test chamber 08 ;

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS had been sitting for the majority of the day. Thinking. Trying to sort out what had happened. All of her emotions, and why she was feeling them. Every single thought she analyzed, starting to write notes, connecting the dots.

But really, trying to understand everything was exhausting. And her encounter with Wheatley that morning had been bothering her the entire day, not helping much get done. She ended up finding herself making tea and drinking it in silence, until she finally dragged herself to bed to sleep... ]

//

[ GLaDOS was restless. Her attempt to sleep had only brought about an odd dream, and she found herself unable to do so again. She tossed, she turned, for a good ten minutes before sitting up and reaching for her journal, opening it to speak. ]

Do any of you have a good method to fall asleep? I'm having trouble.

[ She made no mention to the prior week like most people had in the journal, but it was part of the reason she couldn't sleep. Everything was bothering her too much... ]

Comments

[D r e a m s c a p e]

[wheatdos]

[Dreams usually started in the places where you were the most familiar, and sorry to say, GLaDOS, but that's currently the castle. The only difference being was the fact that it was completely empty. Not a sound, not a single person, and there was an incredibly eerie silence throughout all of the hallways. Not even the presences of the ghosts could be felt.

Through the halways, the lights were considerably dimmer, and not far ahead, completely dark. Paint on the walls curled up slightly, and the castle seemed far more aged.

It was almost as if it were abandoned.

And you were abandoned with it.

Something was off, but not noticeable enough for it to be realized that the setting was a dreamscape; or perhaps not yet. Though, throughout the silence there was a sound. Something that started off as an inaudible murmur at first. The sound... of classical music somewhere down one of the dark hallways...]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS wasn't sure how long she had been wandering down these hallways, golden eyes constantly moving, taking in the aged scenery. Her vision had eventually started to get used to the dimness, her bare feet padding down the old floors, occasionally stepping on the ends of her pajama pants.

To be honest, she wasn't sure where she was going at all. All she knew was that she felt a slight fear tugging at her. It wasn't even the decrepit nature of the castle- this was the castle, right?- but instead, the complete silence. GLaDOS had always been used to noise, whether it was the soft hum of her facility or the various kinds of creatures bustling through these halls, so the quiet made her on-edge.

As though something would jump out at her at any second.

Thus, the soft music enticed her... but she hesitated, not even seeing what was beyond her hand anymore.

Shaking it off, GLaDOS wandered into the darkness, if only to find the source of that music... ]

[wheatdos]

[She'd eventually have to sift through the darkness, but even then... it would lead her through the hallway to a single place;;

A room.

His room. It was open a crack, an abnormally bright light spilling out into the dark.

Though, it was considerably different than how she had seen it. It was empty, for one; all of his things and furniture were collected into a series of boxes, and packed up, pushed to the sides of the room.]

Hey!

[He was sitting in the middle of the empty room, along with the only things that weren't packed; a single coffee table, a radio, which was propped on it, and a tea set. He was seated at the table, on the floor, dressed in all white.

The brightness from the light that spilled into his room through the windows was strange... it seemed white outside. Like there was nothing there.]

There you are, love! ...W-would you like some tea?

[sawadeertoday]

[ She stepped into the room, glancing around, squinting a bit at the sudden change in light. But really... knowing there was someone here made her tensed up shoulders slump. ]

... Alright. [ she agreed softly-- any excuse to have company, although she wasn't lonely, of course she wasn't... GLaDOS made her way to him, kneeling on the opposite side of the coffee table.

The whiteness spilling in only made everything seem more ethereal, along with the white Wheatley wore. ] What kind of tea is it?

[wheatdos]

Uhmmm... just a moment...

[There was a smaller box next to him, and he sifted through it, finding another teacup and setting it in front of her.

After a moment, he pulled out a tea bag, looking at it.]

Humm... Black tea! Black tea... love that stuff. Should've known off the bat, really.

...

[Wheatley spoke in his usual cheerful voice. He didn't speak right away...]

I take it you don't like the scenery either.

[sawadeertoday]

[ The usual banter pleased her, until he suddenly went quiet... she immediately replied to him to ease the silence. She didn't like how awfully quiet it was in this place, excluding the music. ]

... I don't understand. What happened to this place? [ she asked, ever the curious one. Wanting to know information so she could analyze it and come to a conclusion. She kept her eyes on him. ] Also, why is everything in boxes?

[wheatdos]

[He pushed his hair back, taking a thoughtful sip of his tea.]

Everyone left love. Bound to happen. Place was getting too crowded anyway, and no one liked this place all that much.

We're the last one's here you know. Last ones.

I figured I'd just rest and have some tea before I sent these boxes out... you won't believe how exhausting it is. Terribly exhausting. Packing up everything...I've yet to have a good rest.

[He said, as if he were leaving soon. Wouldn't that make you alone?]

Written

[ruined_jaw]

There're a few methods. Depends on how badly you want to get to sleep, really. I find sleepy time tea, combined with a few milligrams of melatonin does the trick nicely.

Dictated

[sawadeertoday]

Melatonin. [ she murmured to herself before speaking up. It sounded familiar, and definitely not dangerous from what she could recall from her limited human data. ] I appreciate the tip. I'll definitely use it.

Written

[ruined_jaw]

Sure, no problem. There're sleeping pills you can take, as well, that'll knock you out so you don't dream. Just depends on what's keeping you up. Doing something relaxing, like reading or watching the telly helps too.

[You might say that Jono and insomnia are old friends. He doesn't even sleep now, but he knows how to make it happen by force.]

Dictated

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS listens, the idea of not dreaming appealing to her. A whole lot, actually... ]

Not having to dream sounds pretty restful, actually. I'll keep all of those in mind.

I take it you have your own troubles sleeping?

Written

[ruined_jaw]

Well, not dreaming helps with physical exhaustion, but mental or psychological exhaustion needs what dreams give the brain, unpleasant as it might sometimes be.

I do, yeah. I have problems with a recurring nightmare, so I sleep as little as possible.

Dictated

[sawadeertoday]

... Really. [ That's not pleasant at all. She doesn't want to dream. ] I'll say I've had my dosage of dreams for the night.

And... I see. That doesn't sound too pleasant either.

[siebter]

Some people said that counting sheep is a good idea.

Dictated

[sawadeertoday]

... Counting sheep? [ A sigh. That doesn't sound particularly useful, but... ]

I'll give it a try. Although why sheep? Is that a human custom?

Dictated

[siebter]

Yeah! I don't really know why, but I guess it's because they're soft. Kind of like pillows.

Dictated

[sawadeertoday]

[ Hm. Kind of an odd reason, but then again, humans are odd. ]

That's an odd way to put it. Although I suppose humans need to feel comfortable to be able to sleep...

Dictated

[siebter]

Hehe, I've fallen asleep in some weird places before, but I guess I must have been comfortable.

Dictated

[sawadeertoday]

Well, eventually people do need their sleep. I've seen them pass out in the oddest of places if they were deprived enough.

GLaDOS, to end

[perfectisnteasy]

Hey, there you are. Haven't heard from you in a while. ... What's up?

CLU, to end

[sawadeertoday]

Oh, it's you. [ She doesn't seem irritated at all, instead just sounding tired. ]

Not much. Just unable to sleep. How about you?

[perfectisnteasy]

Doing a lotta processing. I'll get a bead on things and then they'll change. It's really pretty frustrating. [he manages to sound casual about it, though. my raison d'etre is just crashing down, pal, ain't no thing]

What have you tried?

[sawadeertoday]

[ Hm. It seems like Paradisa isn't even worth testing.

Well, that just worsened her mood. But she kept that to herself. ] It must be.

And so far? Not much. I made tea earlier, got advice to use sleeping pills of sorts and to count sheep. I might end up trying with those pills if I'm awake too much longer. [ she grumbles a little. ]

Do you have any advice, then?

[perfectisnteasy]

We'll figure a way to make it work, though. This place's gonna learn we're not just the average Users, am I right?

... If you were still a program, and I didn't have this ridiculous loss, I'd be able to do somethin', but ... I don't know too much about how Users work. But I'm not comin' up with much. I could check the library.

[sawadeertoday]

... Hm. Right. [ Somehow, she found herself smiling just the tiniest bit. Of course they weren't average humans- they worked on logic and thought. It gave her a grip on what really mattered.

Not emotion and doubt, like she had been working on lately.

The comment about his loss piques her interest, though. ]

What's your loss? And... that's fine. I'll figure something out.