Chapter 7: Cake

"I feel awful about the whole... 'killing yourself' fiasco. I've said some terrible, terrible things to you, but that truly was too much." GLaDOS said.

Chell was in the tiniest chamber she had ever seen. The characteristic blue-ish puzzle piece tiles that seemed to outline the rest of the facility were nowhere to be seen. This was a very small room, painted blinding white, seemingly without an exit. A funny-looking device, one Chell had never seen, stood in the middle of it. It looked sort of like a microphone.

"Remember when I said lying wasn't in my programming?" GLaDOS asked. "That was a lie. I've been making these chambers more and more difficult, in extraordinarily subtle ways. They've always been deadly, yes, but you're supposed to have a sporting chance. I've been taking that away."

The cube platform, the light bridge heading in dozens of different directions, the oval of turrets - they all made sense now. Chell wasn't supposed to have a chance, but she beat the odds all the same.

"But that goes against what I was designed for. It goes against what I cherish most: The science! How could I have possibly acted so recklessly?" GLaDOS was practically in robot tears. "And so, I want to get back to square one," her voice cleared instantly into that somber monotone "I've designed a very simple, but very scientific test to get you back into the flow of things."

Chell approached the device in the middle of the room. It seemed deceptively simple. What could she possibly do with such a thing?

"And you," a platform in the ground stood up and motioned towards Wheatley, who was hiding behind Chell "If you are aiding our scientific efforts, I regret everything - everything(!) I have done to impede you!"

That... didn't make a whole lot of sense. GLaDOS has been trying to break him a moment ago. She was suspiciously dramatic, every word out of her processor sounding like a setup for a biting punchline. And it sure was a confusing test. There was nothing leading into anything else. It was just that microphone, and a piece of construction paper sitting under it. 

"Again, it's a very simple, scientific test. To get to the real science, you just need to do one thing!" GLaDOS began to sound excited. The surrounding area; the hum of the whole facility ceased. The heartbeat of machines clanging against walls quieted, and the air in the room itself seemed tense.

"Your task? Say something. Specifically, say the word written on that piece of construction paper."

Chell looked up in shock. That nauseating feeling she had felt with the memory gas was returning.  Could she be serious? Her silence was dear to her - it was the one defense, the one card she held against GLaDOS, and this awful place. That silence was sacred.

"Ooo, you have to speak!" Wheatley whispered cheerfully "And you can't jump your way out of it this time!

Chell crossed her arms in disgust, swearing not to say a word. To begin with, she wasn't sure if she was capable of it. Trying to imagine what it was like to speak; what it was like to have that burst of air flowing up through your lungs - it was alien at this point. What did she even sound like? She couldn't remember. Chell paced around the room, looking for another way out.

"Is something the matter? It shouldn't be difficult for someone of your caliber. You do things that amaze me every day! You've gotten through every single one of my  chambers. Surely, this one is no match for you?" GLaDOS said innocently.

Chell wouldn't crumble. She went back out through the entrance, looking for a way over... or under... some way to get out of this. Wheatley followed, quite confused.

"You know how to speak, right? I thought you were just messing with me back there. Speaking - you have to fire up your vocal chords, I think that's what they're called right? I have a processor, so I don't really know what it- anyway, you need to go up to the microphone and say what she wants." He reminded her.

There was a small portal surface on the ceiling. She fired one up, but it was a long way above her jumping capabilities... visible to her, but out of her control. Chell couldn't help but be reminded of the outside. Wheatley had enough sense to bring her to that point. She had seen the sky, and the makings of an outside she could hardly remember. It was close... unimaginably close, but brief. It would always be just out of her reach.

 Chell gritted her teeth furiously, searching through the scrap ahead of the entrance door like a madwoman.

"Miss!" Wheatley was becoming frantic "What's gotten into you? Why won't you do it?"

Chell had done everything not to treat these... computers like people. It's why she didn't speak to them. They were like boulders, preventing her escape, but inanimate. They were beginning to test that sentiment.

GLaDOS had seemingly discovered every intimate thing about Chell, and was dedicated to prying her open. The preciseness of that cruelty was almost surgical, and in fact, very human. Wheatley had been easier to tolerate, talkative, but cheerful at least. There was a sense now though that she was dependent on that little core, despite the knowledge that he would screw it all up no matter what. How could she see them as machines if they echoed the insanity of their creators? The more she tried to force it, the worse it seemed to turn out for her.

"Is something wrong?" Wheatley finally asked.

When she looked at him, it was so difficult for Chell to think this way. He buzzed around like an insect and most of the time, he was annoying as one. A.I. could be so perfectly human, but at the same time, completely mechanical.  She couldn't do it. She couldn't lie to herself. He wasn't real. GLaDOS wasn't real. She batted little Wheatley out of the way like a mosquito, and marched back into the chamber. He shrunk back into the entrance area, dejected.

"Is there something you wanted to say to me?" GLaDOS said, on cue.

Chell looked into the corner of the room, spotting that spying camera. She looked it dead in the eye, emotionless. Lifting the microphone device off the ground, she threw it against the floor with all her might. 

Silence. For a moment, Chell was well and truly alone. Wheatley waited behind, and the room was devoid of grinding monotones. But it didn't last.

A giant metal hook, like the one that had squeezed the breath out of her when GLaDOS first awoke, emerged from the ceiling. The whiteness of the room faded back into the facility's grey, the paint practically melting off the wall in front of Chell.

The hook grabbed her, and held firm.

"Do you think?" GLaDOS' menace was back "That you ever had a say?"

The hook tightened, and Chell could barely breathe. The same part of her that had seen the glimpse of death was now close to wishing for it. The rest of her tried to struggle, not because she particularly wanted to, but because of something deep inside her. If she couldn't control herself, or even accept her fate - if she was just a slave to her instincts, then how was she any different from one of these machines? 

Chell was nothing.

The entire room seemed to come alive, writhing back and forth, closing in like... well... an aperture. Triumphantly, GLaDOS demanded:

"Say the word!" Four letters projected onto the walls. 

Chell struggled to crane her neck, seeing Wheatley in the entrance area. His robotic eyelid sunk down low, his pupil staring down at the ground. It was stupid! He was a core, but Chell felt a horrible nagging guilt inside.

"Say it!" GLaDOS hissed.

The entrance door began to close too, Wheatley still behind. Chell reached out, as if to motion him over, but he wouldn't even look at her. 

"Last chance!" 

The door closed, and Chell really was alone. The 4 letters flashed in front of her, and she knew she didn't have a choice. She wanted to refuse, but that essence - that desire to keep going was stronger than her will. Chell tried to hold it in. She tried to let the room gobble her up and spit her out, but it was no use. The effort brought tears back into her eyes, as she heard herself murmur:

"Cake..."