Chapter 2
"I am… Honestly, genuinely, truly, perfectly… Sorry." Wheatley ended in a whisper. Alicia sat beside him in a chair, while he was propped up on the table, facing her mother. Behind him, Space was bickering to himself about how he hated space. Meanwhile, Wheatley had just wound out the tale of an amazing adventure of science, action, tragedy, and ending with an apology. Apparently, he tried to kill Alicia's mother several times, and it turned out into a tangled mess of everything and nothing. That everything and nothing being space.
*By now, I've forgiven you, Wheatley.* Her mother signed.
Wheatley nodded, and kind of tilted his eye, "Uh… Yeah, that's what I thought. Uh huh, I hear you loud and clear…" He stumbled on his words.
"You don't know what she said, do you?" Alicia frowned.
"No, no, I could understand it just perfe—yeah I have no clue…" He struggled to accept that he wasn't smart enough to read American Sign Language. Alicia rolled her eyes at her mother, then she explained to him what it meant.
"Ah, right. Thank you, uhh…" He stopped again, "Uhh… You know, I never learned your name…" Wheatley kind of fluttered his metal-lid and looked away from Alicia's mother, every so often shooting a tiny glance at her, urging her to tell him.
*C. H. E. L. L.* She spelled out.
"Her name is Chell." Alicia translated to him.
"Hmm… Chell… I'm sure your parents didn't name you th— … I mean… Uhh… There's a problem at the Enrichment Center, and that's why I tried all I could to get back here, as well as why I am so glad that I found you, because then you'll know where it is and how to get there and… You know how to get there, don't you?" Wheatley seemed to jump from one subject or another, but the remark about Chell's parents puzzled Alicia, her mother never talked about her parents, or anything about her past, for that matter. Once Alicia had to make a project about her family history and she asked her mother and she told her to just ask her father.
Alicia gave a sly glance at Wheatley as he waited impatiently for her to answer him, and then she looked her mother in the eyes and signed to her, *What is it about your past that you never want to talk about? Is he telling the truth about him doing that stuff to you?*
Chell watched her carefully, narrowing her eyes a little, she acted as if she was about to signal something back to her, when she turned to Wheatley and Space, *Translate this, Alicia: What exactly is this problem and why do they need my help?*
Alicia tilted her head at her mother in confusion, why didn't she want to talk about this? Although, knowing her mother, Alicia could basically count on her holding this secret to the death. With a sigh, she translated to Wheatley, "What is this problem and why do you need her to help you?"
"Well, uh… Let's just say that there was a system I helped to… Create storage for inside the Disk Operating System, and… You know, it kind of has some corrupted substances in there, and it may have a chance of breaking out and taking over the Enrichment Center… And uh… Possibly, you know, the world." He twitched his eye around uncomfortably, "I-I didn't want to bother you with all of this, but… You know, I don't feel like the world would really enjoy that."
Chell paused for a moment, *What do you mean, corrupted substances?*
Alicia translated it to Wheatley.
"You know, like that itch kind-of feeling, and this one strange, menacing feeling of…" He paused for a moment and narrowed his eye at Chell, "…of… What would be the word…"
"Space is the evil of existence…" Space hissed from a little bit behind Wheatley, sort of rolling around on the table.
"That's it. A sense of evil, coursing through the systems, making my mind all…" He tilted his eye around, trying to think of another word, "…Evil-like…?" He shook his eye, not pleased with his choice of words, but deciding to work with it anyway, "Thanks, Space."
"No! I am NOT Space! Space is evil! I am not evil, you are evil!" Space argued with Wheatley.
Wheatley rolled his big blue eye behind his metal lids, "Yes, yes, I was. Things are better, now be quiet." Space grumbled to himself. Alicia chuckled under her breath at how these two 'Personality Cores' were interacting with each other, like an old married couple.
"This isn't funny, there, missy! This is serious, I don't know if the system has already taken over. It was something like Al… Al… Albany? ... No, no… Oh man, this is going to get on my nerves for a while… Ebony? No, it started with an 'A'… Al… Al—"
The sound of a loud creaking sound from the door cut Wheatley off, Alicia looked to see that it was her father.
"Daddy!" She cheered, jumping out of her chair and running over to him to give him a hug. He took her up in his big arms; then looked up at Chell with a big smile. Then he looked back and forth between the two, apparently he didn't notice Wheatley and Space on the table yet.
"Hey there, my Cutie Pies, How was your day?" He asked cheerfully.
*Wheatley's here.* Chell signed to him, her face blank, with no expression. Alicia nodded and grinned at her father.
*And he's got a British accent!* She signed to him, thinking that it was better that Wheatley not know about what they were talking about.
"H-Hello? Can, can I be part of this conversation? Maybe an introduction would be nice?" Wheatley wobbled himself a little bit in order to look around Chell and see who it was who had entered.
"Daddy, this is Wheatley, he fell out of the sky from space today. Oh yeah, and then Space is behind him, he used to really like outer space. Wheatley, Space, this is my daddy." Alicia chattered excitedly as she grabbed her father by the wrist and dragged him to the table. He was sort of resisting it, and he watched them with an uneasy stare, and then he looked at Alicia's mom.
*You mean, the Wheatley? The one that tried to kill you a few times in the Enrichment Center?* He tried to hide what he was signing from Alicia, and both Chell and her noticed.
*Don't worry, he's here with good purpose, and not revenge. Also, Alicia knows, so don't worry.* Chell assured her husband openly.
"Hello… I'm still here…" Wheatley watched each of them carefully as he waited for them to speak aloud.
Chell told her husband to sit, and he cautiously kept an eye on the two cores as he sat in the chair next to Chell, her hand happened to be on the table, and he put his hand over hers, trying to keep her calm.
Alicia had a feeling something was wrong with this situation, her mother seemed emotionless and laid-back, even when Alicia could tell that there was something very deep to this story.
"Hey there, Wheatley. I'm Steve, Chell's husband, I've heard a lot about you." He said uneasily, putting out a hand and awkwardly shaking one of Wheatley's handles. It seemed almost like her father was the one that needed some calming, it seemed like he was deeply concerned with this situation, and he felt very uncomfortable with it.
Although, as Alicia made her way back to her seat, she saw her mother turn her hand and grab his tightly, then slyly hiding them under the table. She knew exactly what they were doing, they were going to talk just as people had to talk with Helen Keller, by doing a special kind of sign language into each others' palms, because Helen Keller had been unable to hear or see. They had just learned that recently in one of her school classes.
By now, Alicia was so curious about this, that she missed most of the discussion that Wheatley was having with them as she sat down. She liked his accent, there was only one boy with a British accent in her class, and it was only faint. But Wheatley just had this thing about talking and talking and talking. It did get annoying after while, it seemed to Alicia.
She finally started concentrating on the conversation when her parents started to talk to each other about how she insisted on going without him, and he refused to let her go alone.
Alicia's eyes widened, adventure!
Chell opened the small closest door, kneeling down and moving the rubble of clothes to open the hatch on the floor.
"Chell, don't do this, not without me, at least." Steve stood behind her, still trying to persuade her not to go.
*You need to stay here, and keep an eye on Alicia. I can't go back there with someone else. I'm just bringing Wheatley and Space in case I need them.* She motioned in between her opening the hatch and slipping her legs into it and falling into it. Steve crouched down to accommodate her. Then she turned to him and looked him in the eyes, *I don't want you getting hurt or lost. You don't understand, I've spent most of my life in there, and I've been to about most of the layers. Besides, GLaDOS has ways of tricking us to part or something, and if this 'Al-something' thing does arise, there's no telling what it'll do.* She was about to disappear into the musty dark of the hidden compartment when Steve grasped her arm.
"You can't go back there. You don't know what GLaDOS will do to you if she finds out you came back when she told you never to come back." She looked him in the eyes again calmly. Although she perceived her feelings as calm and emotionless, she feared everything she owned. She knew that Steve was right, there was no telling what GLaDOS would do to her. There was a chance she would believe what Wheatley said and would delete the corruption as easily as she deleted Caroline's personality, and then kick her out again. There was also a chance that she would just decide that this would be a perfect opportunity to send her back into endless testing for the rest of her life. Or maybe she would just flat-out kill her for the sake of revenge.
Chell sighed, *I know, I know…* She started, Steve loosened his grip on her arm and she pulled it away and disappeared into the darkness. She clicked on the little lamp that was set up in there. She didn't have to crouch, because it was tall enough to accommodate her height. Cobwebs dangled from the ceiling, shimmering from the dim lighting.
There in the center of the hidden passage was the beloved gray cube, pink hearts adoring the sides, slightly faded from the dust that had gathered upon it, the dark scorches that were on it brought so many memories back to Chell, her chest began to hurt from her heart skipping a few beats.
She fell to her knees, her lungs quivering violently in a silent whimper, and she laid her head and arms on her wonderful Companion Cube. A few wet droplets fell from her eyes; she knew how much she would be giving up from this decision. It was possible that she may never return, and who knew what would become of her beloved husband and daughter if humanity fell because of a virus that she helped create.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she peeked to see Steve as he kneeled down beside her, pulling the hair from her face and placing it behind her ears and leaning against her lightly, rocking her gently back and forth. Chell couldn't help but turn her body and wrap her arms around him, hiding her damp, dirty face in his chest. Steve held her close, contacting his lips with her smooth, black hair.
"Don't to this to yourself…" He whispered to her.
She took a deep breath and pulled away slowly, *I have to.*
He looked her deep in her gray eyes, "Why?"
She broke her eye contact, looking down at the Companion Cube, *I don't know… I just…* She paused for a while, still examining the scorch marks that she had created, she just kept imagining GLaDOS. Whether she was in her old, unmoving robot form, her new one, or her potato form, something within her just felt like she needed to see her again.
*I just have to.* Chell looked Steve in the eyes once more and he wiped her cheek, his eyes full of understanding.
"Promise me something." He started, getting to his feet slowly, and offering his hand to her, "Promise me that you will return."
She grabbed his hand and hauled herself to her feet, *Of course I will.*
From there, she pulled him towards her with the hand she still held, and when he collided softly with her body, she wrapped her arms around him in a huge embrace and he did the same.
When they let each other go, Chell walked past the Companion Cube and grabbed the supplies beyond it. This included her Aperture Science outfit, and the Long-Fall Boots that GLaDOS never took from her. When she had everything she had down there—besides the Companion Cube—then she went over to the open hatch, Steve placed his hands down as a step.
She placed everything above and crawled her way out, then let down her hand to help Steve out. He turned the light off before coming out after her. Chell dusted herself off, and Steve did the same. They happened to interlock their glaze, and without a word, Steve nodded slowly and left the room.
It was time to prepare to return to her first home.