AN: Hmm... Not much to say about this chapter, so I won't bother waffling! Enjoy! :D

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Status reports flickered in her vision, then the view feed stabilised itself fractionally and there was a blurred image of the ramp from where she lay underneath it, almost unrecognisable thanks to the digital disturbance. GlaDOS shoved the reports away, throttled the data flow to a minimum to save bandwidth and started another diagnostic sweep. Anxiously, she waited for the results. The diagnosis seemed to last forever, which surely couldn't be a good sign.

She checked the time. Almost three minutes had passed when the reports she actually wanted to read finally came to her. The android body had switched to standby mode when the connection was interrupted, so it was still fully operational, conserving its battery. Her joints, muscles and the android's skeletal structure were mostly unharmed, although they had been subjected to forces well above the operational limits she'd designed them for. Most other subroutines returned positive responses too, except for touch and visual. The nanobot system, assigned to the care of her flesh and skin, reported several minor injuries where debris had fallen on her, but it was already going to work. She could ignore that for now.

Addressing the damage to her visual input required considerably more attention. A small piece of metal had speared into her left eye and lodged itself there, rendering the optic unit completely useless. It was still powered, however, and a few sparks sputtered from it every few seconds. Forcefully reminded of the Mark 1 android's little meltdown, GLaDOS disabled the ruined optic, afraid that it would overload if left unchecked and cause even more damage. Her vision returned to normal, undisturbed, though she now lacked precise depth perception.

Finally satisfied the android was in good enough condition to attempt making proper use of, GLaDOS powered it up again and gingerly squeezed out from under the wreckage, then got to her feet and looked around the destroyed chamber. She gaped at her chassis, which seemed to have fallen as far as it could for now, then slowly reached up behind her head and touched the thick cable that connected to her android's spine. It was cut raggedly, sheared off so that it drooped limply beside the ASHPD clipped to her back. The secured input jack clicked free under her fingertips and GLaDOS tugged the ruined hardware away, staring at it in her hand. If there had been just a little more force behind the falling debris... It could have decapitated the android.

That wasn't a 'hardware failure' she'd tested for. Nor even predicted.

Her gaze travelled slowly back to the chassis. It was a wreck, no doubt about it. Her beautiful, powerful chassis, her real body, looked like she'd been jammed into a metal shredder. Without it to process the multitudes of data files needed for Manufacturing to get to work, there was no way she could ever build another android. The battered hulk lying in pieces before her was almost written off, and the one she curently controlled had already been smashed, bashed and crushed. She hadn't even spent half an hour in control of it. Suppose it had been decapitated? Then she'd be stuck in her ruined chassis, unable to manufacture another android, unable to repair her chassis... Utterly helpless. How long could it possibly take for her to run out of power? The new turbines and the reprogrammed Power Plant computer would last at least a decade -that was already a small eternity to her- but how long would the backup chassis batteries and the residual power in her systems keep her running for? Twenty years? Thirty? Thirty years stuck in one place, until true death due to power failure finally ended her?

A whimper escaped, loud in the near-silent chamber. Sure, being murdered was one thing, but to die like that? She hadn't even inflicted that on human test subjects. They'd been given a merciful, quick death! Fire, rockets, lasers, acid, neurotoxin! She'd never paralysed them and left them to starve, or suffocate!

Then Chell popped into her mind again, clearer than any video image. The woman might as well be standing right there, her steady gaze boring through GLaDOS' mind and her expression set into an unyielding frown of determination. The mute murderess would probably have figured out a way to escape even if she was a paraplegic, she would have hauled her impaired body around whether it wanted to cooperate or not.

And she would still have managed to defeat a sociopathic supercomputer, a moronic AI and all the traps and tricks left behind by their deceased creators.

"It's... I know." GLaDOS blinked, speaking more to the image of Chell rather than herself, and she took a few tentative steps towards her chassis. But, what could she do? "Don't look at me like that, the last time I faced interruptions like this to my work was when you and that Moron ripped me out of there and he shoved me into a potato." She seethed at the silent Chell in her mind, turning her anger on the girl in order to stem the tsunami of helplessness welling up in her. It helped, her quickening breaths slowed and deepened again, but Chell's expression of frustration turned to bewilderment. If Chell had really been standing beside her, and if she hadn't been mute, perhaps she would have had a witty retort. Something appropriately dry and subtly insulting, not unlike GLaDOS' own caustic sarcasm. The woman certainly had the intellect for it. "I'm thinking." GLaDOS exclaimed, her glare unfocused.

Dragging her attention forcefully back to the task at hand, she shoved her desperation aside with a concerted effort and tried her best to analyse the situation logically, objectively. The damn cooling overdrive mechanism had laid waste to her Core chamber and ruined her chassis -her body- almost completely. The headache she had experienced before had been annoying, but she had not been able to find an explanation for that seemingly impossible event. Now that she could see exactly what happened to the cooling system, and what happened to herself because she'd neglected maintaining it, GLaDOS decidedly preferred the headache. The facility itself was about to fall apart, what with the idiot having taken over and made a mess of the place, and the stupid turbines failing, and now even her own chassis had let her down and become another statistic.

Her chassis was supposed to be reliable and long-lasting, it was built to withstand danger, violence and time. It had only managed to join the ever-growing cascade of disappointments and drawbacks, all waiting for her to work Science like magic despite every tool she intended to use turning out just as failure-prone.

Now, now, she was cut off from the facility archives completely. And unlike the android, there was no backup plan. There was no wireless connection -GLaDOS was the facility, it was her extended body, she wasn't meant to be disconnected from it! There were no contingencies for this, no 'plan-B'! With the cooling system wasted, there was no way to do anything useful. Complex calculations, programming code, evaluating data to the nth degree and testing -all essentially torn from her grasp. Her processors would overheat in an instant if she tried it. Maybe even this comparitively simple analysis would be enough to melt her own Core if the android's processors weren't already handling it?

At least that would be a quick death, compared to waiting for her miniscule back-up battery to fail.

The panic was rising up again. Rearing its' head like some venemous predator.

"Okay, calm down, I know." GLaDOS mumbled quietly to Chell, fighting down the urge to scream in frustration. "I can do this. I know the situation is bad, so it won't help me to think of all things I can't do and don't have. I have to think of the things I do have instead. Like..."

Once more forcing down the emotion that threatened to strangle her will, another whimper squeaked from her as she gave her chassis a despairing once-over. But there were positives. The head of her chassis, the part which contained her Personality Core, that was still working. That assured her control of the android. She could move about this chamber as much as she liked -but leaving it was probably a bad idea. The radio connection was experimental and there was no reliable data on its' signal range. Sure, she was aware of the specifications of the wireless connection, but testing it was supposed to have come after the testing on the android was completed. If the connection failed, she would lose the android and her last ray of hope to help herself, leaving her in a failing body, waiting for the final darkness. Just lying here, waiting for the end, helpless and pathetic...

"Nonononono. Stop, stop it, stop it. You can do this." GLaDOS lectured herself. In the edge of her vision, she could see her no-nonsense Chell give an approving nod, and once more she climbed the ramp, approaching the collapsed chassis.
Scratched, dented and twisted, her formerly perfect body lay across several panels. It had slithered over the ramp, pushing her Core right to the very edge of the topmost panel. The heavy piece of shielding had hit the main section of the construct, where a huge dent was proof of the impact and the case was split open like a cracked watermelon. Scratches and furrows ran along the white-painted plates, the colour giving way to streaks of bare metal which shone under the glaring lights overhead. Cables were snapped, torn and broken. They lay across the chassis or hung loosely down the ramp like the tentacles of a mechanical sea-monster, but a few remained intact. Strained to their limit, they supported the entire weight of the precariously-balanced chassis and kept it in position. Though they looked ready to snap at any moment and send their precious cargo right to the floor.

Her Core was the place to start, GLaDOS decided, tentatively laying a hand on the mess of garbage that had once been sleek, beautiful machinery. With the faceplate already removed, the Core itself looked tiny and fragile. Vulnerable. It was sad, really. Her chassis was meant to protect it, and the android had been built with similar specifications-

"Oh..."

GLaDOS' jaw dropped open as she realised, with painful suddenness, what the solution to this whole mess was. Her single working optic darted down to the currently-closed maintenance pit underfoot, and the very able mechanical arms it contained. Then back to her Core.

But before excitement could spur her into action, a memory jumped vividly to the forefront of her consciousness. The agony of being torn from her chassis, Wheatley replacing her... Then the crushing insignificance of being reduced to PotatOS...

Another whimper escaped as she looked down again. Could she really do this to herself?

The vision of Chell had already gained an unyeilding frown. There was no choice to be had.

"I... I can't..."

Chell's features tightened angrily. She had to do it. She had to.

Swallowing hard with anxiety, GLaDOS drew a breath.

"Analyze Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System chassis functionality." She stated loudly. The Announcer responded immediately.

"Chassis is non-functional. Significant repairs required." He chirped.

"Analyze possibility of Core transfer to replacement chassis."

"Analysis complete. Transfer is viable. Replacement chassis required." The Announcer declared. GLaDOS' vocal functions siezed for a moment, and she inhaled deeply to try and overcome the momentary surge of anxiety.

"R-Replacement chassis available." The words came out weaker than she'd thought possible, but nonetheless, she was heard.

"Present replacement chassis for transfer procedure."

GLaDOS jumped aside when the panels covering the maintenance pit slid open, the mechanical arms within annoyingly pristine amongst the debris spread all over the Core chamber as they stretched upwards, the tools attached to their ends snapping and buzzing and clicking at her. When she didn't move they reached towards the android, and she darted away from them with a sob.

"I can't! I can't do it, Chell, I-"

"Present replacement chassis for transfer procedure." The Announcer cut her off, and GLaDOS' words died in her throat. She bit at her lower lip to stem the tide of helplessness welling up in her once again, sinking to her knees on the floor, one hand pressed over the ruined optic in her left eye socket.

"I... I don't want to!" She wailed, flinging herself at the floor.

Something latched around her wrist and she squealed in fright, but there was no fighting the maintenance arms now that they'd got hold of her. They dragged the android towards the pit, several of them assigned to the job of catching each of her limbs and pinning her writhing form to the floor, while others rose up and hovered over her like vultures preparing to feast.

"No! No, stop it, please! Stop!"

Her cries went unheeded, and she barely registered the Announcer's next words.

"Scanning replacement chassis. Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System prepared for shutdown and transfer procedure. Initiating."

"Stop, please stop!" GLaDOS yowled. Another maintenance arm clamped onto the android's head, immobilizing her completely. "I changed my mind! I don't want to do the transfer, cancel operations!" GLaDOS screeched. "Cancel! Stop it, st-"

Her vocal processors went offline, followed an instant later by the rest of her sensory inputs, then she lost power entirely and everything stopped.

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AN: Shoutouts to reviewers! They really are appreciated, and of course, constructive criticism is always welcome! R&R!

Guest: Here you go. :)

imnotraven16: I'm glad you thought the previous chapter was excellent, I hope this one's just as good. Cookies!

scourge728: Well, hm, it does look that way, doesn't it? Then again, she's made a mistake or two lately, and as they say, "To err is human..." *evil snicker*

Shadowmanji: Aw :3 I'm glad to be back! :D Here's that next chapter for you, and cookies! :D

werd me: Guess it'd be embarrassing for her to almost literally be caught with her pants down, huh? I hope she's got a trick up her sleeve too!

So, R&R, please! I love reading them!