01_Cores for Alarm!

...

'You're right, Caroline, he is a moron.' Cave Johnson had his eyebrows raised at the woman in front of him. 'But his idea to reduce human staff and create replacement artificial intelligent robotics... Caroline, sweetheart, we will have more money to do more science! Cold hard calculations.' Cave pounded his fist into his other hand, a gleeful expression on his face.

'Yes, Mr. Johnson,' Caroline chirped cheerfully, 'But how does this relate to the GlaDos project?'

'We'll adjust the GLaDos program, as well as testing, it can manage the robots. It will have the capacity.'

A sharp knock on the door interrupted the conversation and a worker strolled in. 'Pardon for the interruption, Mr. Johnson, we require you attendance for the 'bring your daughter to work' day activities.'

'Fabulous, let's do some testing!' Cave slapped his hands together and stood and flashed a grin at Caroline. 'Where's Chell?'

...

'Mr – Mr. Cave Johnson – sir!' A lanky aperture science worker darted around the little girls and tangles of wires and potatoes, carrying an armful of what looked like scrap metal. He stumbled through the crowd nearly knocking over the small girl that Cave was crouching beside.

'Careful Wheatley, you nearly had Chell over!'

'Er... well, sorry Chell, my mistake!'

'We're doing science!' The young girl exclaimed, holding up her potato so Wheatley could see. 'Energy science!'

'That's my girl.' Cave ruffled her hair before he stood up next to Wheatley.

'What were you after Wheatley?' He asked, startling the man.

'What was I...? Oh yes! Uh, I was wondering, if it weren't too much trouble for me to raise my quote on the price of creating the robotics...' Wheatley stammered to a halt as Cave was increasingly looking less impressed.

'Why does it need to be increased, why not lowered, why not improved upon, Wheatley, I hired you to reduce; reduce costs, reduce error, reduce the amount of employees, cut out the bugs and... Wheatley are you even listening to me?'

Wheatley jerked back to attention, he had been gazing at Chell beneath them, powering a light bulb with a potato.

'Sir, I can do this – cutting costs, cutting employment, more money, more science... Mr. Cave Johnson, sir, you want more science, I-I am going to... I've got this!' Wheatley darted back through the crowd, this time dropping bits of metal and tripping on the wires.

'Moron.' Caroline murmured under her breath, watching with dark eyes. 'I won't let him ruin the GLaDos project and everything Cave has worked for.'

...

'Personality transfer?'

'Right into the sphere.'

'Why is it a sphere?'

'Material costs.' Wheatley picked up an empty shell of the robot. 'I eliminated the need for arms and legs by inventing a management rail which can carry them to any part of this building and connects them to GLaDos.'

Caroline took the casing. 'Not half bad.' She mused, smirking to herself, knowing that rails would cost even more, but liking this idea more and more by the second; it had potential. 'Mr. Johnson would like these, they're very... science-y.'

Shoulders sagging slightly with relief, Wheatly turned and flashed a grin at his partner, Monique sat quietly, unable to speak but she tucked her blonde hair behind her ears and who smiled silently back as she watched their exchange with curious blue eyes.

'What are these called?'

'Aperture Science Personality Control Orb Resource Equipment.'

'Please tell me that you have a shortened name.'

'Uh...' Wheatley quickly went over the words in his head. 'CORE... Personality CORE.'

Unaware Wheatley had been thinking on his feet, Caroline pushed the core back into his hands. 'How do we input a personality?'

'We scan someone with a personality that we want and it is programmed directly into the memory base.'

'Then cut out the mistakes.'

'P-pardon?'

'Carry on, Wheatley.' Caroline chirped brightly and turned heel and walked out the door.

A loud clapping sound drew Wheatley's attention to Monique who signed furiously at him.

'Loose our jobs? Of course not, Mon! They'll keep everyone who is useful!'

...

'It has come to our attention that your services are no longer useful to us. Don't be ashamed, your input you have provided will be valued by us. After you have been dismissed you are welcome to re-apply as an Aperture Science test subject for our newly generated Aperture Science test chambers...'

'This is sacrilege!' Wheatley shouted to the unseen speakers, his voice drowned out by the several hundred other furious discharged workers.

'Please line up in an orderly fashion at the exits.'

Wheatley was still yelling hotly at the speakers and didn't notice the hall was nearly empty until Monique was pulling on his sleeve, signing at him it was time to go.

There were exit doors lining the room and the workers grudgingly walked through the solid black revolving doors one by one. Monique disappeared from Wheatley's sight behind the black door. Feeling the need to be close to his friend, Wheatley quickly stepped into the door and then, aside from the new aperture logo in front of his face, everything went black.

'What?' Wheatley stretched out his hands and they touched solid black walls around him, pressing on the logo, half hoping it would be some sort of unlocking button, 'Hey, what's going on?' Wheatley tried to move but found his feet strapped to the floor. 'Monique! Are you there! Can you hear me? If you can hear me, clap!' He shouted, his own voice echoing around him. 'Okay, Wheatley, don't panic there's no reason for you to pani...'

Suddenly there was lights in the tube Wheatley was trapped in, illuminating the black walls, and revealing his feet encased in metal. And then, with a rushing sound, blue water was gushing into the tube.

'That-that's a good reason to panic – HELP!'

'Stay calm.' A gentle voice told him soothingly. 'You have been chosen as one of the few for the personality CORE replacement program.'

Wheatley stiffened. 'I wrote that program!'

'The liquidated exphosiasion-plasm is for your own protection, as is the provided oxygen. Please find your breathing equipment located above your head.'

Wheatley glanced up to see a breathing mask within reach and quickly shoved it on his face and then nearly gagged as the mask latched itself onto his face and a tube was pushed down his airways.

'Please relax, after you have been scanned you will be returned to your pitiful lives.'

Wheatley gave a start. 'Caroline? Is that you? There's been some sort of mistake.' He tried to say, but because of all the tubes in him it came out as gibberish.

'Relax.' The voice said, soothingly, excitedly. 'It will be over soon.'

Wheatley tried to relax, but the plasm was up to his stomach, and it was cold. His legs had lost all feeling and numbness crept up with the plasm. 'Help?' He tried to call feebly, as the water crept up his neck. Forgetting he had breathing apparatus on, Wheatley took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

'Breathe.' A calm voice talked to him. Startling him so much that Wheatley opened his eyes and almost fainted. The black walls of the tube had gone, now a clear glass, Wheatley could see Monique opposite him in a different tube looking as stressed as he felt.

Monique saw him and reached her hand out to him. But what startled Wheatley was a black cable that was lodged into the back of her neck. Monique looked at him, panicked and then suddenly her eyelids drooped as she relaxed into forced slumber.

Trembling, Wheatley raised his own hand and placed it on the back of his neck. A cable was lodged in his own neck. He couldn't feel it, and yet he was soundly attached. Very suddenly everything went black.

Wheatley screamed as he went from feeling numb to feeling pain, nothing but sharp, brutal pain. After what seemed like a year of torture, Wheatley found himself comfortable, cool and at a complete loss of memory.

It was a strange feeling, and Wheatley frowned at himself trying to work out what was wrong with himself. He blinked, stretched his moving components and quickly ran a virus check.

'Hey.' He said quickly to the core next to him. 'What just happened?'

The core with the purple optic just looked at him blankly before turning and taking off on its management rail.

'Well fine! Be like that! Snob! I swear some personality cores...'

Suddenly a voice that wasn't his own echoed inside his own head that made him shudder. 'Report to core refinement facility.'

'Alright!' He said, hurriedly, scooting off on his management rail, unknowingly to him, in completely the wrong direction.

...

AN: Had this idea in my head for a while, and so many people have Wheatley in human form I thought I'd join the club. Woop de do. But hey, it's not all about Wheatley, stick around for some post-portal 2 Chell-ness.

Portal and its characters belong to Steam, not me :(