"Excellent. You two seem to be getting the hang of working together like a ball and chain. Metaphorically of course." Her cold voice announced to the two test subjects that walked into the new testing chamber.
Chell, in her white Aperture tank top and orange jumpsuit tied at her waist, glared at the ruby camera that watched them. She was messing with them as usual, but Chell knew that She was getting frustrated at their quick progress. To this, she couldn't help but give a tiny hidden smirk. her boots clacking on the pristine floors of the chamber as she walked in.
"Oi! W-wait for me!" The male voice said as he staggered behind his fellow subject.
This was certainly not the idea he had when She brought him back from space. He had no idea he'd be turned into an android and paired with her.
A bloody android that appeared human in every way except his eyes were optical and bright, he had a glowing blue orb in his chest that seemed to brighten and dull with every breath he took, and his intelligence seemed to be... considerably worse than before. How great.
Wheatley stood at an astonishing 6'5, his legs long and his arms lanky. His blonde hair messy, his white skin fleshy and human, and his eyes were a beautiful stratospheric blue that practically glowed in the darkness. His white aperture polo shirt has tiny stains of orange and blue on it, his blue tie was wrinkled and yet perfectly around his neck, his long black office trousers were wrinkly but breatheable, and his sneakers were scuffed yet still functional.
He was a mess walking around awkwardly and shooting portals around each chamber, occasionally crying out for Chell's help.
Chell considered leaving him to his own devices, yet she felt sort of sorry for him, but why? He tried to kill her. He betrayed her trust. Yet, a part of her felt for him, as if he didn't mean to do those horrible things. Her chassis was so large and who knows how powerful the data stored inside was, it's no surprise that Wheatley was corrupted by all of it. He became the enemy and She became the friend. And now they were both trapped. Trapped in her sick testing games.
Chell took the time to analyze her surroundings. The reflective cube on an incredibly high platform and a laser that appeared miles away. She looked around at the walls, looking for a white painted wall.
"Quite a terrible piece of work She is, yeah?" Wheatley started, breaking the deafening silence around them. "Bloody insane- yanking me from space, then sticking me into this body, and now testing?" He looked up at her camera and threw his arms up in exasperation. "Why are you doing this?"
There was a sort of frustration in his voice that Chell couldn't put her finger on. It didn't sound like he was talking to Her, but himself? No matter. There's this test to do.
Chell pulled Wheatley's arm, directing him to shoot a portal at the floor then one on the upper wall.
"Ooooh god, you're not going up that high are you? That's so dangerous! I-I mean, not that you're not dangerous, quite the opposite really! Although, you can be dangerous when you're testing or breaking things and..." Wheatley looked at her expression. Those silver eyes glaring daggers at him, threatening to punch his lights out of he said another word. "Sorry..." He shakily aimed the gun down and shot the floor, then turned and shot the upper wall.
Chell wasted no time in jumping through, momentum carrying her to the platform that has the reflecting sided cube on it.
Wheatley watched her as she jumped down, her boots absorbing the impact and handed Wheatley the cube. She pointed to him, then to the platform with the laser.
"Right... Um... How exactly is this supposed to stop the laser? In case you don't know, lasers are very dangerous. It could slice this thing to bits it could!" He gave her a worried expression, looking down at the cube in his arms.
Chell shook her head in annoyance, pointing to the glass on the sides. She did her best pantomime of light being reflected by the cube, hoping he would understand.
Wheatley was trying his hardest to grasp what she was telling- showing him, but he was ultimately lost. He had no idea what to do. If only she could talk to him. It wasn't this hard when he was in Her body; He had all the answers and all the knowledge he craved back then! Something about that made his heart sink. He glanced at Chell, her eyes full of fiery determination as she tried to make him understand.
"Right, got it." He absentmindedly stammered. He didn't understand any of it.
Chell nodded, aiming her gun and shooting a portal on the ceiling of the platform, then one under Wheatley.
He let out a short yelp as suddenly gravity shifted and he fell to the floor, the cube tumbling from his hands. Groaning, he propped himself up with his arms and looked down at the girl. Something about those eyes, the eyes that burned with perseverance, made his stomach turn. He couldn't tell if it was fear or plain queasiness from the sudden gravity change, but something about this lady made him feel odd.
Guilty, yes of course. Why wouldn't he? He only betrayed her trust and tried to kill her after all.
He bit the inside of his cheek at the memory. The pit, the mashy spike plates, the part where he tried to kill her... Many times.
This is what guilt feels like. What a horrid ugly feeling.
He desperately tried to shake those thoughts, standing up and pushing the cube near the laser, but stopping after he saw sparks flying.
"AAAH!" He jumped back, his back pressed against the wall.
/you're hopeless./ Chell thought in annoyance as she hopped through her portal and pushed the cube to reflect the laser. She turned to face him, glaring at his cowardice.
"Oh... reflective surface... Brilliant!" He straightened up and stared at her wide eyed. "You're a genius, lady! Very smart one, you are!"
Chell almost smiled at the positivity and praise for her puzzle solving but her mind quickly reminded her of what he did to her. She shrugged and adjusted the cube to line up with the cold black catcher on the other wall. Satisfied, she looked back towards Wheatley who seemed impressed. It was as if he's never been in a test chamber before, which was kind of a shock to the woman. She knew he worked here, but he's never been in a chamber? Like, ever?
"Blimey we're high up, eh." Wheatley stated as he looked over the edge, stepping back and anxiously holding onto Chell's shoulders.
It took every ounce of her willpower not to push the man off the edge when he held her shoulders. She was so wary and angry with him that any move he made seemed dangerous to her. Doing her best to ignore him, she turned to him and pressed his hand into her shoulder.
"Uhm... Stay here?" He guessed, "oh wait wait, hold on tight?"
Chell nodded at him as she shot a portal to the floor, then to the wall closest to the exit door. With a deep breath (and practically having to drag Wheatley by his wrist), they jumped into the portal, momentum shooting them across the room to the exit. She landed on her feet with no problem while Wheatley stumbled, clinging to the wall for support. He'll never get used to the motion sickness of traveling through the damn things.
"Remember that ball and chain joke? Did you not understand it because your intelligence is being sucked out by the moron with you?" Her voice crackled in through the intercom.
Chell looked around at the chamber, then at Wheatley who looked at her with a mix of pity and disorientation. She couldn't help but feel for him as he looked defeated.
"Here is the punchline: he's weighing you down and you know it." Her voice cut out, the exit opening to the emancipation grill and elevator shaft.
Chell shook her head, offering her hand to Wheatley who looked up at her.
"...Why?" He finally asked. "A-after... After all I've done to you... Why did you save me? You could be out on the surface by now if you didn't come back for me!" He raised his voice. Realizing Chell's cold expression, he pulled his legs to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "Sorry... I'm so sorry."
/you're not sorry. You're pathetic./ Chell winced at that part of her mind that responded so coldly to him. She withdrew her hand and looked down to him.
"I don't... Deserve to be saved. Or anything like this! C'mon lady, you know that." His voice started to crack. He felt as if his metaphorical heart was breaking the longer he looked at her. He threw his hands on his head as he tightly shut his eyes. "I'm so sorry, lady... I'm so sorry... I wish I didn't have that stupid idea... That awful, terrible, stupid idea that this stupid idiotic moronic programming-
He stopped as he felt a gentle hand on his shoulders to which he hesitantly looked up. His blue eyes met her silver ones, a look of compassion evident in them. Not quite forgiveness, but compassion. Kindness. Selfless.
Selfless. That's what she was. And he dared to insult her by calling her selfish. Claiming she did nothing to help, not sacrifice anything. Yet here she was- back in Her grasp and having denied the gift of freedom just to save /him/.
Chell noticed the heavy guilt in his eyes. He looked so tired. So, so tired. She gently took his hand and they walked past the emancipation grid,the exit whirring shut behind them. She then gently sat Wheatley down against a blank black monitor and sat in front of him. She had to go somewhere that She couldn't hear them. This was as close to that as they could get as long as they weren't in Her elevator.
Chell noticed Wheatley's dejected expression as he sat his portal device down next to himself. She set hers down beside herself and bit her cheek.
She had no idea how to comfort another person. She never used to have to comfort anyone from what she remembers. She was always alone and really, until That Place happened, Wheatley was her only companion. To say she missed the old him was an understatement, but here he was. Not Him, but him. Wheatley. Flesh and wires. Human but not quite. Close to a human as science can get, she thought. She bit her tongue as she carefully pat his arms awkwardly.
Wheatley looked at her. Pathetic half-human expression and all. He looked at the elevator, then at her. Why were they sitting out here when the elevator was right there? Was she worried about him? Why? He didn't deserve her worry, hell he didn't even deserve to be alive as far as he cared.
Chell noticed his empty look in his eyes. The bright beautiful blue was now muddy, as if it were a blue sky caked with rainclouds. Something was definitely hurting him on the inside, and she didn't know what to do to help. Why not try something risky? She had nothing to lose anymore.
Treading carefully as to not scare him, Chell gently wrapped her arms around his chest. She rest her cheek on his shoulder and closed her eyes. This brought back fond memories that she couldn't remember. Hugging someone. She yearned for another human to hold or be with even.
Wheatley was taken back, not sure what she was doing to him or why for that matter. He left his arms awkwardly out, his hands close to touching her back but just far enough to not. His body was so cold, sore, and painful. The transferred data from his old core self into this new body was so excruciating and even a few hours later he's still having aftershocks of pain.
His heart hurt. The glowing center of his chest hurt with every painful memory he had. His hands started shaking, then he noticed it. His opticles- his eyes, were leaking.
"W-what...? What is this? I'm going to die, right? Oh this is it isn't it, I'm going to..."
Chell put her finger to her lips, a sign to be quiet. She heard him stifle a sob as she gently wiped the tears from his eyes. She shook her head.
Wheatley watched her, his breathing heavy as he wrapped his arms around her waist, crying into her chest. He... Had no idea what he was doing. It was as if his body was on autopilot and he had no control.
The warmth of Chell's body and the gentle touch of her hands made him melt. he expected to be hurt for even thinking of laying a hand on her, and yet, no pain came to him. Just... Gentleness.