Office Hours [Open, everyone feel free to bother GLaDOS]

[fabricaketions]

One of the Sensoriums is active. Inside it's been made to look like a spacious office. A whole wall of windows opens up on a bright but indistinct cityscape. The decor is sleek and modern, though the predominant black and white with no color is perhaps a bit too stark. Some absolutely untouched-looking books sit on a shelf and a plant that is far too green to be real sits in the window collecting dust. There are barely audible stirrings of bad office muzak that are not entirely blocked out by the walls. It's all very sterile and feels off, like it's been put together by someone with a precise list of things that an office is but no understanding of what it's like to be in one.

Suspended over the desk is a gigantic robot.

It glares balefully at anyone who looks in. Or at least it seems to, thanks to that yellow "eye" in its "face".

"Oh. Hello. Come in. Make yourself at home," GLaDOS says. Under her attempt at a flat tone is the faintest hint of resentment.

She does not want to be here. At all.

Comments

[fabricaketions]

"It makes the average person a useful, versatile test subject." Clearly, this was an important bright side.

"Humans often disregard the contributions of nonhumans. It's a prevalent weakness in the species," she added. "It's even more difficult for many humans to imagine a big picture that does not include them as a central figure."

[burnedbrighter]

Azula continued agreeing though she herself refused to imagine a future where she was not the central figure. In this moment of calm she found she could even control her blood pressure and heart rate again.

"That's because we fear change, and even more we fear things we cannot hope to understand. At least...lesser humans do." She chuckled "But since the moment I realized that I was saved by this ship, and that you are playing some part in keeping me alive I knew to appreciate it." A lie. Frankly she thought that she deserved to be kept alive on merit of her past glory and what she could do for the mission. But she continued on.

"In my world we don't have technology as advanced as you. If we did no doubt beings like you and Stacy would be in charge there as well."

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Lesser humans. GLaDOS caught that.

"Worlds where human technological advances have lagged behind are reasonably common. Clashes between civilizations with greater and lesser technology levels generally favor the scientific," GLaDOS confirmed.

"Tell me, Crewman. Do you consider yourself a greater human?"

[burnedbrighter]

Azula was silent for a moment, many moments. One may begin to wonder if she'd heard the question at all until her voice drifted out slowly, as if she had to piece each word together one at a time.

"I did...once. Once I was great. Perfect. Perfect perfection in it's most perfect form. Who could ask for more?"

Her father, her father could ask for more.

"But I wasn't perfect. Flawed, Cracked. Cracking. Splitting apart thread. By. Thread." She plucked a spare thread from the sleeve of her robe and examined it like all the answers to the universe could be found in there.

"There were scared of me. Scared of what I was. What I could be. So they betrayed me. But that I could have overcome. After all they weren't perfect." She half mumbled half babbled as her grip began to slip once again. But she was so caught up in her self reflection she didn't even realize it. In her eyes she was just telling a story. It almost felt like it wasn't even her story really. Just the story of a girl. A twisted little girl named Azula.

"But then even HE was scared of me The one who made me perfect. Tried to leave me behind. Keep me at arms length so he could protect himself you see? You understand? I was too much! I was what he wanted and it was more then he could stand so he was going to LEAVE!" The last part was shouted and there was a blinking in her wild eyes where she seemed startled by her own voice echoing in the chamber.

Slowly...so slowly she sank into the chair. The clouds were parting again allowing a ray of light in to shine upon the jumbled mess of awareness. She'd been ranting again. Sometimes she did that, sometimes even when she was alone.

shoulders slumped she sighed a heavy world weary sigh. "And so I was made...as I am..." She finished trailing off as she tried to clear the fog that had begun to settle on her mind once more.

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GLaDOS reared back a little, watching Azula struggle like she'd observe a chemical reaction. She'd seen ranting and raving. This was not precisely new, but it made things interesting.

GLaDOS had never sought to please anyone but herself. The concept wasn't entirely foreign, to have the approval of somebody else, but it wasn't something she could understand from experience. It was just a weird thing that humans seemed to do.

"Well, you don't seem to have needed this person," she noted dryly. "Any fool that believes true perfection is attainable has no idea how the world works. I was in the same facility my entire life and I knew that."

[changelingdude]

But it seemed perfectly understandable to Azula to shoot for perfection unfortunately. Years of her Father's impressing upon her.

"He's a brilliant mind even if perfection is impossible. He's on the ship you know?" She was of course unaware that he had been murdered after defeat at the hands of the Avatar a second time. And now that said murderer was back in her own pod she may never find out.