Flaw in My Code (Portal 2)[REWRITE IN PROGRESS]

[Chapter 8: Foster Care]

A few days, give or take, had passed since GLaDOS welcomed her feathered children into the world, and in those few days, she found that baby birds, much like humans, were soft, and frail, and hard to keep alive. Two of her three little killing machines had already ceased to go on, and her remaining crow, was just barely making it.

GLaDOS wavered around her room in a fashion similar to pacing, stressed out by her difficult situation. Echo watched the mainframe from the side of the room. "Lady GLaDOS?" She spoke up from the side of the room. GLaDOS looked to her, yellow eye widening. "Echo! You're back, thank goodness." Echo looked confused for a moment. "Did you need me, ma'am?"

GLaDOS nodded. "Yes, of course! I've been digging up old files, you see. I've been doing my very best to learn about crow chicks, and how to care for them, but I have no way to feed them, and-" She went on like a stressed mother, just barely scraping by to provide for her only remaining child. "Um..." Echo listened supportively as GLaDOS stressed, before trying to make a suggestion. "Maybe-"

"Of course! Orange and Blue can go to the surface to retrieve some bird food!"

Echo winced. "Ma'am? Are you certain?" GLaDOS nodded, already summoning the two back to her chamber. "See, it says here that baby birds have to eat from the mouths of their... parents... Oh, no, that won't do. I can't digest food for a baby bird."

"Maybe you aren't suited to mother these chicks, ma'am." Echo suggested. GLaDOS scoffed. "Of course I am! I just need to find more... innovative ways to do it. We do what we must; because we can." She quoted Aperture's motto, determined. Echo seemed doubtful.

"I know what must be done. I need to let that mother bird back in so that she can care for her child... Until he is grown enough for me to train him." She huffed. "Ma'am..."

"Hush now, Echo! I'll assume you've come to share some important information with me. How is the prototype human coming along?" Echo danced back and forth with her legs. "Ma'am, your prototype body is almost finished. She should be ready for use shortly. And, of course, the assembly machine and I have already inserted a reader for your disc."

"And you've taken one of the corrupted cores to factory reset it?" GLaDOS asked. "Yes, ma'am." Echo confirmed, nervously. "Wonderful. Now, go fetch the bots. I need them to retrieve that crow. After that, I want you to visit the disassembly machine, and hopefully, we can get your chip into that core."

After Echo had left, GLaDOS sighed in satisfaction. She felt that her scheme was coming along nicely, and if everything went well with the bird, she would even have a killing machine at her side. "Oh, little one..." She sighed to the lone crow, who was curled up in the nest, shuddering. He was obviously weak, but GLaDOS promised him, and herself, that he wouldn't stay that way for long. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to find you a suitable mother, before-"

She looked up to the entrance of her chamber as Orange and Blue waddled in. "Ah. So Echo found you two... I have a very special task for you today." They nodded to her, ready for the explanation. The lift behind them rose up from a floor panel, the same one that carried Chell away, and opened up for the bots. "I want you two to take a little trip to the surface, and listen up, because this is important." She began.

They perked up, excitedly. "I need you to find a crow... and... Bugs." She requested. Orange tilted his head, puzzled. "I know, I know. It sounds strange, but trust me on this one. It's for the good of my new killer." The two bots glanced between each other, then back at GLaDOS. "You know what bugs are, yes? Actually, you can forget about the bugs. I'm sure there are plenty of them down here if they've managed to keep all these cursed birds alive in my facility."