Wheatley was sitting at his cubicle when he heard the voice of the devil speak up behind him.

"Wheatley…" It said. Wheatley froze, hands poised over his keyboard, and slowly turned in his chair to face the horror of…

Renee.

Ok, so it wasn't the devil, but Renee might as well have been. She was a higher up, part of the testing crew, and she loved to lord that fact over Wheatley. She loved to rub it in his face that she had been chosen over him for that coveted spot on the testing team, leaving him behind in the research department. She wore immaculate clothing complete with a self-important smirk.

"Can I help you, Renee?" Wheatley asked.

"HI!" Wheatley nearly jumped as a little girl appeared and rushed into his cubicle. He looked down at her in confusion. The little girl had long black hair and greyish-blue eyes.

"This is Chell," said Renee. "She's my daughter." Wheatley looked up in surprise as Chell began flipping through the calendar on his desk.

"I…I didn't know you had a daughter," said Wheatley. True enough, Renee had no pictures on her bright shiny new desk of a little girl, nor did she ever mention having one. The girl looked to be about seven years old, and Renee had been working at Aperture for nearly five years.

"Yeah well," Renee tossed her hair, "I just never mentioned her. I don't need everyone knowing about my business. Anyway, my lovely promotion has allowed me to move closer to work, and the daycare center is too far out of my way now." Wheatley watched Chell trace her fingers over the cat pictures in his calendar. He had to admit that she was acting well behaved for a girl so young. Then what Renee had just said finally registered.

"What?" he said. "What does that have to do with me?" Renee smirked and walked forward so that she could loom over Wheatley.

"I need you to watch her while I work today. You know, since you don't have anything important to do," Her smirk widened as Wheatley felt the sting of the insult. He wanted so bad to yell at her, scream that she was nothing more than a horrible woman who didn't deserve that spot, but his resolve weakened under her leer. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I am no one's babysitter," he bit out. He folded his arms, not noticing that Chell had copied him. Renee looked surprised, but that quickly melted back into her smirk. She gave a dramatic sigh.

"Well that's just too bad," she said. "You know, I heard that one of our team members will be retiring in a few months. Cave's going to have to fill that spot, and I was thinking that I could put in a good word for you with him since you're so nice and responsible, but if you can't be bothered to help me when I need you…" She trailed off. Oh, it was a Devil's bargain, and Wheatley knew it. It was the lowest, most selfish thing that Renee could do, but dammit if Wheatley didn't badly want that spot.

"Wait," he said. "I-I guess I could watch her. I mean, she seems behaved enough. I could watch her for you." He put on a nervous smile and Renee laughed.

"Perfect," she said. "I'll come by and get her when I leave. Have fun!" She turned around and walked off.

"Um, remember that my shift ends at six!" Wheatley called after her. Chell didn't even seem to notice that her mother had left, and Wheatley couldn't help but be concerned by that fact. Did Renee do this all the time? Chell looked up at Wheatley with her big eyes and tilted her head.

"Hello, luv," said Wheatley. "Um, your mum's gone off to work so I'll be watching you today, ok?" Chell nodded and sat down on the floor. Wheatley quickly looked around for something for her to play with. He gathered up some blank paper and some spare markers.

"Here," he said. "Draw me a pretty picture." Chell's face lit up and she eagerly took the supplies and began to draw. Wheatley scratched the back of his head.

"Doesn't talk much, does she?" He muttered.