Wheatley seriously wondered why the programmers at Aperture Science thought it was a good idea to make their machines able to feel pain. Were they sadists or something of that ilk? Then again, these were the same people who thought that giving their shoot-on-sight turrets cute, innocent little voices was a good idea. Ever since he became the new core for GLaDOS' body, he had thought about all sorts of things that he hadn't even considered before: what cake actually tasted like was at the very top of that little list.

But he was digressing. Yes, the core transfer had been incredibly painful (bloody program…) and he would know a thing or two about pain; he had been crushed by a robotic arm and then reconstructed while he was still functioning. Granted, he was just barely still online, but he had felt every jab of a needle, burn of a laser, and screw of a drill. Again, he was digressing. The lady he had been working with all this time looked up at his new body (actually had to look up, not just crane her neck up, no, actually tilt her head back. It was such a good feeling.) He had finally learned her name while he was hastily skimming through the archives and archives of knowledge he had at his disposal. Literally thousands of people were on Aperture's roster; employees and test subjects alike. Chell Portell was her name, it was oddly ironic. So much so that Wheatley couldn't help but think that she had been signed on as a test subject because her last name sounded incredibly close to "portal." Or because her first and surname rhymed. It could have been any reason really, knowing the company like he did now.

However, all good things had to come to an end. As much fun as he was having playing with all of the new functions he had gained, fiddling with each and every little thing he could get his metaphorical hands on, he didn't want to stay within the facility. The big problem now was figuring out how to detach himself from his new body…

Warning! Warning! His hard drive suddenly screamed, a big red warning label flashing across his visor Virus detected! Oh, was that all? Pfft, his brand new firewall could handle some measly little virus easy. No need to worry. The Aperture Science super-powered firewall has failed, please re-boot and try again. A voice chimed far too innocently. Oh bugger… that could be a problem. Oh well, all he had to do was detach himself from his new body, and he would do that once the lift carrying Chell went high enough. Downloading new file… insufficient storage space. Will now delete unnecessary components to make room. Wait a minute, what?

Black Forest cake recipe …Deleted

Fascination with cake … Deleted

Aperture Science British Humor Simulator… Deleted

Humanity. exe... Deleted

Morality. exe... Deleted

Friendship with test subject Chell Portell…

Wait, wait, wait! He didn't want to lose that! That lady was his only-!

…is now useless. Will be deleted.

Now downloading proper program for ideal control over the Enrichment Center…

…Download complete. Thank you for re-programming yourself to fit the Aperture Science credentials. Now you have experiments to run, there is research to be done. Good luck :)

…Reformatting… Complete

Wheatley blinked, what was he doing? He couldn't just let that lady go! She was such a good test subject! And more to the point, why should she get to escape when she had done absolutely nothing? He certainly didn't see her be crushed by that obsolete unit! He didn't see her risking her life (bloody again) to make sure he was alright!

"Actually…" Wheatley began. "Why do we have to leave right now?" He asked, automatically lowering the lift. The look on that lady's face was priceless. Absolutely priceless. If only he had a camera… oh wait! He did!

Click!

That was going to be his new internal desktop image. But future alterations to his person aside, he still had some business to take care of. How would GLaDOS feel if he made her something small and insignificant…?

After all he was the one in charge now.