[GLaDOS, Peter, Duo] We do what we must, because we can.

[notawastedlife]

Aperture Science had a funny way of running their business, but Tony couldn't fault their technology. He'd made a few improvements to the section of the Enrichment Station he'd claimed as his own, wiring up a gesture based interface similar to the one in his workshop back home, and he didn't entirely agree with the decorating, but he wasn't sitting

Comments

[gla_dos]

"The insincerity of your apology is noted," GlaDOS replied.

"In a similar vein, allow me to take this moment to congratulate you on such an enormously destructive and ultimately fruitless enterprise."

[notawastedlife]

"Thank you," Tony said cheerfully, picking up the arc reactor he'd prepared and striding over to the element. "I appreciate it."

He placed the glowing triangle inside it. It closed, lit up. Began generating power. Began working.

"Going to argue with you on fruitless, though," he said, crossing back to the console that he'd disconnected from the space station's network and set up a shell programme for elements of Jarvis to run on. He wasn't about to make some of his designs public, or at least public to the space station. He connected the reactor, started up the testing sequence. "Say goodbye to the energy crisis. Before breakfast, too, imagine what I'll get done by lunch."

[gla_dos]

The clinical white lights came up, flickered, then went out. The only illumination came from the new element and certain displays on the walls. The doors ceased making their quiet electric hum and looked suddenly, comparatively solid to the way they had before.

"Aperture Science always welcomes healthy arguments and dissenting points of view, as they provide us opportunities to test and perfect a number of our employee improvement protocols, such as party escort submission positions and mandatory relaxation chambers, and pools of acid. We thank you for enriching our research. We thank you also for your tremendous contribution to science," she said, and her voice trilled happily, chirpily upward on the word, "in the form of this new element.

"Of course, as it was forged on Aperture Science property, the transitive property of I say so means it also is the property of Aperture Science and will not be allowed through the Emancipation Grilles or airlocks, and cannot be removed from this station."

[notawastedlife]

There weren't any emancipation grills on the airlocks, but even if he'd could override them, he didn't have the armor with him. Wearing it at all times on the space station would have spiked his palladium levels so high he'd have been dead in a week.

He'd only needed two, but he hadn't known that at the time. Besides, it wasn't designed to handle the power throughput the new version arc reactor produced. He had an idea or two on that front, the designs for which lived on the console he'd isolated from GLaDOS's systems.

"...this? Did I say something about the energy crisis? I was overstating. It's just a knick-knack, really. A glorified pacemaker," he said. "Probably not even fit to-" He couldn't bring himself to keep talking it down, the thing was great. "It's mine. Transitive power of I made it. Intellectual property of Stark Industries, location of creation notwithstanding."