A Most Sinister SCIENCE [Closed]

[imperious_lex]

The downside of gathering long term supplies for the crew, was that Lex did have to make sure they were all brought on board and stowed away properly. It cut into his vacation time, but it was a small price to pay to get some business done, and make a few connections that he'll be able to call on later. Besides, with 99% of the crew off the ship, for once, it allowed him freedom to do a few things, like have a word with a certain AI that wasn't Stacy.

Sitting at one of the terminals in Neuropathy, Lex navigated his way through part of the AI multiplex, until he came across the one he wanted to speak to.

"Hello, GLaDOS. I need to have a word with you."

Comments

[cityship]

There is silence for a moment. Then, one of the screens near Lex flickers to life with a simple, smiling blue face.

||Hell^o!|| chirps the distinctive, broken voice of GLaDOS.

[imperious_lex]

Lex smiled pleasantly at the screen.

"I've been looking forward to talking to you for a while now." Because an AI that can make any member of this crew disappear and keep everyone else from even realizing that said member is gone? That is definitely one he wanted to get to know.

"I've been admiring the research you've been doing on the crew, and I was wondering if you could help me out with something.

"I need you to run a test."

[cityship]

GLaDOS hasn't heard from anyone sensible and appreciative of her work in a very long time.

This gets her attention.

||Of course. We of the Transmigration 9 seek to ^track the finest _data possible through our tests. What manner of test shall I run?||

[imperious_lex]

Lex had grin at that.

"A stress test, on a particular member of the crew: Steve Burnside. It's very important that we find out how much stress is too much for him."

[cityship]

The AI pauses, to check a few conditions and ensure they are met.

||A test of the stress capacity of crewman ^{Steve Burnside} is possible at this ti-ime. Whe-ere shall _the test ^be run?||

[imperious_lex]

"Excellent." This would be fun.

"The sensoriums would be a good location, it'll be easy to create a variety of stressful conditions there." He could also safely observe from Neuropathy and record everything.

[cityship]

||Subject is not present in ^requested location|| GLaDOS reports.

She's resourceful, though.

GLaDOS is a broken, but sly construct. It takes her only moments to dig through Stacy's accessible files for one in particular.

The voice of the Warden personality rings out in its typical, pre-recorded fashion.

||Steve Burnside. Please report to the Sensoriums.||

[craaazyisland]

Steve was only on ship at the moment because he was scheduled to receive his treatment in the medical bay once a week. Exactly on schedule. No matter what. Otherwise there'd be no way you could get him back on this stupid thing when there was a real planet out there to exist on.

Still, he'd been late to report to medical and now the stern voice yelling his name across the ship was doing nothing to reassure him it wasn't a big deal. One hand fiddling with the thin, membrane-like bandage over his arm, he opened the sensorium door and stepped into the darkened chamber.

"Yeah?" he called to... whoever had summoned him. "It's, uh... it's Steve. Who is it?"

[cityship]

The room has been set to replicate one of the sterile, white walled test chambers GLaDOS is so very fond of.

She fails to answer the question, but her voice does the job for her. It's pretty distinctive.

||Hello crewman ^{Steve Burnsi-ide.} Welcome to your non-routine stress capacity _test. Please proceed to the ^opposite end of the chamber to begin your non-routine stress capacity _test.||

It's a simple room, with a doorway to one end. There is an elevator. There's no indication of where it might lead.

[craaazyisland]

He definitely recognizes that voice. It was the same voice that egged him on a few months back with a piece of mistletoe and an invisible wall. Steve immediately bristles with annoyance-- and something rings as not right in what she just said.

"What? What the hell is this?" he asks, turning around and reaching for the door-- which is now gone. "I can't do a stress test!"

Hell no, he has no intention of going to that elevator.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm definitely not allowed to do a stress test," he announces, backing against the wall.

[cityship]

GLaDOS replies, pleasant as pie. Or perhaps cake.

||Permission is already granted. Please proceed to the elevator to ^begin the test.||

Come on Steve, don't make the nice AI beg!

[craaazyisland]

"Who granted permission?" Steve demands, still sticking to the wall like he was glued there. "Dr. McNinja? I can't do this kind of stuff, okay? Open the door!"

[cityship]

||Please proceed to the elevator!|| GLaDOS instructs again. She's pretty insistent, considering that the floor has just turned into a conveyor belt heading toward it. GLaDOS has been enjoying the freedom offered by non-physical test chambers. They let her change things up.

||If you complete your test there _will be a party with all of your friends|| she coaxes as the floor increases in speed. ||There _will be a party with cake.||

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke had come back up to Stacy for a cloak; it was getting chilly and he didn't want Mara to get cold when they sat on the beach watching the sunset. But he'd come out of the crew quarters and felt a shiver run down his spine.

That was a familiar sensation. Luke's danger-sense had just been pinged, and it worried him.

So he followed its pull, collecting his lightsaber from the obs deck along the way, until he stood in front a closed Sensorium door. Brow furrowed--who would be using the Sensoriums when there was a whole planet they could enjoy?--Luke stretched his senses out, trying to determine who was inside and what was going on, and if they needed any help.

A moment later, his lightsaber was ignited and in hand, and Luke drove it deep into the door in front of him. His movements were calm, methodical, but inside, he was trying very hard to keep himself that way. Something had locked the door, and inside--inside, when Luke used the Force to remove the plug and drop it to one side, was Steve.

The view around them flickered back to blank white, but Luke didn't see that. All he saw was Steve, in spasms on the floor. "Steve!"

[craaazyisland]

The static got louder and louder, like someone blasting an out-of-tune radio in his ear. He could pick out snatches of words and voices-- GLaDOS' and others, some he knew were definitely not really there. It was so loud he could barely think.

And all of a sudden the room was bright and he heard another voice. He opened his eyes-- his irises were blood red, and everything looked blurry-- and there was Luke.

Steve gasped out a ragged breath and coughed, a minor spray of blood. Green, scaly-looking rashes were rising across his hands and up his arms. He clutched at his chest with one hand and tried to say something, but all that came out was another freakish, growling moan.

Help...

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke had seen a lot of strange things happen to people, during the war with the Vong and during the Dark Nest crisis, and so seeing something like this happen to Steve didn't even faze him. Not to mention that Steve was like a son to Luke, and his love for the teen took precedence over more superficial things.

That, and Luke had a good idea what was going on. Steve hadn't said much about it, but he could hazard a guess. "Steve!" he repeated, rolling the teen over onto his back. "You have to fight it! You can do it, I know you can!"

[cityship]

GLaDOS's simulation breaks, flickering out and leaving Steve and Luke in an empty sensorium.

She, however, is still there. ||Crewman ^{Ste-eve Burnside} has failed the non-routine stress capaity test!|| she announces.

||No party for Steve. No cake to share with fri-ends. Nobody likes you. Ha HA ha.||

[craaazyisland]

His eyes flickered upward at GLaDOS' voice and he clenched his teeth together, still struggling to breathe.

Jesus Christ is that AI going to pay for this.

Steve moaned in pain and clawed at his chest-- where his hands were starting to look not-quite-right. The green skin was starting to leech up the side of his face and he stared at Luke, obviously terrified.

His eyes closed again and his body suddenly crumpled like he'd been punched in the gut. He screamed and lurched as something ripped out of the right side of his shirt, near his ribs.

He looked down and when he caught a glance of something clawed and insect-like sticking out of him, his face went totally blank.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke saw it too, and stared a moment before bringing his attention back to where it was needed.

"It's going to be okay, Steve," he said. He felt it was important to keep using the teen's name, keep reminding him that he was still Steve Burnside, not whatever had been done to him. "That AI is wrong, you know that. Don't listen to it. Just try to calm down and stop this, I'm here to help you."

Luke normally didn't go traipsing about through the minds of others, but in this case, he simply gathered the Force around him and brought it to bear on Steve's mind, plunging into the turmoil and countering it with a place of calm, a rock in the middle of a raging river. But at the same time he kept talking, kept encouraging.

"You're stronger than this, Steve," he said, locking eyes. "You're strong and you can fight it. Just remember what I told you."

[craaazyisland]

He turned over to sit up halfway, holding himself up by his shaking hands-- the tremors seemed to go down his whole body, but looking carefully, they seemed to be slowing down.

The expression had not returned to his face as he stared blankly at Luke, right in the eyes. Something flickered suddenly on his face-- something feral in his eyes, something violent and primal that turned into a furious glare.

He growled deep in his throat and picked himself up off the floor, eyes still locked with Luke's.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke stared straight back. When he was growing up on Tatooine, he'd learned that with some of the native fauna, if you backed down, you got attacked. Backing down meant this kept going. Staying calm, staying in control--that could mean the difference between Steve coming out of this, and Steve needing to be stopped by other means, and that made Luke's heart hurt to think about.

"Steve, listen to me," he said, and his voice was the perfect calm of a Jedi Master, the serenity given him by the Force flowing through every part of his body. Rising from the floor gracefully, Luke spread his hands to show he had no weapons in them. His lightsaber was on his belt, but if it came to activating lightsabers Luke would be in a lot of trouble already.

"Control," Luke said. "You must control this. Whatever was done or said before this does not matter right now. All that matters is that Steve Burnside exerts control. You have to win that fight, Steve."

Remind him who he is.

"You have to win because I love you like a son. I don't want to see my sons hurt."

[craaazyisland]

He just stood there, staring at Luke. His lip twitched and the slitted pupils of his eyes changed size, first growing wider and then narrowing. He stepped forward, lowered his head and tilted it to the side, like an animal-- his muscles tensed, clawlike fingers clicking together softly under the sound of his breathing. If he lunged, even halfway mutated he could do enough damage to make it count. There were thirty seconds where he was ready to strike at any moment.

Then he blinked a few times and the vague look in his eyes was gone. He looked confused for a moment, but then seemed to recognize Luke again.

Steve let out the breath he'd been holding and it caught in his throat, choked down by half gasp. His eyes filled with tears and he collapsed to his hands and knees, lowering his head and sobbing so hard he started shaking again.

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke eased forward, making no sudden moves that might rouse the... the thing again. But he was still calm, though now worry showed in his blue eyes. Worry for Steve, who--it was true--Luke loved like Steve was one of his own.

"It's okay," he said soothingly, putting an arm around Steve's shoulders. Memories came to Luke's mind--memories of holding Ben when the nightmares woke him up, memories of holding Mara when she had dreams of what she'd done as the Emperor's Hand. He knew what those were like. Steve was forced to live one, and Luke couldn't imagine...

"I'm here," he said. "I'm here, Steve."

[craaazyisland]

There was a terrifying blank in his memories and Steve knew exactly why. That sudden silence in his head scared him, more than anything GLaDOS had pit him against, more than the taunts and the teasing suggestions that he'd only considered in his darkest states of mind-- who knew if they were true? Maybe he was a mistake. He couldn't handle it. He had been gone.

For the first time since his death, he'd lost control.

He clung onto Luke until he caught a glimpse of his hands, patchy with the swollen green of Veronica, twisted the wrong way. His eyes widened and he pulled them away, though it was too late to hide them. And there were things ripping out of the side of his shirt, twitching along like they were totally normal.

He shrunk away from Luke, gasped in a breath and managed to speak in a hoarse whisper. "--t's wrong with me?"

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"You were..." Luke looked for the right word. "Changing. You didn't hurt anyone though--see, I'm fine," and he spread his hands again to show he was unharmed, the beachwear he'd come up in unripped and no blood anywhere. "And you stopped it. You did it, Steve, you got control."

The turmoil in the Force wasn't going away, and it worried Luke. He'd hoped Steve would calm down once he'd stopped the changing. He hadn't thought that the young man would start panicking more.