23 - dictated

[takethat]

[It's late at night when Phoenix spots the cat, as he's traversing the halls of the castle, headed back to his room.]

Oh--uh, hey there?

[Although the creature is a little too deep in his uncanny valley, he still puts on a friendly smile. It's not that much stranger than meeting a lion here, after all, right? Probably just a new resident from some weird world with bizarre cat things.]

...are you new around here?

[But the cat doesn't say anything. Phoenix shrugs and is about to wander on toward his destination, when suddenly there's a heavy weight flung into the left side of his body; he's knocked over, the journal skidding some distance away and falling open, to record the full attack.]


What--aaaaggghh!!! Get off me! Get... get away! No!

[The sounds of a struggle are plainly evident for a few moments more, before a rustling as the journal is quickly retrieved, and desperate panting, running--]

GLaDOS!!

[He reaches her door, on the same floor as his own room but further down the hall, and bangs frantically, begging to be let in.]

GLaDOS, please please open the door, please...!

[But no answer comes quickly enough, and the cat is there again, and Phoenix takes off once more, already knowing the sprint to his own room is fruitless--]

H...help! Somebody, please--it's following me! It's--

[And then a scream filled with fear and agony... and then silence, for a long while before Phoenix speaks again.


This time, his voice is hollow.]

Oh my god...

Comments

[takethat]

Good plan. Don't let it get in here.

[Phoenix has taken a seat again, and is frantically rubbing at his left shoulder, all nerves still on edge.]

In fact, we should probably also not split up. ...yeah, we need to stay together--we have to protect each other.

[By which he means Wheatley, the only one of them who is whole at the moment, needs to stay with them and not get scared and run away.]

[fistfullofmagic]

[Dhaos nods in agreement. While he likely has power enough to obliterate the cat, he needs to save his energy to continue functioning. ...And aiming would be a tad difficult without eyes.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS found herself burying her face in her hands, slumped on the table, her elbows supporting the weight of her head. ]

... yeah... humans tend to find safety in numbers.

[ she spoke shakily through her hands, a little muffled, clearly trying to note random science facts instead of deal with her lost limb. ]

So- we'll feel better if we all stay together.

[ Now she's just blabbering, in an attempt to find an easier topic. ]

[wheatdos]

Y-yeah... that-that... we can do that.

[He's just gonna lean his face against the door. Just... standing there. Though after a few seconds it might be a bit suspicious as to why he's just standing there.

There's a terrible whirring and clicking noise, similar to the typical sound of malfunction that electronics seemed to have. He gave a violent twitch, the core on his chest suddenly sparking.

Oh.

The light flickers off.

It seems that he may be broken.]

[takethat]

...Wheatley?

[To GLaDOS:]

...is he supposed to do that?

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS raises her head upon hearing the whirring and clicking noises, furrowing her brow. ]

No-... he's not- hey!

[ she calls, nerves taking over and forgetting about her severed limb, she pushes herself up on her left leg, moving as though to take a step with her right...

But of course, since it wasn't there, she simply sort of collapsed on the ground next to the table, with a surprised sound.

Almost immediately after, she felt a wave of embarrassment as she reached an arm to grab at the edge of the table, pushing herself awkwardly up with her left foot. ]

...

[wheatdos]

[A simple reset could do it. A switch off, switch on of power in his core. He was just a bit overwhelmed. System overload if you must call it that. He was still standing there in place... awkwardly leaning against the door.

Oooooh is that scratching outside? Could the cat still be around?]

[takethat]

[Perhaps it's some testament to Phoenix's lack of mental capacity to deal with this situation at all, but when he realizes he's just sort of lost the only person he could rely on to help just now, he snaps for a moment.

Getting up again, he crosses over to where Wheatley is propped against the door.



And with as much force as he can put behind it, he smacks the crap out of Wheatley's chest.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ ... What.

What.

GLaDOS' eyes widen. ]

What are you doing!? You're going to break him!

[ She hops awkwardly to the closest edge of the table nearest them, using the table as a crutch with her hand. ]

That's not how you treat Aperture technology!

[wheatdos]

[For a moment, it looked like it may have worked. Wheatley sputtering back to life...

For a half second.

He falls over. Collapsing onto the ground limply and PAINFULLY. That's gonna leave a mark.

Oh.

What's this.

Fwooooosh.

It would seem that his core is on fire now. Nick look what you did you are clearly the worst brother.]

[takethat]

[He just watches Wheatley on fire for a moment before going back to GLaDOS at the table.]

...that didn't go the way I had intended. ...I'd offer to carry you over there to fix him, but I'd probably just drop you...

[sawadeertoday]

[ She furrows her brow, using her free hand as she groaned, moving her fingers to a temple. ]

Do you think you could follow instructions? And first of all, pat down that fire before he dies.

[ She wishes him up a thick glove, for his right hand, and holds it out, slumping into her chair. ]

[wheatdos]

[Yes GLaDOS thankyou. Being on fire does not feel good. Even though he doesn't actually feel anything right now.

Maybe a bit of warmth.

Oh dear.]

[takethat]

[With a sigh--somehow managing to be exasperated by Wheatley even now--he uses the glove to slap out the fire.

He couldn't really figure out how to pull it on without having another hand to assist.

Whenever Wheatley is sufficiently put out, he'll turn to GLaDOS yet again.]

...sure, just tell me what to do...

[sawadeertoday]

[ She sighs in relief when the fire is gone, and then adopts a pretty serious face. ]

Alright. There should be a latch on the end of his core- on one of the sides. Gently twist it and tug it open.

There's going to be a mess of wires inside. Don't shove them or rip any of them- but there should be an obvious reset switch behind some of them.

[ she directed as calmly as she could, still shaking out of pure nerves at everything that was happening right now. ]

[wheatdos]

[STOP SLAPPING HIM AROUND HE'S SENSITIVE.
GLADOS DO SOMETHING.]

[takethat]

[Phoenix's hand is shaking, too, but the switch isn't terribly hard to find. The idea of sticking his hand into Wheatley's chest isn't all that pleasant, but... with some resolve, he does so, and flicks the switch, removing his hand as quickly as he can and sitting back to see what happens.]

[sawadeertoday]

[ She watches carefully from where she's sitting, admittedly a little worried. ]

...

[ But she would never admit it. ]

[wheatdos]

GNNGHHGNNaahh!!!!

[His entire body spasms and flickers back to vibrant life. It would have been even more useful if he didn't suddenly sit up, headbutting the living daylights out of Nick.

YOU DESERVE IT.]

[takethat]

[Without the aid of both arms, Phoenix sort of just wobbles over to one side upon being headbutted.]

...back with us, Wheatley?

[sawadeertoday]

[ She breathes a relieved sigh, not really too worried about Phoenix- after all, they were in numbers. So that science fact really was true. ]

In all his moronic glory.

[wheatdos]

H-hey...! Okay... one, not a moron. Tw-two...What on earth attacked you??? It... y-your arms gone!

[Not a moron. Wheatley rubbed his head and groaned, just a bit more grounded than last time. He looks at Nicks arm, prodding at the stub for a moment, before he made his way to GLaDOS.

...Her leg...]

Not to worry though! I'll have you know... I've already devised a plan!

[takethat]

It was a cat. It had human hands and a human arm...

[Just thinking about it is making him wary of the shadows again, and he gets up to get back to the table and away from the door.]

...what kind of a plan?

[sawadeertoday]

[ GLaDOS hunched her shoulders anxiously as Wheatley approached, trying to drag the nub that her hip ended in out of his view, but it was rather difficult considering there was absolutely nothing of that leg to drag.

She was obviously worried of his opinion of her now. She was broken, and even more mismatched than humans usually were. And she was officially unable to walk. Useless. ]

... I... don't... [ she murmured, but her eyebrows furrowed, trying to look collected at the mention of a plan. ]

... yeah, what did you come up with?

[wheatdos]

[Too late GLaDOS. Wheatley's spotted you and he didn't hesitate to walk over to give her a sudden hug. It was awkward in nature, but not because of a change of feeling, but simply because that was the kind of guy he was. Awkward. He made it a point to let her know it was okay, simply hugging her for a long time before he piped up with his idea.

Nothing too terrible. After all... Nick was there.]

Prosthetics! A prosthetic arm... prosthetic leg. It'll have you both up and running good as new! I'll even make it!