The sight of B in sleep-mode in Doug's den was comforting, as he felt he could now protect her as a father should, even if she didn't know that their lives were, in fact, entwined by more than just coincidence. When her eyelid opened and revealed the blue light beneath, he glanced away from his painting and smiled at her.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked simply.

"Doug," The concern in B's voice was equal to when he had forgotten to take his medication that day so long ago. "Do you think that the workers could have... wiped my hard drive at one point?"

The unexpected question stopped Doug in his tracks. He turned his head toward her. "W- What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Sometimes, I'll have... flashes of memories. Not enough to make out anything from, just quick pictures. And there's always the same two people. I know they're important, but I just can't figure out why."

Could it be...? Doug asked himself, attempting to think straight despite the menacing voices from his head. "Here, show me what they look like." He offered her a paint brush.

"Alright." As she began to fly over, she looked down at herself. "Oh, you fixed that. Cool, thanks." A panel on her left side opened, revealing a mechanical arm. "Hey, that's new, too! You certainly put a lot of effort into me."

"I couldn't salvage up many parts, but I did everything I could." He returned her hypothetical smile with a real one of his own. B picked up the paint brush, and before long, there was a new mural on the wall. The sight caused even the imaginary voices Doug heard to fall silent.

It was of a girl, her black hair falling past her shoulders, with her bright blue eyes looking up to the clear sky above her. She was leaning her head on the shoulder of her companion: a man of about thirty, whose short, matching black hair was combed neatly as he put his arm around her shoulders. They sat in the grass without a care in the world. Doug hadn't thought about that picture in years. She remembers my drawing, so why doesn't she remember me?

You moron, have you seen yourself...? You haven't shaved or cut your hair in three years...

You couldn't even recognize yourself...

Shut up. This isn't the time.

"And something about a Swedish phrase. I have no idea what it means, or how I even know that it's Swedish. Damn it, I can't even remember what it was." She face-palmed, a humorous sight on any other occasion.

Swedish... min kärlek... 'My love'...

Doug's heart skipped a beat when a third voice was heard. "It's a common fact that schizophrenics are know to talk to imaginary people, but I've never heard of a case in which the people actually talk back. Who's back there with you? Or do I have to come back there myself?"

"Shit. Come on!" Doug grabbed B and started running. "We have to get away! She'll kill us, I know she will! She'll kill us like she did the others!"

"What?" B screamed, oblivious to the knowledge of his coworkers deaths.

"Oh, you didn't know? I murdered all of the scientists that worked here. I figured your friend here would have told you. He's the only one who managed to survive. But I'm going to make up for it now. You call yourself an AI? Do you even know what that stands for? It means 'Artificial Intelligence'. It seem to me that you're lacking in the 'I' department, though. Well, after all, you are only a prototype. Face it, I'm better than you. I was designed to be better than you. That's the only reason you exist; to make me better."

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you say something? I can't here you. No, seriously, I can't hear you. I have literally shut off my internal microphone, so I can't here a thing. Can you do that?"

"Why would I need to do that?"

"Whoops! Forgot to turn it back on! I didn't catch that!" B let out a devious laugh.

Doug looked at her. "Wait, can you seriously do that? Make it so you can't here anything?" Her only response was "What was that?"

The pair entered another one of Doug's dens, this time in the security center. Out of breath, Doug addressed B. "She won't... be able... to hear us... in here. I have... a plan... and it might just... save our asses."

"I'm a computer. I don't have an ass."

B waited until Doug was asleep before she deactivated for the night. She sat there watching him for a few minutes. He covered his ears, fighting away the nightmares of robots and neurotoxin that haunted him day and night. Human sleep... she thought. Does it feel anything like going into sleep-mode? I wish... I could experience it for myself. I'd do anything to be human. Leaving her thoughts behind, she settled up against the wall and drifted off.

Just give up...

It's never going to work...

She'll kill you both...

What if it backfires...?

"No. It's going to be fine."

You don't know that...

Doug ignored the pessimism, plugged a pair of headphones into one of the computers, and began searching. There has to be something. Some information, so I know her weakest location. I have to get rid of her, so my girl and I can escape. Suddenly, he saw a clip that sparked his interest.

Three engineers, whom Doug knew as Eric, Josh, and Walter, were in the GLaDOS main chamber. The computerized head of the facility was shut down for the moment. The date at the bottom of the screen indicated that it was the fateful day that would be their last. Doug hit play and was soon entranced.

Walter shook his head. "We can't just look past it anymore. It's been happening too often."

"Yeah, but I hate to just chuck her into the incinerator. Seems kind of unfair to me."

"Eric has a point. After all, she doesn't even know what's going on with her. But I do have to agree that there's no other option. If she regains memory, who knows what'll happen. I was shutting her down the other day, and you know what she said? 'Daddy'. She didn't remember it, of course, but we just can't risk it."

Josh nodded. "Doug's not gonna like this one." He then powered up GLaDOS and spoke to her. "Inform the facility that there is a rouge AI on the loose. She's dangerous and should not be approached. Can you do that?"

"Of course."

Doug paused the security video. That's why they wanted to kill her. She knew too much. "She said 'Daddy'. My Breanna's in there. Somewhere..." He shut down the computer and looked over at the metal body that now housed his daughter's soul. "Tomorrow, we make our escape"

Doug woke up to singing. "Not again..." He muttered to his mind. "I can't deal with you now. I need a clear head today." As he came back into consciousness, he noticed that the voice was not in his head, and was able to make out the words to a familiar melody.

"Exile...

It takes your mind again...

Oh, you meant so much...

Have you given up...?

Does it feel like a trial...?

Did you fall for the same empty answers again...?

Vilify...

Don't even try..."

The voice, a sweet alto, seeped into Doug's heart and awakened memories of years past, when that same voice would sing that same song to him when he was at his weakest moments. He could listen to that forever, but he knew what he had to do.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, though I'm not sure exactly what I'm ready for."

"Just remember to watch for my signal. That is crucial. You can't forget that." Doug stressed this as much as possible. B promised she wouldn't. "Alright. Let's go."

B clutched in his arms, they ran through the corridors of the once-great facility. Aperture... How could I let this happen...?

"Ah, it's been a long time since I've seen you, Dr. Rattmann." At the sound of GLaDOS speaking the name, B had a great revelation. I know that name. Rattmann... Doug Rattmann... I knew Doug. We were close... yes, very close... Before she could concentrate on how she'd known him, GLaDOS continued speaking. "Do you finally believe me? That I'm not real? I'll unlock the doors so you can see for yourself." She did, and Doug ran in. Perfect.

There she is. She hung from the ceiling, various cores attached to her body. "I honestly, truly, didn't think you'd fall for that." Doug heard the doors bolt shut behind him as GLaDOS taunted him. "You've evaded me for three years, a long time for a human. But for me, it only felt like a few hours. And now you're here. Did you ever stop to think that eventually there's a point where your name gets mentioned for the last time? Well, here it is: I'm going to kill you, Doug. Although, you have been making me wait longer than I anticipated, so I have to punish you somehow. And I know exactly how to do it." As large claw came out of the ceiling and began moving toward them, Doug tried to give B their signal, but she was too fast for him, and soon he felt his daughter being torn from his arms.

"I don't see why you're so attached to her. She's the second-biggest moron I've ever met. Why is that, by the way?" GLaDOS observed B from all angles.

"Because... Because we both know that you're just a coward who hides behind her technology to get what she wants!" Doug would never forget that moment, how amazing and terrifying it felt.

"I don't think you understand. I'm more powerful than you could ever imagine. And to prove it, I'm going to kill you. So I have to ask, just because my morality core is making me, do you have any last words?"

Doug took a deep breath and tugged at his hair, making sure that B could see it. She blinked twice, letting him know that she was ready. "I just need to ask..." Just say it! It's now or never!

"Well, spit it out. I don't have all eternity. Oh, wait, yes I do."

"I need to ask..." As his head was bowed, a menacing smile crossed his face. "If a set contains all sets, does it contain itself?"

"Is that all? Of course it does. Or, wait, no. But, yes. No, if it's a set, it contains itself, but it can't. [ERROR CODE 5976] [GLaDOS HARD DRIVE CORRUPTED] [TERMINATING SYSTEM]"

"What's going on down there?" B yelled down from the now swinging claw. "What the hell did you say? Ow, what the-" Doug looked up at her, and saw the most terrifying thing since the Experimental Ward. The claw began clamping down on the little AI, the dents becoming deeper and deeper.

"Sets [BZZT] Containing itself [BZZT] [SYSTEM TERMINATION COMMENCING AT 67%] Caroline- wait, who? [BZZT]"

I'm sorry, Caroline.

"Hey, Doug, when you get a chance, do you think you could maybe, oh, you know, help!" Creaks could be heard from the huge amounts of pressure being exerted on B.

And then, Doug watched his daughter die a second time. As the claw closed with great force, pieces of her flew all over the chamber, and Doug let out a cry. No. No, not again! Breanna...!

"[SYSTEM TERMINATION COMPLETE]"

"Breanna! No! Breanna! Don't leave me again!" Once the chamber had become silent besides his screams, he began picking up the scrap metal and wires from the floor and clutching them to his aching chest.

"[GLaDOS SYSTEM REBOOT COMMENCING SYSTEM REBOOT AT 5%]"

"Damn it!"

Doug carried what was left of his child back to one of his dens and spoke as he cried. "All that work for nothing. Breanna is dead for nothing. Failure... Going to die here... Never going to see the sun again... Don't care... Nothing matters anymore... She's gone..."

It's true...

Complete failure...

You should kill yourself to join her...

Trying in vain to pinpoint the location of the voices, he looked around his den. As he panned over to the left, he came across something that sparked a thought in his mind. "I don't need to do that to be with her... We can live together... for the rest of my life... She'll be my... companion..."

"W- what happened? Doug? Where are you? What's wrong with me?"

Doug entered through one of the wall panels when he heard the voice. "You were destroyed in there. I didn't have the parts to repair you to your full extent. You should be able to see from five directions alternatively, but you won't be able to move on your own. I hope you're not angry with me."

"You saved me. Why?" She asked.

"Because I feel like you understand me. Better than anyone else I've ever known. I... don't want to lose you." Not again.

"Doug, I'm not sure if you have a family, and I've never had parents, but I'm sure that you'd make a great father. You are a very honorable person." Doug tried not to cry. "So, is she gone?"

"No. She rebooted a few hours ago. That's why we can't let her know you're alive. If we're not in one of the dens, if you must speak, you have to do it very quietly. If I talk to you, she'll think that it's my schizophrenia, that it's some kind of coping process. She shouldn't pay any mind to it. As far as she'll know, I'm just a lunatic who talks to a companion cube as if it could talk back."

B laughed. "Good call."

"I need to go salvage up some food. You want to come?"

"Eh, sure!" Doug strapped B the companion cube onto his back and went off.

Breanna, chances are, that you'll never completely remember our life together, but nothing is for certain. As long as you're by my side, I promise that I'll never give up hope. I'll be waiting, min kärlek.

YES, I am working on a sequel, in which Breanna's fate will be decided at last... Wow, that was overly dramatic.