Hell on Earth Chap. 14

Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue.

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Author's Note: Bah, I already know I did this but I really find it necessary to thank those that have posted reviews since my last set of 'thank you's. Mystic777, Yunyin, Ongaku, Mautau25, GreatZero and FoxHound47 were mentioned before, but I'd like to add Wildcard-Yesman, Souzou the Insane, theepitomeofrandom, Silvera Hikari, Jarvey, AceofFours, Chloe Kompton, FeeptheNinja, Harold3456, elegant Usurper, KizzyThaFox, parlor.tricks and PikaShep to the list.

I really do appreciate any sort of reviews; from the smallest 'good job, keep going!' to the longest constructive criticism involving every little detail in the Half-Life universe, all of them are taken into consideration and mulled over in every update. Although I may not utilize every idea or hopeful muse thrown at me, it is at least thought about, read and considered, which is more than most can claim.

On DeviantArt, thanks go out to , , , , , , , , -especially, because you ramble a lot in reviews, which I love-, , and . You all won't be shown properly in the hyperlink shown in this Author's Note, but I'll make sure it's displayed by the 'Artist's Comments' under everything. <3

But, long story short, thank you all for your feedback and your comments! Keep them coming and lots of love your way!

~magefeathers

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Chapter 14: Adrenal Vapor

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"This is in fact not the right hallway to the waiting room," Flynn muttered flatly, managing a bit of a scowl at the former Adventure Core. Although he wasn't quite as expressive as the others, Flynn had certainly come a long way compared to the dead pan stare he had on the first day of being attached to his human host.

"It's a shortcut." Rick sighed with a small roll of his eyes, really becoming irritated with everyone's questioning of his sense of direction. He was the adventurer, and what was an adventurer without a sense of direction? The Space Core shook in Flynn's arms, deciding to put his two cents in on the situation.

"It is the hallway to space!" the Space Core chirped and was quickly interrupted again by Rick.

"There is no dang hallway to space. There's no door to space, no elevator to space, no nothin'!" Rick groaned, the Space Core seeming to consider the statement. A smug look began to cross Rick's features, but was quashed by the Space Core's second bout of logic.

"Okay. Okay, so the hallway with take us to a door. We'll go outside and waiting for us will be a taxi. To space. Beep beep." the Space Core began to hash out, imitating an accent to try to portray a taxi driver. "/Hello my friend! Where will I be taking you today? / Space! That's what I'll say, drive us to space. /Okee dokee artichoke. Here we go. / And then, and then we'll FLY. To space, in the space taxi. We will sing a song while driving to space, maybe about the moon. Or the sun. Because they're in space."

Rick and Flynn had stopped walking to listen to this explanation. The Space Core never really did shut up, but this particular rant was much too silly for them to ignore.

"So, sososo we'll fly and drive to space. And then we will crash into the Milky Way because the driver of the space taxi isn't very good at driving in space. /Oh my gosh, I have crashed! / In space. Eh, yeah. Driving to space. Going to drive, out there," the Space Core affirmed, rather happy with this plan. "Beep beep, space. Beep. Beep. ...speep. That's mixing 'Space' and 'Beep'. Because taxi's don't 'beep' in space. They 'speep'. Yup."

"There you guys are," Chell said as she turned the corner of the hallway, spotting the two former cores listening to the Space Cores prattling. He stopped for the time being, or just toned down his voice to allow Chell to talk over him pretty easily. "Listen, we found Dr. Percy."

"Did ya? Was he as crazy as we thought?" Rick asked, glancing over as Wheatley caught up with Chell.

"No, no. Nurse Ratchet's the one that's crazy," Chell said a bit more hurriedly than her usual tone, realizing after a moment that an explanation was probably in order. "We got Dr. Percy back online and he says that the vaccinations she wants to give you are way over their expiration date, but she's such a stickler for procedure that she wants to stick you anyways."

The former test subject took a breath, all this talking really starting to make her throat hurt.

"Well, you don't think she's going to try to track us down?" Rick said with a small head shake.

"Probably. But Dr. Percy said he's going to try to get the elevator to the surface going." Chell said, waving them on with her free hand. "So we can get out of here, no problem at all."

Rick and Flynn exchanged a look, but Chell seemed so confident that this plan was going to work. The former test subject took the lead without another word, making sure that everyone was following along. Although the looks on Rick and Flynn's face seemed to indicate that they were a bit weary of this plan, they came along anyways, Wheatley heading up the back. Trekking down the hallways towards the back of the Biotechnology department, no one said a word; the tense air seemed to only build up more and more as they finally made it to the elevators. This was it. Chell and company's ticket back to the surface. Away from GLaDOS, away from Aperture forevermore.

"Wait just a moment!" a shrill cry came from down the hallway, Ratchet whizzing towards them at a remarkable speed. She looked as angry as a core could, her tone indignant and accusing. "I thought you would pull something like this you ungrateful---ungrateful gooses! When I saw Dr. Percy occupying the elevator control chamber, I thought I'd find you all here."

Chell didn't say a word, simply poking the 'up' button on the elevator, the door opening with a small creak.

"Why are you doing this to me? Don't you love me? Don't you want me to take care of you?" Nurse Ratchet began to whine, rocking back and forth on her rail. "Stay here, stay here! You'll have all the granola you can eat and all the water you can drink and a real fish! Don't you like my fish?"

Chell motioned for the others to begin filing onto the elevator, still staring at Ratchet silently. The Nurse Core was shuddering, seeming overwhelmed by the idea that she would no longer have any patients to care for or check up on, even if this particular group had been rather distant from her. However, a little red light popped on near her optic, the Nurse Core quieting down before the light flicked back off. "A-alright. Fine. If you want it that way, I suppose I understand. Have fun. Be safe. Eat your vegetables and make sure to get lots of direct sunlight. Humans need that."

"...thanks for your help," Chell finally said earnestly, turning away from the core and going into the elevator, portal gun still in hand. The three men and core watched in complete silence as Chell entered the elevator and pressed the button labeled 'S'. The surface level. As the elevator dinged and the door closed, it seemed as though they were home free. There wouldn't be any turret serenades to send her off this time, but Chell figured that she would live.

"I can't believe we're actually going to be free," Wheatley said, the excitement apparent in his voice. Even as a core, he had always thought about a life outside of the facility but now, with a human host, he and the others could live a life the way it was meant to. He had to admit, after gaining control of the facility and afterwards getting shot out into space, Wheatley never thought he would ever be experiencing this; leaving the place behind with the brain damaged woman who had gotten him to muster up the courage to leave his management rail and turn on his flashlight. Wheatley realized he was staring, Chell's eyes meeting with his. He immediately turned his gaze to the floor, finding his shoes very interesting all of a sudden.

The elevator began to slow and the lights flickered, the car eventually stopping. Chell's heart jumped, staring at the stainless steel doors and willing them to open. Why were they taking so long? Just open.

"Well. A liar and a murderer. You really do seem to love upping the ante, don't you?"

No. That voice. This had to be a sick, sick joke.

"But I can't say I didn't expect this. Good thing you at least kept your promise to hook up the communications hub."

The red light! GLaDOS couldn't have patched up communications, the light wasn't blinking, wasn't green, wasn't anything!

"I've spoken with that Nurse Core on several occasions, ambitious little thing. But neither she nor that Doctor Core can override my commands. I'm glad she was so understanding about releasing you all early. She was actually worried I might hurt you. But don't worry, I won't hurt you."

Rick was beginning to try prying open the door, Chell unable to move. She simply stared up at the ceiling, wondering what cruel God seemed to derive so much pleasure from her misery.

"That's the turrets' jobs. Speaking of them, we have a lot of testing to do and so very little time to do it in. I even acquired another test subject to keep you all company. But enough talk. The elevator seems to be going in the wrong direction. Here, I'll fix that for all of you."

The elevator shook once again and began to descend, Chell still silent as the look of awe became one of anger, the woman shoving all hope, all sadness and all fear into her gut and replacing it with spite towards the psychotic AI.

"And don't worry. You'll have much more company soon enough. I've found a store of personality cores that Nurse Ratchet will be kind enough to attach to more test subjects for me. How nice of her. I don't have to be concerned about her lying to me. Like some people."

Chell's anger only intensified at the prod, Wheatley beginning to panic.

"What do we do? We can't just---! We can't go back!" Wheatley said, trying desperately to push the buttons and make something happen.

The elevator car finally came to another stop and the doors opened to a hallway to another elevator that would take them to the testing chambers. Chell didn't say a word, stepping off the stainless steel elevator and into the tiled hallway, her eyes fixed on the emancipation grid.

"Chell, say something! A plan, we need a plan," Wheatley insisted, looking between her, Flynn and Rick. "Please, we can figure this out."

The former test subject shot a glare at Wheatley and the others, not saying a word and continuing forward. There was no escaping it. Not now at least. But she wasn't going to utter another word. Let GLaDOS say what she wanted, but Chell wouldn't give her the satisfaction of another reaction or argument. Wheatley's brows furrowed at Chell's glare, following along again as Rick and Flynn began to walk, even the Space Core quiet as they all got onto the modernized elevator, being taken to their first test.

"Well, no reason to wait. Let the tests begin."