Date: 12/18/2009 Time: 9:58 PM Journal of Dr. Burmodisk Entry #000005 Subject: GLaDOS (Merged with Human Female)
Much has been completed over these last 2 days. I've finally finished my evaluation of that report regarding a cure for the subject. Also... My good friend, Faith, was able to visit the subject earlier today. There's been something I've been neglecting to mention throughout these journal entries. I've never really mentioned about what will happen after the separation. If the procedure is a success, what will happen to the girl? Who will adopt her? Well... That's where my old high school friend comes in.
Faith has expressed a great interest in adopting the girl. This is most likely due to the fact that she and the subject's mother were best friends ever since kindergarten. Faith and Laura have always been there for each other. Whether it be studies, relationships, or just life in general; they helped to see each other through it. However after they graduated from university, they were forced to go their separate ways. Faith stayed here, while Laura moved to Cleveland, Ohio to begin her new job at Aperture Science. They kept in touch through email, Facebook, etc... But it just wasn't the same anymore. Work occupied most of their lives.
When the Aperture massacre came, Faith was absolutely devastated to learn the news. I was the one to reveal the troubling news to her. At first she didn't believe that her best friend was dead. But upon seeing the news report on TV, the cold hard reality hit her like a Japanese bullet train. Now keep in mind that Faith is highly skilled at the sport of Parkour/Free running. With that, she burst out of her door and was gone before I could poke my head out of the doorway. I knew where she was going... I thought about driving after her... To try and stop her from exhausting herself. Then I decided to let her run to Ohio. I figured that at her current emotional state, it would be impossible to reason with her. It would be best to let her “run it off.” The distance was only about a hundred miles anyway.
I waited for about 4 hours at her house. Then I decided to drive out to Ohio and find her. When I arrived at the crime scene, I saw Faith in handcuffs being lead away by a police officer. I immediately went over and inquired. Apparently Faith was trying to sneak her way into the Aperture building, so she could confirm Laura's death for herself. Fortunately she didn't hurt any of the officers, but she certainly did cause quite a commotion by having a group of 10 men chase her. I explained to the officer about Faith's loss, and that she was going through a very emotional time. After about 2 minutes, I managed to convince the officer to let Faith go with a warning.
She never said a word during the drive back home. However I could tell she was very grateful for the bottles of water I brought along in the car. She looked really tired, and her body wreaked of B.O, but that didn't matter. When we arrived at her house, she thanked me and invited me in her house for tea. After she prepared some water to boil, she went to her bedroom to change her clothes and “freshin' up.”
The water in the kettle began to boil, so I went up and poured it into the cups already prepared with tea bags. I peeked at the tags, “rose hips” they read. Faith came back down the stairs 5 minutes later. She was wearing a turquoise tank top with a pair of baggy light-gray track pants. Her eyes were red and the skin below them was a little puffy. I could tell that she was crying; thoughts were going through her head a mile a minute, I could tell. When she made eye contact with me, she flashed a small smile, but it quickly went away.
“How're you feeling?” I asked.
“Alright... I-I'll manage,” she replied in a low tone. I've known Faith to be a pretty tough girl, but I knew that this was eating away at her from the inside. Once she sat down beside me at the table, she glanced over at the 2 cups of tea, then she put up her right elbow on the table, and rested her forehead on her hand. She let out a sigh as she did that. “Thanks for getting the tea ready,” she said as tears started to roll down her face again.
I had to say something... anything to help lift her spirits. It really pained me to see her like this. “Listen Faith, I know that she means a lot to you. You two were best friends after all. She was a good woman, and probably one of the best people I've had the honor of knowing.” Faith looked up towards me. “But I know that she wouldn't want to see you like this. Laura wouldn't want you to beat yourself up about this.”
“I bet she would because I never ever visited her after she left!” Faith cried out, as she collapsed onto the table and started bawling loudly.
“Now you know that she would never think like that!” I said sternly. “You're both very busy with your careers, she understood that...” Faith still cried heavily into that table mat. I really couldn't stand this any longer, so I grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her towards me. Face to tear-stricken face, she quieted down, and I let my heart do the talking. “I know how tough it can be to lose someone so dear, the thought of never seeing or hearing from them again...” Faith let out a painful moan and was just about to bawl her eyes out again until I intervened. “Just remember these words, I've lived by this teaching all my life, and you're about to learn it. I believe that every person on this world is here for a purpose. That person may not know their purpose right away, and most likely never will, but once that purpose has been fulfilled, that person is essentially ready to 'move on' because their time has come. I believe that this is how the natural cycle of life and death functions.” I said automatically.
Faith stared at me for a bit, then looked down with eyes closed. She took in a deep breath, exhaled, and finally looked back towards me. “So we're all destined to live a predetermined life?” she asked suddenly.
“No, not exactly. Life is really what the individual makes out of it. We all have a choice. Perhaps...”
“Perhaps what?”
“Never mind. I was just trying to take a stab at what Laura's purpose in life was, but I can't say it with complete certainty. What I do know is that she wouldn't want you to be miserable. She'd want you to live your life to its fullest potential... To keep moving forward.” I said with complete finality.
Faith let out a sob, turned away from me, and wiped her tears away. She let out a sniff as she did this. Finally, she turned back towards me and gave me a hug. “Thank you... So much,” she said happily.
“Hey, what're friends for?” I said as I embraced back. “You'd do the same for me.”
Faith chuckled. “I'm not sure if I could've done as good a job as you... Thank you again, buddy. You've really cheered me up. What a sweet outlook on life...” she said as we released each other from embrace. She looked towards the tea. “Oh! Almost forgot... Hope it's not cold.”
I picked up my cup of tea. “Nope, it's just right.”
As time went along, Faith accepted the death of her best friend, but I could tell that there was something missing in her life. We attended both Laura and her husband's funeral together a week later. I can't remember her speech word for word, but I do remember it bringing tears to a lot of people's eyes. Two weeks later, we captured the subject.
That takes us back to the present time. When I told Faith about Laura's daughter and her predicament, she jumped at the chance to adopt her. This morning, I was able to convince the board to let Faith visit the subject. The low-level EMP devices were doing their job correctly, thus a gag is now unnecessary. The EMP devices were also modified with their own portable power supplies, so the chair has been rendered obsolete. The subject also has more mobility now as a result. However for the moment, she still needs to be restrained. Precautions... always with the precautions!
Faith's visit with the subject went very smooth. I wanted to leave the ladies to their privacy, but I needed to observe their conversation behind the one-way mirror, as part of my job. They discussed things such as Laura, GLaDOS, Aperture Science, the security guard incident, and of course; life in general. I felt that they really bonded together well.
Now regarding the method of separating GLaDOS from the girl; the documentation was a lot to take in, but it made sense. It even answered a question I initially had about how her hardware will run without its software. The method can be summarized as follows: A microscopic robot would be placed into the subject's body via neck injection. This robot is programmed to travel to her brain, and extract the GLaDOS A.I. out of the technological part. Then it'll upload a new program into it. This new program is essentially GLaDOS, but without the A.I. This'll ensure that the girl will be able to sustain her "techno-organic" body without having to share her body with another "person." Finally the robot will degrade itself once its programming has been completed.
This cure sounds very plausible. Upon finishing my review on it, I went down to the lab and inquired as to how they were able to create the new version of GLaDOS. They told me that they synthesized it by using the subject's blood test results and the recovered GLaDOS schematics from Aperture Science. With all of that information, they were able to create their own GLaDOS with the A.I. sacrificed for better human control. The theory states that the CPU in the subject's brain should be able to run the new program on its own without any problems. All biological and technological processes will be managed equally once the procedure is finished.
December 20, 2009 is the day the surgery will be performed on. I have complete confidence in it.
The flashback within the entry feels kinda werid. You know, recalling exact quotes from weeks ago. Otherwise, it's good. A lot of info, neccesary to develop the charaters, but not so much its overwhelming.
The pic looks good too. I like the double cross tie.
The pic looks good too. I like the double cross tie.
Let's just say that the good Doctor has a virtually photographic memory.
I'm an Imaginary Reader
(I imagine everything i read)
and the Story from Part 1 is Awesome...
although we all know what it's not Real....
But I felt the Emotional stuff in ur Story....