Chapter 6

He was going to vomit, he was sure of it.

This cannot be happening!

He beat the glass with all of his might, screaming for Chell to turn around, to run away from that foul machine. In a panic he sat at the nearest computer pounding in commands, trying to stop her before she could do anything; not knowing that Henry had disabled her, not knowing that he was unwittingly turning her back on, twisting the protocol of the morality core.

The control room was eerily empty and quiet but Chell continued forward, half looking for her father, half sating her curiosity. She paused when the head nodule swung smoothly towards her.

"what is your name?" enquired GLaDOS politely.

Chell would usually refuse to speak to strangers, but something in this computers voice compelled her to obey.

"Chell, miss." She replied meekly.

A small notification box appeared on Doug's screen. Test subject comparability test beginning.

The moisture that was in his mouth had migrated to his eyes, he couldn't swallow. His head shook side to side in small quick motions, begging it not to be true. But it was happening, whether he liked it or not. He drew out a sharp breath, steadying his shoulders, and his nerves; drawing up a test subject list he searched for the new entry.

His eyes scrolled through hundreds of names, each had a status next to it: deceased, inactive, rejected, active. Finally he found her name.

Chell - pending...

His breath caught as he waited.

Chell - rejected.

His jaw dropped. Then set harder than before with determination. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he began to alter the list. He changed the result to 'active', and put her to the top of the testing list; it was the best that he could do. Abandoning his post he sprinted to his baby girl.

"Test subject rejected." Stated GLaDOS, "Test subject disposal commencing."

Doug's face felt hot, his heart was beating unbearably fast in his throat he paused in shock.

No. No she couldn't mean Chell, he thought. No, I put her on the testing list myself.

But then it dawned on him; there would be a delay between entering the data and it's integration into her systems.

"Oh God." He breathed as he sprinted once more trying to close the distance, but the door fell shut too soon. He veered towards the nearest window. There she was. His baby. His last link to his wife; and she stood terrified in a room flooding once more with neurotoxin. He rested his hand gently against the cold steel door, this door just withstood the frenzied force of twenty scientists, he was helpless. Chell's eyes darted around the room in every direction, looking for something, anything. They found her father. Her frightened face lit up as she ran to the window.

"DADDY! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"she screamed as she ran.

Doug's mind raced, what could he do? He searched the room for anything of use; in the corner was a barely serviceable computer, it would have to do. He typed frantically trying to hack into the control for the door and override the locking mechanism.

Everything he tried was immediately blocked by GLaDOS, she was aware of his efforts. He didn't stand a chance. They had taught GLaDOS everything they knew. He could never win.

He couldn't save her.

His fruitless efforts were interrupted by pounding on the window. Chell's big grey eyes were streaming with tears from either the fear or the toxin filling every inch of the room. Her fists were getting bloody; she was trying hopelessly to break through the reinforced glass. She would never give up, not until her last breath.

He stopped typing. He knew he couldn't save her now.

His hands drew away from the keyboard and wrapped numbly around himself as he fell to his knees shaking.

"No." He blubbered through saliva and tears, "God please, no."

As he watched as his baby began to weaken. She wretched dryly as the poison that filled her lungs, became a thick purple wall surrounding her. Her pounding was suddenly frantic as she noticed her nose bleeding a dark red colour, dripping into her top. Her expression showcased each emotion as her young mind processed what was happening:

Confusion.

Fear.

Betrayal.

"get up daddy." She whispered.

Yearning for her father's arms.

Grief.

Pain.

So much pain.

He couldn't bare to watch, yet he couldn't tear his eyes away; these were the last moments that he would see her alive.

"I love you." He mouthed through his tears.

Her eyes were full of the terror that her face tried to conceal. She stopped pounding, too weak to continue, and pressed her palm against the bloodied glass.

"You too." She managed before seizing and falling to the floor in a tragically small pile.

"Oh God!" He squealed through puffy cheeks and streaming tears. "God PLEASE NO!" He screamed pushing himself against the glass, willing her to get back up.

He was still crying when the door slid open silently, the only sound was that of his heart tearing apart. He crawled meekly around the corner. She lay on the ground like nothing more than a poorly discarded ragdoll.

"There has been an error." Said GLaDOS to no one in particular.

Doug didn't even hear her, all his senses were occupied by the smell of her blood, her silence, her creeping cold.

A wall panel slid open revealing two mechanical arms. They hooked under her shoulders and began to drag her away. An inhuman sound escaped a fathers lips as he tried to pull her back. It was no good. They were too strong. He tried to scramble after her but the gap in the wall was far too small. All he managed to save was a scrap of material from her dress before she disappeared completely from sight. He just sat there. Trying to absorb a life time of tragedy that had been packed neatly into one day. His one friend and all of his co-workers were dead. And so was the one light in his life. Chell. Gone.