Darkness. Cold, darkness. Then... still darkness. Not darkness, just dim lighting. I open my eyes, and I see the ground hanging below me. I panic and jump back. Except I don't, jump back, I just move back, still hovering over the ground. No, not hovering, hanging. Something is different. This isn't my bed, nor even remotely close to where I fell asleep. In fact, I don't know where I am. I look around quickly, starting to panic. I notice I don't just move my head, my entire body turns when I look another direction. And speaking of body, I can't feel my arms, or legs for that matter. I try to rub my eyes only to have metal handles wave in from of my face. I try walking forward. Nothing happens. I look down again and realize I don't have legs. My breathing quickens, and I am struck with another realization. I don't have lungs. I'm not breathing in air, they are just noises. I try to breathe again, nothing but sound files ammit from my speakers.
Wait a minute... no legs, no arms, no body, no lungs. Sound files, speakers, handles?
No way. Instead of trying to walk forward. I try sending the command, move forward, I jerk forward a bit. I continue in this fashion. Just looping the command over and over again in my head. I head forward on my rail, still not quite excepting what obviously was the truth. Finally, I found a small puddle of water, slowly dripping from the ceiling. I look down at the spherical hunk of metal that is my body. My blue optic shining back at me, looking dim and lost. This is, this is too much. This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening! I might have lost my mind right there and then had the water not been there. It's rhythmic dripping was a constant in all of the chaos unfolding around me. It was like a warm, safe haven in the middle of a raging storm.
This was the way it was going to be, and there was nothing I could do about. What should I do? I think. What point in time is this anyway? Where am I? I start sliding on the rail again. I wonder aimlessly, and soon recognise this place, somewhere in the back of my memories. While playing Portal 2, Chell was found by Wheatley, and he was in charge of the humans. So that means, if I'm Wheatley… "That's it!" I yell. Strange, even though I'm Wheatley, I still sound like myself. Anyway, Chell had to be here somewhere, right? I just have to find her! I look around at the "10,000 bloody test subjects" that I had to search through. Like finding a needle in a haystack. I think solemnly. Still! I push on, and start my search. Rummaging through motel rooms, checking to see if any computers were still online, even trying to see if I could control some panels, or at least some claws. While I was not on that level of skill yet, moving became much easier. Soon I was riding along smoothly. Though it wasn't silent, it wasn't a thunderstorm either. Though I feared it, I never saw another construct in the facility. I was half hoping I would, while the other half was dreading the moment it finally came.
Several times I thought of giving up. I was tired of looking at the same empty rooms, or even worse, the skeleton of a dead human. This always sent shivers down my spine, (don't have a spine, remember that). Doubt often crossed me and when it did, I would think of two things. I would think of Chell. She had gone through all of those test chambers without even taking a rest. I would also think of Wheatley, the core I had become. He was the Intelligence Dampening Sphere for crying out loud! If he could find Chell, then I could find Chell. Room after room after room, I kept these two characters in mind. Chamber after chamber after chamber, I tried to absorb their traits. And corpse after corpse after corpse, I remember the story the game told. Not just that I would find Chell, I had to if I wanted to escape, but the parts afterwards, like when my plan succeeds and I betray Chell and… "NO!" I cry out loud. That was Wheatley, not me. I can be different, I will be different! I will change Wheatley's fate! I will do the right thing!
With that sorta self pep talk, I sped down the rail, checking room and room again. My good mood probably saved me a lot of time, and so the rest of the afternoon/morning, (what time was it anyway?) flew by. The endless hallways seemed to blur together as I kept on searching. It was all an unfocused haze as I went into an automatic mode, a pattern of work. It was in the haze when suddenly, it stopped. Everything, refocused as I realized the door I was facing was locked. This had happened a few times before, so I lazily glanced at the chamber status: Online.
I check again, then a third time. I check the door, then again, the a third time. The door was locked, and the status was online. Wait a second... "Good morning. You have been in suspension for -nine nine nine nine nine... nine nine nine..." Is this it! I think hopefully, after hearing the announcers voice. "This courtesy call is to inform you that all test subjects should vacate the Enrichment Center immediately.",This was all the proof I needed. I called out, cutting off the Narrator, "Hello? Is anyone in there? I pretty sure there is, although this light thing might be broken. If you are there, though, could you open the door, please? It would be..." my voice faltered as the door swung open. With a lifetime of planning, I never would have been prepared for when I actually did meet Chell.