it" He began, keeping his smile as he spoke as he appropriated a scientists position, as she so called it.

"One can amount themselves to timeless research and study in the matter of who should be able to kill who through factors of composite evolution. You for example, a mortal able to kill dragons. You were chosen...science would theorise that perhaps you had enough concentration of a particular gene or a genetic disposition that allowed you and perhaps your ancestors to inherit the ability to absorb particular species to garner grow and power. In this case Dragons, or a manipulation of DNA that was placed into you perhaps while you were in the womb or otherwise that garnered a thorough connection to an ancient wyvern-like species. It wouldn't be the first time...I still remember the mantis-man experiment incident. Proof of our ability to tangle with our code as we do with computers and the corresponding software. There have been species that have the ability to consume others perhaps adapting their biological structure and adapting and using it to further empower ones self. Humans, flora and fauna have millions of years of evolution to scope future survival of their kind out of necessity. Some fail of course, leading to their eventual extinction. Mankind has always been a unique case where, general consensus pending, where we've separated ourselves from the beast to denote ourselves a superior race."

Diga was puzzled by the words mostly, but from what she could gather, he was more a less trying to get his own grasp on how she came to be...at least, that's what she believed.

"This world, however...has its gift of peculiar races of man and mer, or elves, as well as the beasts races of Khajiit and Argonian, owing to a type of evolution where, perhaps in another time or place, what life would be like on other planets. I'm certain that from my own studies of the the sentients, that some common component links them all together to allow most races to interbreed. It's a fascinating study. Earth...Earth only had the humans. Nothing else. Racism exists due to skin colour and culture. It's very similar here but on a much broader scale where it concerns race."

A eyebrow rose from Diga, thinking that Earth never had as much...perhaps diversity as their world did.

"Humans have tried to forcibly develop themselves instead of letting nature take its natural cause. Fictional works have been created to see the creative extent of what life would be like if we had supernatural abilities. But these are mostly just fantasies imagined. Stories of heroes conquering the evil villains and us cheering those brave souls who would save our lives again and again with their unique abilities. But you know where that leaves us ordinary humans?"

Diga shook her head. She wasn't quite sure where he was heading with this.

Doug smirked.

"We're supposed to be protected with military forces, police or in this world, guards as you would put it. People who do not necessarily have powers per say, but are willing to do their bit in order to protect each other and the people they love. Things can and will go wrong, but humanity has always had the tenacity to fight back." He explained.

Explained the nords as a whole, really.

"But...it leaves us horribly boring. We're all trained in the same structure, to be allocated into less than thrilling roles and it has us desperately wanting more. We join a group, believing we're going to have exciting adventures or glorious battle when in reality, when they're in the fray, they become scared. They realise what in front of them is going to decide their fate...they didn't realise the other person, the one they're fighting has the exact same 'power' as them. What power you ask? The power over life and death."

She could attest to Nords not exactly being milk-drinkers by a long shot.

"There are always heroes, that will overcome those fears or acknowledge them, Doug." Diga rebuked.

"They might not necessarily have all the power, but they could still have the advantage...because they were trained...because if they had the heart and the courage and the know how...they will always come out on top."

Doug understood, nodding in prompt.

"Yes. The proactive ones whom hold such passion in their hearts." Doug continued. " Or they hold great cunning, which is why some ascend to better roles than others. Good or ill. Will they be the figures of human kinds peak? It remains to be seen. But...even so. Nothing ever changes. Leaders will rise and fall and the next best person will rise to the occasion. But if the system continues to function the way it does, not one person will become the next pinnacle of human evolution...even if our hearts imagine otherwise."

They all had to function in society, one way or another.

"But when you see change. No just want you read in stories or in history, but when in front of you and see, hear, smell, touch...taste...something you've never experienced before; it's fantastic. It's a reality made possibly in some way shape or form. To see you, kill a dragon and steal its soul and it's factor only made out to a small percentile of mortals and you using an incredibly unique power makes me believe in greater aspects of change. Nothing of your scale has been noticed since Tiber Septim...a man I've heard so much about...and his power to enact the greater aspects of change. To force the ultimate twist and churn new structures for the better. Power enacted by kings, Queens, Emperors and general leaders. I hear a lot about Gods, including those who apparently ascend to the position, make further alterations. That is true power! Those that have the ability to overhaul entire societal means and make you question everything you've ever known!"

He didn't factor in her other abilities.

"What about magic use? What about my lycanthropy? Are those not powers as well?" She questioned.

Doug sighed as he looked down to the floor and adjusted himself.

"Magic is a common theme here, as all species exhibit in some way as was mentioned regarding supernatural studies. Your beast form is not entirely dependable. It gives your strength but at a cost. Nothing here is exactly, revolutionary. Mortal kind developed magicka use over many millennia with their own investments in developing the magicka reserves and techniques that can be taught, while beast forms are not considered as part of a natural cycle of evolution, an interference from an otherworldly, supernatural being who can manipulate.

Being a Dragonborn has a lot of connotations attached to it, and has no where near the amount of negative stigma associated with revelation. I've spoken to many nords who revere ones like you, with the stories telling that of the one who will save them all. A real hero. You do not have to hide who you are...within reason. Being Sandraudiga Arch-Fire, with the title of Dragonborn...a lot of heroes from my plane of stories are known to have secret identities out of fear of their enemies seeking out to destroy those they love the most. It stumps their support...physical support and cuts them out of a lot of opportunities.

But you...are a beloved and feared being. You will have enemies but you have the support behind you and people are willing to die for you if it ended up being for the greater good. Individuals can count on you and look you face to face with their requests and promise you a reward for it and you don't even ask for anything in return to begin with, just because you're the one they need and you have skill, talent and power to back up your prowess because that who you are!"

Diga doubted that very much. There have been times of regret where she could have done more to save others...most of them recent. Her fate to kill Alduin has also been rather...ambiguous.

"Yet Aperture interferes. How can you explain Alduin being here in a rather abhorrent state and I couldn't even slay him properly. He. Killed. My. Sister!" She roared, touching her own sore spot. It even made the chamber shake!

Doug frowned but also withdrew in fear.

"Yes...sadly. I...I'm compelled against my nature to test time and time again without real reason.

To prove the conjecture of false desire is...beyond my zone of understanding." He said, shaken.

As he mentioned prior, most of the matters concerned the functionality of this forsaken facility haven't exactly been made with sane and sound decisions, with control left up to the fate of what ever unnatural force lay with him.

"But...I can say with what's left of my sanity is to prove your worth. Prove your heroism by destroying me. Slay the villain...get you revenge. Vent all your hatred and fury unto me Dragonborn...do it anyway you wish...quickly, slowly, allow me to feel the pain in any way you see fit. It is not destiny, no. It is a simple request that will allow things to calm down...to allow Aperture to fade away into obscurity and never harm anyone ever again!"

One thing she couldn't deny was that Aperture had caused more harm than good. The other was the people she'd met. Chell, Wheatley...even Caroline eventually...and Doug. She stood strong in front of him, her fists curled as she stared him down.

"No." She replied.

It made him confused in an instant.

"Why?" He croaked.

Reasons were mixed if she did have a give long lecture as he.

"Heroes are heroes because they find a way. They always do. A third option out of only two. No matter how large or small they may be. But we always make mistakes. To learn from and to grow so we don't make that same mistake again. I believe in redemption, Doug because death would only be the easy way out, but it doesn't make it the right way out. I am meant to save people who in may or may not have gotten themselves into certain decisions on purpose...perhaps they actually had the best intentions at that given time or they were being manipulated and they didn't know. You're given thought into the gravity of your situation, then you find out you've been duped. Big time. I am here, regardless of the past to get you out of here. Everything else is secondary." She explained.

It left him speechless as to how he could have been so foolish to believe in it all.

"You...you still believe in me, after all I have done?" He choked, tears running down his cheek again.

The Dragonborns hands fell to her hips as she smirked, a warm smile to comfort the jaded soul in front of her.

"Science and magic are tools for us to understand our world. That, I can grasp fine. Although I might not be able to forgive you for what you have done, I can't afford to keep losing people I care about." She told him.

His eyes widened at her words; a mind left racing to contemplate their real meaning.

"I...I don't know what to say..." He muttered.

Arms were raised across her chest.

"We can exchange sentiments later. Now, is there anything we can do to fight against this? Some how eject you out of the system without...well, hurting you." She asked.

He gave it some thought, as he raised some projected screens in front of him. He rubbed his chin as he scrolled through, what she could assume, to mass amounts of data.

"I acquired the means of power through some kind of golden light that I've referred to as the Control Program. It specifically asked me to become one with the Chassis." Doug explained.

Something that had attempted to become this was a sentient after all. Doug was tempted and he took the bait.

"Even now it continues to pour commands and actions through my brain. It causes me great pain to resist. I guess wetware is harder to manage just because of how a normal human mind functions as opposed to something like Wheatley or GLaDOS who were once based on personality template software, so it'd be easier to manipulate pure code as opposed to neuron based organic processors."

He continued.

Most of that flew over her head, but she could understand he was suffering.

"Everything is technically in my control, but...most commands will slip through, losing my manner entirely and subjecting myself to the force of the program. It manipulates the amount of dopamine...uh..chemicals that well, are released in proposition to when you feel good that you've accomplished a task. Everyone has this function whether they know it or not."

Diga just took that as science mumbo jumbo. But allowed him to continue.

"Wheatley describes it as an itch. Becomes an addiction. Unhealthy...so to disconnect me from the system entirely, it requires a core transfer. The facility needs a mediator to ensure most systems function correctly or else a core meltdown would occur. I don't think I need to further explain why that would be a bad thing."

Diga scratched her chin and wondered. A core transfer? Something to replace Doug in the chassis?

"The reason why this all happened is because what ever forcibly changed GLaDOS back into Caroline purposely ejected her from it. Normal scenarios would require core transfers to take place but it looks like didn't need to. The Control Programs was also split, somehow, and was transformed into a form that could be absorbed. I guess in the general physics of this world, a magical ball made more sense for it to take place, depending if the magicka flow in the air allowed it to happen. Or somehow...oh..."

Diga blinked. That didn't sound good.

"What is it?" Diga questioned, rightfully worried.

The man gulped.

"I think...I realise. Gah...so stupid. Someone must have forced Caroline out, ripping out the Control Program and actually transformed it on purpose. There was no way that was an accident."

There was only one person she could think of.

"Daryn." She muttered.

"It's entirely possible that damned elf could have engineered such thing!"

It gave Doug pause as he stared out in nothing for the moment, as he gathered his thoughts.

"Wait, do you think...do you think he manipulated this to happen? For me to take control of the chassis? Why?" He wondered.

She growled in mild discontent, her anger levels rising once again. Of course he did! Only he could have done this!

"Hang on, let me check the records. I should have full authority and top clearance if I'm the top dog here! Uh...no offence..." He stammered as he tinkered away.

This tested Diga's patience as Doug streamed through it all, desperately trying to search for answers. But she could appreciate his humility, but then sensed his frustrations and could clearly see his struggle.

"AHH!"

Sparks flew everywhere as Dougs eyes started to glow red. Diga stood back as Doug fought hard against a mystical force. She grew fearful, but not for herself. For him.

"What's the matter?" She asked, keeping her voice strong and confident at all costs. She needed to know the situation and know how to control it.

"This...is hard to bear. It's...not letting me do any- DIGA...DIGA PLEASE GET OUT!" Doug roared, his voice booming and becoming unrecognisable.

A lump grew in her throat as she stood her ground, giving him a look of determination.

"Doug you have to fight it!" She pleaded.

A second after that, a loud shrilling beep repeatedly itself and echoed throughout the chambers as red lights blinked and flashed everywhere as Doug lost control. A quick glimpse of his face revealed the veins nearly popping out of his neck, as well him struggling to get out.

Diga had blocked her ears, which, to her surprise, were really sensitive to the alarms. She winced, then sniffed thrice. She knew that scent, one that brought pain and horror.

No...

"Doug did...did you just activate the neurotoxin?" The Dragonborn yelled as loud as she could.

He panicked and tried to take control, as tears ran down his face. She couldn't tell what they were for. Anger? Sadness? Grief?

"It's not me Diga you have to believe me!" He roared, his voice crackling underneath, even with the speakers that boomed his word across the chamber.

The screens near his face were blinking red and blue and flashing all over the place, as his eyes darted to all of them, but Diga paid more attention to the smell...she had to make a decision. Leave...or...

"The neurotoxin...it's gonna make you run rampant Diga. Leave!" Doug pleaded. Then a series of coughs followed, causing a pit of guilt to pool in her stomach.

She weighed her options. Yes the neurotoxin was going to transform her. The only problem was that she had yet taken twenty four hours since her last transformation. She didn't know what was going to happen Only, that it will most likely kill her if she didn't decide to do something. As well as kill Doug.

She ran over to his chassis in the hopes to somehow disconnecting him from the chassis, only to be met with a barrier and pushing over with as much force as she gave. She fell to the ground, stunned.

"What are you doing? Here...here I uh...I'll see if I can get a panel moving. I might not be able to stop the gases from flowing but I'll try...gah...try and override one of the panels. Trust me, I've done this before!" He choked.

The gases filtered through her nostrils, with screens popping down from nearby panels with some numbers that looked like were counting down. Five minutes, it looked like.

"Doug, do you have any idea what's causing this?" Diga asked him. She needed to keep a level head on this. She wasn't going to lose him like she lost Farkas and Syndia.

"I...someones hacked the systems. I don't know where from though..." He said.

She froze. She knew that Caroline and Wheatley were busy finding the prototype chassis. Maybe...was it her? Diga bit her lip, uncertain whether or not this was her doing. But it was the only explanation. Should she inform Doug of who was in the system? Or was this Caroline's plan?

What in Oblivion was Wheatley doing?

"Doug...its Caroline! She's...she's trying to reap control. I say she's trying to set you free!" Diga told him.

Doug looked at Diga with a stunned expression. Some moments later, that expression turned sour. Diga gulped.

"What? Of course she is! Her superiority complex drives her...compels her to iniquitous acts! Ugh...

She wants a fight? A battle of the minds? Let her try!" He roared

Damn it. She shook her head, not expecting it to go that extreme.

"I get it Doug. You don't trust her. But you can trust me!" She pleaded. She wasn't sure where else she could go with this. Honesty was key in her books, but in this case, its possible that she should have just withheld the truth. She cursed herself for risking Caroline, but she hadn't believed the woman would have taken it as far as to obviously kill Doug. That was not going to happen.

Not again...

His eyes were an unholy red. She could see the chassis taking its toll on him through the generally gauntness of his figure. A sickly man with no sanity to cling on to. But she wanted to have faith he would eventually do the right thing.

"Don't do this to me Dragonborn...I've...I've suffered all my life...you have no idea what it's like to be me...to see things that aren't there...to be treated like...like I was nothing more than a toy. Science is cruel. It is as cruel to me as it is to you. Magic or no magic. The subjugation of life against life is always going to be a battle that is never won. You can be a chosen one or someone who's been genetically altered. In the end, we all suffer the same fate." He croaked.

Diga had suffered on her own, but she wanted to move forward, not backward.

"There are always obstacles and you cannot compare lives against another. Sure we'll stumble but that's the factor of life itself. I don't know you well enough. I know you wanted to make our lives better however. We need that. We need people who just want to make life not easier, but...more manageable. Sovngarde knows that everyday is another battle to survive through. I'm willing to do what it takes to make your life better." She told him, feeling a tear run down her cheek.

Doug searched for reasons why she would even bother. In the bouts of his reasons she could never ever understand, he simply did not want her to baby him. He did not need someone to help him out of him pity.

He looked at the timer on the wall. One minute. He then looked at her. To him, she wouldn't budge at all and looked no worse for wear. Or at least that's what he believed at face value. For all he knew, his mind was doing its usual tricks to comfort him.

"I don't want you to die from my mistakes Diga. I promise...I promise I will stay here to maintain Aperture. If it means to fight Caroline over it for an eternity then so be it. The people here are not ready for science. It has its own balance to strike without us messing it up." Doug cried out.

He noticed that she had begun to fiddle with her finger as she brought her hand to her face. He furrowed his brows in a perplexed motion, as she became just as confused as he, but it didn't matter. He needed to get her out of here before it was too late.

He tweaked and tangled over numerous amounts of code being altered by GLaDOS. Of course she was dared to fight against him. She would have no greater desire than to take control of Aperture once again. But he became distracted as Diga shifted, falling to the floor.

"Diga..." He breathed. He could do nothing but watch as she writhed and cried out in pain, watching her transform into a wolf.

He shook his head to take back his bewilderment and turn his mind to something more constructive.

No sooner than later, she had transformed completely, finishing off with a mighty howl. His determination soon filtered into his mind, forcing him to grasp mass amounts of code as he could see Diga in the corner of his eye charging at him.

"Now!"

Diga's head turned as a tube came into the room, turned to her as tried to hold on to a part of the chassis, as the tube attempted to suck her into it. He looked into her eyes as she checked him. He couldn't see if she had gone feral or not, but it would take her somewhere safe. Far from them, far from the menaces of Aperture.

"Take care Diga..." He gasped.

"Please be safe."