Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
I looked at GLaDOS before opening a portal and sending a mental message to Lucius. He quickly stepped through. GLaDOS stared at him—no, not at Lucius, at the portal. I suppose it was normal for her to be curious about the portal, even though it simply looked like a dense, black fog that almost resembled petrol.
"Well, hello, dear," Lucius greeted me with a smile. "And welcome to the family, GLaDOS. It's a pleasure to meet you." Lucius bowed slightly in GLaDOS's direction. I quickly mentally sent Lucius a message about what we had recently discussed. Lucius nodded.
"Noble etiquette? I see you have better manners than her," GLaDOS said mockingly. Lucius laughed amusedly.
"I try," Lucius said, amusedly, before looking at me, "And thanks for making it so easy for me." He winked in my direction.
"You're way too comfortable with mentally unstable AI, and you're not even surprised." I complained with a pout, and Lucius shrugged.
"I've been watching the girls' choices over their mental shoulder, so I knew who they'd picked, and she's definitely a gut-punch killer. But hey, we live with Bella, and it's no problem. You're even sleeping with her." Lucius mocked. I opened my mouth slightly before closing it. There wasn't really anything I could say to that.
I'm sure that the human souls, or those of intelligent beings in general, inside her body, numbered in the thousands. Yes, they were all the worst criminals, but even so.
"Well, well, well." GLaDOS laughed as her optics focused on me. I rolled my eyes.
" Yes, yes, yes, let's get on with this." I placed my hand gently on GLaDOS's chassis. GLaDOS didn't even flinch; she just stood still. Then Lucius finally began reciting all the points we had recently discussed.
GLaDOS stopped him a couple of times to clarify, and Lucius was very detailed about what GLaDOS could, or rather, not do against us. He was also concise enough in GLaDOS's terms that she couldn't abuse them by insisting that the terms weren't being met.
GLaDOS might disagree with certain things, such as new rooms I could create for GLaDOS's enrichment center, and would keep making me create more until she was satisfied.
Once we finished the unbreakable vow, Lucius left with a small smile.
"I already said, how much I hate having my programming overwritten? A damn code just appeared in my core that will practically erase me from existence the moment I step off the line." GLaDOS growled, and I shrugged.
"We're the same." I said simply. I could feel the chains of the vow on my soul, but I could barely bring myself to care about her. The contract wasn't anything I couldn't keep, and if it started to get annoying, I could simply break it with Rule Breaker.
"Okay, then, let's start by adding powers to you!" I said happily.
"Where do we start?" GLaDOS asked, almost seeming excited to learn new things. I pulled out my Company tablet, which thankfully was unhackable, and quickly bought an Added Potential for GLaDOS.
GLaDOS has Pack's telepathic connection (Twilight) [-5] [374]
I could feel the immediate connection with GLaDOS when she joined the pack. I could hear Enid's squeal of joy at sensing a new presence, but I quickly shut GLaDOS down with an apologetic message in Enid's direction.
"Can you hear me?" I mentally asked in GLaDOS's direction. I didn't think it would work; I thought the bond was more biological than anything else, but it worked quite well, so that was good. Or the Catalogue really was good at adapting powers.
"WHAT THE HELL?! GET OUT OF MY CIRCUITS!! " GLaDOS screamed, the chassis began to loom over me, and I could almost feel the demonic power coming out of GLaDOS. That didn't bother me; what did was the large amount of thoughts, messages, and lines of code coming out of GLaDOS's mind.
I knew that an artificial intelligence without any limitations would think stupidly fast, but it was still giving me headaches just hovering over its mind.
"Calm down, it's just a telepathic bond, you're part of the pack, this way you're connected to everyone." I said calmly, ignoring GLaDOS's demonic power.
"I will not accept this flagrant violation of my data privacy." GLaDOS growled mentally.
"Just let me send you some memories, information, and more. It'll be much easier and faster. Besides, you can close your mind at any time." I sent the entire necessary information package just as calmly. I could see GLaDOS's hesitation for a few seconds before accepting the information.
I could see how GLaDOS began to analyze each new piece of information I provided her. I smiled slightly as I waited. I had a lot to review.
---------------------------
"No, no, no, no! That's not how physics works!" GLaDOS growled, and I groaned as I lay back once more on the comfy couch I had conjured. GLaDOS was on my shoulder, and we were both staring at the tablet in my hands.
"And I'm telling you, yes, that's how it works, in fact, you just saw it!" I replied once again, and she just growled.
"Shinra Kusakabe's ability to disintegrate, accelerate beyond the speed of light, travel through time, and reform is impossible! That's not how physics works! Let's not even talk about moving at that speed that would create atomic explosions when an object close to the speed of light collides with particles so slow that it's almost like hitting solid objects."
"But simply traveling at the speed of light, to travel through time, would not return you to a previous physical state!"
"Becoming particles and traveling to the past, if it were possible, you only travel relative to your surroundings! You would only have to have those particles return to the past as those particles! It's impossible for them to reform into a person once again!" GLaDOS exclaimed in frustration.
"And we're back to the beginning! You're considering the physics of YOUR world! They're different worlds, GLaDOS! And it's not just a different world! It's a second version of the world remade after a cataclysm and contact with Adolla, the realm of thoughts. The fact that all the physics was distorted is the least of it!" I replied once more.
"That just tells me that all the humans on that world barely have a kindergarten-level understanding of physics for that 'thought realm' to be able to alter physics like that, and that they should just let them set themselves on fire." GLaDOS growled, and I rolled my eyes.
"You're getting angry about something that a bystander scientist, who can't see the Evangelist and can't even understand the Adolla Burst, came up with a theory to explain a power they barely know about; it's basically voodoo magic to them." I added. GLaDOS snarled.
"I hate magic," GLaDOS said with a grimace.
"And I'm sooooo into technology. Let's move on," I said simply. "Now, let's get some science fiction going. What did you want to see?" I asked simply. We'd already spent several hours going over all the powers we had, and this certainly hadn't been the first discussion about the physics involved.
It was better to move on to another topic.
"Weapons, you said about different worlds, I want to see the advancement of weapons on those worlds," GLaDOS said without missing a beat. I hummed softly. Of course, she would be a weapons enthusiast. I thought for a few minutes.
"I know." I said as I snapped my fingers. I checked the tablet once more and searched for what I needed. I wasn't going to put the entire series; it was ridiculously long, but a sample of the weapons was more than possible. "These weapons appear in a series called Gantz. They're used to combat dangerous and murderous aliens." I said simply before clicking.
GLaDOS stared at the screen as all of Gantz's various gear and sample videos were shown. She was shown the basic suit, whose liquid inside enhanced and enabled superhuman abilities.
The X-gun is capable of compressing energy, launching it at the enemy, and causing the energy to explode from within. The X- shotgun, a stronger version of the X- gun with much greater range.
There were several more weapons, but the one that caught GLaDOS's attention the most was the Z- gun, one of the superweapons, a weapon capable of applying a tremendous gravitational force in a circular area to crush everything inside it. It turns average people and most objects into mush, but someone tough enough would survive the applied gravitational force.
And then there was the Hard Suit, a gorilla-shaped suit, much bulkier than the main suit and much stronger.
"I want them." GLaDOS said greedily.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"I want those weapons. Let's go to that world immediately and steal it," GLaDOS said without hesitation.
"No, extremely bad idea," I said as I crossed my arms.
"You promised, I could choose a world to go to," GLaDOS growled.
"And I'll keep it, but I don't want to face a bunch of alien gods just for weapons!" I refused. I really, really didn't want to get involved with Gantz. Yeah, like 90% of them wouldn't pose any problems at all. But there were beings there that terrified me.
There were alien gods that seemed to be omniscient, or at least quasi-omniscient, and they might even be omnipotent given the limited powers they displayed. They were even classified as T10, and I didn't even know if I was the only one that powerful in that universe, so no, I wouldn't want to set foot on that world at all.
"All you want are the weapons, right? " I asked again.
"Yes." GLaDOS said simply. I sighed and grabbed the tablet before starting to manipulate it. I could see GLaDOS looking over my shoulder.
"Here it is, Gantz tech, 20 credits. That's… a lot cheaper than I thought," I said honestly. But I guess it actually made a lot of sense. Gantz's weapons weren't even really that strong. A Noble Phantasm of the same value could do more damage than any Gantz weapon.
I could even see that the Black Sphere, capable of resurrection, was included in the blueprints for Gantz's technology. That… I didn't even know if it was good or not. The Sphere granted unlimited resurrection, or the closest thing Gantz could achieve, come to think of it, possibly because they weren't resurrection.
They were able to remove matter and then create a perfect copy, including memories and personality, at another point, so they're just dying over and over again, and it was horrible to think about.
Looking closer, I could see that it only served to revive people below T3, which now made a lot more sense. Still... giving GLaDOS a resurrection sphere for her test subjects? It was a really, really bad idea.
"Why don't we watch more science fiction series first, and then you can decide calmly? There are many even better series, and the weapons they use in Gantz are quite obsolete in some worlds." I tried gently. GLaDOS made a mechanical noise.
"Okay, continue." I sighed as I clicked on the next option. For the next few hours, I continued to see one series after another—or, more accurately, demonstrations of futuristic weapons or similarly essential objects.
Robots, exoskeletons, energy shields, gravity beams, particle rifles, lightsabers, positron weapons, combat drones, optical camouflage, cybernetic bodies, space armor, spaceships, mechas, and many more.
And GLaDOS wanted absolutely everything. Especially the guns, because of course, she wanted the guns. I even showed her some of To's esper powers. Aru Majutsu no Index, which I was also extremely interested in the mechanics behind it.
"I want that Sandevistan," said GLaDOS as she looked at the screen, which was showing the fight between David Martinez and Adam Smasher.
"Like everything else before." I sighed tiredly. "And why do you want it? You don't have a nervous system it can connect to, so it can't work on you."
"And who said I wanted it for myself?" GLaDOS mocked. "That ability to stimulate and speed up the brain and nervous system is really interesting. I want to try it out on some test subjects," GLaDOS said.
"Of course you do," I said dryly before humming. "If I recall correctly, there was an anime where they were able to accelerate their minds 1,000 times with a neural connector." I hummed lightly, as I put on the video of Accel World's Neuro Linkers.
"I want that too," GLaDOS said immediately. I rolled my eyes.
"Leaving that aside, haven't you decided on a world yet?" I asked curiously.
"All of them," GLaDOS insisted.
"Choose one to start with." I snorted amusedly. It was nice to see someone actually excited to go explore other worlds, no matter the reason. GLaDOS was silent for a few moments, and that was a long time for her.
" Cyberpunk." GLaDOS finally said, my eyes widening slightly.
" Cyberpunk? It wasn't the most advanced world we saw, nor the one with the strongest weapons." I said in surprise. I mean, if she'd had a mouth, she would have practically drooled when she saw Star Wars' Death Star, which, come to think of it, might have been a bad idea to show that to an AI like GLaDOS.
"While I don't owe you an explanation, I'll be kind enough to give one. It's one of the few worlds where cybernetic technology implanted in the human body is so widespread that it's literally part of the culture."
"They don't need the implants; they just do it because they want to, and then somehow justify the self-mutilation of their human body. It's fascinating to see such a suicidal world."
"The so-called cyberware is so advanced that they are completely specialized in it, to the point of having street doctors capable of performing operations and changing implants with ease. I'm interested in acquiring that skill."
"And then there's cyberpsychosis and cyberpsychopaths, again, suicidal society, they're aware of the risk and still place cyberware on their bodies without any care at all. A world of lunatics. Also, you mentioned not being able to have 'innocent' test subjects, I'm sure the gangs there are anything but."
"And I admit, I'm also curious about the rogue AIs behind the Blackwall," GLaDOS concluded calmly.
I thought about it carefully. She was undoubtedly right. There were a few that perhaps came close to the level of cyberpunk implants. Ghost in the Shell came to mind as the first option, but it surely opened others.
I couldn't deny the rest either. Life was cheap in Cyberpunk, enough for no one to worry about anything; they were used to so much death that it is strongly desensitized in society, and they treated it as something normal.
And really, I couldn't care less about people like the gang members of say, the Maelstrom, Animals, and Scavengers, no one would mourn their deaths, they would even thank GLaDOS if she reduced their numbers. I really wouldn't feel bad about giving them to GLaDOS to 'play' with.
Additionally, Cyberpunk wasn't a truly dangerous world, the most dangerous thing there were the rogue AIs, Adam Smasher and V, I could take on the latter two head on with ease, even without using Noble Phantasm, and the rogue AIs wouldn't be able to do anything to me because I don't have, and don't plan on having cyberware on my body.
However, there was something that bothered me.
"I'm fine with everything, except for you going after the rogue AIs," I said firmly. I trusted GLaDOS to be able to take care of herself, and I also trusted The Company's defenses to protect GLaDOS's code from any corrupting attacks, but I still hoped GLaDOS wouldn't be stupid enough to try to hack into the cyberspace behind Blackwall.
"…fine." GLaDOS said reluctantly. I sighed.
"Okay, with that settled. You said you want me to create some things, fine, you'll have to walk me through them step by step." I said simply.
"Just follow my instructions. Even you can't fail. I hope so," GLaDOS said tersely. "You had some spell that could create extremely delicate pieces, didn't you?" GLaDOS asked.
"Alchemy," I said simply. GLaDOS remained silent. I could see her going over everything she knew and had been told about my alchemy.
"Okay, I admit it, that alchemy is right up your alley," GLaDOS said enthusiastically. I laughed lightly as I stood up and brought over large blocks of metal to use as the base material.
"Just send me the plans to my head, the measurements, the materials, everything, I'll reproduce it the same way," I said. GLaDOS sent me the information, and I quickly clapped before stopping.
"of the plans I want you to build, not the neurotoxins," I said dryly.
"Oh... did you notice?" GLaDOS asked, almost disappointed. I snorted.
"You're too casual about breaking the Unbreakable Vow," I said tiredly. GLaDOS scoffed.
"I would never want to kill you. It never even appeared as an idea in my database," GLaDOS said honestly. "But I've always believed that a room looks wonderful if it's filled with neurotoxins. And if you were the one creating them, it would only be suicide, not murder." GLaDOS clarified easily. I rolled my eyes.
"The plans," I said firmly. This time, GLaDOS had sent me the correct plans. I clapped and tapped the metal. Within moments, a long, mechanical arm with a claw at the end was fully constructed. I had no idea what I'd built, but GLaDOS seemed delighted.
"Fantastic, plug it in." GLaDOS said, dropping a cable from her chassis. I grabbed the cable before connecting it to the bottom of GLaDOS's new robotic limb. Once I connected it, the articulated arm with a pendulum at the end began to move. "Ah, finally mobility!" GLaDOS exclaimed in delight. "Now, make me a dozen more of them!" she said excitedly.
"Wouldn't it be better to get you a new body?" I asked playfully.
"A new body? Is there something wrong with mine, demon? " GLaDOS asked, almost insulted.
"Not really, but I'm sure we can find a cybernetic body to connect your core to; you'd be able to move in and out of worlds much more easily than creating hundreds of drones," I said with a shrug.
"Do you want me to go to other worlds? Do you want me to leave my enrichment center? " GLaDOS asked incredulously, I mocked.
"Don't look so excited," I mocked. "But think about it, look at these bodies," I said as I began putting robotic bodies, androids, and robots on the screen.
There were several robotic bodies, like Alita Battle Angel's, or the Exo from Destiny, Ultron and Vision from Marvel, Penny from RWBY, the Angeloids from Sora no Otoshimono, the automata from Nier, the androids from Dragon Ball, and more. There really were a lot of androids or similar.
"You know, I just realized, 80% of the bodies you showed me are female, with figures that defy physics and are completely irrelevant to the functioning of the robotic body."
"I take it back, you don't have objectophilia, it's clear you have a severe case of Robophilia, a sexual and romantic attraction to robots. My arousal sensors tell me those bodies really excite you."
"Convincing me to get a new chassis with a female figure is some kind of ploy to satisfy your fetish? Should I fear for my chastity the moment you place me in a body? " GLaDOS asked coldly. I blushed slightly.
"I didn't design them! It's not my fault; most of them have some sexual appeal! " I exclaimed, slightly embarrassed. "Besides! I'm a succubus! I'm always excited!" I added.
"I don't blame you. It's obvious that all humans, including those at Aperture Science, are all sexual deviants, if the sexual arousal sensors give any indication. Right now, I'm grateful to be just a pile of data incapable of feeling sexual attraction." GLaDOS said simply. I snorted.
"You were able to not feel that; compulsions push those emotions in my direction even if you couldn't originally feel them." I said mockingly, GLaDOS fell silent.
"I hate you so much." GLaDOS growled, unable to deny it, and I mocked her.
"So, what do you think of a body?" I asked again.
"It's not a bad idea. I thought about it carefully for a few nanoseconds. I have to admit that having a mobile chassis would speed things up and give me much more independence than I have now, especially if it took time to set up my enrichment center."
"Being confined to just one room would be terrible. A mobile body would also give me the ability to interact even better with my experiments," GLaDOS said honestly.
"You could also—it would be a better way to read library books. Some are impossible to remove because of the enchantments on the place," I said honestly. GLaDOS made a noise.
"Of course you only have everything in books. This place needs a database urgently," GLaDOS snarled. "Back to my new chassis... most of the bodies you showed me are combat bodies."
"I hope you're not thinking I'd get involved in something as primitive as a fight. Especially one that involved me fighting with my mobile body." GLaDOS said mockingly, I rolled my eyes.
"Do you want me to look for a unit that focuses on, I don't know, analytics or something? I think there were some," I said, searching through the tablet.
"That would be appreciated, yes, I hope it has at least the same computing power as my main body," added GLaDOS. I snorted.
"Yeah, don't expect too much... or maybe you will get it," I said, selecting a new video. "This is the Ex-Machina, a race of cybernetic lifeforms featured in a series called No Game No Life."
"There are several types of designs and built units, but there is one in particular, the Prüfer, which are entirely analytical units. Their analytical skills are unparalleled. They have a high capacity to assimilate and process complex data, they are capable of learning and adapting infinitely, and much more."
"Also, they are a cybernetic race capable of using magic naturally, they even have a pretty good ability that they are able to replicate all weapons and spells they see. What do you say?" I asked as a video of Schwi Dola from No Game No Life showed off all her power.
"Let me see that." GLaDOS said as she dropped a small cable next to me. I grabbed it and connected it to the tablet without hesitation, GLaDOS remained silent as she analyzed all the necessary information.
"It's... perfect, it has computational power and information processing that is estimated to exceed infinity, making it capable of performing abstract and illogical calculations at a speed of an infinite fraction of a second, it's incredibly superior to my current chassis." said GLaDOS, almost drooling metaphorically.
I could hear the desire in her voice.
"Buy it," GLaDOS demanded, her chassis pressed against my face. "Buy it right now!" she insisted again.
"Good, good, good. That's what I'm doing." I said, pulling out the cable attached to GLaDOS. I quickly flipped through the table and looked at the purchase options. There was a contractor selling fully customized Ex-Machina bodies ready to use.
Well, from what I could see, she sold absolutely all kinds of androids or robots, the Ex-Machina being one of them. I was able to see the customization options and quickly contacted the seller.
With a few quick messages to clarify that I wanted to download GLaDOS's personality core to a Prüfer unit, everything was ready. The modification was extremely simple and quick for the seller.
Prüfer Unit, Ex-Machina (Modified) [-50] [324]
50 credits, the same value as buying Schwi Dola directly, but I guess it made sense, considering that all of her power came almost directly from her own body and physiology as an Ex-Machina, so I could understand the price.
The Prüfer unit appeared before us and landed softly on the ground. I smiled slightly. It was a copy of Schwi Dola's body. Just as tiny and thin, almost harmless.
"Why... does she look like a child?" GLaDOS asked almost slowly and coldly. I smiled slightly.
"Sorry, GLaDOS. That's the only look they came with." I lied without hesitation. Oh, the vendor's options had options to customize the Prüfer unit's appearance, but I ignored them.
Was I being mean by putting GLaDOS in a tiny body like Schwi's? Definitely, but I didn't regret anything. She started to annoy me from the start. GLaDOS narrowed her eyes, and I could almost hear her growl.
"Fine, hook me up now, we'll see what my new chassis can do," GLaDOS finally said. I smiled slightly. "Add to [WIFE'S NAME HERE]'s personnel file, she likes small bodies, keep [WIFE'S NAME HERE] away from schools. " My face scrunched up once more, I glared at GLaDOS. Yeah, I didn't regret a thing.
Author's Notes : So, here's GLaDOS! It's a little hard to keep up with GLaDOS's personality, but it's fun!
Now, we'll also be heading to the world of Cyberpunk , much to Serena's eternal misfortune. We'll see how that turns out. It's not planned to be anything really long, but it's quite possible I'm wrong, so I won't give an estimate on how long it will take.
( should I add Rebecca or Lucy to the harem!? I vote for Becca !)