It had probably been a very, very long time since this core had been activated. Virgil was able to tell this by the dust that had previously been covering the ridges, which he had thoroughly cleaned before attempting to power on this little guy. The maintenance droid had assumed that it would either have some sort of malfunction or not turn on at all. Most cores that ended up in the bin like that did have something wrong with them, but sometimes the thing "faulty" was just a personality that GLaDOS deemed annoying or disposable.
"Allllright... testingggg.. Now." This first part was always a bit awkward- the more sentient ones usually were frightened, asking where they were, who he was- so hes practiced a good script to try and calm down most patients.
@thefactualsphere
The core in question flickered on, its shudders opening to reveal a rather... unusual optic. Just pure white. Nothing behind or in front of them.. No pupil to speak of.
Before it suddenly shrank, flicking to its right, then it's left- Up and down...
It's handles shook slightly, creaking from misuse as they tried to move.. Rust had eaten away at parts of it, especially the hinges. The poor thing clearly had no hope of moving the handles, though the other parts seemed to work well enough despite their problems. 
The most evident damage, perhaps, were the dents in its sides from the maintenance arm that had been holding it up for some time.. And the dent from where it had finally dropped the poor core into the hard concrete floor..
Miraculously, the optic had survived undamaged. Not even a crack in that thick, sturdy glass.
However, despite all the signs of life... It failed to speak. Only a crackle escaped its voicebox... It didn't sound very encouraging at all, more so that the pitiful metal ball was perhaps pained, if Virgil had to hazard a guess.
