[City of Atlas – V.I.P Warehouses]
After several minutes of lamenting the loss of the weapons of his dreams, Daniel finally leaves the room where he had been speaking with GLaDOS. His mood has not improved in the slightest, although at least he feels a renewed energy that he does not know whether to attribute to anger or simply the need to do something. In any case, what dominates is rage.
He walks with firm steps, determined to find that damned one, although deep down he knows she is probably not even there. He is certain that her core is still in the Atlas tower. What he saw before was nothing more than an avatar, a puppet body at best.
"Then who am I going to vent to…" he thinks, gritting his teeth as he moves down the corridor.
To his relief, when turning at an intersection he comes across Sadako. She walks distracted, observing the mechanical arms hanging from the ceiling, manipulating parts without rest. She does not seem to notice anything around her, which for Daniel means a perfect opportunity.
"Aha!" he shouts, calling her attention at once.
"Who do you think you are, swaying those hips as if you were the queen of the place?" he questions her, and before she can react, Daniel reaches for her, lifts her in his arms and presses her against his chest in a strong embrace.
"Ah!" Sadako lets out a soft sound, surprised, although she does not struggle to break free. That takes away part of the fun for Daniel, who expected more resistance, some struggle that would make the scene more entertaining.
"Never mind, you will do" he whispers to her, while his hands begin to roam her body shamelessly, using her as emotional support.
He keeps walking without stopping, carrying her in his arms as if she were a trophy, pressing his fingers against her backside and causing her to squirm in his grip. Even so, she still does not try to escape.
It does not take him long to find the one he was looking for. GLaDOS's body is further ahead, silently observing what seem to be several prototypes lined up on a platform.
"What is going on?" she comments without bothering to turn around. "Do you need your toy to give you affection so that you can feel safe?" Her tone is mocking, almost amused.
Daniel smiles with cynicism. His hand moves quickly and delivers a loud slap on Sadako's backside.
"Slap!"
"Ah!" She lets out a brief moan of surprise.
"This is not a matter of love" Daniel responds, squeezing Sadako's backside firmly. "It is a matter of power."
He keeps his eyes fixed on GLaDOS who finally turns, giving him an expression of disgust that only stimulates him to continue.
He has more words to say to her, but his speech gets stuck when he notices what the mechanical arms are assembling on the platform.
He cannot help but approach, his eyes scanning carefully over each metallic structure. He recognizes more than he expected: the design of some turrets, the base of a tractor beam, a jump plate, and, in the front row, the famous Long Fall Boots.
A knot of emotion, mixed with a certain nostalgia, forms in his chest as he sees them there, shining among the new parts.
"I see that you recognize some of the prototypes" says GLaDOS, her voice pulling him abruptly out of that absorption. "Good, I did not feel like explaining to you what they are for."
"I know most of them" Daniel answers without taking his eyes off the boots. "Long Fall Boots, boots that nullify fall damage for whoever wears them."
GLaDOS nods slowly at his response, taking one of the boots in her hands.
"More or less correct. In reality they were created to prevent the test subjects from damaging Aperture Science's expensive equipment when falling from really high altitudes, not specifically to protect them."
Daniel lets out a short laugh, without a trace of empathy for those subjects.
"How depressing for the test subject."
"It is fine" GLaDOS answers with a slight smile, placing the boot back in its place while beginning to walk toward a section covered with glowing screens flashing with data and technical schematics.
"Most of the test subjects were vagrants. They needed fifty dollars and we needed test subjects. Everyone came out winning" she adds.
Daniel is almost certain he hears a barely disguised laugh in her tone, although he does not care too much about what she may have done in the past; now he has a much more important question.
He moves forward at once, still holding Sadako close to him.
"What about the portal gun?" he asks, quickening his pace to walk at her side.
"The portal gun data has already been decrypted."
The answer fills him with excitement. That means the blueprints are available, that he already has access to them.
"So did you build it?" he asks, staring at her, waiting to hear what he wants.
"No."
That single word disappoints him on many levels. He feels his shoulders tense and the excitement from just a moment ago collapses.
"Why?"
"Because there is no hurry." Of course, that explanation does not please him in the slightest.
"I think a portal gun would come in handy right now… or at any time, to be honest."
Hearing this, GLaDOS stops abruptly and turns toward him. Her eyes have a faint glow that makes him uncomfortable.
"Do you happen to have moon rocks stored away?" she asks, leaving him confused by a question so out of place that it takes him a moment to respond.
"No… I do not have moon rocks…" he tries to add something else, but GLaDOS interrupts him without giving him space.
"Then there is no reason to build the gun. Without the necessary portal conductor, there is no use in building it at this moment."
Daniel's hopes shatter in a matter of seconds.
"I never have anything I want…" he complains, his voice heavy with disappointment as he slumps back slightly, exhausted.
At that moment he feels Sadako's hands wrapping around his neck. They are soft, almost protective, and that gesture calms him enough to let out another sigh, resigned.
"Ahh… whatever" he murmurs, as he lifts his gaze, trying to regain composure.
"So then what… do you plan to sell these inventions to Atlas?"
"I do not plan to sell these inventions to Atlas."
The answer comes quick and firm. GLaDOS points for him to take a seat and he, without arguing, obeys. She leans lightly against a wall before continuing to speak.
"The plan is to commercialize them in the near future. We no longer need to sell anything else to Atlas. We have enough money to start our own company and, in addition, we have our genius, our mastermind…" her words sound mocking as she points at him coldly. "So that no one questions where the inventions we put on the market come from."
Daniel raises an eyebrow, processing what he hears.
"I see… interesting."
His voice drops to a murmur as his hand slowly slides under Sadako's sweater, moving upward until it takes possession of one of her breasts and squeezes it lightly.
"Ah~~" Sadako moans softly, her body trembling in his arms.
GLaDOS watches him in silence, with an unfriendly gaze that does not manage to unsettle him or stop his advances. Daniel remains calm, without taking his eyes off her.
"I suppose you are also going to commercialize the rest of the prototypes" he asks, genuinely interested, while pointing with his free hand toward the devices scattered in the warehouse.
"Yes and no." GLaDOS's answer is vague, almost irritating. "Many of the devices I have here Atlas already possesses: force fields, lasers, tractor beams… their technology is unnaturally advanced. What I am doing now is merging theirs with mine to create improved versions."
That surprises him, not because of the merging part—since he remembers she had mentioned it before—but because of the words she uses.
"What do you mean by unnaturally advanced technology?"
Barely has he finished the question when all the screens in front of them light up at once, displaying cascading graphics and schematics.
Daniel looks at the graphs, his eyes tracing each line attentively. After a few seconds he turns toward GLaDOS.
"I have no idea what these graphs mean" he admits frankly, causing her to press two fingers to her temple, visibly annoyed. With a simple motion of her hand, the screens switch to much simpler illustrations.
"This world has an uneven technological development. Visually you can find futuristic firearms, floating cities… but at the same time there are no satellites. Many areas live with technology that is almost medieval and still depend on communication towers."
Daniel nods in confirmation. That part he already knew: the difference between Atlas and the rest of the kingdoms was obvious, although he had never thought too much about its implications. He had not questioned it.
The screens change again, now showing a timeline.
"Humans, as monkeys slightly more evolved than other monkeys," GLaDOS continues, calmly pointing at the screen, "have a well-marked line of development, with cumulative steps. If you do not understand, I will simplify it."
Daniel watches as the screen shows fairly simple figures.
"They begin as monkeys playing with fire… then as monkeys playing with stones. Do you understand now?"
Her tone sounds amused. Daniel nods, almost entertained by the explanation.
"Agriculture, the wheel, writing, metallurgy, printing press, gunpowder, steam engines, electricity, radio, computers, nuclear energy, internet, satellites, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nanotechnology, et cetera" she quickly lists the most memorable advances of humanity.
"The point is that the human being cannot advance from one step to the next without the previous foundation. Each invention builds the path of the next" she explains calmly.
"Aha… what is the point?" Daniel replies, still not seeing the problem.
"The problem," GLaDOS answers with a much more serious tone, "is that Atlas skipped centuries of development. In a normal world they would have gone through the telegraph, radio, satellites, the global internet. However, Remnant seems to have been stuck with transmission towers. They skipped the stage of orbital infrastructure and global networks."
The screens change again with each explanation, displaying different schematics at high speed.
"And that is not the only case. Progressive aeronautics: balloons, airplanes, jets, rockets, orbital stations… here all of that was omitted. They went directly to the massive levitation of ships and even entire kingdoms. In informatics they skipped the era of mainframes and home PCs, jumping straight into extreme miniaturization. In medicine, the same thing: they went from rudimentary methods directly to advanced mechanical prosthetics. And the industrial revolution, based on fossil fuels, never existed. They got trapped in the exclusive use of DUST!"
Daniel interrupts her with a gesture and a slight smile.
"I think you look a little upset about that" he comments, amused.
GLaDOS simply rolls her eyes. "It is irritating to see such poorly utilized technological advancement, that is all."
Her voice sounds loaded with disdain.
"Most likely it was not them who developed this technology. Someone gave it to them, or they obtained it through some other means."
On the screen a different chart appears, showing peaks of explosive development in Atlas. Every certain period a huge advance emerging. The last one had been the massive levitation of the kingdom of Atlas, and since then no more have been recorded.
"Are you interested in knowing who is giving them the technology?" Daniel asks with curiosity.
"No. I am interested in obtaining and taking control of the source of that technology or knowledge" GLaDOS corrects, her tone cold. Daniel listens, thinks about it for a moment, and admits to himself that it sounds exactly like something she would do.
"Is that information not in Atlas's sources?" he questions her.
"What a stupid question." GLaDOS's answer is blunt, almost cutting. "Obviously we would not be having this conversation if it were. The inventions and advances are credited to different people, but it is evident they are lies, facades… just like you."
The insult resounds strongly, but Daniel does not flinch. His free hand, the one not squeezing Sadako's breast, slips under her pants, making its way until it finds the wet entrance of her pussy. He begins to rub without pause, making Sadako arch against him, squirming in his grip with her face buried in his chest.
"Is that all?" he asks casually, without stopping the movement of his fingers. "I think you could have told me that in a message" he adds, immediately earning a frozen glare from GLaDOS.
"Stop" she demands.
"What thing?" Daniel replies, feigning innocence just as he sinks his fingers inside Sadako's pussy, pulling stronger and stronger moans from her that echo through the room.
"You know what I mean" GLaDOS growls, annoyed.
"Ah, this!" Daniel lifts the hand holding Sadako's breast, but the other keeps moving.
"I cannot stop, I am doing science!" His fingers thrust in and out quickly in her tight pussy, each movement tearing uncontrolled moans from her.
The sound fills the room until he silences her by pressing their mouths together in a deep kiss.
"Lies, you are doing it to bother me" accuses GLaDOS with a harsh voice.
Daniel pulls away from the kiss, leaving a strand of saliva hanging between them.
"That is slander! I am doing it for you, for us… for the team!"
As he says it, he feels Sadako's pussy walls tightening more, clenching strongly around his fingers, confirming she is on the edge of climax.
"I need to know if the copy abilities activate only with groping or if I have to go all the way. That would save me time to obtain the semblances I am missing," he comments while watching GLaDOS's reaction, which is absolute disbelief mixed with anger.
"You are doing it because I did not give you your gloves! And you think this depraved scene is going to upset me… BUT IT DOES NOT, SO STOP!" she explodes, her scream curiously coinciding with Sadako's climax, as she breaks in his arms with a muffled moan.
Her body shakes in uncontrolled spasms, releasing a warm torrent against Daniel's fingers. For an instant, everything falls silent, except for her heavy breathing pressed against his chest.
A tired sigh breaks the pause. "Ahh… are you finished?" GLaDOS spits through her teeth, her tone filled with annoyance.
Daniel smiles, unable to resist. "Well, she finished," he points at Sadako, exhausted and sweaty, her forehead resting against him.
"You know what I mean," GLaDOS replies impatiently.
He rolls his eyes, lowering his tone a bit. "Yes, I am finished," he comments as a system screen flickers in front of him showing a message.
[+1 Gacha]
Daniel watches it with interest, but immediately his expression darkens.
"It did not work…" he says, disappointed. "It seems I really do have to go all the way. Most likely I would not obtain the semblances of the others with just this level of intimacy."
He stays silent for a few seconds, thinking. Then he clicks his tongue, as if realizing something obvious.
"Oh… maybe it is because I already did it with her." With his chin, he points at Sadako, who is still breathing heavily with half-closed eyes.
"It would be better to try with a girl I have not been with before," he adds with a tired sigh.
He tilts his head, pretending to speak to himself. "Ahh… if only there were a beautiful robot girl here I had not had sex with…"
The phrase barely leaves his mouth when GLaDOS's hand transforms into a laser cannon. The red glow ignites directly in front of his face, centimeters from turning it to dust.
Daniel raises an eyebrow, trying to maintain composure.
"You could have just said no," he comments in a calm tone, though inside he feels an uncomfortable pressure in his chest. The thought of how quickly that weapon could erase his face crosses his mind, but he refuses to give her the satisfaction of seeing him intimidated.
"No," she answers coldly, while her hand returns to its normal form.
He shrugs, regaining his irony. "I have been rejected in worse ways…" he murmurs as he sets Sadako against the table and slowly stands up.
"If that is all you had to tell me, I think I will go…"
"One more thing." GLaDOS's voice interrupts him, firm.
Daniel stops, looking at her with distrust. "What thing?"
"I already know who initiated the assassination attempt."
Silence takes over for a second. Then he asks without hesitation. "Who? Jacques Schnee?"
GLaDOS nods naturally. "Yes, Jacques Schnee."
Daniel sighs, unsurprised. "It was quite obvious, honestly." His head tilts slightly, as if confirming something he had already accepted. "Does Atlas already know?"
She calmly shakes her head. "No, not yet. They are incredibly slow with the investigation. And I do not doubt that there are people interfering with it from the inside."
"And you do not plan to tell them yourself?" he asks directly.
GLaDOS tilts her head with a disapproving gesture.
"That would generate too many problems. Jacques covered his tracks well, and with his money and contacts it would be almost impossible to declare him guilty. They would lock him up for a short time and nothing more. It is more efficient if we take care of the problem ourselves."
Daniel thinks about it in silence. He is Weiss's father, but at the same time he had tried to kill him, and that was not something he could let pass. "Fire with fire… then he must die," he concludes in his head, accepting the decision naturally.
"Mmm… that seems fine to me," he confirms out loud, now with a firm tone. "Do you have a plan?"
GLaDOS nods, and immediately the screens begin to fill with different plans. "Plan A: infiltration into the mansion and silent assassination…"
The list continues with meticulous precision. Each strategy appears accompanied by escape routes, success probabilities, and exact calculations. The plans are perfect, too perfect… and because of that, unbearably tedious.
Daniel stops listening after a few seconds, his mind drifting while the lines and data on the screen turn into white noise.
A soft bite on his finger brings him back. He looks down and sees Sadako, who seems to want to climb off his lap. He agrees with that, he already had enough fun with her, but just at that instant, before letting her go, the gears in his head light up. He suddenly looks up, smiling with a spark of excitement in his eyes.
"I have an idea," he blurts out, interrupting GLaDOS's endless monologue.
-/-
[Schnee Mansion]
Jacques Schnee was truly furious, pacing back and forth in his study with quick, heavy steps.
"One job!" he shouts, raising his voice at the servant who watches him in silence. She is the one responsible for orchestrating the attempt under his orders, and now also the recipient of his fury.
"It was a simple assassination job, and you ruined it!"
With a brusque motion he throws several papers at her face. They are detailed reports explaining how the hired mercenary was captured, how the target is still alive, and how the attempt failed in the most disastrous way possible. The woman, accustomed to such outbursts, does not even blink
"Sir, there were complications in the operation…" she tries to explain, but Jacques does not allow it.
"No excuses!" he interrupts her, slamming the desk hard. "Failure is failure."
His anger is not born only from the mistake. There are several reasons, and all of them gnaw at him. First, that brat Hawk is still alive. To make matters worse, he is now under the protection of Atlas forces. Eliminating him will be much more difficult, if not impossible. But what truly irritates him is that the Jaeger core project is advancing, representing a direct threat against everything he has invested in during years of work and sacrifice.
"I will not allow it," he thinks with rage, shaking his head. "That brat is not going to destroy what I have built. I will find a way to get rid of him."
He growls through his teeth and forces himself to think coldly. First, he must deal with the loose ends. The captured mercenary, for example.
"I suppose there is no way they could connect this incident to me," he questions in a more restrained tone, smoothing his hair with an automatic gesture.
The woman shakes her head. "No, sir. Although he was captured, there should not be evidence that connects him directly to you."
Jacques nods, only barely satisfied. With a slight motion of his hand, he indicates that she leave. She obeys without protest, and the room sinks into a momentary silence, broken only by his sigh, more of annoyance than relief.
He is not worried about the investigations of Atlas. Even if they were to connect him with the incident, he would deny it without hesitation. No one in Atlas has the power to confront him. Not in their current state. Right now, Jacques is untouchable.
What he needs is another approach, a way to lure the boy out, or at least force him to leave his hiding place. The thought keeps him still before the window, staring at the illuminated city while his fingers drum on the windowsill.
Then, an idea takes shape in his head. A cold smile spreads across his face as he remembers that his daughter keeps a closeness with Hawk.
"Perhaps I should ask her to bring him," he says quietly to himself.
The thought makes him laugh softly. He can already picture it: an unfortunate accident, a bullhead that fails mid-flight… nothing too obvious, but enough to erase the problem once and for all.
Jacques's laughter cuts off immediately when a strange sound interrupts the silence of his study. It comes from his personal computer. He frowns instantly: that makes no sense. No message reaches his private device directly; all of them pass first through the review of his secretaries.
He approaches cautiously, somewhat curious. It is not a common email, but a video file. He hesitates for a moment, distrust marked in his eyes, but in the end he opens it. His curiosity weighs more than prudence.
The screen lights up in black and white. What appears unsettles him: a woman combing her hair in front of a mirror, a solitary well in the middle of an empty field, strange symbols flickering in the darkness, insects crawling in the shadows, an unmoving eye that seems to stare directly at him.
The images follow one after another in chaotic succession, distorted and unrecognizable figures filling the video. A shiver runs down his spine.
It is absurd. He cannot remember the last time something made him react in such a way. And yet, he cannot look away. He keeps watching until the file finishes playing, only to see it delete itself the very moment it ends, leaving no trace behind.
"What the hell…!" he thinks, clenching his teeth as his hands tighten over the desk. Who could have sent him such material? A mockery? A threat? He has no answers, but he does have the absolute certainty that he will find whoever is responsible.
No one laughs at Jacques Schnee and walks away unpunished.
He pulls out his scroll abruptly, already set on calling someone to investigate the matter. However, he never gets to dial anything: the device begins to ring on its own. The number on the screen is unregistered. It is obvious it comes from the same sender who sent the video.
Jacques's reaction is immediate. He lifts the scroll and brings it to his ear, ready to unleash all his fury in shouts and threats. He can already imagine whoever is on the other end trembling at the sound of what it means to challenge him.
But the moment he answers, nothing comes out of his mouth. No matter how hard he tries, the words will not emerge. His voice seems to have been trapped in his throat.
The only thing he can do is listen. A female voice, whispering and muffled, filters through the scroll.
"Seven days…"
The whisper vanishes instantly, and with it, the call.
Silence returns, heavy, almost oppressive. Jacques remains motionless, the scroll still in his hand, as if his body refuses to react. The room feels as though it has dropped several degrees in temperature. Another shiver runs down his spine.
His eyes drift slowly back to the black screen. Something deep inside tells him this is no mere joke. There is danger in that message, an inevitable and imminent danger.
-//-
Author's Note:
Have you noticed that in almost 80 chapters not a single Grimm has shown up again? I'm a bastard and I'm fine with that.
In Portal, they mention that the gels and the surfaces where portals can be placed are made of moon rock, since it's the best conductor. Surely there are other materials that could work for placing portals, but this is my fanfic and I take creative liberties. Besides, I didn't want to give them portals just yet.
What will happen in the future? Will GLaDOS get the Relic of Creation and take over the world? Will I show what Ruby is doing right now? I've got several ideas… leave yours too, I'd love to read them.
Anyway…
Kisses and hugs. ❤️