Testing for the Truth
July 1st 2015
With nothing else to do, he wandered. Through patches of light and onto the darkness that veiled broken rooms. He listened to water hitting the worn brown tiles, and lifted his optic along the stream to look up at the source. All the useless human rooms had not received any repair, but from horizontal windows he could spot pristine test tracks. The blue/grey surfaces shone in the blinding light and the white surfaces nearly eluded his vision with their unearthly glow. It was like staring at the sun. He rolled along endless hallways, sometimes flanked by his reflection in glass windows. Sometimes he looked at himself and remarked his place in the facility. He knew that he was here. There was no question about it. Although gaps and holes in walls twinkled with light in the darkness like the stars in space, he knew that there were lit rooms on the other side Cracks in the foundation right beside them didn't look to him like stars at all. Some aperture tech still twinkled in the darkness; their lights indicating that they were still hooked up, but in a long sleep.
Maybe the supposed 'space' was just an extension of the enrichment center. Maybe he hadn't gone so far. Some days, he found himself looking for space in the lonely halls.
The passage of time wasn't even relevant to him. It always looked the same in Aperture. He could only move on by moving on himself.
There was no telling how long it had been and how many days…how many months had gone by. He'd travelled so far through the facility, into different sights and sounds. It was somewhat tedious to not have a purpose. He would have preferred his old job of tending to humans over what he found himself doing now.
Wheatly was clattering along an old management rail, absently rambling. He started to rate the conditions of each section of the facility; picking out what was good and what was bad. It was a bit of a self-assumed job. There was a slight creak and a jolt ran through him as one track switched to another, heading off to the left. He followed a rail that he knew was leading him back down to manufacturing.
He whistled through a wide open space with hundreds of testing facilities being held in the air.
"..Now-Hold on!…"
He was absolutely positive that he was heading for manufacturing.
A dark wall with a small opening accommodating a test track was revealed before him.
Okay, now he was certain that this was not the right way and not just some detour either…
He entered the test track, regardless and came to a halt right by the ceiling before his rail dipped down to a little over half the height of the room.
It was then that the core was completely sure that he'd just rolled right into a testing chamber.
"This isn't right. Yeah, I know this place. I've got FULL knowledge of it and this definitely is not the place that I know that I should be at…erhm…presently. "
As usual, after his rambling hit back at him from the nearby walls, silence followed. He cocked his optic to the side for a moment and swivelled about to take in his surroundings.
"Actually, this is supposed to be leading me past Duncan's office. A nice fellow, Duncan. He had his er…talents. Some fine talents. I was never really too sure what he did, but I'm pretty sure he was good at it. Not sure where he went either, but I'm positive it's still his office."
Once more, the reception of the only sound around him; himself, faded from his receptors. There was only then a small creaking as he turned all the way to the left.
He encountered large black numbers, a line underneath and directly following, boxes with little symbols on them. The entire sign glowed a dim grey.
"Yes. Now that I'm really thinking about it, this has got to be some mistake. I bet someone's been re-arranging these chambers around a bit. Probably just mixing things up a little. It can get dreadfully boring keeping things the same, so I've heard. So there's someone...someone shuffling the lot of this around. Someone…" He paused for a moment, trailing on that word. For a moment he refused to accept the prospect of…Her. In fact, he'd kept her as far out of his mind as possible all while he was alone.
The voice came from the walls itself, filling the silence, slamming into Wheatly's sides, crushing him between cold, harsh syllables.
"I have."
The robot hollered in response as though something had grabbed him.
"S-SPEAK OF THE BLOODY DEVIL-" It served to push back that familiar sound that came through to him, but only for an instant.
"There you are." She went on, with all the sweetness of a turret. The sensation of tremors started to pass through him. Wheatly found himself rattling about with a nasty little clatter.
"Aha…hear that? All of that shaking around? Sounds as though I've got a few parts loose! It hasn't done me any harm so far, no. I haven't got any concerns. But it's an awful racket isn't it? I think it probably happened when She crushed me and tossed me through the…-"
His entire body twitched; pistons curling, sparks spraying out of his side. It consumed what he was saying for a moment and in that instant, he realized something.
"Okay! It just occurred to me. This is not helping. Not at all…Augh! I'm right back to thinking about Her!"
"I'm right here, you know."
Wheatly's shaking ceased in the slightest. The rattling was now rather dull and unnoticeable. Now he found himself somewhat paralyzed. Still, his voice managed to flow clearly from his speaker.
"Well that's fine! That's okay. Hello! Didn't see you there at first! In fact, I can't see you. But I can hear you loud and clear. You know what? I was JUST thinking about you, actually! By the way, fine job you've done picking up around here, if I do say so myself. Some…major improvements. Everything is looking impeccable. Even…even the back rooms! I'm pretty sure you've replaced some of the…er, tiles. And perhaps you planned exactly how you wanted the cracks to look on the windows. Marvelous job. I've just been…erm…minding my own business. Just…checking up on things. And your…craftsmanship. Great work. This room…gets a solid 6 out of 5. I know that doesn't make too much sense but its showing you that this is an above the average job. It's better than better, really!"
"I know." She replied. The massive AI didn't sound impressed about what Wheatly had shared. She didn't seem interested either. Those words essentially served to shoulder him off. At this point, Wheatly understood that he had to be quiet. Otherwise he'd just be further edging himself into a dark place that he didn't want to be. Maybe, just maybe if he just kept his thoughts to himself, she would say what she had to say and then let him carry on down his rail to his destination.
Despite the silence that followed and the slight urge to nudge at his conversational partner for her to continue, he kept still and absolutely quiet as he'd sought to.
"I will be the first to welcome you to the brand new Aperture Science Personality Sphere testing initiative."
There was a pause.
His lower handle dropped as if he'd lost control of it.
Had he heard that right? She did say Personality Spheres, didn't she? But had she REALLY said that?
"Please slide down the rail and stop in front of the sign."
She was joking. This was just too absurd. After all this time, she'd flat out lost her mind. That was probably the only decent explanation.
"Hey! Hold on just a second. You can still hear me right?" Wheatly didn't move from his spot. He attempted to focus in on the source of the voice, but he couldn't seem to find it. Instead, he addressed himself a little louder than he normally did.
"Since when do you test CORES?" He called out, his voice still tinted with disbelief.
"Since right now." She retorted as though the answer was obvious.
He felt the overwhelming desire to turn to somebody else and address them out of the immense AI's range of hearing.
'Batty…she's become absolutely batty, hasn't she? I knew she was a nasty piece of work but this is something else...'
"Get going. Believe it or not, this is the easy part of the test. "
What did he have to lose? If he just played along with what she was telling him to do, eventually he'd get out of this. There was no question about it. No question…
He let himself roll down the track gently, descending to the halfway height up in the dim white hallway and advanced towards the sign. He paused in front of it and waited for a second or two. While he waited he swung his optic over to stare into the room. It certainly…looked like a pretty standard test. There were buttons, and a box and walls and a door. Everything that he was used to. It was a bit of a stretch to say he knew it from his testing expertise but since he'd been in charge of testing himself, he knew a fair bit more about such things. Supposedly…that wasn't such a bad thing to take away from an otherwise horrific yet strangely enticing experience.
Before him, the sign was spurred to life, and with a sharp TOCK it became completely illuminated.
"Only Cores can solve this test. Good luck."
Absolutely Batty.
He shook his optic from side to side, momentarily closing out the world around him. Despite the absurdity of his situation, the spherical AI felt intimidated none the less. He realised he really didn't want to do this. There was no incentive and no payoff. No good sensation but relief could come from completing some nutter's test. He doubted that solving this test himself would give him that stroke of euphoria he remembered. But sometimes…oh, how part of him wished it would…-his optic snapped back into focus of what was in front of him. No no. There would be no more of that. He was getting off track again.
"Alright, let's take a look.." He began, glancing up and following the rails through the room. Experimentally he moved forward along them.
The chamber was considerably small and plain. All of the surfaces were white pannels. There was one cube on right side of the room. To the left, right across from the cube was a red button sunken into the floor. Behind it was a slight ledge and a circular door. A path of blue dots ran across the floor and up the wall to the door. The management rail tracks coiled to particular locations. Most of them were around the button and cube. One path diverted and rose up to the door but stopped right before it in a dead end.
"There's a storage cube annnnd a button. Only the standard necessities, of course. Now, if I remember correctly, the cube goes on the button. Or…is it the button that goes on the cube? Either way, it doesn't matter. They've got to be together. One of top of the other. Probably in that order…"
First, he rolled over to the cube. The rail descended a little more till he was level with it. He stared at the cube. The cube didn't do anything. Now, if this cube had legs it would likely be making it's way over to the button…or maybe not. Walking cubes didn't really seem to like buttons. Or it could be that the buttons didn't like them. Since the buttons didn't like the walking cubes, they kept them away. Maybe he could persuade that button to think differently about the cube. Smoothly, he wheeled back up the halfway height and back to the button.
"Allo, button! Grand and red…I couldn't help but notice you here, all alone waiting for a cube. Well, today is your lucky day! Just look right across the room there. Yes, over to the left a little bit. Right there! A cube! Actually, that cube is waiting for you. Isn't that a great coincidence? I think the two of you should get close. On top of each other, even! Maybe open the door while you're at it. Then, you could let me through that door to the end of this test."
He stopped reciting for a moment to focus for any changes. He glanced back at the cube. Everything was completely still. The button still lightly glowed red and it didn't move up nor down or shift in any way. It merely glared back up at the sphere.
"Well, if you and that cube have had any…er…issues in the past or some differences, I feel like now would be the best time to forgive and forget and move on. At some point, holding a grudge is going to be just ridiculous and it isn't going to get you anywhere…but space, probably. Alternatively, right back where you started but just…trust me on this one. I know what I'm talking about. You might even want to kill that cube! Get rid of that cube now and it won't be a problem, of course but then you haven't got a cube anymore, and what are you going to do then? Seriously, if you have any murderous intent, I would strongly advise that you just drop it and make up with your ol' chum so you can open that door!"
Wheatly paused for a response, but there was none. Maybe the button was thinking over what advice he'd given it.
"Look, if you won't do it for the cube, then do it for me. I'm a decent fellow; I don't ask for much. I can probably even repay you! Anything you want; you name it and I'll bring it to you. Any favors…if you want to move to a room with a view. Yes, I'm offering. Do what I tell you and I'll arrange it right away. It'll be a long process…paperwork involved…but I'm willing to do it for you. Please open the door."
It was just about as silent as every waking hour before this had been. He reflected upon the silence of the space when that other core was quiet for a while. Most of the time he wouldn't keep going on about the same old things all around them. Sometimes Wheatly thought about his voice when he was alone in the dark hallways, rolling down his management rail. It was as though the words were engrained in his audio receptors.
"Wow." Her voice came close into him, burrowing into every empty space in the room. "I honestly didn't think that you were too much of a moron to solve such a simple test, but I suppose I was just lying to myself."
That word pricked at him. It sent a jolt through him coming from his center.
"I AM NOT A MORON!" He retorted automatically. His moving parts pushed outwards in an attempt to fan out. The most it did was extend his optic forwards far as it would go and cause a second involuntary twitch. How many times did he have to say it till it really sunk in with anyone? How many times did he have to deny it until other people knew it just wasn't true? Hanging between that button and cube, closer to the ground than usual, it dawned on him just how small he really was. As small as he'd ever been, really. She was the one who was massive and impossibly loud; not him. He shrunk in on himself, bringing his optic in till things seemed a little darker and his peripheral vision was blotted out. Wheatly really wished she'd just let him be. Give him another job and send him off on his way. He wanted so badly to wheel back out of this room, but something told him he wouldn't be able to. If She wanted him to stay there then he very well would. There was no say in the matter. The AI was trapped in this box now and his only hope of escape was to test. Like some…human.
It didn't make any sense. He wanted to know why she brought him here…but at the same time he felt like it was something he could easily do without. He didn't want to know; he just wanted to go back to not thinking about what came before all of this. He could do without the reminders.
"I think I should point out that all the other cores that took this test before you passed. They executed this entire track perfectly and didn't hesitate."
Wheatly kept his optic trained on the floor, his mind whirring with agitation. He was almost certain that he was completing the test properly. Otherwise, how else was a bloody core supposed to move a box over to a button? He remembered how the test subject lady had done it previously; picking up the cube and throwing it on a button. Wheatly huffed; it sounded a bit like white noise.
"Hrm…"
How was he supposed to pick the cube up? He didn't have that lifty thing that was on the portal device; so it was safe to assume that he couldn't solve this problem like she had. In fact, since he WASN'T a human, he'd have to do this his way. Then, he had an idea.
"Excuse me! Hello? Are you still watching and listening?" Wheatly called out, shifting his sight upwards.
"I can't help you solve this, metal ball. It's against test protocol. You know that." As she replied he realized she was really just watching in silence. Already she was starting to sound a bit impatient.
"Yes, yes I know. Positively awful zapping happens if you do. It's a terrible feeling really. I wouldn't want to go through that again…" he punctuated his sentence with a nervous laugh. "Err…but what I'm really asking is if there's a socket on the wall I could plug into. Is that part of the test? Because I think that a socket would be a very useful thing to have at this point in time."
"Do you see a socket anywhere?" Glados hissed. It was somewhat of a rhetorical question.
"Well…" Wheatly began in reply, turning himself around to look from wall to wall. The only thing he saw was a rail travelling at box level straight from the box to the button. He couldn't go down that rail since the box was in the way, but it's not like he needed to. There was another rail leading over right next to the button. He figured it must have been yet another mistake of Her's. "No, no I don't. But! I thought that maybe you could pull one out upon request. And I could use it to solve this test and I can finally be on my way."
He could nearly visualize the squint of her optic.
"What are you planning?"
"Nothing! Nothing!" Wheatly blurted out. He really meant it but it occurred to him just how suspicious it sounded. "I promise that I am definitely going to complete this test. But the problem is I can't. I can't solve it like this. I haven't got any hands, or the portaling device to hold it with."
"Have you been listening to me?" Glados growled. "This is a test for CORES. It's easy. Frankly, I have better things to do than watch you accomplish absolutely nothing. I know that that's what you often do, but marking you off as a failure doesn't exactly wield any useful test results."
Wheatly shrunk in on himself only as much as he'd allow. She was not sounding very content with him at all.
"Alright, I heard you. I know this is a test for cores. But what I don't understand is why there isn't a socket available." He spoke with a degree of defiance. "If this test is really for cores instead of humans, I know that sockets are not things just any old human can use! Cubes and buttons are human things! Humans pick the cubes up and drop them on the buttons. I've seen em' do it! CORES open up panels and do what jobs they're assigned. Whether it's a job in manufacturing or tending to smelly humans-"
"Or destroying the facility by stealing my body?" Her words were becoming increasingly biting. Her aggressive tone circled him viciously. "The socket ISN'T part of the test. If it was, there would be one."
"If you just give me one socket, I'll solve this test, really! Just one little control panel. I know what to do!"
"Hrm."
She dwelled on that reflective sound for a moment, as though viewing the situation with a new disappointment.
"Perhaps I should have informed you that if you fail, you will be punished. I have a lot of ideas. Things that will come pretty close to killing you, probably."
That prospect pressed heavy upon him. It compressed him like the grip of her claws. He was afraid of asking her to elaborate. He knew what She meant and he didn't want to visualize any of it.
"I'm going to time you. I'm counting this test…and you a complete failiure in 3…2..."
Wheatly snapped into full attention, his parts rattling once again, drowning out his sudden frantic thoughts.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! I'll solve the test! I just need the socket! Just give me that just this once. I know how to do this! I won't ask you for this ever again! It doesn't matter if it's the last socket I ever see! I-I mean I'd prefer if it wasn't and I don't want it to be the LAST thing I'll see but please, please, please let me show you I can solve this!"
The pleas didn't even feel like they were coming from him. He was isolated from what he was transmitting, hanging helpless in the white room.
Every single face of it WAS her.
He was cornered.
It had worked though. Glados's countdown had stopped dead. Her speakers didn't make a sound for a few horrendous seconds. The room was as silent as space.
"Fine."
That word softly touched the atmosphere of the room. Oddly enough, her voice was devoid of its previous irritation. She'd gone back to how she'd first sounded when the test began.
Gradually, Wheatly's body eased and ceased it's rattling. He loosened the tension in the pistons behind his optic. His center ring drooped till he faced the floor.
"HUghh…" he groaned in relief, closing the lids in front of his optic for a moment.
The panels on the wall about Wheatly's height from the cube's rail flipped open and the socket he'd requested slid into view. He'd be able to reach it from the management rail and carry out his test-solving plan. He'd never been so glad to see a panel like that in all of his days. Sometimes the sockets had caused downright terrifying event that made it feel like his inner components were going to detach from each other and drop to the bottom of his casing in a mangled up pile. This time around he knew that something good would come of this. Maybe he would impress her so much she'd let him pass and go free.
He rolled over and eased back into it. Suddenly, he could feel each limb of every panel beneath and surrounding him. He experimentally lifted one floor panel off to his left about a meter in front of him. The machinery groaned and swished upwards. It had been a long time since he last used these but it was just about as easy as he recalled. Wheatly focused on all of the panels and the limbs that held the entire room in place. Then he eased them all over one way and rotated the ENITRE room by a 45 degree angle. There was a tremendous metallic moan as it tilted and was eased to a stop. The once stubborn cube left its place and slid along the floor; which had essentially become a massive ramp and fell into the shallow indent and pressed on the button. The panels groaned and dust was tossed up between the cracks. In the wake of this much command over a single testing chamber, Wheatly had to take a moment to keep himself in the present.
"Haha! Did you see that? Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Anyone can attest to that. Solved as any good core would solve it."
Among the cacophony, the door on an upper level swished open and a rail extended into the room through the opening. It joined with the dead-end rail with a click, in order for the rail he was on to continue on. Wheatly disconnected himself from the socket and propelled himself onwards.
Following that, there was only the soft hum of the mechanisms in the management rail as he slid upwards to the door.
Truly, it was a bit concerning; She wasn't saying anything.
He hesitated; wondering if that was really the end of the test. The personality sphere sincerely hoped that would be the case, and he didn't want to hope in vain. Now that he was no longer wracking his mind about how to solve that test, he dwelled on his situation. Why would she need to test cores like this anyways? She had robots that moved like humans did, and maybe just maybe she had some actual humans he didn't know about. Cores were a different story entirely. Anywhere he wanted to go, he had to roll along a management rail or be carried. There was just no making his way around on an independent basis. Wheatly hung by the door to the next room. He could tell that he was afraid, and he had every reason to be.
He waited for her voice. Didn't dare to speak aloud again. The AI knew that he just wasn't going to get anywhere through time or location from merely staying by the door and staring out to the darkness in the round gap ahead. Without much of a cue, he advanced forward into the shade of a darker chamber.
Short Author's note!:
Hello everyone! This may appear to be a very bizzare fic. I'm a bit nervous about posting it for this reason. I'm planning for it to have 3 parts/chapters. Hopefully by the end, most of this will make sense. So all I'm asking is for a bit of patience. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.