A/N Yeah, I know, I should be updating Cross My Heart, but it's with my beta reader (So I technically have no excuse not to be doing my semi-final read over of chapter 3) But I figured I'd send you this as a buffer, and yes, the movie 'Pay it Forward' does influence this, in a way. I saw the title screen in class before we even watched it and remembered a story my dad told me about the concept and his experience with it (He was unaware of the movies existence) and so before the movie even started, I had this story set.
This will be on the side, but seeing as my main fic is taking so long, this will probably be finished first. (In which case I'll get my head around self-editing and submitting my other side fic, knowing me it'll probably come out before this is done, they're both up to chapter 6, unedited, but the other fic has a planned ending.)
I'll try and avoid A/N's from 3… 2… 1.
The first link of a long chain.
Wheatley had been in Space for a long time.
Two and a half years, to be exact. Well, to be exact he would have to add that it was exactly two years, four months, six days, twenty three hours, nine minutes and fifty four… five, seconds. According to his Aperture Science Time Tracking and Displaying Apparatus.
Which in hindsight; wasn't that long actually, compared to how long he'd been alone, wandering the halls of the relaxation vaults that had resembled more of an ancient catacomb than anything else, decaying walls that crumbled as he passed, the slow gathering rust on his rail. To negate his loneliness he had spent his days talking to corpses, even if it didn't sate his loneliness, he could say it was to pass the time, not that there was anyone alive to say it to… But that was before he'd met the lady... Then he just spoke to a mute.
He missed those one-sided conversations.
Now it was just Space, stars twinkling curiously from a squillion miles away like a million sparkling eyes watching you from around the galaxy, further away it was easy to spot unmapped planets glittering like half buried treasures. She would have loved to look up at these at night, maybe she did… probably not. She probably avoided looking up here; all she would think about is… well, him. Or not, maybe she forgot about him. Maybe she couldn't, chances were, she was still in the facility, testing, she probably never left.
He hoped she did, she would be better off without him. He just really really wanted to say sorry. Maybe it was the guilt, maybe it was because he was stranded in Space, but never the less; he figured it was something he had to do, which would be difficult, just him and Space…
Space and Space Core of course.
"Wanna go home." Came a meek whisper over his local radio, he was still surprised there was a signal around here, not a strong one, not strong enough to contact anything on Earth for example, maybe a passing ship if you were lucky enough for one to pass, which hadn't been the case thus far, but strong enough for the Core behind him to blabber constantly about Space. It was certainly better than silence, but when he spoke he wished it had been silent if only to get rid of the synthetic headache he swore he had.
The voice in his head was a familiar voice, and it wasn't until now that he realised how quiet he had been in the void of Space, had he been that distracted that he hadn't noticed the dead silence over his radio? Maybe his battery was running low, his processors slowly dying off. "Wanna go home, wanna go to Earth." It continued, almost distraught. An odd tone of voice from anyone other than him, was his friend the one who was dying? God, he hoped not, he couldn't deal with that, he couldn't deal with being alone again for another '99999' days, he had counted; it was hellish if spoken mildly! Wheatley spun around in a sudden burst of haste to try and see the other Core, only to find its' yellow glowing optic focused forlornly down at the bright blue orb below them.
They were near Earth again?! Wheatley spun in his place to stare down at it in astonishment, if they were close maybe he could direct himself to some debris and get a bit of a push towards the atmosphere, he could certainly survive the fall, all Aperture equipment could survive up to 4000 Kelvin, but the Scientists had told them this was a lie, and he would die if they chose to throw him into the incinerator, it would not, however, be a quick death. But he had survived the other things that they said would kill him. It was the landing that worried him. But he was Aperture made, surely he could make it? Or—or maybe he could let off a signal, call for help! He paused, turning away again and eyeing the nearby satellite, which had drifted in from the dark void of space, with a sudden burst of disdain. The Aperture logo still shining true after so many years up in Space, silently he debated whether it was Irony or coincidence that it was that satellite they had drifted near, and not another.
But if he was to call for help… who? He had one phone number in his database and it certainly wasn't a peaceful thought. No, Space was definitely safer than that… But Bloody Hell, he wanted to go back to Earth.
The other Core continued to mutter regretfully and Wheatley came to the conclusion that he had no better option at his disposal; it wasn't like he could do anything about it either, not like She would suddenly have a change of heart and drag them back, or his lady would burst through the atmosphere in a Space shuttle to rescue him now that he was in sight of the planet. He would join in on the conversation, if only to whittle away the hours before they passed the blue planet and left it behind. "We don't really have rockets mate." Wheatley replied quietly over the radio, he hadn't realised how regretful he'd been over the situation until he spoke, and closed his shutters tightly to block out the light the Earth was reflecting, almost mocking him. The Core orbiting him fell silent for a moment and Wheatley was afraid he had upset his little friend a bit too much this time, and he hadn't even snapped back at him about how wonderful Space—or Earth was. He just went silent.
Had his long lasting battery run out from all the chatting he did? Was Wheatley next?
Finally the dreadful silence was broken: "Space is boring." The Core whispered mournfully, keeping its' gaze locked on the Earth with the most dejected look possible for a Core.
'You finally realise this after two and a half years?' Wheatley thought with an inward sigh. He swore he had counted nearly every star in the known galaxy before losing count at one million, three hundred and fifty two thousand, nine hundred and sixty seven. He'd also catalogued seventy two new planets that as far as he knew, hadn't been mapped yet. Not by Aperture anyway. Though technically, Space Core was the one to name everything and tuck it away for later. "Yeah." Wheatley finally replied instead of the snarky comment he had stored away. "Space is a tad boring isn't it?"
"Wanna go home." It repeated resolutely, even as it drifted past him in its' orbit, it's gaze remained locked on the Earth, golden glow piercing and sorrowful as it looked down at the swirling white clouds, blue death trap of water, and green expanse of an undefined 'landing zone.' He wanted to go home too; he didn't repeat it endlessly though.
"I know." Wheatley muttered, slightly frustrated now. "You just mentioned that, a minute ago, literately less than 60 seconds ago." He groaned. Twisting slightly himself to catch a glimpse of Earth. He didn't realise he would miss Aperture this much, he had wanted to escape, yes, that was the whole reason he had woken his lady up in the first place, and after drifting in Space for two and a half… well not quite a half, a third really, years, he didn't want anything more than something solid… and to apologise, oh how badly he wanted to apologise. "What would you do anyway? If we went back there, we don't have arms, or legs. We couldn't do much but sit there really, on the ground. Or die, if we were in water, which would be even more boring, than the whole sitting there thing, because you'd be dead, couldn't even talk, or think actually."
'Say sorry'Was Wheatley's first thought, it always was, he didn't think of much else when he was left to his own devices or managed to drown out the Space Cores inane talk of Space and stars and suns and moons. He didn't mind if he died soon after, well, he did, he really rather not die, at all, but if he could say sorry, he might be fine with the whole 'dying' thing, android hell certainly didn't seem like that bad a place compared to the guilt that had been gnawing at his circuits for the past two and a third years, maybe he wouldn't go, if he managed a quick 'sorry.' Though after the whole 'betraying' thing and the 'killing' part, he would most likely end up in android hell.
The Core, behind him again, sighed dramatically, almost like a depressed child. "Wanna say hi." It managed, he had heard this one before, why had he bothered asking, everything out of the Core's figurative mouth was Space related. Well, at least the whole Earth thing was over and both of them could stop being so depressed about never being on Earth again.
"To the sun?" He humoured dryly. This conversation had been repeated eighty six times, every time they came within twenty million miles of a star. Space Core would want to say hi to the nearby death ball, of course they were lucky enough to not get close enough for this, otherwise they wouldn't be here now, because Wheatley was fairly certain that the temperature of the sun was well over 4000 degrees kelvin. But Space would still want to play meet and greet, get all chummy with the flaming ball of death, than get into a panicked debate, with himself, over what to say when he finally drew close enough to his new friend.
"No. To the lady." The Space Core whispered quietly, almost shyly. If he were human he would perhaps be blushing, however, if he was human, he would have exploded two and a third years ago, well, his database told him that humans didn't actually explode when thrust into a vacuum, all the fluid drained out of them through the pores in their skin and crystallised around them in tiny droplets, to this, the database added that humans are 90% water, which was classified as a fluid.
Luckily the lady hadn't been out in Space as long as they had.
Wheatley gave up trying to see anything distinct from this distance away from the Earth and turned back to the Core in surprise. Dead silent he stared, full of shame and guilt and fear of what would happen if he did eventually see his Lady. 'Say hi to the lady, his lady.' He'd be happy with a 'hi' to the woman who he betrayed, a hello if he wanted to push his luck really far. Not that he had much luck. But really; he preferred to just say 'sorry.' If that was all right with everyone, especially her; if she wanted to kill him afterwards, then that was fine, well, not really 'fine,' once again, he much rather live if that was alright with everyone, but overall; he just wanted to get that sorry in.
"I want to say that I'm sorry… for everything." Wheatley whispered over the audio chatter and the slow build of static too low for him to pay much attention too, though he did glance pointedly at the satellite, slowly drawing closer.
Space Core's optic brightened excitedly as he looked over to his companion. "To the lady?"
Wheatley gave a short, synthesised laugh. "Yeah, to the lady." 'Don't even know her name.'
The Cores floated in silence for a while, occasionally Wheatley would catch the occasional 'Want to go to Earth' from the Core orbiting him at the usual pace.
Slowly he became fully aware of the static that had slowly been building up.
He was picking up a signal from the satellite!
Space Core had drifted slightly away from him, and despite their advanced radios, its voice was dim in comparison to what it usually was when it was closer, but even from here he could here Space Core babbling about Earth and Home and the Lady.
Wheatley glanced back at Earth, and then at the satellite that had appeared in the corner of his vision again, the Aperture logo blindingly obvious and taunting him mercilessly.
Aperture... 'You're not a bad Core, and you want to prove that right? For her?' His thoughts chimed in happily. 'She won't just believe you're a better Core because you said sorry through a bloody satellite.'
For her. This human 'karma' had to stop biting him in the metaphorical arse sometime. Regret, on the other hand, could come in a million different forms, and after this, he was sure he would be experiencing a whole lot of it.
"Hang on a sec Space." Wheatley called, trying to hide the defeat in his tone, because he really rather not do this. The Core spun slightly to look over to him with a bright glow, optic curious and sorrowful as Wheatley focused, searching through his database for the one and only particular number which should be startling obvious because once again, he only had one number there. "I have another horrible idea."
'But it's better than hanging out here until our batteries run out.' He thought solemnly, punching the number in internally and waiting as the most basic of dialling tones nearly deafened him over his speakers, the two Cores hadn't heard anything but each other's voices over the years and the new sound was suddenly the most exciting, dangerous and scary sound in the vicinity.
The dial tone rang out the first time, and he was so tempted to give up. He wanted to give up; he didn't want to go back there, laying his cards on the table before he got too close to losing it all without his ace of fours and knowing she wasn't asleep both added to this. But Space Core was brighter now, excited. "Gonna go home? Gonna go home!"
Going to see his lady.
His lady, to apologise. As he had wanted to do for how long now?
Right, two years, four months, six days, twenty three hours, thirteen minutes, and 36… 37 seconds. How could he forget?
He dialled again, one ring, two rings.
"Aperture laboratories; How may we kill you?" Came the snide sarcastic voice of GLaDOS. It paused, dropping the falsely sweet tone to growl out a dark: "Hello Moron."
"Not a-" He faltered. 'Don't want to go back, I never want to go back, it's safer out here, better than there, anywhere was better than there, She'll kill me in the most painful- excruciatingly painful way possible for what I did, and if She doesn't kill me, then the other she will.' "L-Listen uh… Gladys, is it?"
"GLaDOS." She corrected, tone deadpan and… amused? Oh God, if She was amused then he was so utterly stuffed wasn't he? Right stuffed, in so, so many ways.
"Of course. But uh, that C-core that flew out with me... yellow optic, first one she stuffed onto me back… uh… then. He doesn't deserve this whole, stuck in Space forever thing, really, what did he do? If uh… If anything, he should be rewarded for helping you defeat me, right? So could you oh, I don't know... Bring him back? To Earth?" He managed to grind out; waiting nervously as Space Core suddenly went silent, like a child waiting nervously as their parents talked out an important discussion with another that would land them in something exciting and wonderful.
How long had it been since anyone had described Aperture as 'exciting' or 'wonderful?'
Everything fell silent, actually. Space had never been as silent as it was right now, and he couldn't shake the feeling she was doing this on purpose… had Space ever been this silent? He knew that it didn't carry sound; his database had reminded him after three hours of telling Space Core to shut up.
The second Core stared at him brightly with an intense yellow optic. The only light that shone in the darkness besides the sun, maybe because he had not dared to look at, the moon, which Wheatley was too traumatized and guilt ridden to look at, and of course, the Earth. "Space Buddy? Are you sure?" It whimpered, Wheatley looked back up at him, then down at the Earth.
No, bloody hell he was anything but sure.
She finally broke the silence with a dark chuckle. "Now why would I do that metal ball?"
'Oh, so we're back to the metal ball thing, better than moron I guess.' But Wheatley was stuck now and he knew it. When all the test subjects were dead, and the Reactor Core warnings were going off, he was stuck then, and when She had grabbed him with a claw, he was very stuck then, and when he was launched into Space with a Portal on the moon, he was incredibly stuck, he was still stuck. But now he was stuck with a most likely life threatening choice, and he really didn't want to make it; really, what could he offer to the giant omnipotent AI- except him?
It was a very well-known fact, that Wheatley was a coward, so he wouldn't go that far right-? No, no he was much safer up here believe it or not. It was already decided, he wasn't going, he'd made that decision as soon as She had picked up the phone and he was sticking by it.
"Offer Space! Full of stars! And stars! And... Stars..." The Core went silent, giving a great huff before the new inevitable; "Space is boring." He sighed dramatically. "Wanna go home, wanna go home, wanna go home, wanna go home-"
"In fact, why would I do anything for you?" She continued ruthlessly. "You're worthless. You nearly blew up my facility, you betrayed your only friend, you can't get anything right, you were designed that way." Something triggered in Wheatley.
'Only friend.' Seemed to echo in his small frame, followed closely by his inner voice. 'I do screw up everything.' Oh, well that's helpful, thanks Captain Obvious. 'But let me get this one thing right.' Much better. His conscience, he guessed. 'Do it for the lady! Do it to prove to her that I'm worthy of forgiveness—heck, I should do it so I have that one chance to beg for it.'
"Alright then." Wheatley managed, unable to believe he was able to talk, let alone be aware of what he was saying. But the thought of his lady spurred him on. "Take me in exchange for rescuing Space Core—from Space, you can do anything with me, but let him do what he wants- I just want to apologise to... To the Lady. That's all I want, she's there right? "
The link was silent, and for a moment he was worried that She had hung up. He started to pray She had, so he could possibly not die… then he began pray She hadn't, because her face kept coming back to him, the moment he betrayed her, the moment he slammed the claw into the elevator, the moments she stared up at the screen with the biggest saddest eyes, watching them slowly be hidden by hatred and loathing as he stared back down at her, the moment she walked into his 'lair' and had the grimmest most determined look on her face, and the moment she was hanging on for dear life and he told her to let go.
He didn't even know who he was praying to, usually humans prayed to some guy called 'God.' But Wheatley didn't even know this man, so saw no point in doing so. He was just praying to anything and everything, and soon he found himself praying to her. And then finally, and with sickening clarity:
"Fine."
It sent chills through his circuits, not that they weren't there before, Space was absolutely freezing and he had been living with it for what seemed like forever. But even as he struggled to come to terms with exactly what She had said and exactly what he had done, something tugged at his circuits, drawing him closer to the nearby satellite. He struggled desperately but the zero gravity atmosphere just wasn't letting up.
"R-really?" He managed, if only to fill the silence. "A-and she's there? The… the lady?"
"She's currently in my new, more life threatening, testing track." GLaDOS replied with an eerie calm, and despite the description, Wheatley felt an unbelievable joy well up within him, it didn't matter what the test was, the lady could solve it easy. And when she got out, He could apologise!
If he survived.
Space Core bounced near him as it drew closer too, spinning its optic around wildly; eye darting around in excitement. "Going to go home, to Earth, Gonna go home, see Lady... Space buddy can apologise to lady!" It cried over the radio, Wheatley struggled not to wince at the sudden sound; every sound was making him jump right now, in the void of Space when sound didn't even carry.
"Yeah..." he managed nervously. "Space buddy can apologise... If he's lucky." Which he most likely won't be according to the dim chuckle over the radio, had she not hung up yet? Oh bloody—this was going to hurt wasn't it? Whatever was about to happen, it was going to hurt and She wanted to listen to his screams. Even if the lady did survive this new testing track, would he survive long enough to apologise?
"Thank you." The Core beside him suddenly whispered as they were plugged into the satellite, suddenly aware of the ears that could hear them. "What can Space do to thank Space buddy?" He seemed so earnest, so bright and hopeful. That was okay, he wasn't the one going to Android Hell.
Wheatley paused, thinking deeply. He could ask him for anything really; take his place; not that GLaDOS would be tricked. Ask him to find the lady in her testing track and get her to rescue him...? But she wouldn't come, after what he's done she's probably already planned an escape without him. He could try and break him free, but without hands that was impossible.
"Nothing mate, just uh… leave it." Wheatley told him quietly. "Thanks is enough." The Yellow Eyed Core's optic trembled.
"N-no! Space will help Space Buddy! How can I thank you! Pay you back?!" He wasn't going to let up was he? No, he wanted to do something for him, but there was nothing he could do. It was impossible, pointless, unless he came up with a task for him to do-
"How about, instead of uh… paying me back, you pay the favour forward, to someone else? I don't have a use for one, really, nothing you can do, nothing I can do, so h-how about, for me, you be nice to someone else, or maybe someone's? Three people? That sounds right, very worthy doesn't it? And then, if you're done, and still not happy with it, or uh, instead of them paying you back, since you were doing it for me, then you could tell them to pass it on. Would that uh, sit well with you?" He finally managed, something in him told him it was a dreadful idea, really, what could one small favour to the Yellow-eyed Spacer to for him in the long run? Or anyone? But he didn't have much else to work with did he? What could the Core do anyway? It was a sphere with handles, a real load of help right there. And along the phone line, the giant female AI was silent; there were no snarky comments or dark chuckles and no taunts whatsoever. So it was obviously a bad idea if She was shocked into silence.
"Pay it forward? T-to someone else? Who needs it more? Alright Space Buddy!" The Core chirped happily, overly pleased with the idea. The both sunk into the ports on the satellite with a dull 'click.' And something charged through his systems.
And slowly but surely he felt himself being tugged away from the arena of Space, becoming loose strings of data as he was drained from his body like a drink.
'Pay it forward.' Was the one tangible thought he became aware of. 'Well at least someone could benefit… Space Core is a nice bloke, he'll certainly try… but he couldn't help me. No-one could. Not where I'm going.'
'After all, what could one small favour do?'