Program Seventeen
Entry Seventeen
Exam
It looks like you've survived this far. Bravo. *slow clap* Gilda will be there soon. Don't disappoint.
Chell slowed her breath as she read this last message. She'd watched all the video messages - including the one that showed her own arrival - as she'd reached each Test chamber. The only one that had left her with questions had been the Twelfth one, which had been redacted. Still, she had seen enough.
Glados now had Gilda, and would have no place for Chell. Glados plainly was treating Gilda not as a test subject or as a resource, but as a daughter. The preening video had laid that out definitively. Gilda had replaced her, completely and absolutely. Chell didn't know where the Core called Cave had come from - she assumed it was in the redacted video - but the way it talked and acted indicated it either was Cave Johnson or a manufactured replacement...who was also treating Gilda like a daughter.
Chell sighed to herself as she braced herself for combat. This test chamber was wide open, with only a few disabled lasers and turrets waiting to be activated. The other test chambers had pushed her to her limits. Wind tunnels, odd gravity, flying turrets that hunted her down, odd shaped cubes that behaved strangely, rotating platforms... And all the while, she could hear the sound of wings in pursuit as Gilda hunted her down. She considered herself lucky that she'd found a Portal Gun to use alongside her Gravity Gun, and that her old longfall boots were still functional. She did her best to calm her mind, knowing she wouldn't have long before-
A panel on the roof burst open, and Gilda dropped down to hit the floor on all fours heavily, wings mantled. Her silver armor glinted in the light of the room as the glowing blue navigation core - Different - hovered over her shoulder. Chell knew she had to be wary of that as well; she'd seen the laser Gilda had given it. She'd also seen the laser hunter turrets that had been based off that chasing her around the test chambers. As Gilda lifted her head to lock eyes, Chell braced herself.
Gilda's beak opened and she let loose a shockingly loud hunting shriek before launching herself into the air. Chell rolled back out of the way of the charge, seizing a cube nearby with her gravity gun and chucking it at Gilda. The griffon responded by activating portals, diving through the wall and out the ceiling before spraying blue gel directly beneath her, bounding faster back up into the ceiling portal to gain more speed before rocketing out another portal straight at Chell.
Desperately, Chell leapt over the charge, spinning in an attempt at delivering a kick...only for her strike to slide off Gilda's orange gel coated armored wing. Chell managed to twist so she didn't sprain anything as she landed, then raced along the orange path Gilda had left behind to catch up to her.
Gilda glanced over her shoulder with a wide grin...then dug talons and claws into the floor and spread her wings. Unable to stop herself in time, Chell went tumbling head over heels before landing somewhat dazedly on the flat ground in front of Gilda...only to fall back on her rear as Gilda spun to slam her tail - weighted with her portal emitter - into Chell's gut.
As Chell fell flat, she gasped for breath...then instinctively rolled over just in time to avoid Gilda's talons slashing at her throat. Lunging away, Chell leapt up and swung her Gravity Gun at Gilda, attempting to strike either the griffon or her assistant that hadn't acted yet. She winced at the clang of metal on metal that ran up her arm as she hit the floor, Gilda having taken to the skies.
Chell spun quickly to counter the assault...but her breath caught as she felt the line of pain across her throat, and saw the spray of blood as Gilda's talon slashed past her. This was it...she was dead...she just didn't know it yet...
As she fell backward, Gilda pulled something out of the chest of her armor and shoved it into Chell's throat. "Now Different!" Gilda barked out.
Different's laser lashed out across Chell's throat, sealing the wound.
Chell fell to the floor, clutching at her throat as she coughed and gagged, unsure if she could even breathe properly. Reflexively, she tried to shout out an imprecation, but her silent voice- "What the hell?" Chell's eyes widened in shock at the sound of her own voice coming from her mouth. "What...how?" She put her hand to her throat. It had a somewhat synthesized aspect to it, but it was definitely her own voice...but-
"Your records said that your vocal chords atrophied during your extended cryo-sleep, likely because you refused to use them before you were sealed in," Gilda explained. "So I used the voice synthesizer chips in the cores, smacked that code around in the computer until it became an artificial voice box, and manufactured one attuned to your voice. After that, I just had to install it." She glanced at the spray of blood. "Didn't realize it'd be this messy..."
"I thought you were trying to kill me!" Chell gasped out in terror.
"I know! It was tons of fun!" Gilda proclaimed happily. "I thought for sure that some of those tests would have tripped you up, but even without wings you're nearly as good as me!" Flapping up, she punched Chell on the arm. "Not bad, sis! We should do this again!"
"...sis?" Chell asked, stunned.
"Uh, duh!" Gilda replied. "We might have come from different nests, but we've got the same parents. That means we're siblings. Siblings roughhouse, but we don't kill each other!"
Chell stared in disbelief. "But...shared parents? But Glados...deleted Caroline-"
"Playing Entry Twelve!" Different piped up helpfully, turning to the nearest wall and broadcasting the video file from that entry.
Chell stood there, slackjawed, as she watched Glados - no, Caroline - pour her heart out as she threw her rage and pain over Chell herself at Cave Johnson. Tears poured from Chell's eyes. Unable to do anything else, as the video ended Chell sunk to her knees and threw her arms around Gilda, clinging to her as she wailed like a brokenhearted child.
"Geeze, sis..." Gilda murmured, patting Chell gently on the back. "What the hell happened to you out there?"
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I love this
/
(10/10) also first
Damn
Well, this should be interesting...
Nice choice of words, Gilda.
What happened to your sis Gilda was more or less the Combined efforts at her (and subsequently) total annihilation of the human race. Though I guess now she can voice out her frustrations better thanks to you.
And so... re-united at last
Next a few chapters of relaxing and planning and after that...
IT'S TIME TO KICK SOME COMBINE ASS!!
I'm sobbing manly tears of joy at the sisters meeting up and Chell now being able to speak. I can't wait to see if there's a combination portal/gravity gun coming. I can also see Gilda getting Gravity Gauntlets instead of another gun. Will Chell also be getting an armored suit???? I can see her saying if it can't let her get through an entire testing course without her feeling a hit on her skin it isn't good enough and GLaDOS enjoying having to come up with better and better types of armor.
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I don't care how small you make the text. I will always downvote a first comment.
Ah.
So you actually BUILT on how it's canon that Chell COULD talk, but refused to.
...
A stroke of pure, unadulterated BRILLIANCE!!!!!
I know I shouldn't expect much from a Portal/MLP crossover, but Chapter Seventeen completely shatters my suspension of disbelief. I can get behind Gilda being a techie, but her cavalier approach to electronics would never work the same on human body, period.
EDIT: wow, that's a lot of downvotes. Is it because of the crossover quip? Well, sillyness was to be expected... but not that kind of silliness.
Yup.
Well played Gilda.
She's trying to kill her, oh, wow...
Or, not?
... I genuinely did not see that coming Well fucking played.
You have an interesting idea of roughhousing.
She went through pretty much hell.
Just saying but don't forget that Gilda is from a land of magic where everything works out in the end. Where when one sets their mind on doing something they usually succeed even if it should have killed them.(for the most part)
Also I really enjoyed how this story was all tied together. Cannot wait for more.
Well... This is a very interesting development. Poor GlaDOS just can't seem to get her child to -ahem- leave the nest.
7983229 FIRST MO*******KER!!!
I'm going to label it a credit to Tatsurou's skill at writing these last few chapters that, despite the evidence to the contrary (Entry Twelve) I did not see this coming. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
Gotta agree with Vindicar. Even with Aperture brand science, it wouldn't be as simple as 'rip her throat open, just shove something in, seal it back up'. There's a reason surgeons take their time...
is a certain "the one freeman" gunna be makin a cameo in this if there going to the surface?
Oh ya! We're gonna get to see more of them! May even move into a half life cameo!
7983308 That gives me an idea...
In lieu of fowl language, when we wish to commit an expletive, we can all shout, MOKER!
Let's just say she had crabs, now she doesn't, and you two have a common enemy.
OK, now I'm thinking of Finn's Auto-Tuned singing voice in "Adventure Time".
7983341 Yeah, this is the one qualm I have about this chapter. I'm totally down with Gilda giving her a voice box, but I feel like it could have been done a bit more carefully than what you lovingly deemed 'rip her throat open, just shove something in, seal it back up'. Maybe something more like this (outlined since I don't really have time for a good narrative, and hopefully the spoilers have deterred anyone that hasn't read the chapter yet):
Depending on whether (A) GlaDos intended for Gilda to help Chell or (B) not...
—Battle
—Gilda pins Chell to floor
—(A) Glados deploys "neurotoxin" (actually anaesthetic gas) into room while Gilda puts on mask
—(B) Different disconnects any cameras allowing GlaDos a visual, then Gilda takes an anaesthetic from her chest compartment and anaesthetizes Chell (likely a needle)
—Gilda straps Chell down and carefully inserts voice box with surgical skills that she no doubt picked up while learning tech skills
—Chell wakes up while still strapped
—Gilda playfully taunts her, eliciting Chell to yell and discover her new voice
—Proceed from "Reflexively, she tried to shout out an imprecation..."
—(A) GlaDos makes a comment at some point to make her presence known
—(A) GlaDos stops 'watching' when Different plays entry 12 for her own sake
—Gilda unstraps Chell somewhere during conversation
—(B) GlaDos hasn't seen conversation since Different's disconnection
—(B–likely would occur in next chapter) Gilda and Chell continue battle for show, Different reconnects GlaDos's visual
Maybe something like that?
7983449 Ha. Fowl language. Hooray puns!
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My suspicion is that Chell's new voice box incorporated aspects of the "Living Metal" (AKA Nano-tech) Cave has been studying, thus allowing it to self intigrate into her biology. Their understanding of it probably just isn't advanced enough yet to get it optimized enoughto react fast enough to knit her throat back together before she blead out. Give it a few hours and I doubt she'll even have a scar.
I had a thought that SOMETHING along these lines MIGHT be in the works but once again, our wonderful author ends up giving us such a left field that it's actually in right field
7983449 I love it and shall do so.
7983783
Well, that's one way to handwave that.
Still, it's a really jarring scene.
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That's how it should've been done, really.
7983229 To be fair, there was some actual content to the "first" post other than simply "first".
As for the chapter...Gilda, Glados, Celestia, and Rainbow Dash need to team up to make the most epic prank ever.
Yay adorable sibling moment and definitely the right thing to do giving chell a voice, I mean there are only so many mute jokes you can make and the games covered most of them.
7983783 probably what happened
7983935 Yeh, Tats tends to do that. Unless something starts leading up Ages in advance or he gives something away in the comments beforehoof the light details of his chapters tend to leave us speculating on what happened and how it ties into the greater whole. I tend to piece the more probable scenarios together as I read, simply because my brain is wired to read too deeply into things for my own good. My family hates watching mystery movies or crime-drama TV shows with me because of that...
Whew, glad I have Three More Things to read after this because my heart _needs_ something light after that.
Great chapter as always.
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Alternatively, the artificial voice box was something that had been designed in Aperture Science a long time ago back before 'required testing' was initiated, requiring only being exactly placed (such as, by someone with falcon eyesight and practiced exact placement) in order to function properly. The 'whacking code together' just brought the file up.
Seriously, Aperture Science can make a Portal gun, Gilda created a dimensional anomaly by throwing chemicals through portals at high speeds, and then there's the mantis men...
And an artificial voice box (which already exists in real life) that can be brute forced in the style of all Aperture Tech breaks suspension of disbelief?
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True, but no matter what way you look at it, posting "First" on anything is just spam.
Well, I didn't expect that, but I love it.
7984336 I guess. It's just that, in all of Aperture's inventions, they never quite cracked the whole 'making humans not die' thing. See: Blue Gel eating bones, asbestos, moon rock poisoning... I guess GLaDOS would've figured it out, but even so it doesn't seem internally consistent with the rest of Aperture's nonsense.
7984533
To be fair, the whole purpose of testing was "figure out the 'make humans not die' part". So this product just got sufficiently tested until people weren't dying when it was installed.
7984552 That makes sense. It still feels kinda 'outta left field' though. I can't remember it being hinted at earlier. Or did I just not notice question-mark.
Cuddling things makes you healthier.
True story.
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7984552 Also being fair, that also doesn't entirely disprove my nano-tech theory. It could potentially have been the linchpin to the process of "People not dying" that they were trying to achieve... There's a lot going on biologically in your neck, and even with Different cauterizing the external wound, Gilda slashing Chell's neck could have easily ruptured her throat (even if only by accident, especially with Chell's attempts at evasion being counter-productive to Gilda's attempts at precision), meaning that instead of bleeding out she would have drown in her own blood without something knitting the muscle, arteries, veins and capillaries together internally after the fact...
The Combine are ******.
Every single time I read this story and the feels make me grin like an idiot, I think I can't possibly grin any wider.
You're going to break my face in a few chapters at this rate. Good job :D
7984667
I suppose that depends on how quickly and thoroughly Different sealed the wound, and at how many levels.
This is a really touching chapter, filled with blossoming sibling love and care for one another!
A very interesting and touching chapter indeed. I wonder how Aperture will aid against the rise of the Combine...
7983255 understatement of all the Time...
7983308 Now, while I agree that downvoting comments for a mere word (in this case the word / bragging First) is the single most assininely stupid thing in creation that's not a reason to insult the poor motherbuckers...
7984383 no, it's bragging rights, justly deserved in my eyes because, for me, Tats uploads at the 4 fucking AM... but that's just my PPOV
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7983783 ...not that I exactly disagree, but didn't(btw that was rhetorical, I've played portal 2 like 10 times, and I practically have every line memorized) Cave SPECIFICALLY say during the 70's "We're not banging rocks together, we know perfectly well how to put a man back together". Now I'm not saying he's the most honest type, but even if they did screw up and kill people while doing that, they'd probably have learned a thing or two.
7985354 ...Did you even click on the link?
7985398
Yes, I clicked the link to a fanmade video attempting to piece together official material to come to a theoretical conclusion regarding when in the Portal/Half-Life timeline Portal 2 takes place in.
Which in no way contradicts anything in my statement.
7985374 Wait... wait he did say that! All is well once again.
7985354 The amount of decay Aperture went through would definitely place it past the reign of the Combine. Not to mention, didn't the Combine drain most of the oceans? If memory serves they did, but when you port Wheatley to the moon Earth looks... just fine.
While there's something to be said for rare stories of 'What has humanity become in the thousands of years post Combine' I feel you made the right choice bringing them together for this. It's a more believable reason for Chell to return to Aperture than just 'Oh I missed the homicidal AI that repeatedly tried to murder me'.