Chapter Text
“Good morning, Subject CHELL REDACTED.”
Chell rubs her eyes, yawning, as the typical tones of GLaDOS (with a bonus appearance by the Announcer, who always reads out her name) wake her from her slumber. She presses her hands to her back, grimacing slightly as she does, attempting to work out a crick that had formed in her spine overnight.
“It is currently 9:34 AM, USTC,” GLaDOS continues, running through her predetermined morning script. Chell only half-listens, swinging out of bed and looking around for her jumpsuit. She can’t remember where she put it yesterday. “You took four minutes to respond to the alarm. This failure will be marked on your permanent record next to every other late awakening from the past... two years. Your breakfast this morning is a dehydrated cinnamon-flavored nutrition bar.”
The jumpsuit is nowhere to be seen, so Chell doesn’t bother, standing up and shaking her hair out. She’s clad in nothing but panties and a tank top, and there’s a satisfyingly abrupt cut-off to GLaDOS’ morning routine when she pushes the already low collar down to scratch at an itch on her chest.
Neither of them have brought up the event a week and a half prior. Predictably, GLaDOS blustered her way past it, not even willing to acknowledge what Chell showed her and refusing to act differently, but still, something has changed. It’s easier for Chell to fluster her now, if she knows what she’s doing— and she definitely does. More often than not, her nights are occupied by dreams of metal between her legs, and yellow glows on her flushed skin.
Somehow, being attracted to a machine doesn’t bother her. Honestly, it feels almost normal. Chell’s memories of before Aperture are all hazy at best, marred by trauma and decades of time between her and them. She doesn’t even know why she signed up to be a testing subject. Synthesized voices are all she’s known.
It doesn’t hurt, most of the time. Only on very special, very bad nights does she ache for a humanity that she doesn't understand.
And, thusly: her attraction to GLaDOS, which is a truth and, seemingly, an absolute. Just as absolute as the fact that they haven’t yet talked about it.
Typically, GLaDOS will run through her experiments for the day— listing whatever deathtraps are in the itinerary that she cooked up earlier— while Chell eats, but this morning, she’s oddly silent. Distant music plays through muffled, tinny speakers, which are standard for every Aperture Science Relaxation Chamber, and Chell chews at her nutrition bar and listens to nothing more than that.
It’s odd. It’s a break from routine, and it puts her off.
Looking around for the nearest camera, Chell signs “What are you planning?” with her free hand. GLaDOS continues to not respond, but the camera, surprisingly, does. Usually they’re mounted inside the corners of the walls, but this one detaches from its slot, extending forward somewhat on an arm that had been folded behind it.
If anyone else had been listening, they wouldn’t have been able to tell, but Chell can hear the vaguest tremor in GLaDOS’ voice the moment she speaks, and it makes her eyebrows raise. “I have an unusual opportunity planned for today, in fact, one you should thank me for. Testing protocol has mandated that I give you... a choice.”
“I’m listening.” She really is. Chell gulps the rest of her breakfast down (along with a sip of Aperture Science Triple-Filtered Hydrogenated Mineral Water) and swivels to face the camera, deeply interested in whatever’s coming next. GLaDOS has never given her an option to choose before.
There’s another moment of uncharacteristic silence before the AI speaks up again. “As you might not know due to the difficulty ideas have getting through your thick skull, part of our testing involves researching the limits of the human body. Due to this, I have recently become interested in the effects of non-standard stimulation on the body outside of testing, and the benefits it might have for later experiments.”
Chell’s eyebrows raise yet more, and she leans forwards in her chair. If this is going where she thinks it’s going...
“I have also prepared a course of regular tests for you, which will be your daily set should you decide against the new test. However, should you agree, a set of three objects will be sent to the Relaxation Chamber, all designed to cause positive stimulation when used correctly on certain parts of the body. You may perform the tests there, while observed, and your responses will be recorded for future moderations to this experiment.”
Silence rings out between them, only broken by Chell leaning back in her chair again, eyes wide. GLaDOS remains impassively quiet.
Sex toys. GLaDOS is offering to send her sex toys to use, and she wants to watch her use them.
It ignites heat between her legs, warm and building.
She cocks a single brow in the direction of the camera, which retreats slightly on its arm, as if embarrassed. It would be disconcertingly cute for a machine, if Chell wasn’t years familiar with the tiny, adorable quirks of GLaDOS’ movement; from the miniscule tilts of her head when she thinks about something to the shifting of her chassis when the crows arrive to perch on her cords and wires.
“I assure you, this test is purely to gather data.” GLaDOS interrupts her train of thought, clearly eager to keep moving forward. “I have other test subjects I could gather this data from. For all you know, you’re not even the first subject I’ve offered this to.”
Yes I am, Chell thinks, and keeping her eyebrow raised, lets her mouth quirk into a smile.
“Sure,” she signs at the camera. “Sounds fun. Send them over.”
“I— Understood.” The camera retracts on its arm, and Chell has pushed herself out of her chair and is making her way back to bed when the toys arrive.
True to GLaDOS’ word, a panel slides open in the wall and places a box with three inset items onto her Aperture Bedside Wood-Synthesized Surface before she’s even next to her bed. She diverts her path to look at them, while behind her, the camera emerges from its slot once more.
“This equipment has been calibrated to vibrate at a rhythm deemed most likely to activate dopamine sensors in the human brain. When applied to areas of the body with high numbers of nerve endings, these vibrations can induce states of euphoria in humans, which can be beneficial to their mental health and physical well-being.” GLaDOS makes a faint noise when she pauses, almost like a scoff. “Hopefully you knew enough of that that I don’t need to tell you what areas of the body you need to focus on.”
Chell ignores her for now and plucks the first toy out of its container. Its plastic is slick and smooth against her skin, cheekily labeled with the Aperture symbol at the base. No wider than three of her fingers put together, it’s bullet-shaped and relatively simple, its seamless surface unbroken by anything except for a simple button next to the logo.
She presses it. The vibrations begin immediately, not too intense; but enough to make the heat slowly building between her thighs tremble at what it promises to her.
Its two fellows are a bit more complex, which also bodes well for her immediate future. One has two prongs, with the smaller jutting at a delicious angle from the main body of the larger, and that is something she is very eager to discover the use of.
Well, no use wasting time. She keeps the first one in her hand as she crawls into bed, sitting up against the headboard and free hand already reaching for the hem of her underwear.
“Ah— yes. Test begin. Protocol requires I be silent.” Chell cocks a brow at the camera, which is the closest it’s ever been to her, extending out on its hidden arm to peer at her body from the foot of the bed. True to her word, GLaDOS says nothing after that, but the camera’s eye on her is just as addictive as before— maybe even more so, now that it’s more prevalent, obviously trained on Chell and Chell alone.
She’s already wet. It’s instantly obvious when she wriggles out of her underwear, thighs slick with her own fluid. Tauntingly, she spreads her legs, wry smile on her face, and enjoys the idea that she sees the camera shiver slightly when she does.
It’s easy to drag her fingers down, spread her folds and plunge a finger inside, punching a faint gasp from her mouth. She hadn’t realized how keyed-up she already was, and the sensation of her own finger inside of her is briefly overwhelming before she closes her eyes and it smooths into a pleasant burn. Pumping idly in and out, she squirms down farther, creeping slightly closer to the ever-present eye of the camera.
If GLaDOS wants a show, well, she won’t disappoint.
The toy flicks on easily in her hand, vibrating against her palm, and— with an eager excitement building in her throat— she brings it to her clit.
Pleasure erupts down every nerve across her hips, making her buck involuntarily and gasp out another instinctual wheeze of ecstasy. It’s almost hard to keep her eyes open, as she presses the slick plastic closer to that little bundle of nerves, finger still moving back and forth inside of herself. Chell grinds down into it and her eyelids flutter, caught up in the sensation, of the filthy noises as the vibrations against her cunt make stars erupt in her vision.
No, maybe it’s better if she does close her eyes, because then— then she can pretend. Pretend that the thing pressing up against her isn’t just a toy, but— but part of a larger machine, the one that’s watching her now, bathing her in yellow light. Yes, GLaDOS would do that— a long cord, pushing down farther and farther, until it reaches her—
Chell groans as she pulls the fingers from her hole and replaces them with the vibrator. She barely has to circle her clit again before her thighs are clenching around the object inside of her, intensifying her orgasm as the vibrations make every sensation ten times as effective. And the camera watches with rapt attention the whole while, recording everything, keeping it locked up in GLaDOS’ memory banks somewhere. The thought nearly makes her come again.
When she pulls the toy out of her, she does it slow, and for a moment, a string of slick pulls away with it, connecting the object to her dripping cunt. She knows the camera sees, too.
The pillows underneath are very welcome as she slumps back against them, breathing heavily, thigh muscles still twitching in afterglow.
Much to her surprise, a voice clicks on only a moment later. “You are now on an officially sanctioned break. ...Good job, testing subject. You provided very... intriguing data. That is set one of three.”
Chell looks over and sees the other two toys, untouched in their box, and smiles. After all, it wasn’t every day she got to enjoy the tests this much.