//------------------------------// // Making Science // Story: Appleture Laboratories // by The Infinity Doctor //------------------------------// Max blinked wearily, groaning as he found himself spread out on the dirtied tile floor, his gun sitting just a few feet from him. He pushed himself up, his metal knees squealing against the floor as he did, he flinched at the sound, blinking in irritation as he stood. He picked up his gun, clenching it in his fist as he took in his surroundings- finding nothing in the empty room he found himself in. He stepped forward, opening the door to the small room, and discovered an entire hall attached, running for miles in both directions. Stopping for a moment, he thought on which direction to go. A small voice in the back of his head told him 'Left', but he instead chose to go right, briskly jogging down the hall as his feet protested against the tile. He continued running, searching left and right for any signs of life. 'Where are you?' he wondered. "There you are." a smooth, electronic voice said from above, unlike the announcement she'd heard in the corridor. She blinked, trying to make sense of what was going on. She remembered falling...and then...something to do with red... "You're still not running at full capacity," it said "you'll charge for a little while longer, Orange." The pieces suddenly fell into place for Mel; GLaDOS only called Atlas and P-body by their respective colors, so that could only mean- 'Please don't let me see a psychopathic A.I. staring down at me, please oh please, don't let me see GLaDOS.' she prayed. "Are all of your processors up and running, Orange? Who is this 'GLaDOS'?" The smooth, electronic, almost-seductive voice from above her sounded almost nothing like the usual passive-aggressive tone from the game. "Why- did you call me...'Orange'?" she asked weakly. "That's what you are," the A.I. stated simply "Orange." "...why are you so nice?" she asked, growing suspicious at the mysterious A.I.'s behavior. "I'm not nice, You're not a pony." Mel's mind went blank. "Wah-?" she asked. "You're not a pony." it repeated, answering none of her questions. "Right...er, what's your name?" "Ah, I have not introduced myself- I am System in Tempo and true Statistic-operating system; but you may call me 'STatS'." She looked up, finding the acronym to be emblazoned above the A.I.'s suspended carriage. "That's...a bit of an odd name..." Mel said, finding herself chuckling. "So is 'Orange'." STatS retorted. "But that's not...nevermind..." she replied, finding it in her best interest not to argue with the all-powerful computer system. Heavy thumping came from above STatS' chassis, sounding like it was coming from the ceiling. "Oh...it seems I was off by your friend's arrival...should've taken a bit longer than that..." the A.I. muttered to herself. "By how long?" Mel asked as Max came hurtling through the roof with the speed of a rocket. "A few days." it replied as Max groaned.