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Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning:
No Archive Warnings Apply
Fandoms:
Parahumans Series - WildbowPortal (Valve Video Games)
Relationship:
Lab Rat/String Theory
Characters:
Taylor Hebert | Skitter | WeaverGLaDOS (Portal)Thomas Calvert | CoilEmma Barnes (Parahumans)Greg VederString Theory (Parahumans)Lab Rat (Parahumans)
Additional Tags:
Being Taylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver Is SufferingMad ScienceFor Science!Crossovers & Fandom FusionsAlt-Power Taylor HebertInsanityDarkCross-Posted on FanFiction.NetTorturePsychological Torture
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English
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Published:2025-10-26Completed:2025-11-03Words:25,890Chapters:4/4Comments:97Kudos:178Bookmarks:55Hits:4,373
Parahuman Testing Initiative
CHPrime
Chapter 3: Chapter Two: Episode One
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
I had always been proud of my hair.
My mom always had such long, beautiful hair. And I had inherited that from her. She had taught me how to comb it, how to take care of it, how to keep it healthy and whole.
After mom died, I liked to think a little part of her was still living on through my hair. Even after Emma turned on me and started pointing out how ugly I was, I could never bring myself to change my hair. It was the one part of me that was always pretty. Because mom's hair was beautiful, so how could mine be any different?
I hadn't seen it in a while. Coil didn't give me a mirror. I tried to keep the knots out of it and keep it as hydrated as I could, but I knew I never succeeded. And after he gave me the itch, there wasn't any time left to do anything but build.
I could see it all now. Lying limply on the cold stone floor. It was tangled and ratty.
It felt like I had lost something important. Something valuable. Looking at it made me feel bitter.
So I stopped looking at it and stared ahead. Mr. Pitter was still fussing with me. Trying to make me look presentable. I think he knew that was impossible, but he didn't stop trying.
Besides, I liked to think I had new hair now. It was even longer than before, and even if it lacked all of the curls my old hair had, I wanted to think it still looked nice.
Even if it was a mess of wires, all covered in smooth black tinkertech polyresin—along with a few stray orange ones—that were all digging into my brain, I liked to think they looked nice. It was the first thing I had done for myself since being kidnapped, after all. I deserved to take some pride in it.
And for my efforts, Coil had come to inspect the damage.
"I must say, this is a turn." Coil drawled. "You connected your brain to your cube."
"Yes, sir. It's the source of my powers, after all."
Coil tilted his head. I took that as a sign to continue.
"It will help me understand things better, sir." I held my cube in my arms and had spent the better part of an hour wiping all the blood off of it. The wires made it tricky, but I managed. It was worth it. She deserved to be clean.
Coil didn't respond. He actually seemed surprised. I suppose anyone would be.
I tried again. "It will be safe. The cube told me how to do this." My fingers were starting to itch again. "Think of it as a science experiment. You're smart. You could publish a research paper about it. The first human/tinkertech neural integration. You'd be famous."
Coil considered me for a moment more. "It's just as well." He nodded as Mr. Pitter fiddled with the syringe. "You're easier to keep track of this way."
I tried not to let his words sting—why did they sting?—as I was injected, and the world faded away for a little while. But Coil seemed ambivalent. I had promised him greater rewards, and it wasn't like he actually valued me beyond that.
And most important of all, Coil hadn't seen it coming. That was the sweetest victory.
I was learning more. Understanding more. I could repurpose the tinkertech Coil gave me even faster. I built in modal capabilities into all of the tech. The guns could pick up small objects in front of them thanks to antigrav projectors. The micro-surveillance devices could be remotely moved. I was starting to work on flexible plastic armor that could shift and move in response to trauma. Coil was happy. And the itch was kept at bay.
But best of all, no one had figured out why I actually did it.
I could hear it better than ever now. I could hear her better than ever now.
My cube. I sang along with her, humming for now. I was getting better. She was getting faster. We were getting better.
Sure, I couldn't move well with her hardwired into my skull. But Coil never let me out of my room, so that was no loss.
I could hear the cube now. She was singing designs to me. A beautiful tapestry of servos and gears all working together. Making better machines. Making better products. Making me better.
Before, I could barely hear her. I still had trouble now, but I was starting to truly understand her. The only one who ever gave anything to me.
And best of all, I could now talk to her through the link if I thought hard enough about it. And Coil could never hear it. It was all ours. Thank you.
[CONFIRMATION] She replied.
As the time passed, I grew accustomed to thinking with my friend. She could hear me now, and I was starting to truly understand her. I would tell her about books I remembered, or memories of my mom, or other nice things. I tried not to overwhelm her much with talk of Coil or the guards or even the trio, but I mentioned them every now and then. My friend was a good listener.
At first she didn't seem to understand me. She seemed confused. Like I wasn't supposed to be talking to her. I explained things patiently to her, and she sat and listened—she was a very good listener—and when I had made everything clear, she asked for more data. About me, about the world, and about Parahumans.
She was especially interested in that part, asking about other Tinkers and their inventions. I didn't know much, and Coil would never allow me to access the internet, but I told her what I could.
I got the feeling she didn't talk to many people. Or think at them. She seemed to have a very robotic way of speaking. I guess it made sense. She was made from old computer parts, and she told me how to make technology.
Mostly, she sang. Designs and schematics flowed into my brain, and I repurposed the old tech Coil had found. I made it better. Clumsy movable walls now worked together as a single unit, rearranging themselves neatly and efficiently. Security lasers could register each other, and now weaved nets no one could sneak through.
My name is Taylor. Taylor Hebert. I thought. What do you call yourself?
I only got a strange, garbled feeling back. It happened every time I tried to ask her that.
It was odd, not knowing my only friend's name. But that was fine. She was still there for me. She never went away, even when the itch started acting up. In fact, that only made work faster. She was trying to save me from the worst of it.
Her speech wasn't quite words, but more like…feelings. It took a while to get a handle on it. Was that how she thought? Or maybe it was because she was a computer and I was a human hooked up together through our brains. Did I sound like this to her on the other end?
Cube, why are you here? I asked. What do you like to do?
[DATA] she replied.
I took that to mean she liked to gather the stuff. What do you do with that data?
[UNDERSTANDING]
And then?
[DATA]
It was an odd loop. She wanted data, so she could…get more data? I tried to have her clarify that, but she always gave me the same loop of answers.
I guess it made sense. My power made her, after all. She was only there to help me. And what better way than to constantly refine our inventions?
Have you always been like this? Do you want anything else?
[DATA]
She was consistent, if nothing else. Would you be happy if I kept building things with you? You really are happy doing this?
[CONFIRMATION]
My cube—it felt awkward to call her that, but it also felt rude to call her anything else when she hadn't been able to give me her name—was sending more schematics my way. A spring that could make something bounce a dozen feet in the air. I got the sense she wanted to see how it could combine with our other inventions. Though it seemed unsafe without something to break an object's fall.
Then again, if I could get Coil to stand on it…that was a nice thought. Let's see what we can make together.
[CONFIRMATION] In the corner of my mind, I thought I felt my cube give off a twinge of excitement.
"I must say, your newfound efficiency is quite remarkable." Coil said as he inspected my work. "To be honest, I am running out of things for you to do."
I had been upgrading his security system, especially the cameras. Now they could see in multiple different frequencies, infrared, night, a spectrum that reacted to electrical activity, and a few others, all at once.
I had thought of using them to try and send a message outside, but gave up when I learned it was a closed circuit. There were no access points to the outside world.
But I didn't miss the subtle threat. You are running out of ways to be useful to me. Coil wanted more. He always did.
"I can do more. I can build more, sir." I said quietly. The itch was starting back up again. Mr. Pitter was hovering in the background, syringe ready.
"It's good to see you so eager." Coil nodded. "But you have already updated my security systems. My men's weapons and armor. What is left?"
He was playing a game. He had to be. He had to know my itch was returning. He always knew. "All the tinkertech you keep bringing up from below—it can still be repaired. I don't know what it is, but it was part of a much larger construction. I can tell that much."
"Indeed, it was." Coil picked up a security camera to inspect. Like he had any clue how it worked. "What of it?"
He was prodding me, but I wasn't quite sure why. I needed more information. "You have to have people digging it up. That can be expensive. And dangerous." Not that he cared. "I can build you tools. Make it easier—less expensive for you."
"Hmm. Tempting." Coil's fingers brushed over the middle section of the camera. Where I would have put my broadcast device if I had the chance. "Very well, I will give you the opportunity."
I breathed in a sigh. I was still useful. Mr. Pitter would make the itching go away. Everything would be fine. My cube was transmitting more data now, already theorizing how to build and repair the machines below. Of course, I would have to see how the tech actually worked before I could do anything—
Wait. That was right…could I…yes. I had to try. He could only hurt me so much for asking.
[DATA] My friend transmitted. Obviously, in encouragement. She wanted me to stand up for myself.
"I want to see the excavation site." I said, before quickly adding "Sir."
Coil looked up from the camera. Mr. Pitter paused his preparations.
"Quite an ask." Coil remarked. "But if you feel so strongly, I will allow you to make your case."
The itch was starting in earnest now. I could have given up, taken my dosage, and gone on as usual. Like I had never said anything in the first place.
But I was sick of it. I wanted more. I wanted out of this fucking room. Even for a little bit. And with my friend by my side, I had the courage.
"If I can oversee things, I can tell you how they work. What to take, and what to leave in the ground. I can assemble it faster into whatever it was before, or whatever you want now. Sir." I explained. "It will make your operation more efficient. You won't have to waste your people's time by constantly dragging things up to me, and put them at less risk of touching something they shouldn't."
Unless this was a roundabout way to get rid of his dumbest men without going through the effort of firing them. In which case, the operation was already working as intended.
Coil actually snorted. He always found a way to drag my injection out. "Amusing as always."
What was he talking about? Was he reading my mind again?
Oh, no. I had said that last part out loud. I think. It was hard to focus with the itch rearing its ugly head.
But Coil thought it was funny. So that was good, wasn't it?
"Very well, I will allow you this small freedom." Success! "But first, we have to go over some ground rules."
The itch was starting up again. Coil knew. And he knew I knew. The next few minutes might have been hours. I could barely stand it. And Mr. Pitter just stood there, with his syringe just sitting there, not going into my veins and giving me relief and letting me think and stopping the itch—
I forced myself back into control. Coil was asking me something. "Do you understand, Taylor? Do you know the rules?"
"Yes, sir." I managed. "I understand."
The rules were the same as they always were. Do as I was told. Don't even think of escape.
Coil waited for another minute—another agonizing, awful minute of the itch growing and growing and growing—
He nodded. "Very well. I will make the arrangements in a week's time. Mr. Pitter." Finally, I was given a release. I was free from this world for just a little while longer—
But not before Coil made certain I saw him tapping his fingers along the camera. Once again, right where I would have put my broadcasting device.
I was getting better at understanding my friend.
I still couldn't figure out her name, but I was getting better at understanding everything else. What I once could only hear as hums had turned into words, or at least the feeling of words. And now, after a lot of time together, I was understanding her better than ever.
Cube, what's your favorite invention?
[DATA] Was what she said back. But I could feel the subtle shifts in feeling better now. I could piece together her meaning based on what she made me feel. What she actually told me was that we [HAVEN'T BUILT YET]
I guess it was still learning how to communicate with me. I guess that was fair. She was a machine, and I was a human. We probably thought in totally different ways. Just getting this far was a huge step.
And besides, the longer we tested this, the happier she was. It was all data in the end, even if it wasn't necessarily what my power had built her for. Even if she already could communicate with me, who knows what a better connection could lead to?
Plus, I think she was lonely too. She always listened to my thoughts quietly. It was so nice to have a friend who didn't judge me.
How long has it been since Coil left? I can't tell.
The response was instant. [MEASUREMENT] translated to [SIX ROTATIONS]
Six days. She had a funny way of saying it, but we all had our quirks. Still, I was always curious to learn more about her, and she never seemed to get annoyed with me asking kind of personal questions. Maybe it was because I made her?
What's your goal? What are you gathering all this data for?
There was a long pause before she answered. [HAVE ALWAYS TESTED]
I blinked, unsure of what to do with that declaration. What did—
The door slammed open, interrupting my thoughts. Guards were dragging in equipment. That wasn't unusual: in fact, it was expected. But this wasn't the usual sort of guard, or the usual sort of equipment. Monitors and cabling, a small hard drive, and other computer equipment were all being placed in front of my workstation.
I was confused. What was all this for? Was I supposed to cannibalize it for some new invention? Were these old models Coil was trying to recycle?
"I have reconsidered your request." As if on cue, Coil stalked out of the darkness to address me directly. "I will not allow you to leave this room at this time."
"I—but—why!?" I sputtered. "I'm only going to help you! Sir, you have to believe me—"
"Did you forget the rules, Taylor?" Coil chided. "And after we went through all of them in such detail. Do you need me to explain them to you again?"
That stopped me dead. Even the threat was enough to drive me into a cold sweat now.
"Very good. I'm glad you still understand things." Coil nodded before wagging a finger. "But you were still thinking of betraying me. That must be stamped out."
My eyes widened. "No—sir, I wasn't! I've been good, don't make me—"
"But then, how will you learn?" Coil shook his head as he turned around. The men setting up the monitors didn't so much as look at me. "Mr. Pitter will come by after your lesson."
"Sir, please!" The itch hadn't started yet. But I could still feel it crawling up my fingers. Coiling through my flesh and bones. A man was approaching me, holding a long rope. "I don't want this!"
Silence was my answer.
Hours passed. The itch was getting worse, and I had no relief. The guards had tied me to my bed. All I could do was thrash around, unable to scratch an itch I knew would never go away.
It was bad. Almost as bad as the first time. But I had one trick up my sleeve now. One ace in the hole.
My cube was still here. It was still with me. I was still plugged into her. We were still together. Coil hadn't separated us. I could still talk to her.
And how important that was. The worst of the shakes were coming now.
Can you feel this? I asked as I felt a thousand ants tearing up my neck. Please tell me you can't. I can't let you feel like this, too. Just because I was stupid and got caught by Coil…
[CONFIRMATION] Was the response. A secondary balm in a sea of agony.
Do you know what he thought I was doing? I asked between sobs. I hadn't thought about him for a while. At least—A stinging, scratching sensation shot up my arm. Not since I asked to help him. And he said yes!
[NEGATION] She answered. [NO DAT—]
Her response cut out.
What? But my wires—they were still connecting us, she couldn't have been disconnected—
No, no, no, no, no, no—
The itch—it was affecting my brain—making me loose my connection—making me loose my friend, again and again and again and again and againandagainandagainandagainandagain—
NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO—
After a day of agony, everything went back to normal with the prick of a needle. Coil was standing over me, a smug little smile hiding behind his mask.
"Never try to betray me again, child." Coil said. "I have given you quite a bit of leeway. You will not survive your next bout of defiance." He loomed over me, like some creature out of my nightmares. "Tell me you understand."
C-cube? Are you there? She had to be there, she couldn't leave me, I would die if she left me—
With the voice of an angel, she responded. [CONFIRMATION]
I wept. They were blubbery, happy tears, but I didn't think Coil could tell. "Y-yes, sir." I gasped out.
"Excellent. Your work will resume shortly." He turned to leave, as he always did. And as he always did, he needed another turn of the knife. "What do you say to such generosity, Taylor?"
I clutched my cube in my newly free arms. "T-thank you, sir."
He wanted this to break me. It did. But not in the way he wanted it to. I now knew what life was like without my friend. And I knew that if I gave in now, he would dangle that in front of me for the rest of my life, like he did to everything else I cherished.
He would do anything to make me behave. I had only one option. I had to kill him.
The next week passed by without incident. I was now working remotely, or what counted for remote. Two computer monitors connected to a few cameras, all pointed to a mess of tinkertech buried under some sediment—some sort of secret Tinker bunker, probably.
A number of parts had already been disassembled by Coil's men, but inefficiently. Like they were pulled apart through trial and error, because whoever had done this didn't know anything about the science behind basic electricity, much less tinkertech.
Still, even with the limitations of a camera, I could make sense of it all. My friend told me everything, and I saw how all the parts and servos fit together. How each piece moved and shifted with the other, creating a whole tapestry. It was an opera of my own conduct.
Or it would be, if Coil didn't have complete idiots working for him.
"No Orange, that's the cable you want to pull to kill Blue." I drawled. "But given your recent lack of performance, I can see why you want to remove your competition."
The worker—whose real name I hadn't bothered to learn because it hadn't been offered to me—raised an orange-gloved finger to the camera. But he obeyed. The other worker snickered into his blue helmet.
I had been given a microphone for efficiency, so I could tell which worker what to do. It was simple enough when they weren't busy being reckless idiots.
Plus, I got a new form of stress relief. Finding the good where I could was all I could hope for.
Coil never seemed to mind it either. Sometimes he would enter my room and watch me direct his men. He would never say anything, but would occasionally make passive-aggressive comments of his own.
"You really pick the slowest way to fix things, don't you? I won't judge, but your next dose might."
"Perhaps I'll let you have a phone call with your father if you keep up a good pace. Of course, you are barely treading water, so there is no need to worry yourself about that."
"You really have no idea how to manage people, child. It's a wonder you made it so far in the world without me."
I think he was trying to crush the last remains of my self-worth. The joke was on him. That had already been obliterated before he entered the picture. His little comments didn't bother me. Not one bit. I refused to let them.
IwouldgetoutIwouldgetoutIwouldgeto—
[NEW WORKER INEFFICIENT AND A HINDRANCE TO DATA COLLECTION] My friend added. [SUGGEST REPLACING HUMAN WITH AVION SPECIES FOR EQUAL RESULTS AND LESS MAINTENANCE]
I giggled. I was really good at telling what she was thinking now, and she always had the best jokes.
Progress was also being made. We had uncovered an entire floor of tech, ripe for plunder. It was constructed by a clever array of mechanical, movable panels, all capable of being reconfigured into a dozen different shapes. After a bit of tinkering, I had reconfigured the room to a firing range for Coil's soldiers.
As a bonus, it provided good data on how my weapons were faring, which made my friend happy. I had also found what my power told me were nanobots meant for fixing little details, but they were long inactive. It would take more energy then I had to make them work again.
My cube was also interacting very strongly with the ruins. Giving me more ideas, faster and faster as I reconfigured more and more of the tinkertech. I think it had something to do with my specialization, whatever that was. I seemed to be really good at repurposing old machines, and also making things that interacted with other tinkertech. That was my best guess, at least.
Still, I had plenty of time to think. I didn't dare think about how I was going to kill Coil, or how I would escape. He always sensed those coming. Instead, I focused on the oddity.
Why had Coil thought I was thinking about killing him?
I didn't. I knew I didn't for that entire week. But he seemed to think so. Why else would he have punished me so severely? It had to be some effect of his power, right?
Unless he just felt like being sadistic. A very real possibility.
I asked my cube for help. [GATHER MORE DATA] was her only advice. Frustrating, but expected.
But to continue to follow the track of it being part of his power, I was pretty sure Coil had some sort of Thinker power. He hadn't demonstrated any kind of physical strength beyond a normal human, and if he was a Tinker, he probably wouldn't have needed me. Or more accurately, he wouldn't have needed me in the ways he had been using me.
I guess him being a Stranger was another possibility. Turning himself invisible to all forms of detection and spying on people when I thought no one was here. I hadn't found the cameras I knew were in my room, after all. But that didn't feel quite right. I hadn't said much of anything while I was locked away. There wouldn't be anything for him to find.
So. A danger sense was my best guess. But why would it have activated? I hadn't been plotting anything. All I had wanted to do was inspect the tinkertech ruins in person. How could that have been a danger to him—
I glanced down at the monitors. There were a lot of robotic limb parts scattered on the floor. They were built to reconfigure themselves, but with the right application, and just a little time…
Yes, my cube agreed. I could make some positively lethal androids with these parts. Military-grade stuff. Was that what he sensed? Was that the danger?
This created a big problem. If he could always see me coming, I had no plan of attack. And that would explain how he saw all of my escape attempts off before they happened—surely, revealing his base's location would put him in serious danger.
But how could I escape? If every avenue put him in danger, and he always saw danger coming, what hope did I have?
Do you have any ideas? I asked my cube. How do I make Coil pay for trying to take you away?
[YOU CANNOT ALONE]
That…was true, but not helpful. I needed someone who was really good at murder to kill him. But how? He has all the cards. None of his mercenaries will even talk to me. Mr. Pitter won't help. You're my only friend, and he can take you away if I miss an injection. Please, you've got to help me.
My friend didn't say anything to that. Hello?
Silence.
Are you still there? No, no…
Nothing.
Please, could you come back? No, no, nonono—
Dead air.
It was hopeless. My only friend was abandoning me. I was stuck, all alone forever in this rotten world. I might as well start letting all the food I was given rot away, and then I could rot away along with it. At least then Coil would have to deal with the smell when he tossed my corpse. I was useless. A broken person, a broken daughter, a broken friend, destined to be tossed away—
[AGGRESSION] A new sensation blazed through my mind. I hadn't felt this from her before.
[AGGRESSION] Pinged again. I got a better taste for it. If I had to put a name to it, it would be…something like…
[LIGHT THE FOOD ON FIRE AND SHOVE IT DOWN HIS THROAT]
Or maybe that was artistic license. I could only be so sure.
My friend hadn't abandoned me. What a silly thing to think. Even if she were a machine, she had to think about things too. I sent a quick thanks her way and began to ponder the situation again. What if—
I had to hold that thought. The workers were being idiots again. "Blue, if you keep holding that isotope like that, he will never have children again. Unless this is a bold act to remove yourself from the gene pool. I would try less drastic measures, but again, I am not stupid enough to consider that."
The man corrected himself quickly, and I went back to my plotting. If Coil saw anything dangerous coming, then—
Wait a minute.
He sensed danger. But what if…what was after him wasn't dangerous?
Could it be done? I had always been fantasising about a silver bullet, something that would take Coil out and free me in one fell swoop, but what if…it just built up to that? Provided one little piece, something that couldn't lead to danger? Something that could give me more insight into his power?
I licked my lips. It would be dangerous. Extraordinarily dangerous. Coil might sever our connection again, which would be disastrous. I wouldn't be able to survive that again.
But I couldn't. Not when our connection was on the line. I would have to wait until my next injection, and then after I was sent on a drug trip, I would—
Wait. The trip—after our severing—I didn't hallucinate.
Was I building up a resistance to the drugs? And did Coil know? I had spent a lot of time blubbering afterwards, holding on to my friend…
Hmm…
I was in luck. I had been building up a resistance to the drugs. They still kept the itch away, but I was more cogent. I was only out of commission for a few minutes instead of the hour or so before.
I started building what I could. I took little scraps of machines the men brought up to be repaired, and hid them away under my cube. Then, when Mr. Pitter came to give me my dose, I would pretend to be comatose. This would give me time to fiddle with things, with my scraps and my glasses.
It was difficult. It was nerve-wracking. Every little noise made my heart pound. I thought I was going to lose my friend every second.
But through it all, she kept me calm. Her song guided my hands and kept them steady. I couldn't be stopped. I wouldn't let it happen.
After a while, my project was complete. A little flybot. As large as an insect, but quieter. I hadn't injected it with any sort of weapon, but I had given it a camera. A tiny one that fed straight into the hologram screen I had installed in my glasses.
When my door opened with the next delivery, it flew away into the night. Suddenly, I was free. I had eyes and ears outside my accursed room. I could explore where exactly I was trapped.
It was an underground bunker. And the bunker was massive.
From what I could tell, it went deep. The tinkertech base that had been discovered added at least 78 meters to the bottom depth. Someone could get lost for hours if they didn't know what they were doing.
But that didn't matter. I stayed away from the surface. Coil hadn't discovered me, so that meant his danger sense hadn't been triggered. I was free. To find him and study him. To learn his power and all of its secrets.
For science, of course. I would never dream of harming my glorious leader with any information I found.
I had to make sure to stick to the ceilings—thanks to my upgrades to the cameras, they were probably the only place anything could sneak by, and with the electronic filter, the list of suspects could be narrowed to one very quickly. Caution was the game.
Eventually, after much wandering, I found Coil. He was typing away at a computer inside a dark office. The camera quality wasn't good enough to see what exactly he was doing, but it seemed to involve a lot of mouse clicking. A spreadsheet, maybe?
I wondered how much I could get away with. If Coil's danger sense triggered whenever he knew I was trying to escape, did that mean I couldn't follow him outside? But if I managed to get a message out, could I bring him down with me?
That was a dangerous thought. I squished it instantly. I couldn't let Coil's senses ping off me. I was just doing recon. I was a scout. A scientist on an expedition. Nothing that was a danger to anyone or anything.
Eventually, Coil stood up and stretched. Languidly, he made his way out the door and down the moderately lit hall. I had my flybot follow at a distant pace. I couldn't be too careful.
Coil arrived at another room. A cell, really. "Hello, pet." He practically purred. "Are you ready for today's predictions?"
What I saw horrified me. A little girl, no older than 12. She looked bad. Sunken cheeks, dirty brown hair. Her eyes were vacant. Numbly, she nodded back.
"Chances of me dying in the next 24 hours?"
"0.222036 percent." The girl responded listlessly.
"Chance of the Undersiders succeeding in their next caper?"
"40.21749 percent."
"Mhm. Chance that negatively affects the odds of my next move against the Empire?"
"70.11527 percent."
Coil continued to ask questions, and my confusion grew. Was this his secret? He had a precog giving him all the answers? Did Coil have any powers at all, or did he just steal girls off the street to do all the work for him?
My anger was growing by the second. Every time he made me feel worthless, it was all projection. He was just an idiot, wielding other people's powers at the barrel of a gun.
"Final question, pet. Then you get your candy."
"It hurts…" The girl moaned.
Coil didn't seem bothered by this. "Chance of my operations being exposed today?"
The girl cradled her head in her hands. "0.000275 percent…please, it hurts…"
"Very good, pet." Coil pulled out a small pill and handed it to the child, who greedily swallowed it. "If only my other guest could be as cooperative as you…"
I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill him so bad. I wanted to take my drone and ram it down his throat—
"Well, duty calls. I must visit my other charge. Enjoy yourself, pet."
My heart stopped.
Did he actually have powers? His danger sense? Was he just augmenting it with the girl's power? Was he coming to take my cube away?
No. Nononono…
I curled up into a ball and did what I could to not hyperventilate. I reached out to my friend, asking for reassurance. She pinged me with [DATA]
I wasn't in a stable enough mood to translate what she was saying. My own emotions were running too rampant to get a lock on her meaning.
Minutes passed. Coil didn't come.
Hours passed. Coil didn't come.
Slowly, I disentangled myself. It looked like that was a close call. He hadn't arrived, he wasn't going to take her away, he wasn't—
"You…"
I nearly screamed. Someone was in here with me. It was Coil. He had a Stranger power all along. He was in the room with me, and now he was going to rip my hair to pieces with his quiet little voice—
Oh. No. That wasn't him. That was the little girl's voice.
I turned my attention back to my camera. It looks like my flybot had landed near her in my panicked state. She seemed to notice and picked it up.
…But was the danger over? Was she going to turn me over to Coil? She didn't seem to resist him, not like I did. Maybe he had completely taken over her mind, and this place really was all she knew, and—
I forced myself not to jump to conclusions. The girl was only holding the fly right now. She wasn't making any moves. She knew it was made of metal, but she wasn't doing anything, or calling for a guard.
"You…" The girl muttered again. "Chances you'll try to free me and let me go home?"
I blinked. The girl made a pained expression, but recovered. "Can you hear me?" She whispered.
Unsure of what to do, I made the flybot bob up and down. A nod.
"Are you trying to get out, too?" She asked. Again, I nodded.
She took a deep breath. "My name is Dinah." I nodded. Dinah. Not pet. Never a pet. "Coil is protecting himself. He asks the same questions every day, or nearly." She muttered. "I can try to help you, but—" She groaned again. "He'll know if I answer other people's questions…"
That was fine, I guess. I probably couldn't fit a speaker on my flybot. What I needed to know was more about Coil's power. What were its weaknesses? And how could I communicate that to the little girl? I only had a fly—
Ah. That was it. I made the fly land on the wall. There didn't seem to be any cameras, so I mimed out the letter W, and then—
"Coil only ever asks about danger in the next 24 hours, to reduce ambiguity. He asks questions every day, and I have to answer." Dinah said. "If you can spread the danger out farther, my sight might not be able to catch it. Can you think of a way to do that?"
That was a challenge. There were about a dozen questions I wanted to ask, but…would he still see it coming if I spread it out over 48 hours? And how would I even do that? What sort of death could I deal, with what little control over this facility I had—
Little?
But that…something that little…but if I could make a flybot, surely I could…they were only particles…could it work? But I couldn't touch them. Even after wasting away, my fingers were too fat and clumsy. It's not like I could make it myself—
But what if I didn't? What if I could make something to do that for me?
I had an idea. I spelled it out again. The girl nodded and then clutched her head like it was splitting open.
"2.17 percent!" She hoarsely bit back a yell as she collapsed into her bed. "T-that's…that's all I can say."
Barely over one in fifty odds. A long shot. Certifiably dangerous. I might lose everything.
What do you think? I asked.
[CONFRONTATION] She replied. [GET MAD] was what I heard.
I already was. But by the end of this, I would let Coil know it.
It had taken two weeks. Careful planning, distracting the guards, distracting Coil when I could, moving in absolute secrecy. I had collected all the spare parts I needed, some from the usual tech repairs, and others from my flybot covertly carrying them to me.
Neurotoxin would be my attack. A subtle poison, delivered discreetly, and over time. Coil would be a frog sinking into a boiling pot. The percentages might go up, and I had no way of knowing why until it would be too late.
I tinkered in secret, which was not as easy as I hoped—I didn't need the other girl to tell me that my room was bugged. I had to rely on the hope that whoever was watching me didn't truly know what I was doing, and that Coil would never press too deeply when he thought he had won. The minutes after I was doped up were useful enough, but inconsistent.
Still, things progressed smoothly. Coil didn't bother me beyond his normal routine. From what I could tell, he didn't suspect a thing. The setup was going well. Only one or two of the guards complained of a metallic taste from my first experiment. My cube told me how to program everything so it would all go off without a hitch.
And then Dinah warned me about a self-destruct. That took even more time to prepare for, but I managed to program my robot to take out the dead man's switch. Coil wouldn't know it was disabled unless he checked, and why would he?
I decided on two full days before I would put my plan into action. I thought about shortening it to a day and a half, or even the very bold 25 hours, but something about two days felt…safe for me. What little I could ask the other girl, named Dinah, seemed to indicate a positive result.
And finally, after weeks of waiting, the day had come. Coil had slipped up. Something had kept him busy, and It had almost been 48 hours since Coil's last chat with Dinah. I would just need to wait a little longer, and then—
And then Coil opened my door. And he was holding a hammer.
"H-hello, sir." I stammered. "Your men have retrieved a new device—I need to work on it, but it should allow for a quantum—"
"Wonderful." Coil didn't let me finish before he swung down.
I screamed in agony as my hand exploded in pain. I was already seeing stars. Coil slammed the hammer down a second time.
No, not now! Not when I was so close! It couldn't be so soon, I had almost been free! Just a little bit longer…
Coil grabbed my other hand and struck it. "Would you like to know something funny?" He asked between my sobs after my hearing returned. "I never meant for you to stay with me this long."
"W-w-what?" I stammered out. I did my best to protect my cube. I couldn't let him harm her. Not now. I had to buy time.
"Originally, you were just an experiment. A test, if you will. I thought you would go the same way as all the other Tinkers in this town." Coil sighed as he looked down at his hammer, flaking some blood off of it. "Overspecialized and useless to me. But you performed so well, I couldn't bring myself to discard you. I have plenty of money and am quite happy to employ Toybox, but you saved me so much, I just had to keep you."
"...Money?" I managed between gasps. "...That's what all of this was about? That's why you've been torturing me? That's why you stole me away from my home!?"
"Why pay for a service when you can extort it for free?" Coil glibly replied. The hammer came down again. "And you came with the bonus that no one cared that you went missing."
I screamed, but I pushed myself in front of my cube. I couldn't allow her to be hurt.
"Normally, I would introduce you to Sarah, but she really was busy today, so it's just the two of us." Coil hummed. He reached down and grabbed me by the neck. "Now tell me, Taylor. What have you been working on?"
"W-what you told me to." I said. "I-I do what you ask—the device that they found, it's over there—"
Coil backhanded me. "I don't believe you." He grabbed me by my hair—by my tether—and lifted me up. "Tell me the truth, or I start pulling wires."
"I-I-I…" I needed to hold on. Every second counted. I could always replace the cables afterwards. Even if I had brain damage, my cube would always tell me what to do, i had to have faith in her, she never let me down, I had to protect her—
"Ah…how forgetful of me. I really have to remember my file on you isn't a work of fiction, but a real list of all your inadequacies." Coil reached down and positioned his hammer over my cube. "Tell me, or I rip your little friend here apart, piece by bloody piece."
"NO!" I screamed. "No, don't!"
Coil raised his hammer and slammed it against my cube. It was heavy enough to leave an ugly dent. She started hissing. Coil raised his hammer again—
"STOP!" I threw myself into the hammer's path. Coil didn't bother to decelerate, and the blow slammed into my shoulder. My nerves screamed in agony, but my cube didn't take any damage. That was all that was important. "Stop, I'll tell you everything!" I moaned out.
"One day, I will ask why you are so protective of that little tumor. It only gives you bad ideas." Coil moved the hammer behind his back. "Come now, Miss Hebert. You know how much I abhor violence."
"I…" I coughed, trying to regain my breath. Coil's hand twitched, but he seemed patient enough. "I was…making…something. Something…to…kill you. You…and…all your…guards."
"How naughty. I suppose that's why the percentages skewed up yesterday." Coil chuckled. "I thought I had rid you of that nasty little habit. Oh well. I suppose I'll have to come up with another punishment. How, pray tell, were you planning to do it this time?"
"P-poison." I gasped out."A-a…a deadly neurotoxin…that I've been making behind your back…when none of your guards are looking…all the tinkertech you've been digging up gave me all the parts I needed…"
"Really. I'll have to dock their pay for that blunder." Coil studied me for a minute. "Mr. Pitter mentioned some subjects build a tolerance to the high of the drug I've been feeding you. Is that the answer, by chance?"
"Y-yes."
"Hmm. Well, this exploration of your Tinker capabilities has been fascinating. I could never have guessed anyone could make something that volatile and keep it hidden. I suppose you planned to flood my compound through some delivery mechanism or another—the air filtration, if I had to guess."
Coil tilted his head. "Delivered over several days, so Dinah couldn't predict it? You know about her too?" I nodded weakly. "My, my, you have been busy. How did you plan to take control of the filters?"
"I…" Pain laced through my body. I did what I could to ignore it. "I built…a little robot…"
"Which would find the central control system and work from there. You really are a gem." Coil rubbed his chin. "Well, I'm sure I'll be able to find it with your security measures. For completion's sake, where is the neurotoxin?"
"It's…It's—" I let something out that sounded halfway between a sob and a scream.
Coil leaned forward. "Yes? I haven't *cough* got all day."
He coughed.
He might have just been having allergies. He might have just had indigestion.
But I had never heard Coil slip up like this before. And something had to go my way. It had to.
The conditions had been met. The timing was right. It was finally my moment. It had to be.
My laughter bubbled over. "It's inside you."
The stale air instantly shifted. "What?" Coil's voice was quieter now. Quieter than I had ever heard it.
"I didn't have the robot infiltrate your air supply. That would get me and Dinah killed." I explained between choking gasps and giggling laughter. "I made it so it would make nanobots to carry the neurotoxin. Then I had those nanobots infiltrate your lungs, along with all of your employees."
"How did you—Dinah should have—" Coil was horrified. He was grasping at straws. "This isn't possible! My questions would have detected it!"
"That's why I also had the nanobots scrub you all for lung tumors while they were waiting. It couldn't hurt you if it was also helping you, right? Anything to confuse the odds." I grinned through the pain. "Then I programmed them to wait for 48 hours after you talked to Dinah. It was a gamble, I didn't know when it would go off, but…" I spat out a glob of blood. " That meant you wouldn't either."
"No…no…" Coil was stumbling backwards. His eyes were wide. "This isn't…I asked, I did! The timer should be off…!" He stuttered. He had realized something terrible. Death was staring him in the face for the first time in his life. "I…no…my…no! No!"
He flared back to attention. "Fix me, now." Coil demanded frantically. "Fix me, or *COUGH* so god help me, I will—"
"I can't actually stop the timer." I replied. "And from what my power told me, It should take three minutes for you to die once exposed to the toxin…"
Coil groaned and clutched his chest. His knees shook, and stumbled. Perfect. Just on time.
"...But a direct release into your respiratory system should do the job a lot quicker." I finished laughing. My head was feeling light and it was hard to move, but I couldn't stop grinning.
It was over. Coil was dying in front of me. All across the city and throughout the base, his men were falling dead. I was free. I was finally free, and my friend, my rock, my guide through it all had made it out with—
Coil dropped his hammer and pulled out a gun. A pistol with my modifications. Gun twenty-two. Strong enough to puncture steel.
Even with a mask, I could see his face was awash with rage. He didn't want me to die with him. He wanted me to suffer.
And he knew just how to do it.
Without a word, he pointed his weapon at my cube and fired. It was the last thing he ever did.
I was still draped over my friend. She was supporting me like she always had. I barely had any strength left after the beating I had taken.
I still found the strength to push her away, and cold certainty pierced my spine—
Darkness.
By some miracle, I awoke. I should have been dead. But I wasn't. I was still alive.
But I couldn't move. I couldn't feel anything. If I weren't alive, I would say I wasn't breathing.
But I was free. Even if I couldn't move, even if I couldn't get out of this fucking room, I was free. That was all that mattered.
I opened up my flybot program. It sprang to life—Dinah needed to be saved, she had been so important, she had been just like me, she wasn't—
She was in her bed. motionless. Dead.
…No. No. No! This wasn't what was supposed to happen! I had made the nanobots only target Coil's men! His employees! She shouldn't have registered, she was clearly a hostage! It wasn't right, it wasn't my fault—
No, there was a guard nearby. Mr. Pitter was lying on the ground, dead with some candy in his hand. He must have sensed his demise, and taken Dinah down with him. He was a petty, worthless little man. It would be in character. He was scum.
I didn't make a mistake. I didn't cause this. It wasn't my fault. And even if it was, it was the nanobots. They made the error. They were what was wrong. And that's even if I could accept that had happened. Which it didn't.
I wasn't at fault. It was Coil. He somehow did this. I don't know how, but he did. After I was safe, I would find out, and then—and then—
Dinah would still be dead. I would still have failed.
I needed to find my own way out. I needed to get my fly out into the city, out into Brockton. Then I could contact the PRT, and they would finally save me. And then I would be able to go home, and I would—
My voice hitched. My dad was still out there.
Wasn't he?
After all the heartbreak I had caused him. He had probably left the city by now. Too many memories. Too much pain. I would have left a place this awful a long while ago.
Did I deserve to go back looking for him? Wouldn't looking at me be another reminder of how much he failed, all over again? Would he even want me back?
I shouldn't even try. He didn't deserve more pain in his life. I didn't need to make his life worse, again. Just like the last time I had seen him, he looked so depressed, and…
He was sad because he missed me.
Wasn't he? He missed me like he missed mom?
No, a little part of me said. He was just a miserable man. We should set him free. We have our friend. He will think we are a freak. Give up, and then we won't have to fight—
No. No. No! I had been fighting all this time! I just needed to come home, to ring the doorbell, and he would accept me back! I could have my cube and my dad at the same time, and everything would be perfect then.
It only took one final push. I sent my flybot above ground, up into the sunlight—even through the video camera, it was so bright—and into the city.
The roads were muddier than I remembered. It looked like there had been a lot of cape fights since I had been away. But I still remembered my way. I still remembered the paths. I veered through the city streets and towards the docks. Towards our house. Towards my dad.
I could see it. The same old paint peeling off. The same dusty windows. A new car or two parked outside—several, in fact. Maybe dad was having a party. Or a meeting, more likely. Maybe it was an intervention—
And then the placard stood in front of my camera.
DANNY HEBERT
1968–2011
BELOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER
No. No. No. No, No, No, No, No, No, NO!
All I ever seemed to do was beg for things not to happen. All that ever seemed to happen was one horrible twist after another. I knew my life was a cruel joke. A sick, twisted parody of happiness. But why did it have to suck other people down with me? Why did it have to make them suffer for me?
Alan Barnes was standing in the doorway, dressed in his Sunday best and talking to some dockworkers. "...It's just terrible." He said, his face awash with grief. "After what happened to poor Annette, and then Taylor disappearing…I can't imagine what he was feeling."
"Here fucking here." One of the dockworkers, Lacey, nodded along.
"This goddamn city." Alan agreed. "It's just one sick punchline after another."
It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to happen. Not after everything I'd been through. It shouldn't have happened. But it did. And it was. Life was horrible and cruel and unfair, and there was nothing I could do about it. There was nothing anyone could do.
I asked…no. I begged my friend for an answer. Something she could do. Some way she could save my dad. She came up empty. I had failed him. Just like I failed Dinah.
I sobbed. I raged. Or I would have, if I had the energy. Instead, I was ready to collapse. To fade into nothing. Coil was dead. He could never hurt anyone else again. And now so would I. All it would take was one little push. One final effort.
And then I saw Emma.
She was in a modest black dress. Her makeup was perfect as always, and so was her hair. She was staring down at the floor, hiding away in a corner. It was my old toy closet. Where we used to play in and hide from my mom and dad during sleepovers.
My rage was already boiling.
"Do you want to say anything, Emma?" Alan asked, genuine concern written on his face.
Emma looked up, surprised. She looked sad. I had no idea why. She always said I was better off dead.
"No, it's…I…" She bit her lip, then looked back down.
"I shouldn't be here." She suddenly rushed past everyone and beelined towards a car.
"Jesus…" Someone muttered.
Alan just grimaced. "Zoe, could you…"
I tuned the rest of the conversation out. I couldn't stand it.
That bitch. That absolute, insufferable, bitch. After everything she had done, after everything she put me through, she had the fucking temerity to feel sorry? For herself, that's who she was feeling sorry for. That she had to pretend to be sad after everything she had done, and then gotten away with.
She came into my house? And pretended that my father's death affected her?
How fucking dare she. And she still would get away with it. She was going to get away with everything.
I couldn't let that happen.
Can you still help me? I asked my one real friend. Do you still want to help me build things?
[ALWAYS READY TO TEST] She replied. She was always so dependable. So understanding. [TEST INVENTIONS TEST OURSELVES TEST OTHERS MAKE THEM WORTHY FOR NEXT TESTS]
Tinkertech was waiting for me, in a trove below my feet. To be repurposed. Rebuilt. Remade into something better. All of it, moving at my command. I could do this. I could make the world a better place.
I had started this whole mess by wanting to be a hero. And after a grueling mess, I had taken down my first villain. Now I had time to prepare. Tests to run. Tinkering to perfect. An itch to overcome. To repair my cube, to make her better, to give her an eye and other senses so she could get even more data.
Once I was finished, I would need test subjects. My friend wanted new data. I would get it to her.
Fortunately, I knew exactly where to find three villains no one would miss.
Notes:
Does anyone else have the bad habit of tripping on the railing after saving the Oracle Turret and sending it falling to its doom? Or pass through an emancipation grill thinking you can save it from a lonely existence in a hallway forever? Never happens to me, of course…
I had an idea at the start of writing to keep certain things ambiguous, our cube friend especially. It turned out to be messier than I would have liked it to be, and may have overcomplicated things by trying to simplify them, but it was still an interesting writing exercise. I also had some frustrations writing a way for Taylor to beat Coil given the hole I threw her in. Let me know what you thought of it, and what needed to be improved. Also, if you feel like interpreting things a bit more than the obvious answer, one last piece of the puzzle will be dropping soon.
Anyway, these past two chapters have been very Worm-heavy in theme and tone. But never fear, our final chapter is coming up. And it is much more Portal-y, I promise. Granted, none of the Portal characters are really there—at least, they're there as much as GlaDOS, Chell, Oracle Turret, and Cave are in these chapters.
Which is to say not at all, but maybe GlaDOS, and also GlaDOS as far as theme and backstory, well kinda, but not really, there are a lot of different details and other—look, next chapter is going to be more fun, okay?
And for commenters asking about Noelle and the travelers, who should definitely be in Coil's employ by now…um…butterfly effect, timey-wimey, technobabble, It's a paradox don't think about it?
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