AN: Hello. Okay, now let's start all over again, shall we? And I'll try my best to make this original from all of the other fictions on this site! Give me feedback, as usual… I want to get so much better than I am right now so please tell me if I need to work on some things here and there. Anyway, I'll shut up and start this fanfiction! Also, please tell me if there is any grammar errors or spelling errors, or anything like that. Don't be afraid to speak up! :D

Chapter 1 (The Hopeful)

Let's just start with one, true, and very apparent fact, Wheatley wasn't really known for knowing too many things. I know you probably just said aloud, "No, I never thought of that," with much heavy sarcasm. However, it was true. It was obvious, but true. He wasn't called the Intelligence Damping Sphere and been called a moron everyday for nothing. [He would like to advise you that he is NOT a moron, thank you] However, one thing he knew was for certain, and he also believed in it, and that was that he could count forever on places he would rather be right now. Well, he would want to be anywhere, except here. Some humans a long time ago said that they loved the place where they were created (or in this case, born) but that didn't apply to Wheatley for a handful of reasons. He hated this place with as much simulated hatred you could possibly think of. Nowhere else in this entire universe made him fell so neurotic, jumpy and… afraid. He was so afraid… so afraid that he wished he was back in space, up in the stars. Of course, it was boring there, of course, absolutely. However, if he was up there in the stars once again, tackling absolute boredom while listening to that poor corrupted core who just blabbered on about the joys of space (which it wasn't "that" great, by the way), it would be better than worrying constantly.

She wasn't cowardly, right? No, old "What's-her-name", who was the symbol of human resistance in Aperture, was never was afraid, either that or she was really good at hiding it… Anyway, he wished that he could be as brave and as fearless as her. He hoped that someday he could bring down Her just like his old human friend did, but that's very doubtful. Dang, a human brought something as huge and powerful as Her. He still couldn't believe it and it made him terrified of his own friend. Well, he was always scared, but I suppose you get the point. At this point in time, he only wished that she was safe, and more importantly, alive. Oh, please don't be dead, just DON'T be dead. She didn't look good the last time he had seen her. The lack of oxygen in space caused her to go pale from the last minutes he saw the lady, and when she let him go in the vast space of absolutely nothing. It was then that Wheatley realized that she deserved her freedom, by all means. She really did. She sacrificed almost everything and anything to get where she is (or supposedly is) now. She tried so hard and just where things were starting to get bleak, the woman's determination to be set free out in the real world rose up to ten times than it was before. There seemed to be one rule that she always followed and that was that she NEVER gave up and that was one rule to live and die with. He hoped that 'She' had at least had somewhat of an artificial heart and gave the human her freedom she rightfully deserved. It would be depressing if She forced her to test again, as well, and if she was still here. He prayed for his life that she was free, and safe, outside in the open world. Making human friends that didn't attempt to murder her.

He didn't even know this woman's name and it was disappointing that he didn't. He barely even knew her, but he could've had a newer, much different life. He would be free with her! Well, if he could have found a way to get out of Her chassis that long time ago, he could've been free. That chassis, though, good God, it's enough to turn the sanest into the mad. When all that power went straight to the head, you had to two voices talking to you. One of them was your own, convincing you to stop and realize your actions. The other was Greed, Selfishness, Hatred and Aggression all combined in one, in a big giant evil range of emotions, seeming to 'peer pressure' you into horrible things. It's hard to explain when you haven't been in the situation yourself. He can't believe that he'll fell for that though. The Itch, the peer pressuring, and horrible temper, he all fell for it. And in the end, he never won. He was worse than Her. And that's saying a lot, since She was a villain, an absolutely mad villain. Yet, he was worse than Her, gosh, he betrayed his one and only friend. At least he thought they were friends. [Oh God, he needs to change the subject, he's getting really touchy and simulated emotions were coursing through him as he was thinking about this.]

Instead of his partner in crime being with him, he has Her. Ugh, nothing is worse than Her. He couldn't understand how his rebellious friend, how smart she was, could team up with such a nasty bad character, GLaDOS. Maybe that's why he was so livid at her the last time they saw each other, the reason why he said all of those nasty things. For a long time, he tried his best to convince himself that they both were outside, with him talking nonstop about nonsense, and she always listening, nodding and smiling from time to time, but that didn't seem to help. He wishes he had the guts (not literally) to delete her from his memory but he couldn't do it. But, why? It would be much easier to forget her that way and all of this simulated emotional pain will go away but he felt cold every time he tried to delete his memories of the lady. It took him a long time to realize the truth. That truth is that he didn't want to forget her and he didn't know why. You never know if they will cross paths again, but that's a very slim chance, isn't it? Alright, seriously though, this is the last time he is thinking about her. No more thinking about that lady. Only guilt will come.

Anyway, the good news… The only good news was that he had arms and legs. He was now a mobile android (Thank God that GLaDOS didn't put him into a human body, or an android body that impersonated a human, the thought made him sick. But let's not give her any ideas…You won't tell her, right?) He was still a personality core but instead a little rebuilt and he was plugged into robotic limbs. Now why did She do This? The answer wasn't at all obvious. It didn't make any sense. She says it's because the punishment in space wasn't good enough and that was only the woman's (don't think about her, don't think about her) idea. However, this isn't something you would consider a punishment at all! He was actually thankful that he now can walk and do all sorts of great stuff! Arms were pretty useful, too.

She even let him go outside for fresh air (again not literally) every once and while. Honestly, She actually forced him to, saying that she couldn't handle him being in the facility for too long. He's pretty sure that GLaDOS is afraid that he'll break something very expensive and she'll not be able to fix it. That and she cannot handle his rambling, but who is he going talk to, anyhow? The wall? There was no other personality constructs other than him, but maybe if She gets bored, there be others, maybe. Wheatley didn't get his hopes up on that though. The new cores will probably be programmed just sit there and humiliate him, torture him, or scream at him for no reason, or something scary like that, because that sounds like a plan that GLaDOS could come up with (again, don't give her any ideas if she doesn't think of that plan…) However, of course she didn't just let him go out in the in open world, being able to do whatever he wanted. That was the beautiful and hard-to-get freedom, but she didn't want him free. She wanted a punishment. A slow punishment that is, when she thinks of any great approvable, violent ideas. She threatened him that she'll destroy him aggressively and never reassemble him if he stayed outside later than 4:00 p.m., just in case if Wheatley gets any horrible ideas to think he is free. He's not sure if she is bluffing, but a threat like that wouldn't want you to find out if she is, huh? Better not take the chances…

Hmm… What else? Outside is amazing! Although, not what he quite what he expected it to be. Wasn't it supposed to be green outside with trees, mounds of water, and fruits and vegetables? Either way, this wasn't quite what any Aperture science construct would think of when they see the outdoors. At least it had vibrant colors and very warm, the reverse of Aperture, and that made him feel better, despite all of the things that have happened in the past. Anyhow, there was light blue sky up above everything and it was accompanied with these fluffy-like things called "clouds" and there was a very bright, yellow and hot circle in the sky that was a light source. The sun. Wheatley had actually seen it in space but it looked much different than it is now. Anyway, on the ground there was dirt and miles and miles of strange grass-like stocks almost as yellow golden as the sun. Gosh, they went down for miles. It looked like a big golden sea that created waves of movement in one direction whenever the wind blew. He heard from GLaDOS that it was something along the lines of "wheat" but he didn't know if he was just messing with him or not, because wheat must be what humans ate… you know, wheat bread products, but that was just a guess. It didn't look very appetizing if you asked him. It looked rough and probably wouldn't feel too good if you had it in your mouth either, but he wasn't a human expert, he didn't know.

It stayed like this for a long time actually. Wheatley couldn't tell if it was months, weeks or even days since he's been free from space. It felt unquestionably like a long time but maybe it wasn't, because this is the first time anything has ever really happened in here in years. Maybe this was how time paced when you aren't bored or everything around you seemed uneventful. Oh, he didn't know and something told him that he didn't want to know. You never know if he's been gone for decades and he'll never get a opportunity to say how sorry he is about- you know what, nevermind, its better if he doesn't think about that right now…

"Hey, moron. Where do you think you're going?" He heard her say as the statement echoes across the facility. "Moron", God, he could think of a thousand words that he would be rather be called than just a 'moron'… Wheatley was startled by her sudden comment but he muttered, "I'm not a moron," under his breath as small as a whisper, before saying, "Oh, um, outside? That is, if I can leave, without you viciously murdering me or of the sorts. Uh… can I go? That's all I'm asking really. Just if I can go outside and come back before 4:00 p.m. Er, as the usual. You know, –"

"Just go," She interrupted him coldly. Wheatley got on the lift and it moved upward. To be honest, it really freaked him out that She was actually being at least a little nice to him after all he had done. He will never drop his guard down though. He's actually expecting a sneak attack at just the right moment, for he knows what kind of voices run though her corrupt chassis of hers and they were not good ones. Another thing was that She always loved revenge. He was expecting it. He'll trust her for a second then, bam! He'll become nothing but a scrap piece of metal, and he won't even see it coming. Either that or it would be slow and painful. Ugh. Bye-bye Wheatley…

Oh, whatever, that doesn't matter. It isn't happening right now and won't for a while, right? He's outside either way. Wheatley liked the outdoors, he could get used to it. He felt the breeze and the sunlight as he went outside and out of the lift and as usual, the old charred companion cube was still there. He glanced over to it. Was it moving while he wasn't looking? Ugh, he preferred not to think about that. Gosh, it was just disturbing how it got up here on the surface. How in the world did it get up here anyway? It's probably a mystery that he will never find out, and there's no way that he is asking Her about it. So, eh, whatever. He walked away but turned around to give a glance at the cube that seemingly read, "I'm watching you," before he left. He didn't know if the cube had artificial life in it, but you know… might as well give off warning signals. Better safe than sorry. He continued walking to see if there was anything else in this world other than just wheat, sunlight, clouds and a companion cube. And really, he didn't find too much. The wheat seemed to go on forever. It was never-ending and very annoying. Was this how the whole world was? How boring… I mean, it's already better than Aperture, but still… It's too much wheat.

Eventually after twenty or so minutes walking, he found something new. They looked absolutely strange. It was a tree and had some type of fruit growing off the limbs. It took him a while to figure out what they were… "Oh! An apple tree! That's what it is… hmm… Not quite what I expected." Wheatley stated, unsure on who he was talking to. Wait a minute… There was some familiar long fall boots near the tree's trunk. A little too familiar if you asked him. He looked around the tree but he didn't find a test subject anywhere. At least the boots gave him some hope that somewhere, out there she, the old "what's-her-name" was alive, but, of course maybe it was someone else. Some other test subject that escaped, way before her time… the boots looked worn.

Despite that fact, he kept walking, unsure what he was doing or where he was going. Taking a walk outside was much better than staying with Her and having to go in Aperture. Did he mention that he hated that place? Well, he hated it. Anyway, the wheat slowly but surely disappeared as he kept walking. At least he got past the sea of wheat. That was annoying to go through. There was a cliff that went under the current ground level at least 15 feet, which was pretty cool to see. At least it was something a little different. Woah. Wait a tic, woah, what is that? He noticed something on the ground against the cliff side. But it scared him half to death when he recognized it. Seriously, what is it? He went to get a closer look.

…It a human-ish figure on the ground, which was lying on its back, with dirt smudged all over its clothes and its skin, with cuts bruises and other wounds all around her. God, it was… No, could it be? No way, he didn't believe what he was seeing. It couldn't be his old friend. In fact, please don't let it be his old friend; she didn't look good at all. The human looked… dead.

He slowly walked over to get a closer look. It was the same jumpsuit, slightly singed from fire and lasers. There were cuts and bruises all over where long fall boots are supposed to go. Her dark chocolate hair was long, messy and pulled up in a ponytail. As he got closer, it was then that she looked at him. That at least gave him hope that she was alive. Stormy grey, familiar eyes glared at him, the emotions in them slowly turning into fear and hatred. He remembered that her eyes seemed to spark and summon lightning whenever she figured something out or had an idea. Simulated emotions surged though him once again when he realized it was her. It was her. Oh, no. No no no no no no... Oh, God. Why? Why did it have to be her out of all of the humans in the world? It—it is her, right in front of him. Right there. And she wasn't looking too good either. Oh, he needs to know how to fix this and make things right. Let's hope he can still fix this anyway…