Traveling throughout Aperture was, generally speaking, a task on the best of days. The apparent architectural style was "Neo-Inconvenient". Navigating the catwalks and corridors between the test chambers was risky, to say the least, thanks to a frightening habit of crossing over into firing ranges and spontaneous abysses. But navigating said catwalks after being half destroyed by an eldritch abomination and while being chased by assimilated military androids was almost certainly a sign that today hated you, or at the very least, you lost a bet.

Chell was guessing the first one.

"Faster, faster- faster would be BETTER!" Pendleton babbled, his iris frantically scanning the blue void around them.

"Left or right?" Chell snapped, slowing as she neared the fork in the road.

"WHAT?!" Pendleton turned himself forward, trying to gain his baring. Chell took a brief moment to catch her breath, and placed her hands on her aching sides. Oh. Hah. Been a while since I pushed myself this hard. Running is way harder then jumping.

The rusted core's impatient voice shook her out of her reverie. "Oi, bird! Left to the Library! Right takes us to... a talk show, I think."

"I... wait, what?" Chell said, between gasps. "H- how is that a- ah! A thing?"

"It was big in the 80's. Don't knock it."

Chell chanced a glance behind her, and swore quietly to herself. Not only was the sizable horde of decaying military androids still there, it looked as if more were joining into the pursuit. 20, 30, 40- Maybe it's both, Chell thought. Maybe today hates me, AND I lost a bet. That must be it.

With a sub-vocal growl of frustration, Chell began sprinting once again.

. . . . . . .

"We're closed!" Malcolm, the Library Core, yelled irritably. "Please come back tomorrow, from 8:00 to 11:00, barring any schedule changes! Or holidays! And if you want to check if tomorrow is also a holiday, please log into your work station and go to www-"

"OPEN THE DOOR, YOU STUPID METAL BALL!" Chell's voice was muffled through the heavy bulkhead, but no less angry, as she continued to slam her fist into the door.

"How RUDE!" Malcolm sniffed, his bright green iris squinting in displeasure. "Wait'll I tell GLADOS about this!"

"Oh, for feck's sake-" Pendleton's Irish baroque cut through the bulkhead as he sighed in irritation. "Gimme a minute to hack it, bird."

The Library Core let out a harsh laugh of derision- but a moment later, reconsidered his options, and backed away from the door. "Y- you can't POSSIBLY open that door, our system has over six thousand layers of encryption-"

"It's a public library, Malcolm," The Miscellaneous Core's voice was distracted as he worked. "Why the faffin' hell would you have encryption?"

A moment later, the door slid open smoothly, and Malcolm stood (well, hung) aghast as a sweaty, angry human and a rusted core strode into his bastion of order. The door slid shut a moment later, and Chell leaned up against it, letting her eyes scan around the Library. The walls were circular, and lined with filing cabinet after filing cabinet. In the center of the room was a large collection of state of the art computers, and Chell could see stairs to an upper level that appeared to have more traditional paperbound books.

"This... is clean as hell," she breathed. "And Aperture is already pretty 'smells like bleach', so this place is... wow. I don't know if I should be impressed, of- I dunno, worried that this place might be flammable."

Despite his outrage, the shining white personality core brought himself up a little straighter, and his voice was thick with pride. "The Aperture Science Public Library boasts the most prestigious and effective nanobot cleaning services in the entire Enrichment Center! Each one, handpicked!"

"Translation," Pendleton intoned. "He's a dork."

"Pendleton!" Malcolm snapped. "You have been banned from this premises on three counts of unreasonable conduct! And profanity! And cannibalism! Leave immediately!"

"Sorry, Malcolm," Pendleton somehow gave the impression of shrugging, from his spot on Chell's waist. "There's been a change in rules."

"What?! What rules?"

"The rule of thumb."

"What's that?"

"I have the thumbs," Chell said, deadpan. "I make the rules."

"Oh." Malcolm gasped, stymied. "W- well. Alright then."

The door rang out with a heavy slam, and Chell pulled away with a start. "Okay, break over. You, green ball-"

"My name, miss," Malcolm said huffily. "Is Malcolm."

Chell paused. "Yeah, okay, green ball. Can your computers access any of Aperture's internal schematics? And how up to date are they?"

Malcolm sputtered indignantly for a moment, before wilting under Chell's intense glare. "W- well, of course they have access, as long as you have an administrator code! And- I suppose, within a few minutes?"

Chell nodded once, brushing a stray strand of hair out from her eyes. "Fine. That'll do. Pendleton, you and the green ball dial it up." She took a moment to untie Pendleton from around her waist and raise him up to the management rail, and after a moment, the rusted core attached himself to it. The mechanical gears along his base reached over, and secured themselves snugly against the rail.

Malcolm let out a quiet hiss of distaste, and made a mental note to clean it again later.

"Shouldn't take a minute, bird," Pendleton nodded. "And you?"

"Well, I'm... probably going to sit here until the room stops spinning," Chell said with a slight laugh, before collapsing against the door. She rested herself against it, shaking slightly every time a military android struck it.

The two cores fell silent for a moment, eyeing the human with concern.

"Are you okay? Because, if not, I'll just- you know, declare this whole 'finding GLaDOS' thing a wash," Pendleton said hopefully.

"Bite me, metal ball. Get to the computering," Chell sighed. "Just tired. Haven't eaten in- god, a day? Two? Blood sugar is low. What I wouldn't give for some food. Jerky. Beans. Mashed potatoes- I think I used to cook? Back before everything was all-" She gestured around the room.

The smashing and crashing outside was beginning to intensify, as more and more androids began the assault, but Chell was lost in thought.

"Yeah. I remember. When I was little, I was a right terror around cooking appliances, but when I was about- oh, I dunno. 16? 17? I started really getting into it. I tried to learn to cook everything I could- everything my... my-" Chell's voice broke, before she steadied herself. "Everything she could. Pork roasts, with cinnamon and apple glaze. Ribs cooked in white wine for over eight hours, so the meat would fall right off them. Cajun style Jambalaya, when I was having a bad day and needed some comfort food."

Chell took a deep breath, and looked at the hard white tones of anti-septic architecture and steel. "God, I could go for some comfort food right about now."

Pendleton pretended not to see the glimmer of tears in her eyes. Chell pretended that she hadn't seen him noticing.

"Never mind that!" Chell brought herself to her feet, and forced a defiant grin on her face. "Sorry, no idea what came over me. Let's do this!"

Malcolm sighed, his cradle stretched out in front of a monitor. "I have been doing it. Access is granted, and all that. Now, what are you looking for, so I can get you out of my life? And what is that knocking noise?!"

"The metal bint is in a human suit," Pendleton supplied by way of explanation. "A robot octopus is attacking, and there are zombie androids trying to break into the library to return some used books."

Chell casually reached up, and slapped Pendleton without looking at him. "You are officially not allowed to explain things. Or talk. Ever."

. . . . . . .

"Gah! Freaking hell, what do you keep in these filing cabinets?!" Chell groaned in frustruation, as she dragged the third in front of the door, for a make-shift barricade. She was ninety percent certain, if the androids broke through the heavy steel bulkhead, they could break through a series of filing cabinets, but it least it was something she could do.

And, she thought to herself. It muffles the banging. Which is an achievement in and of itself, really.

She thought about GLaDOS in danger.

Alone.

In pain.

Or possibly even dead.

Stop that, she told herself sternly. Stop thinking about it.

She did it anyway.

Goddammit.

"You two," Chell said, leaning against the filing cabinets. "Have you found her yet?"

"Not yet," Pendleton said enthusiastically, his iris fixed on the computer below him. "Wow! I really forgot how much truly excellent smut they have on these computers! Like- wow, I'm surprised they even have the memory space for all of this."

If looks could kill, Chell would have struck Pendleton with an energy pellet at five hundred miles an hour.

"... Oh, Mary and Joseph, FINE," Pendleton petulantly tabbed out. "You're a freakin' slave driver, you know that? Like, am I even getting paid for this?"

"What does GLaDOS pay me?"

"Ah. Absolutely nothing, actually."

"I'll double your pay."

"... Triple it."

Malcolm spoke up, an odd quaver to his voice. Since the stakes had been properly laid out for him, he had gotten quieter, and far more polite. "Um, ma'am? I believe I've found her."

Chell barely managed to look restrained, as she lunged towards the monitor. "Where is she? Is she okay? Is that thing there?"

On the screen were a massive crisscrossing of lines and diagrams, and it took Chell a moment to realize that she was looking at a 3D diagram. And at the center was a small, yellow dot, pulsing gently.

"Wait, there?" Pendleton scoffed, glancing at the screen. "There's nothing there- like, literally. That's empty space."

Chell's eyes started to hurt, staring at the complex network and diagrams, but she worked to understand it. "Well, there's something there now. Where are we?"

A few moments later, and Malcolm expanded the diagram, showing more of the facility. A similarly pulsing dot sat, glowing orange, sat on the other end of a massive selection of test subjects. "Under normal circumstances, miss, getting there wouldn't be too much of a problem, but with the facility that way it is- structural damage is nearly universal, there are entire sectors flooded with radiation or just plain corrosive water, and the, ah, androids- we can't even leave this room. I'm- I'm sorry, but I don't think we can help her."

The slamming of androids against the door helped punctuate the statement.

"No. No, I don't accept that. There has to be a way. I've done things way more difficult then that. Hell, I've done things way more difficult then that today," Chell shoved the core away from the screen, and pulled up an office chair as close as possible. She stared at the monitor as intensely as she could manage, and wished feverishly that those old rumors about computers giving you eye diseases weren't true.

Well, isn't this pathetic, she could imagine GLaDOS saying. Can't accept defeat? Have you ever accepted defeat? I'm legitimately curious, actually.

Mind-GLaDOS' tone softened for a moment. Really, Chell. It's- it's fine. Leave me. I- I deserve it.

"Oh, you definitely deserve it, but I'm still not letting it happen," Chell muttered under her breath, before speaking up. "What's that? This blue line? This goes right by her, right? And it connects- right by the back of the room?"

Malcolm leaned over again, his iris squinting. "T- oh! That's a Repulsion Gel pipe. I- I wouldn't exactly consider it a- ah, traditional manner of travel, but I suppose, if you found a way to hold your breath for long enough-"

Chell was already out of her chair, and halfway across the room. She inspected along the spot where the schematic indicated, and fell upon her new favorite toy: Kicking with long fall boots until it breaks. This is beginning to be a reoccurring thing.

The rusted core pulled himself away from his smut, and followed along behind her. "Wait- what? Not that seeing you covered in that gunk wouldn't be funny, but- seriously, are you trying to kill yourself?"

"No. Look, the diagram said the pipe does a ninety degree turn right about where she is. All I have to do is go feet first, and my long fall boots should break through the pipe when I get there. Probably."

"And if there's no floor, and you plummet to your death?"

"Then you'll get to laugh at how funny I look right before I die. See, win/win."

. . . . . . .

For the record, Repulsion Gel tastes repulsive. But it never tends to stay in your mouth for long.

Unlike a ride in a tube full of Propulsion Gel, which would presumably be over before it started, the tube of Repulsion Gel wasn't nearly so relaxing or expedient. Instead of sliding one along, the Repulsion Gel's manner of speedy traversal was built solely upon bouncing one forward... and directly into the side of the tube. Which launches you again. And into the side of the tube.

Chell very rapidly lost count of how many bruises she was accumulating.

She tried her best to keep her long fall boots ramrod straight, but after her kneecaps turned into hamburger a few impacts later, they bent regardless. Chell decided she was just happy keeping them attached to her body, and anything else was a bonus.

Chell kept her portal gun as close as possible, using her body to shield it from the impacts, and as she flew, she felt the air pressure in front of her subtly change. With a rush of instinct, she fought to keep her legs braced for impact.

She slammed into the wall, and the metal bracing snapped off from the pipe. It barely changed her momentum as she went through, and she got to experience a brief moment of surprise before slamming into a ground on the other end.

Well, she thought. There's an actual floor. That's a plus. Also, GAAAAAAAH! NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!

A familiar voice cut through her pain. "... Chell?"

She looked up, and began to take stock of surroundings. The pipe she burst out from was a good few feet from the platform she hit, and between the two, nothingness. What she took for a floor was a glass platform, which stood across from a similar pit. The pipe, the pit, and the platform were surrounded on all sides by massive white walls, which stretched up till she couldn't see any more.

And in the middle of the pit, was GLaDOS.

She was suspended over it, wrapped in the same steely tendrils that tore their way through the facility, and mutilated the military androids. Her arms and legs were wrapped tightly, with the tendrils imbedding themselves into her chassis, with the other ends stretching back through the walls. Her tight bob hair was mussed and untighty, and she had gashes all over, which dripped her clear lubricant. But despite all this, the look on her face was more of astonishment and relief, then any sort of misery.

"You're alive?! Oh, thank god you're alright," GLaDOS sighed, visibly relaxing in her cradle. Chell brought herself to her feet slowly, being careful not to set off the gel. Okay. Open positivism. Didn't expect that.

"Yeah," Chell said, aiming for casual, but ending up awkward. "You fixed me up pretty good. Um. Thanks."

"Is there any internal bleeding? Burns? Was there any side effects?" GLaDOS paused, cocking her head sideways. "... And did you just thank me?"

"Well, yes," Chell rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "I mean- you did save me. Technically. So. Thanks."

"Oh! Well, about time you thanked me."

"... What else would I have to thank you for?"

"Freedom? An amazing example of flawless modern technology in your hands? Years upon years of extended relaxation, absolutely free?"

Chell grit her teeth. "I think the correct response is 'you're welcome'."

GLaDOS knit her brow in concentration for a moment, before her eyes widened in realization. "Right! Ah. You're... welcome? And I'm- sorry."

"Don't worry, I'm used to you being insufferable. How do we get you down?" The test subject took another step towards her, nearing the edge of the pit. "... And did you just apologize to me?"

"... Let's just put a moratorium on sentimentality until we get done with this."

"Agreed."

"As far as getting me down goes," GLaDOS gestured to the tendrils with one hand. "It shouldn't be too difficult. Relatively. The entity seems mostly preoccupied with trying to assimilate my programming and access my internal systems. Hence all of the access points."

"God, that sounds pleasant. Can you stop it?"

"Of course. This thing is a moron, but it's persistent. It's running sixteen iterations of the same invasive software at once. I can shut them all down, but not free myself at the same time."

Chell reached over the edge, and gently grabbed GLaDOS' arm. It was cool to the touch. "And if I disconnect the access points?"

"Then I'll plummet to my death, I assume. But it won't be downloading me. See, win/win."

. . . . . . .

They worked in silence.

GLaDOS' cradle had some slight give, and Chell was able to pull her close enough to work. She managed to follow the tendrils, ignoring the sharp heat to them, and getting as close to GLaDOS' chassis as possible. Once her hand was as close to the access point as possible, she pulled it free. Chell chose to ignore the wince of pain the android let out as she did so, and moved to the next one. Chell chose to leave the rest of the tendril wrapped around her limb for suspension, and proceeded to the next one.

This process repeated itself over and over for the next ten minutes, until Chell finally yanked out the last one. GLaDOS nodded. "Release me. It won't be long till it registers my absence."

Chell didn't speak, but instead ripped the tendrils away from her, and in one smooth motion, pulled GLaDOS towards the platform and away from the pit. For a brief, terrible moment, it seemed like she wouldn't make it, but that moment passed, and the two slammed into the platform in a tangle of limbs.

"... My motor functions require calibration. That is the only reason I'm on top of you right now."

"I'm sure," grunted Chell, as she pulled GLaDOS' elbow out of her stomach. "God, you're heavy."

"Yes, it's almost as if I'm a machine or something," GLaDOS frowned, as she tried to understand Chell's constant fidgeting. "Are you trying to make me comfortable?"

Chell fell silent for a moment. "... Yeah. You did the same for me, remember?"

GLaDOS frowned. "I suppose I did."

The test subject settled down, and as the android began calibrating her system, she idly thought that it wasn't that uncomfortable.

"So, where does this leave us?" Chell spoke up a few moments later.

"Hm?"

"You held me captive and tried to kill me, and I did kill you and break your home a few times. And now we've both... saved each other."

"True. But my saving was more impressive."

"Oh, please."

"I had to fight military androids, while carrying around an invalid. I think that fully qualifies."

"I fought androids too, you know! And please, I saved your ass just as often during that."

"Yes, you made an excellent human shield."

Chell elbowed the android gently, and the android allowed a small smile.

Said smile was hastily wiped away, when yet another tremor echoed through the building.

No, not the building.

The floor beneath them.

And the walls.

The tendrils very quickly withdrew, and as Chell looked around in panic, she chanced a glance through the platform beneath them.

And she saw something moving through the dark.

"Oh. Right," she whispered. "That."

[Author's Note: Heyo! Sorry this chapter took so long, it went through a LOT of rewrites. I hope you enjoy, though! Tune in next time, for the revelation of the Shroud's identity! Oh, and as always, reviews are GREATLY appreciated!]