"AUUGH! What in the bloody hell-AUUGH!".

The hideous thing looked at him in surprise with a large, single eye with a maroon sclera and a heterochromic red-yellow iris with a yellow pupil, surrounded by three smaller eyes, dominating its face. When it opened it's mouth it revealed its frighteningly sharp teeth (but no tongue or teeth on the bottom jaw?) as it watched him, carefully holding it in it's claws. It had mottled green-brown skin that looked shiny and smooth, unlike anything he had ever seen in his entire time being an Intelligence Dampening Sphere.

"Calm yourself, metal sphere. I do not wish to cause undue alarm."

He stopped, his prerecorded huffs of breathing filtering through his speakers. His entire core shook and rattled as the thing examined him.

"What-who-how-are-whaaat?" he sputtered out, not able to comprehend what was going on. What the hell had happened at the surface while he was at Aperture? Were there more of these things? Would they kill him? Were humans gone was this it what the hell was this thing?"

"You and I are both confound with each others presence; I assure you that. My kin and I have heard your cries from afar."

"T-there's more of you?" Wheatley choked out, still rattled.

"Just as there are humans. The Combine took over Nihilanth's world and fled to ours, forcing us into slavery. . Alas, we were found and enslaved by the Combine. We went into the dimensional rift to Earth when it had opened, formerly known as the Black Mesa Incident, to escape the Combines clutches..."

"Combine? Nihilanth?" He replied, no longer afraid. Rather he was intrigued by what the thing had to say. Obviously it didn't want to hurt him; it had been trying to rescue him.

"The Combine is a vast empire spanning multiple parallel universes, many unlike ours." it began, sitting down on ground before continuing. " The Combine expands its empire by invading worlds and enslaving the dominant species to be exploited as it sees fit, and is governed by a race of bizarre, artificially evolved Advisors from the Combine Overworld."

"Combine Overworld?" Wheatley inquired. He felt bad for asking, but it wasn't his fault that he didn't know. Did GlaDOS know?

The thing blinked. "You are uninformed of these things. I must inquire as to how you are ignorant to these events for the past two decades the Combine have reigned Earth."

He didn't know how to begin.

"I-I've been trapped, underground at Aperture for um, for a bloody long time. Stuck to a rail, looking after the humans, very boring."

"Aperture? The Aperture Laboratories?" it asked, it's eyes widening once again in surprise, leaning in for clarification.

"Uh, yeah, I was made there. Look, see the little Aperture sticker on my front? Here, I'll stay still.." He watched the thing as if peered at the small circle bearing the logo, absolutely intrigued by it. "There's also a stamp inside of me, if you turn me around."

It spun him around in it's claws until it faced his back, awaiting further instructions.

"Now, if you look closely, there's a little latch in the back that should pop open. On the inside of the latch should have it."

Doing as it was told, it used a single claw to open his backside, revealing the Aperture Laboratories engraved on the inside.

"So it is true. Aperture technology still exists today."

"Why, yes, we're built to last centuries! Bloody unfortunate if you ask me, gets boring after awhile."

"You are an invaluable source to humanity. I must take you to the Freeman and the Alyx Vance at once."

Suddenly a thought struck Wheatley; he had forgotten all about it after making it to Earth.

"I'm sorry, I can't." he said, looking at the thing apologetically.

"You are troubled."

"I need to find someone."

"There are many people who need to be found. Many dead."

Wheatley winced, he certainly hoped not.

" I-i need to apologize for all the things I've done. For being bossy, and monstrous, and I am genuinely, truly sorry for what I did."

"You did none of these things to me. Apologize to the human when you meet."

"Yes, yes, sorry, I-i just needed to get that off of my conscience for a bit. A bit maddening after a while, all bottled up inside you."

The thing looked at him, and if it had eyebrows they would be furrowed, contemplating on what to do.

"Do you recall the humans birth name?"

"Chell. Chell. Her last name was redacted in the files, there was almost nothing on her except that her name is Chell."

" A vague chance of meeting her if only with a first name."

Wheatley felt the hopelessness sink back into him once again and his plates drooped as he sighed.

" A description would benefit us greatly. Perhaps my kin have seen her."

His optic spun quickly as his mind raced, what if they had seen Chell? Oh if he had legs he would get on his knees and beg forgiveness, forgiveness for all that he has done, he was a horrible person and she deserved to be free and he deserved to be in space. But he had been given a second chance; he would not waste it. He would die trying to get to her.

The thing looked at him, as if to read his mind.

"There are many humans who can fit descriptions easily. Do not be too enthusiatstic."

Wheatley again felt at a loss, but he was willing to try anything.

"Okay, um, how do I do this.." he said, more to himself than to the thing. Quickly going through his hardrive, he found some recordings of Chell as they walked along the catwalk, escaping from GLaDOS. "Okay so, she looks about to be in her mid-20's, and um, lightish-brownish skin, blackish-brownish hair with some gray streaks..and greyish eyes. Kinda of on the shortish side. Quiet, has a bit of brain damage..."

The thing chuckled quietly to itself as at looked at Wheatley.

"We shall search for this woman. As for now, I must get you back to where we reside.."

It placed his top handle in the arm protruding from its chest and began to walk uphill, away from the crater he had made. Silence followed as he continued climbing up the hill, towards a lone tree at the top, and Wheatley, not used to silence, decided to ask what he had wanted to know the entire time.

"So uh, not to be rude or anything but I've never seen anything like you before, even in space, but anyways, um, what exactly are you?"

The thing looked down at him before continuing upward.

"My species are called Xenotherium subservilia, but to most, we are known as Vortigaunts."

"Vortigaunts.. " Wheatley mumbled back to himself, taking in the new term for this strange lifeform. "Do you mind the term Vort at all?"

"Most call us that for ease."

"I would think, Vort is much easier to say in a sentence, especially when you need help." he replied awkwardly.

The Vortigaunt nodded in response as they neared the top, and Wheatley could only imagine how retarded he sounded to the Vort. He was an Intelligence Dampening Sphere, after all. Not as if he could help it.

"I apologize for forgetting proper etiquette, I did not introduce myself. I am Illya. As to what may I call you?"

Wheatley blinked a few times in surprise, not expecting him (he decided he would call the thing a him, he highly doubted it wouldn't be male) to actually have a name.

"I'm, uh, Wheatley. My names Wheatley."

Illya look down on him once more (really it freaked him out when he did) and grasped the trees trunk for leverage as he heaved himself off of the slope and onto flat ground once more, nearly dropping Wheatley in the process, who in turn let out a startled yelp.

"My sincere apoligies, I did not mean to startle you again."

"Quite alright, quite alright, It just hurts everytime someone fails to catch me." A pang of guilt hit him as he remembered what he had done at Chell when she confronted him.

"ENOUGH!" he screamed, rocking voilently back and forth as the facility shook, explosions and debris flying everywhere."I told you not to put these cores on me! But you don't listen, do you?" he snarled, watching as Chell avoided the bombs he threw at her. "Quiet, all the time, quietly, not listening to a word I say, judging me, silently, the WORST kind."

Chell's eyes switched from anger and determination to sadness as she looked upon him, ducking and dodging.

"All I wanted to do was to make everything better for ME. All you had to do was to solve a couple of hundred SIMPLE tests, for a few years, AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN LET ME HAVE THAT, COULD YOU?" he cried out, a fresh burst of anger flowing through him. Such a selfsih, horrible woman she was, trying to torture him.

Something dawned on him as he heard GLaDOS slam insults at him. She had saved GLaDOS from being pecked by birds and went through every single test with her attached to her prong, silently planning to take him down.

"You're in this together, aren't you?" he accused, swinging back to meet her gaze as he readjusted the shields to block the bombs she was redirecting to him. "You've been playing me the whole time, haven't you? First, you make me think you're brain damaged, then you convince me you're SWORN enemies with your BEST FRIEND over here, then, then, when I reluctantly assumed the responsibility of running the place, you CONVIENIENTLY decide to run off together! Just when I needed you the most!"

Her eyes flashed in disbelief as if to say "You lie." It made him even angrier, she didn't have the right to accuse him!

"You didn't think you were the first, did you?"

She nearly stopped in shock, looking at him with surprise, wanting to call bluff. It was exactly what he had expected.

"HAHAHA, nonono! FIFTH! No, I lied, SIXTH. Perhaps it's best to just leave it to your imagination, what happened to the other five."

But she kept running, running just like she did when escaping from his grasp as he was about to kill her.

"We've had some times, haven't we? Like that time I jumped off my management rail, not sure if I'd DIE or not when I did,and all you had to do was catch me, AAAAANND you didn't, did you?"

Another change of expression, too quick for him to tell. But he knew she remembered.

"Oh, you remember that? I remember that, I remember that ALLL the time! And we could have talked our way out of it! Except you forgot to tell me that you MURDERED HER. And that She needed you to live. So the only available vent for Her rage,would be, good, 'ol CRUSHABLE Wheatley."

No response.

"Yeah, little DETAILS that I remember. EASY little tidbits you could have used to save me from getting crushed, if you cared." he spat out venomously, almost sounding is if he was about to cry at the end. "Which you didn't, obviously. And still do not."

She redirected one bomb through her portal on out the other to hit him in his side, and he shrieked in pain.

"AM I BEING TOO VAGUE?" he bellowed, sending bombs out furiously. "I. DESPISE. YOU. I LOATHE YOU, YOU ARROGANT, SMUGLY, QUIET, AWFUL, JUMPSUITED MONSTER OF A WOMAN. You and your little potatop friend. This place would be a TRUIMPH if it wasn't for you!"

Illya shook him from his flashback and Wheatley looked up at him, startled.

"You have been quiet for quite a while."

"S-sorry, I was just thinking. Got a little carried away, I suppose."

Illya only nodded and continued walking. Wheatley didn't notice, but it was dusk as of now, slowly turning into night. A few stars shone brilliantly in the sky, and he noticed there was no moon. He shuddered at the thought, glad he couldn't see it, but he wondered how Space Core was doing. Probably saying hello to the sun again. And again.

"I did not know there was technology that could feel pain." Illya said, breaking the silence.

"I wish there wasn't. The scientists who made us were sadists, putting pain responses into us. Totally unnecessary, if you ask me. I mean, why on Earth would people want to do that? They told me I would bloody die if I disengaged from my mangement rail, or turned on my flashlight, all of those things. I don't know even know why they bothered giving me all that stuff if I was going to die using it!"

"You say you are equipped with a flashlight, are you not?" Illya asked as they continued walking.

"Yes, yes I am. You know, I probably should have done this awhile ago. Here, let me turn it on.."

With a click his iris illuminated the area in front of them.

"The Wheatley has my gratitude, it is much easier to see the darkened path."

"No, no no, you have my thanks. I thought for sure I was going to be rusting in that crater for centuries before I would give out. I really cannot tell you how happy I am that you saved me, I absolutely have to find Chell. It's dire."

"When we rest I shall contact my kin. Then we may proceed. We shall try our best to find her."

"Thank you. Thank you so much." He replied, his shutter closing in relief. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, he could be on the other side of the world for that matter, but he felt it flood through his system anyways. That reminded him...

"Where are we, anyways?" he asked, looking up at Illya.

EDIT: Thanks 1nky, I totally wasn't thinking about that! Now changed.

AN/

Uuuuh I would post these more often I just don't know where to stop to upload it. I write everyday so check back constantly for updates! Next chapter is going to be fun c:. Sorry they're so short!

-Kiran.