Portal 3 Chapter 31

As Chelsea was heading towards her thirteenth test, she felt more confident and more ready.   She was actually standing during the trip downwards looking outside of the glass and smiling.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Jeffrey said in his ice pack form.  “Was it?”
“No, it wasn’t,” Chelsea said.  “I’m actually feeling better and better about being kind to her.  It isn’t such a bad thing after all.  She may be evil and I can’t condone that, but I can still love her and be kind to her.”
“That is a very good attitude to have,” Jeffrey said.  
“I think so, too,” Chelsea said.  “I just wonder what I should do next.”
“Just do whatever the Spirit leads you to do,” Jeffrey said.  “You should be fine.”
Chelsea stared outside the elevator and watched the world as she went down.  She really did feel happier about how her relationship with GLaDOS was going.  She had no idea of really what the effect of what she said on GLaDOS was, but she did feel like something good was coming out of her effort.  Furthermore, it made her happy to know that she was doing something positive with the horrible experience that she had.
The elevator stopped, Jeffrey shapeshifted back into a fly to hide on Chelsea’s neck, and Chelsea turned around and exited the elevator so that she could take her thirteenth test.  
She noticed that something was off right away when she did not hear any music.
“You’re not playing any music,” Chelsea said curiously.
“You won’t need any for this test,” GLaDOS said as emotionally detached as she possibly could.  “At least, you won’t initially.”
Chelsea felt slightly unnerved by the sudden silence.  She realized that something different had to be in store.  Chelsea headed for the stairs when she suddenly realized that she could hear something.  It was the sound of bullets firing.  Chelsea thought that it was strange for them to be firing when she wasn’t even in there yet.  What could they be firing at?  As she walked up the stairs, the sound stopped.  A feeling of dread began rising inside her heart as she slowly grew closer to the source of the noise.  She finally came to the door.  
As it opened and she stepped inside, Chelsea felt her heart become heavier than before.  Then when she saw the test itself, her heart stopped with horror.  The test was only a simple white paneled room with a red button besides the door, but three turrets were standing to the left of a man in an orange jumpsuit who was lying on the floor and bleeding in the middle of the room.  He had been shot, and the turrets had stopped firing because they realized their job was done.  Chelsea did not even stop to think.  She created a spherical shield around the three turrets that had fired the bullets, picked them up, positioned them in the corner so that they were facing the wall, and then quickly dissolved it.  
Chelsea then ran straight for the man whose eyes were open and as she realized was still alive.  He had brown hair and brown eyes with a beard and a moustache and appeared to be in his forties.  His head appeared alright, but he had bullet wounds in his right arm, in his stomach, and in his left leg.  Chelsea and Jeffrey both realized that he did not have long.  As Jeffrey called upon Chelsea’s dad and Roscoe, Chelsea dropped her portal gun, took off her jacket, cut off a sleeve, and made the best tourniquet that she possibly could around his left leg in order to stop the bleeding.
“Stay with me, mister,” Chelsea said to him in a panic as she got the tourniquet tied as tightly as she could.  “We can get you through this, but you have to stay with me.”
The man looked at her with his brown eyes and said with a slight accent of unknown origin, “You remind me of a girl I deflowered long ago, but you are much prettier.”
Chelsea was very taken aback.  This had to be the man that GLaDOS was talking about, her supposed mate, but why would she test him like this?  She glanced around and noticed that he did not have a portal gun either.  He was sent there to die.
“You’re disgusting,” Chelsea said with mixed emotion.  “How can you even think of something like that at a time like this?”
“I am a disgusting man, little lady,” the man continued.  “I’m just amazed at you being here.  That’s all.  Where did you come from?  Are you an angel sent by God to remind me of my sins?  That was mighty kind of him.  I’m so cold.”
Chelsea used her disc to cut another sleeve off the jacket and laid it over his body.  Then she tied a tourniquet around his arm.  
“That should help,” Chelsea said while tying the tourniquet.  “I’m a test subject here like you, trying to find my way out.”
“You’re not like me, kid,” the man said breathing heavily.  “I saw what you did to those robots and how you cut up your coat.  You’re one of those mutants.”
“Yes, I am,” Chelsea continued hoping that talking to him would keep him from falling into unconsciousness.  “I am blessed by an act of God.  I can create and manipulate hard light to do whatever I want.  I can make discs to cut things, shields to protect myself or move things, and platforms to fly on.”
“I’m jealous,” he said.  “I always was jealous of your kind, being able to do great things like those superheroes in the comics, while I was just an ordinary man no one wanted, except for that one girl.  Why couldn’t God make me like you?  Why couldn’t he bless me?  Why did he have to condemn me to this life?”
“He has blessed you,” Chelsea said.  “He has given us all a blessing because we can be close to him.”
“What do you mean, girly?” the man asked.
“I could explain to you what I mean, but you have to promise not to die,” Chelsea said desperately.  
“I’ll do my best,” he said.
“Okay,” Chelsea said unsure of where to begin.  
She noticed the hole in his stomach, so she took off her black shirt and used it to stop the blood.
“I thought you were going to preach to me, young lady,” he said.  “You don’t have to give me a show, too.”
Chelsea ignored him and said, “I don’t know what you think about God, but he’s different than you think he is.”
“Really,” he said skeptically.
“Yes,” Chelsea said desperately.  “God knows everything about you because he made you and you are very precious to him.  He planned every day of your life.”
“He must not like me very much then,” the man said.
“That’s not true,” Chelsea said.  “God is the complete expression of love.  He is not some distant and angry being who finds every excuse he can to punish people.  He wants to lavish his love on you because he is your father.  He has always been your provider who has always wanted to give you a life and a future of hope.”
“Then, why has he never appeared to me himself if he loves me so much?”
“You have never sought him.  Have you?  He doesn’t appear when people don’t want him.  He only appears to those who seek him.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes!  God is a good God.  He comforts people in all their troubles, He is close to the broken hearted, He gives people the power to get through anything, and He holds you close to his heart.  He even has a plan to wipe away all the evil in this world someday, and if you believe in him, he’ll wipe away your sins, wipe every tear from your eye and take away all the pain that you have suffered on this earth.”
“What does God know about suffering from living up in heaven?  How about the suffering that I have endured and the suffering that you have endured living in this alien-infested world and in this facility run by this psychotic AI who wants both of us killed?  What does he know?”
Chelsea thought for a moment to herself and then said, “He knows because he was a human, too.  You know about Jesus?  He was God in the flesh, God’s Son, and a member of the Trinity of God.  He revealed His love for mankind through Him.  Because of Him, we know that God is for us and not against us because He came to earth and suffered to save us.”
“How exactly did he do that?” the man said.
“He died the death that all humans deserved to die and was given the blame for all the evil we have done, so that mankind could be cleansed.  Then he rose from the dead to show us that we could have new life and the resurrection that is to come for all the world.”
“God carried the blame for my wrongs?”
“Yes, and if you tell him that you’re sorry for all your wrongs and want to accept his gift of salvation, you will receive his spirit and never be separated from his love again, even in death.  You will get to be with him forever because you will have a close and personal relationship with him.”
The man laughed to himself and said, “That’s what this is really about.  You don’t want me to go to hell when I die.”
“No, I don’t!” Chelsea yelled.  “Why is that such a bad thing?”
“You don’t know what type of man I am, kid,” he said.
Then he continued as he slowly lifted his right hand to touch her face, “I seduced a young girl, an Asian high school girl, just like you.  She flirted with me and thought I was in love with her but I really wasn’t.  I was just in it for the sex, and secretly, I think she was, too.  We both had a good time and went our separate ways, but then she had to open her mouth and tell on me.  I went to prison and was able to break out after only a few years when those Combine bastards came back.  I’ve been on the run ever since.  Tell me, sugar, what makes you think God would forgive and want to have a relationship with someone like me?”
Chelsea used both of her hands to grab his hand.  She then held his hand in both of hers.  Tears came to her eyes as she felt how cold it was.
“I know because God has forgiven me,” Chelsea said.  “You have fallen to sins of the flesh, but I have fallen to sins of the heart.  I’m a hypocrite deep inside.  I can be kind to everyone except one person or one AI I should say.”
Chelsea glared at the camera one time before continuing.
“Really, I am no better than you,” she said.  “God saved me, and he can save you, too.”
The man looked at her, smiled at her weakly and said, “Kid, I have to tell you that your story sounds insane.  Normally, I wouldn’t believe it.  However, I have never seen anyone show so much love to me in my life especially considering all that I have told you.  It’s not natural.  I have to believe that something is at work inside you.  Would he really work inside me, too?  Would he really be willing to love me?”
“Yes,” Chelsea said with more tears flowing from her eyes.  “He would.  He loves you.”
The man closed his eyes for a second.  Chelsea fearing that he had passed closed her eyes and let the tears flow more freely.  
The man however opened his eyes and said, “Hey!  I’m not dead yet.”
Chelsea looked at him and said, “Then, why did you…”
“I was praying.  You’re supposed to shut your eyes when you pray, right?”
“Well, yeah, you can.”
“Anyways, I asked God to forgive me and make Jesus my Savior and all that.  I feel a void filled somehow.  I guess that Spirit you were talking about is doing that.”
“Yes, he is,” Chelsea said happily.  “You’re my brother now.  Just please hold on.  Help is on the way.  By the way, I almost forgot.  My name’s Chelsea.  What’s yours?”
The man smiled wearily and said, “My name is Kurt Acker, and before you ask, yes, I am German.  I was dragged to the United States when I was ten years old…”
“You’ll fit right in,” Chelsea said excitedly.  “There are so many expatriates in our group that it isn’t even funny…”
Kurt pulled his hands over hers and said, “Chelsea, I’m not going to be joining your group.”
She watched as he shifted his left leg to one side revealing that there was another bullet wound behind his left leg that she hadn’t noticed.  A lot of blood had already come out and was still coming out.
“No,” Chelsea said getting out of his grip.  “I’m not letting you die.”
Chelsea tried making her shield go around his leg in order to block the bleeding.
“It’s okay,” Kurt said smiling wearily.  “I’m not dying now.  I’m going somewhere great.  I’m going to be with God, and it’s all thanks to you.”
“No,” Chelsea yelled with even more tears rolling down her cheeks.  “You have so much to experience, so much that you could learn!  You can’t die now!  Please!  You have never seen the world from the sky!  You could fly with me!  Don’t you want to see that!”
Kurt grabbed onto her hands once again and said, “Thank you for your kindness, Chelsea!  Thanks for your help.  You really are an angel, but I’m going off to fly with real angels.  Now, be strong and get out of here.  Live your life to the full, and I’ll see you on the other side.”
Kurt shut his eyes, and he breathed out his ghost.  His hands went limp, and Chelsea knew that he was gone.
“Kurt,” Chelsea said crying silently.  “No!”
She placed his hands on his stomach and continued tearing up.  Jeffrey stood silently still not sure of how to react.  There was silence for a moment.  
Then, GLaDOS decided to act.  She started playing music once again.  It was the piano version of “Ave Maria.”  Chelsea quickly looked up at the camera, and then a ceiling panel quickly moved to reveal a pipe that leaked water and under it came a grating that would allow the water to run under it.
“You did better than I thought you would, my little saint,” GLaDOS said.  “You gave almost all the clothes you had for him and showed him as much love as you could.  My predictions about you being a martyr were correct.  That will make a great addition to your file.”
Chelsea’s tear-filled eyes slowly twisted into an angry glare as she felt all the anger that her medicine was suppressing grow inside her heart.  
“However if you’re done here, it is time to finish the test, sparrow,” GLaDOS said unemotionally.  “You can wash the blood off your hands with the water leaking from the ceiling.”
Chelsea continued to look up at her angrily.  Kurt had no portal gun.  He wasn’t a test subject.  He was sent there to die.  In spite of the medicine, Chelsea felt the anger rise up inside her and possess her.
“WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!” Chelsea yelled.  “You sent him to die!  Why?!  Why didn’t you do what you were going to do before?  Why did you kill him?  Tell me!”
“Sparrow,” GLaDOS said calmly.  “You didn’t want to be with him and I didn’t need him, so I disposed of him.  We didn’t need him.  We have enough of his sperm for the experiment to be successful anyway.”
“Don’t bullshit me!” Chelsea yelled.  “You could have let him go or killed him another way so that I wouldn’t see him.  You set all this up for a reason.  Why?”
GLaDOS silently gloated to herself for a second.  Chelsea knew that this was an elaborate way to break her down.  The AI was using the death of this man to get to her.  It was absolutely despicable.
“I suppose that there’s no use lying to you,” GLaDOS said.  “You are correct, but really, it was for your own good.”
“What?” Chelsea replied in disbelief.
“I told you already, sparrow,” GLaDOS said in a tone that was increasingly more condescending.  “I need to tame you.  In order to tame any creature, it is necessary to apply certain punishments when behavior is bad and certain rewards when the behavior is good.  You may think that it is unorthodox, but really, I am simply acting in the interest of the greater good, for science.  You on the other hand are very selfish and very naïve.  You do what you want and do not care about the consequences.  That behavior is not good, sparrow.  It will only hurt other people, and I know that you don’t want to do that.”
Chelsea looked up at the camera.  The fear on her face told GLaDOS that this test was doing its work.  She slowly realized what GLaDOS meant.  Chelsea realized that GLaDOS was really using this as a warning.  Chelsea was shocked into silence.  She couldn’t believe GLaDOS was going this far.
“I realize that it may be hard for you to accept considering your strong will, but you have to realize that you can’t have your way and prevent bad things from happening to everybody,” GLaDOS said.  “Something has to give.  Now, wash yourself off and finish the test, sparrow.  You only have six more to go and then you can enjoy your feeding tube dinner.”
Chelsea walked over to the leaking pipe and washed off her hands.  Tears streamed down her face as the blood washed away under the cold water.  She then looked around the room and in a flash, realized what needed to be done.  She shook in horror to think of it though.  Chelsea needed to use Kurt’s body as the weight that would hold down the button.  She created a disc under Kurt’s body that was still dripping with fresh blood, lifted him up, moved him over the button, and then used his body to weigh the button down.  Chelsea then picked up her portal gun, walked through the door, and kept walking towards the elevator.  GLaDOS thought she had won her victory at last.  Chelsea had reached her depression stage.  Jeffrey was afraid of the same thing.  She continued walking in silence occupied by grief and the thoughts in her head.
“We’re going to have to make you take another bath when the tests are over,” GLaDOS said.  “Who knows what contaminants are on your body now because of that blood?”
However in all of her deep thoughts, Chelsea suddenly realized something.  She turned around and faced GLaDOS once more.
“I think I know what you’re going to say to me,” GLaDOS said.  “It’s alright.  You don’t have to worry.  I’ll make arrangements for everyone to go away, and you can stay with me.”
“Actually,” Chelsea said summoning up all the emotions that the drugs would allow her to.  “I wanted to say something else.  You’re a monster, and even if I and all my friends go to heaven in the process, we are going to stop you.  I hear the screams now, of everyone you’ve ever killed.  Their souls are crying out to be avenged, and that is exactly what I intend to do!  I’m not going to let you do this anymore!”
Chelsea then turned around and walked to the elevator.  The doors shut, and it started going down.  GLaDOS didn’t say anything because she was unsure of what to say.  Meanwhile, Chelsea curled up into a ball on the floor of the elevator and cried while Jeffrey shapeshifted back to his original form and held her in his arms.