"H-how long have we been here? I mean not here per say but I mean-"

"Spaaace…babupbaba..."

Even with its speakers frozen and its voice seeming to be cracked, the space core still held its chirpy enthusiasm about the universe here. Well actually all around us is the best way to put it but…

We didn't know how long we were here, up in space that is. We've, uh, circulated the moon for some time now and uh, well, that's the gist of it. I can feel it, - well not necessarily feel it but more like sense it from my sensors programmed in me - the cold seeping into my system. It's so cold, I-I never actually expected space to be so cold, so bloody cold. It, it, it's damaging my processors and my many functions, like my lens - they've been frozen stuck multiple times and it took all of the strength that wasn't seeped from the cold to, uh, unstuck them.

Space, over there, is being affected too. From the constant, uh, yelling and constant exposure to its speakers, the cold damaged it greatly. If I had to guess, which I'm kind of horrible at, - to be honest - it's at least half its usual volume and its many pitches are irregular, and constant static eroded its...well, voice.

Is this it? Is this it for us?

I don't know how long we have before our motherboards are completely frozen and we won't…well...

This cycle has been going on, you see, we kind of orbit around the moon - just like the moon orbits the Earth - and when we enter, not exactly enter but...face the dark side of the moon it gets so...cold. I've never in my life...well ever since I've been activated, felt so much pain, - well maybe not pain but - you know what I mean right?

Oh bloody hell, who am I actually talking to right now? God? I doubt it, even if he does exist.

Well I guess it doesn't hurt to speak what I feel, or maybe it does. I don't know anymore.

But...once we see the light hidden behind the darkness of the moon, it feels so much better. But some of the ice on my lens still remain, the warm light wasn't enough, and sooner or later we will be completely frozen and...well...dead.

I wonder what android hell is like…

"Spaaa*fizzz*aaaccceee."

"No, no mate. Keep those speakers out of the cold. You'll, you'll live longer…"

"Spaa*fizz*aaaa*fizz*aaccce."

Even with my warning, it continued to yell. It continued to scream out its happiness, the tremendous joy that it feels just being here, in space. Even if it was going to kill it. And me.

I had to keep blinking as it continued to sing out its joy, I w-wanted to keep my lens close and try to ignore the fact that my supposed only friend here was...but I knew I couldn't, my lens would get stuck and I'd just waste my precious time trying to get them unstuck.

"Please, please stop." I begged quietly.

It wasn't because of my speakers or the cold that made them call out silently, it was...some kind of tug in the mainframe that made me do it. To me it was just more pain, but it was inside my thought processor. Is this the work of the cold too?

"Spa*fizz*aaa*fizz*accc*cough**screech*..."

Those noises, oh gosh those noises, it left me broken in my hearing sensors...not literally, they still remained functional. But that tug came back and it...hurt...ah it hurt so much! Just what is it that makes feel this way?!

I hesitantly turned my core and stared intently at the other...its lens completely closed.

"Space?" I called softly.

"..."

There was no response, not even a flutter from its lens. Was its lens stuck too?

"C'mon mate. You, you gotta work at it. Just, just try to open your lens." I supported.

There was still no response.

"Can you not do it? Is that it? Too weak and tired?" I asked worriedly.

The silence was - how did those smelly humans put it? - deafening and unsettling. Space continued to remain unresponsive, not even a 'lil twitch to indicate it was...no, it can't be, oh gosh no.

"Space? Space, mate, wake up! C'mon...no, n-no don't do this to me mate! You, you need to keep those gears turning for goodness sake! Space! Space! Spaaaaccccee*fizz*-"

Oh gosh, bloody hell no. What a fool I was, why did I do that? I'm just letting t-the cold in and...who am I kidding? I'm a moron, just like She said.

I...I was designed to be a moron.

I betrayed my friend, my only friend, and just, just screwed up everything. The facility was in shambles and I couldn't do squat to fix it. I-In fact, my uh so-called 'solutions' made everything worse.

I'm...such a bloody idiot.

I haven't realized it, that is until I noticed the light fading out. I turned my core to find that I was about to enter the dark side of the moon, again. Instantaneously, I could feel the cold rupture my functions once more but this time it left much more devastating effects. I could hear my processors whir very loudly as i-it tried its hardest to fight back the cold. Frost cascaded my lens and I could feel everything slow down…

"T-this i-is it *fizz*. This is it...f-...m-…"

The speakers were squandering now to to even make a faint sound now as I could feel my main processor slowly cease to work, the frost halting its function.

Is this what dying feels like?

I closed my lens, knowing that, that I'm not going to make it and just thought...about that question...that is, until...my processor ceased completely…

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Startup initiating. Please wait."

Huh? What is this? What's going? Wasn't I just dead?

Words appeared on my screen along with a blinking light at the end of that sentence. Everything else was black, really, really black. Am I off? As if answering my question, the sentences disappeared and my screen flashed green for minute and my 'sight' was regained.

"Startup complete. Now analyzing renovated data."

What was that voice? Well, I don't care about that right now, just where the bloody hell am I?

I found myself staring down at what appeared to be a gray floor, but barely suspended above it with...something. It almost reminded of when…

Oh no, is this place what I think it is? Oh I hope not please, please I don't want to see Her-

"Well, well. It looks like you finally woke up." A very familiar voice stated amusingly.

No. No, no, oh bloody hell no!

I felt myself being lifted upwards from whatever I was dangling from and it turned me to face...Her. There She was, in that monstrous chassis of Hers, staring at me with Her threatening yellow optic in all its glory. I could feel my optic shrink back to a 'lil dot as I stared at that monstrosity, but the silence between us is what made me shiver in fear.

"Uh...'ello." I greeted uncomfortably. "How're uh...doing? Good? Good, that's uh good."

She cocked Her chassis to the side as She brought me closer to Her. A small pitiful laugh escaped Her hidden speakers as I felt whatever had me in its grasp pull me over to something circular on the ground. I, uh, couldn't recognize it, with it being shut and all but something did spark inside of me, as if trying to tell me something - to uh remind me of something important.

"It has been a long time, Intelligence Dampening Sphere." GLaDOS stated in that amusing voice of Hers. "How have you been?"

"Uh good, good. You know, uh, just spending some time in that space in...space." I replied shakily.

"Oh really?" She asks, acting bemusedly. "Because the way I see it you were about to enter Android Hell."

After She uttered those unsettling words - Android Hell - the circular function below me opened up and revealed a straight way down to...well I don't know, all I know is that a faint red light was at the very bottom. My core shook even more upon being suspended over that, oh gosh I do not want to fall. I-I do not want to fall!

"W-well, I-I'll admit I was...uh...having some issues with the temperature in space but uh…"

"You don't have to act so...professional. We both know that you were...well, in my body for some time, I guess we're equals now right?" She asked with a hint of disdain.

"Uh right?" I answered hopefully, feeling my optic return to normal as I turned and gazed at that yellow optic of Hers.

"No."

My optic shrunk back into that 'lil speck again and stared back down at the 'lil red light at the bottom in regret of answering that question.

Then I felt something shift and found myself being slowly lowered towards that circular mechanism. I shook violently in defiance, hoping that I would somehow escape the grip of whatever was holding me.

"W-wait! Wait!" I yelled, my speaker sputtering anything, anything, that can get me out of this mess. "W-why?! Why bring me back and fix me so I can just be lowered down to some bloody incinerator?! Hmm? Are you so damn stupid that you, would uh waste your time on me instead of doing that Science you love so much?!" I don't even know what I'm saying anymore, my processor is working too fast for me to even compensate what and where I was going with this, so I just closed my lens tightly and wished that none of this was real. "Well, you, you, you're just a bloody moron! And you're calling me a moron when you're the biggest moron between us two!"

The movement stopped and I slowly opened my lens, just to confirm, uh, my suspicion and sure enough I stopped moving. I slowly turned my attention towards the unmoving central core who just stared at me with that, that unsettling optic of Hers.

"Is that all? Are you done?" She asked.

"Uh...what?" I said softly.

Her chassis sunk but Her sharp gaze never left mine. "Well aren't you being bold."

Instantaneously, whatever gripped me let go and hurled me towards that opening in the circular mechanism. I yelled, I screamed, I was terrified. Was this really the end? Not counting the time in space but...but before I passed through the opening, the circular mechanism closed completely. I bounced off the lid and landed on the floor, feeling myself roll a little from the momentum. Everything hurt from the impact but the only thing in my mind processor was about what had just happened. Why didn't She just let me fall?

So that's what I planned on asking Her about. "W-why?"

I used my handles to lift myself upwards so I could look at Her, optic to optic, but once I did so I ended up being on my back, considering She was just so...bloody massive.

She turned away from me and let out a noise that I assumed to be an annoyed sigh. "Do you honestly think I'll just kill you like that?"

Really? To be honest though I wanted to say 'yes I did', but I didn't want a repeat of the last time I answered Her question. So I kept quiet - which was kind of hard to do - and continued listening.

"Oh no." She continued, Her voice turning more sadistic. "You deserve much worse than death."

Oh. Oh, bloody hell.

"W-what're you gonna do to me?" I asked quietly, fear etched into my voice.

She turned back to face me, that optic glowing even more brighter than before in what seemed to be satisfaction. "Oh, you'll see."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Startup initiating. Please wait."

"Oh bloody hell, it feels like my core is splitting open...what happened?"

"Startup complete. Now analyzing renovated data."

"Just dandy, this again. How long was I out?"

I opened my lens and found myself staring at the floor, dangling once again just like before, except I heard chains rattle upon the reaction of my movements.

But that wasn't all that I heard.

"Ooooooooaaaaaggggghhhh..."

"Rrraaaaaahhhhhhgggghh..."

"Uuuuuugggggggghhhh…"

Startled, I scanned the room to find other cores tied to different chains, their optics blood red and moving in absurd and strange patterns.

"Wha-where am I?!"

"The screaming robot room." A voice on the intercom explained. "You should feel honored, I made this room...just for you."

"Raaaaaaaaagghhhh…"

"Ooooaaaaaggggghhh…"

"I could barely make out Her voice in that little speaker up there, but it did not matter whether or not it was barely audible or not, the message to me was...absolutely terrifying. This place is terrifying! Just, just how long am I supposed to be here? F-forever? N-no, no Wheatley don't think like that. Just, just focus on something else that is - you know - positive; rainbows, sunshine, the moon, the colorful cosmos in space-

"…

"B-bloody...hell...I-I almost forgot about that...No! Wheatley he was just uh, just in sleep mode, yeah, taking a short nap...not responding to anything I had to say.

"Choose something else! Choose something else, don't think about that Wheatley!"

I tightly closed my lens and tried to uh, calm myself down a little...but the screaming robots were not helping.

"Ooooaaaaagggghhh..."

"Rrrrreeeeeeerrrrgggghhh…"

"Oh how I wish they would just shut up and be...you know, sane.

"Okay Wheatley, think of something else, think of something else…"

It looks like you finally woke up. "That's right, I-I was shut off...no that's not right. No, I was in space with my mate, well Space, and it was shortly after my mate wouldn't respond that I-...died. No that can't be right, if I died then how am I still alive? And how did I even get back here?!

"Was everything; me meeting that smelly human, guiding her through the chambers, accidently turning Her on, me temporarily being in control of the whole facility, me being thrown into space...was that all...some kind of weird simulation?

"I guess...in a human's way of thinking...some kind of odd dream. I laughed at that, me having a dream? Ha ha, uh, not possible. Definitely not possible. Besides, even if it all was some kind of delirious simulation, why am I being punished? Me? The intelligence dampening core? Granted, I-I made GLaDOS unhappy when I was hooked up to Her, but, but that wasn't my fault, it was those bloody, smelly humans that did it. And now they're all dead, well, the scientists. But I think I heard about one of the scientists being able to survive that incident but…

"No, no, get back on track! Okay, okay, why was I here? Or more accurately, how did I get here? Yes that's the one, okay, okay...think...think Wheatley think…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I don't think that idiot has any idea that he's speaking out loud." I commented amusedly, watching the surveillance screen showing the little moron talk to himself.

"Think think think think! C'mon chap! Use that processor of yours!" The blue core on screen spoke in a sort of encouraging way.

"Gggrrrrraaaaagh…"

"Shut up! I'm TRYING to think!" The little idiot bellowed in an annoyed tone.

"If he can…" I added.

Even though the fool wasn't necessarily doing anything, he kept me quite entertained. He just continued to ramble, and ramble, and ramble…

"I don't have time for this. There are tests to be done." I muttered in dissatisfaction.

I was about to turn away from the screen to look at the other one that showed the progress of the 'test bots', Blue and Orange, when something he says stops me.

"I'm thinking but...I can't understand why I'm being punished for, for something I didn't really want!"

I froze for a moment, as if allowing those words to process completely when in actuality I immediately knew what they meant.

"Granted, I mean, I DID put Her in a potato - I know that uh, wasn't very nice - and I almost destroyed the entire facility but I didn't mean for all that! I just, I just...oh who am I fooling? I'm, I'm a horrible person, robot, core, whatever you call me! I-I betrayed my only friend, I almost killed her...I-I deserve this…"

I slowly turned back towards the screen, him having my full attention, my standards being piqued in question.

"But why am I here? I-I shouldn't be here, after what I have done. I deserved to freeze to death, up in space. Just-just vanish into thin air so I won't cause any more trouble. For anyone. Anymore."

My optic dimmed slightly and zoomed in on the troubled idiot dangling helplessly from the chain.

"So he wants to know why he's here?" I inquired. "He wants to know why he's here, why I fixed him?"

I continued to stare at the depressed and melancholic core and my optic instantly brightened.

"Well, I guess I can lay off a day from his punishment. That should be enough, for now. I can 'worry' about him later," I stated solemnly as I turned my attention towards the testing duo on the other screen, "there is much needed testing to be done. For Science."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How long have I been here now? Minutes? Hours? Days? Maybe, months? Perhaps, years?

"No, I'm done. I-I'm done thinking. It hurts, it hurts to just, to just think anymore. The rattles of chains, the screams of the cores' dysfunctional mentality, and those insane and agonizing patterns of their swirling eyes that just scream insanity!

"This is, this is, pretty painful." I muttered to myself. "But, I-I deserve it. Yeah, I deserve it."

"Oh...you deserve so much more." Her voice added in from the intercom.

"I stayed silent, not knowing what to say to that. If anything, I guess, She was right. I'm just, just a bloody horrible mate."

"You're right, you are pretty horrible." She answers.

"Wha-what? Did She just reply to something inside my processor?"

"No, you're talking out loud you idiot. In fact, ever since I put you here you've just been talking non-stop. I thought it was entertaining though." She continued.

"What? What!? I-I was pretty sure I was thinking to myself-"

"Well you weren't, so I thought I might as well tell you now. I lost interest anyways, in fact I'm a little irritated from your constant rambling, it's getting in the way of my objectives."

"But, but I've always did it like this, why of all times is it acting like this now?! Unless it was always like this-"

"No, I must have forgotten to replace a certain chip in your mind processor when I was fixing you after I pulled you out of space (or maybe I knocked something loose when I hit you to knock you out - for fun). Now you're speaking out loud uncontrollably; no function to correctly control whether to speak aloud or not." She explained.

I blinked. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why, why did you do it? Pull me out of space and fix me? Wouldn't it have been easier to just, just let me freeze to death out there-"

"Like the space core?" She added monotonously.

"I...I felt something...something just snap when She uttered those words."

"You're doing it again. It cannot be helped then."

I heard a noise and saw a claw of some sort surface from the ceiling of the room I was in. It yanked the chain attached to the top. The chain snapped and I instantly fell to the floor, the jumble of chains following after me. I felt the thud and felt myself become disoriented slightly. The claw grabbed me and lifted me through the ceiling into some kind of duct, it was too dark to see anything though and I didn't bother to turn on my light anyways. I was simply too worn out.

Then I was blinded by a bright light, my optic shrunk back in surprise and I closed my lens tightly, not wanting my receptors in my optic to fry out, but the claw continued down its set route and lifted me through the light.

I blinked slowly, allowing the receptors to appropriately adjust to the brightness and found myself back in Her chamber. At the moment She was looking away from me, Her attention on something on the screen on the other side of Her chamber. It looked like She was watching the testing duo try to solve a test but I couldn't really make it out very well, considering most of Her body was in the way.

She turned and immediately Her bright yellow optic stared me down. I shuddered slightly but did my best not to show it.

"Well it looks like you're not talking right now, good, I don't want to hear you ramble while I fix some things." She stated simply.

Following after that statement, She moved a panel aside and a table with a lot of menacing-looking tools appeared before Her. My optic shrunk back in terror just from the sight of it.

"Wh-what're you going to do?!" I asked in a shaky tone.

"I already told you, I'm fixing some things." She answered in a slightly amused tone.

"Things?! W-what things? I-I hope its something else o-other than me!" I replied uncomfortably.

"Well let me put it this way then. There is a 99.999% chance that it's involved with you." She continued in that tone of Hers.

"Oh now She's just playing with me here!"

"I see it's still a problem. Well then, let's begin."

"But I didn't- oh dear. I did it again didn't I?" I muttered.

The claw brought me closer to her as a panel rose up until it was parallel to her optic. The claw that gripped me placed me on the floor of the panel, my optic facing its white, grayish coloration. I felt something open on my back and I instantly jumped in surprise.

"Don't move." She commanded.

"Wh-what are you going to, to do?" I asked, my tone a little louder than I expected it to be.

She paused for a moment, allowing Her other appendages attached to Her grab the needed tools for...for something I honestly don't really want to know or think about.

"I guess the appropriate term is 'corrective surgery'."

"Oh gosh no."

"Quiet." She demanded curtly.

I shook, I couldn't help it but, but I shook. Uncontrollably actually. I-I just couldn't stop no matter how many times I scolded myself to, to stop - all so I couldn't hear Her scold me.

Another claw rained down on me harshly and pressed me against the panel, I squealed in surprise, but it got the job done though. I stopped shaking, and now I was helplessly waiting for-for everything to just be, be over and done. But that feeling of terror never left my system.

Almost immediately, I felt something twinge and a pulling sensation. It, it didn't hurt per se but it felt really uncomfortable. I squeezed my lens shut and just, just prayed to some invisible higher-being - if something like that was out there - that this will be over really soon.

"Well you don't need this." She murmured as the pulling sensation tightened greatly until I heard a faint *snap* along with a rush of pain in that area. I squeezed my lens even tighter, as if that'll help relinquish the pain. "Or this." Another sensation of something snapping off, and a whole 'nother wave of pain ran through that area. I could hear a faint whimper-like noise escape me, but really, at the time, I couldn't help it. It hurt like a bugger!

"I could barely hear something after my little whine, I couldn't really make out what it was but-"

The claw instantly clamped against me vigorously and I let out a choked gasp. "Quiet." She demanded quietly.

"S-sorry." I squeaked. "But what was that noise? You know, the one after I- uuh!"

That claw gripped me even tighter, I didn't even think it could go any tighter without crushing me! But oddly enough, GLaDOS answered without any hint of resentment, in fact it sounded like She was...snickering, if that was possible.

"I laughed." She answered.

"W-why? Why would- uh!"

Damnit that bloody claw!

"Because the sound of your suffering amuses me greatly, it was...'too cute'. Ha ha." She continued.

I couldn't help but open my lens slightly in suspicion, even if all I was going to see was the floor of a panel. This just doesn't seem right; GLaDOS is fixing me, answers my question without any opposition, and She says I sounded cute! Cute! Just what bloody picture is She paintin' here?!

Suddenly, I felt something get attached to me...no, more like shoved into me with a great deal of pain. I yelled and, once again, clenched my lens shut in hopes of trying to endure that unsettling pain shooting through me.

"Sorry," She stated sarcastically, "my claw slipped."

"Y-yeah, sure, whatever. I-I don't really ca- Aaah!"

The pain of Her slamming my panel closed stopped me short and left me yelling in pure agony.

"There, all done." She finished.

The claw pressuring me alleviated and went back into its designated chamber. Using my handles skillfully - I am pretty good at the way I use them, if I do say so myself - and hopped onto my back so I could glare right up at her.

"You know, from the way you're acting, I think you're, you're just toying with me!" I accused.

She shook her chassis in disappointment, or in denial, I don't know. I was fuming and wasn't really paying attention.

"Oh no, I wasn't doing anything of the sort." She answered, sarcasm drenching her tone.

I did my best impression of a scowl that I could muster up and continued to watch her swing slightly from the wires above. "Y-yeah that's right, I found one of your inner motives. Don't think I'm such a moron now do you?"

She paused from her faint swinging and just stared at me, as if waiting for me to explode or something...if that's what she usually thinks, anyways. I looked around the room uncomfortably and then went back to focusing back on Her expectedly.

After awhile, she turned away from me and shook Her chassis again, muttering something about an 'idiot'.

"Hey! Hey I heard that! You're talking about me aren't you?!"

She turned back around. "Who else would I be talking about? The Space sphere?"

I flinched upon hearing that mate's name but only pressed further. "Yes, yes that's a possibility-"

"That core is dead." She stated bluntly.

I could feel my optic shrink slightly. "No. No my mate is not dead, I assure you."

"Oh really now?"

I heard something opening and saw that another panel behind her opened and another claw emerged from it, holding something in its claw. She moved over towards it and examined it briskly before sending the claw over to me. It stopped right above the panel and dropped whatever it was it was holding.

"What, what is that? I can't, I can't see it."

Immediately, the claw lowered and picked me up and placed me back on the panel upright. As the claw left and I focused on the object before me. I gasped.

I could feel my optic shrink into a little prick at the core before me. My mate, Space.

Just like the instance before I temporarily shut off, its lens were tightly shut and gave no response whatsoever...not even its trademark 'Space' hollerin'.

"Explain to me, why is the core completely unresponsive?" She asked, acting curious.

"Space is, is just sleeping that's all. Very, very worn out, you know, being in space for so long." I explained in discomfort, my optic glued to Space's seemingly unresponsive state.

"Oh really? It says on my databank that there is...an error."

"My mate is, my mate is just sleeping, that's all." I pressed further.

"Oh no." She replied, shaking Her chassis. "If the core was 'sleeping' then my databank would read Sleep Mode: On. But its not, so there."

I squinted my lens in disbelief as anger boiled inside of me. "N-no! Maybe, maybe you're the one who is in error, maybe its-"

"The. Core. Is. Dead." She cut me off completely with a soft, irritated tone.

"I refuse to believe that. My mate is not dead!" I countered indignantly. "I-I can't, I just can't."

She stared at me, Her optic glowing incredulously bright and, the sounds of whirring processors increased dramatically. But I withheld my ground, I couldn't tell if She was, was annoyed or just plain amused, either way I wasn't going to have it.

But to be honest, I never actually realized how much I've cared for that space core. I guess, being alone with it in space made me feel happy and less...lonely. And now She was saying that my mate was gone. Gone. And every circuit in me is crying out in denial, saying none of that bloody mess was true.

What was that saying humans put it? Or is it even appropriate right now? Anyways, it feels like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"If you fixed me then why don't you fix my mate then, hm?" I inquired.

That optic of Hers seemed to brighten even more, almost blinding me, but answered nonetheless.

"The core's motherboard was completely fryed from the overly exposure to the frost. It cannot be repaired." She explained.

"Have you even tried-"

"It cannot be repaired. And yes I have tried."

I stayed silent for a minute and just, just allowed everything to sink in. But no matter how much I tried, and tried, and tried...I couldn't just accept that, that my mate was no longer here - online-wise. I stared at that core, that 'sleeping form' of space's.

I shook my core. "My mate is not gone. Its just...not."

"...enough…"

"No, I...?" I looked up to find myself staring at Her, whose chassis was facing the floor and...trembling? Wait, wait, trembling?

She shot up and just...glared at me, Her optic beyond blinding, and I could feel myself shutter from that look of Hers. "I said enough. I've had enough!" She bellowed.

I cringed as that yellow optic of Hers placed me in some kind of spotlight...a target for Her to lash out at.

"The core is dead! It is dead! Damaged beyond repair! Unfixable! A waste of time! It is in Android Hell right now for all I care! The core is not going to wake up, it is forever damned!"

I shrunk back, overrun with fear as She jerked her optic back and forth from me to my sleeping mate across from me. And yet despite all of it, I still had the courage to continue using my vocabulator.

"'nd a...what was the point of all this…?" I asked very quietly, my volume incredibly low.

She squinted her lens and that light of Hers seemed to be burning me, maybe, it definitely felt incredibly hot and I was frozen in terror to move even an inch away.

"The point is...that you are a moron."

To be honest, I was expecting something else when I heard that, but She didn't stop there.

"The fact you cannot accept the obvious, do the obvious, relinquish the obvious." She hissed in a very low tone. "You should be grateful! Look at that core, that useless core. That could have been your fate! To be dead! Gone!"

I blinked and lowered my gaze to the floor. "But isn't that what you wanted?!" I squeaked to Her. "Me to be, uh, dead? Wasn't that the whole plan, except to, to just add some torture experiences beforehand to exact that revenge of yours?"

She pulled away from me, Her optic dimming extravagantly, and turned to face the opposite end of Her chamber. The noises of Her chassis quieted and the room was suddenly cascaded with a deafening silence.

Did-did I hit a nerve or something? I mean I know She doesn't actually have nerves but...but…

"No." She finally answered in a very quiet tone.

I blinked. "No? No what?"

She looked at me, ready to counter with something witty - I just know it, just like She always does - but instead she remained silent. That didn't seem much like Her usual self.

As I continued to stare at her, both bewildered and confused at what had just happened, I found myself lifting slowly into the air. I guess I was so focused on Her that I didn't notice the claw grab me. It pulled me out of Her chamber, and I was left with many more questions than answers.