Not wanting to leave Chell on her own for too long, Wheatley hurried down the hall as quickly as he could. What a bloody mess, why couldn't anything ever go over easily for him in this forsaken place? Barely out of her bed and Chell was already having to fend off a fairly terrifying Splicer. What could they expect once he had her crawling through the wrecked testing chambers that he knew for a fact were infested with those spider-like ones in the maintenance corridors behinds the walls? That was where things were going to get dicey for him too, but he hoped he wouldn't have to deal with it…but it did worry him. Quite a bit, actually…the scientists had told him that if his core derailed and his consciousness was still inside, he would die! What if a Splicer took a swing at him and knocked him loose? He shuddered, trying to focus on the task at hand.
He tapped himself into the mechanisms that controlled the Tower, but only in order to redirect the power from the Relaxation Wing. Anything more than that…Wheatley just didn't like the feel of the place, it made his mind itch, if it were possible. Besides, it was like stepping on a grave and he-like the Splicers-had no desire to be around anything that could possibly be linked directly to Her. She might be dead, but it was possible her ghost was still around…as ridiculous as that sounded. He gave a satisfied sigh as he felt the power begin flowing into the chambers, the lights flickering to life almost begrudgingly.
Deep within the chambers, a light snapped on. Startled at the sudden change from darkness, a red-eyed Splicer reached into the crate she had drug into her makeshift home and pulled out a green glass bottle. With an annoyed hiss, she threw it up at the offending light…
Chell was startled from her near nap as a shuddering explosion reverberated through the floor beneath her. She was on her feet in an instant, looking around with knit brows. Wheatley called to her from some distance, voice echoing.
"It's nothing! Nothing! Just a…just a little mechanical hiccup, that's all! The lights are turning on and one of them might have just blown out!"
Shaking her head, Chell knew better. Lights burnt out, they didn't explode. And that had sounded more like a firework going off and the energy had carried to where she'd been sitting. If she had to guess, she imagined that it was that ridiculous lemonade the scientists had 'helpfully' engineered to blame.
Following the hall, she frowned to herself. While she did appreciate Wheatley's desire to keep her calm, she would appreciate it more if he were honest. Especially in matters that could mean her life or death. If that was an explosion caused by a bottle of Combustible Lemonade, that meant there was a Splicer. And one was enough if it was tossing those around, but there were likely more. Exactly how much else did her companion know that he was keeping from her? She gazed out through the glass wall into the dark sea, expression set into a determined scowl: she would get out of this place and feel sunlight on her skin again, no matter the cost. This meant that the next Splicer who made the mistake of crossing her path would not be let off as easily as the one in the Bio-Sphere. Making sure her wrench was secure in her belt loop, she found the door where Wheatley waited, looking at her in an anxious manner.
"There you are," he sighed, looking between her and the door. "Well, the lights should all be on now and it's just a matter of getting to the top where the Tower links to the Olympus Labs."
Chell gave a nod, pulling the wrench from her belt loop. Wheatley took this as her declaration of being ready. But he wasn't exactly sure he was.
"It should be an easy climb since you have the aperture plasmid," he babbled, earning an impatient look from Chell. "See, without it we would have to clamber through the maintenance catwalks and I think I mentioned the Splicers that move around like spiders with hooks? Yes, I'm pretty sure I did, unless I didn't! In which case, um, there are likely Splicers in the catwalks that move around with hooks on the ceiling. Which is why we're going to avoid them as much as possible."
Chell rapped her knuckles against the door and raised her brow at the core, clearly ready to get on with it.
"Right! On our way then," he said with a nod, turning his attention to activating the door.
Unlike the other doors, this one seemed much sturdier and took longer to disengage its numerous pistons and inner workings. Chell tapped her foot impatiently, Wheatley becoming increasingly restless and therefore entirely too chatty.
"So! I know this is thinking a bit ahead of things, but do you happen to know how to pilot a boat? Not a big one, mind you, one of those smaller ones with the sail. Sailboat. No? No, me either…but hey, that's okay! That's okay, we have plenty-plenty of time to learn once we get to the docks up on the surface. Maybe they come with manuals of some sort we could read…can you read, since we're on the subject? I don't really have a need to, but I can. I can. Just some of the bigger words trip me up. Like accoutrements. And bellwether. And concupiscent. And ebullient. Oh, and-"
Fortunately-and Chell did give a relieved sigh-the door fell down into the floor before Wheatley could continue listing off words he didn't quite grasp throughout the dictionary, alphabetically.
"Alright! Here we go," he chimed, sliding into the chamber on his rail. "Should be easy as cake…or was it pie? I never really was sure, but both seem equally difficult to make. Is why I don't quite get the saying…I mean, if it's hard to make a cake and a pie, why would you go around saying it was easy as-oh, you know what, I think I solved it. If you were someone who made cakes and pies quite frequently…a baker, as it were…well, I bet it would be easy to make both cake and pie since that's what you do for a living."
Chell stepped in a bit hesitantly, not taking any moment of peace for granted…nor would she let her guard down again like she had in the Bio-Sphere: it would take no less than a winged unicorn who could pilot a sailboat to distract her from the air of danger she found herself wading into. The image brought a vague smile to her lips as she looked up at her chatterbox companion and then gazed around at the chamber.
It seemed to be a no-frills box, no bigger than her Relaxation room had been but with far less in it. The walls were white, though seemed to be yellowing in places and crumbling in others; it seemed Moon-rock wasn't the greatest paint of choice to withstand the trials of time. Nearby to her left was a circular panel that stood up from the floor with a smooth depression; a button, she assumed. At the other end was another round door like the one hissing back into place behind them and in the corner to the right of that was a glass tube with a metal cap a few feet from the floor. Squinting, Chell could see that there was something inside.
"Oh, this one's easy, just go stand near that tube," Wheatley explained cheerfully. "But not right under it! That'd give you quite a headache when the cube falls out, if not knock you out cold completely."
Raising a brow, she approached the tube cautiously. A sensor on the cap lit up as she stood beside it and the panels flipped downward, dropping a heavy-looking cube on the floor unceremoniously. It appeared to be a wooden box with bronze caps on all its points, the center of each face bearing an intricate emblem of a heart.
"That is a Weighted Companion Cube," the core went on with a nod at Chell's questioning expression. "We're gonna see it quite a bit along the way, they're bloody useful in opening the doors. Just pick that up and put it on the button. Simple!"
Looking from Wheatley to the cube before her, she frowned: it looked far too heavy for her to pick up easily. And when she wrapped her arms around it, she found this to be true. Barely able to lift it more than a few inches from the floor, she began an awkward crabwalk over to the button. Her companion seemed to make note of this.
"Hm, you know…this might be a problem," he mused, more to himself than her while she struggled with the task. "We didn't really come up with any sort of device to help with lifting things and I bet your arms just aren't ready to be lifting that much after being asleep so long. That means…oh! Oh, I have the perfect idea, but it's really up to you…gonna mean a little side-trip back out of the Tower and into the Dining Sphere. See, when we had big hits with the plasmids in Rapture, we'd have sample machines for the scientists. Kinda like desert, only with superhuman powers that eventually lead many of them to severe-if not crippling-ADAM addiction. But there's one in particular that I think would really help us along: Telekinesis! That's just a fancy word for being able to move things with your mind and in this case would let you move that cube easier than blinking your eyes!s Which are a lovely shade of blue, if you'll let me say so. Though I already did, so….well, I hope you don't mind."
Chell smiled a bit in good humor and set the cube down to wipe sweat from her brows, Wheatley's cheeks flushing back in his lab. He cleared his throat and pushed on to his point.
"Right, but I don't want you getting exposed to too much of this ADAM stuff, especially now that you've seen what it can do to a person. But…it would be better to get through these chambers as fast as possible and I really think Telekinesis is the way to go. Up to you, though, of course. I'll give you a moment."
Regarding the cube with a thoughtful expression, she crossed her arms over her chest and pondered the situation. While it was a great weight and she worried that if the chambers became more complicated-she imagined they would-that simply dragging the weight to a button on her own would not be effective, she also had to think about the after effects of introducing another plasmid into her system. Exactly how many was too many? Did it vary from person to person? If so, how many would it be before she became like the others? The thought disturbed her, but she'd already decided that she would do whatever it took to escape Rhapsody…even if that meant risking possibly loosing herself in the process.
Resolved, she looked up to her companion and pointed to the door they'd just entered from with a nod.
"Oh! So that's a 'yes' then is it?" he blinked at her, registering a second nod. "Right! We'll make a quick trip of it and get right back to getting up through the Tower!"
Wheatley zipped over to the door and it began its opening process again, somehow sounding even more begrudging than the first time, likely from a year of misuse. But before it could open, Chell's blood ran cold as she could hear heavy footfalls in the hall beyond it, gazing up at the core for any sort of feedback.
"Not to worry!" he assured her, seeming genuine. "That's just one of Big Daddies out on patrol."
When Chell continues to stare at him, he assumed she had no idea what that was.
"Well, you see, a Big Daddy is a guard who protects the scientists and more importantly the Little Sisters. Oh and they make repairs on the facility because, well, no normal person could go out onto the ocean floor and tighten bolts and weld over any leaks."
She managed to look concerned and confused all at once: this facility leaked (though that would explain her room having been partially flooded) and what on Earth was a Little Sister?
"Ah, better I explain while you get a look," he added, the door beginning to descend into the floor. "Just try not to making any sudden movements that could be seen as threatening. In fact, just don't move until it's gone."
Chell nodded, her wide eyes spotting the behemoth now taking up most of the hallway before her. Standing at least three feet taller than her-while wearing tall boots-was a humanoid thing in what she could best describe as being a diving suit. The massive, caged dome over its head held glowing yellow portholes, the whole thing fastened into a thick metal carapace. But while it was heavily armored, her eyes went instantly to the terrifying weapon it bore: in place of the lower portion of its right arm it had a rusted, conical drill. Chell found herself trembling uncontrollably as it emitted a haunting sound that reminded her of…a whale.
"That," Wheatley whispered from just above her. "Is a Big Daddy. Specifically, that's the Bouncer model. This one, though, doesn't seem to have a Little Sister with him. That's good for us, less to worry about for now. But see his eyes…er, well portholes, I don't know if I'd call them eyes. Anyway, see the color? Yellow means he's on the lookout for something but as long as you don't go aggravating him, we're fine. When he's with a Sister, those turn green. But if you see one with red, stay away as far as humanly possible because they're stronger than the Splicers and I know from seeing first-hand that those drills are not just for maintenance."
Chell nodded, standing still as a statue as the thing lumbered past, heading for the Bio-Sphere.
"Ah, I bet he heard the ruckus from earlier and is going to investigate," the core concluded confidently. "We'll just wait till he's through that door before heading out for the Dining Sphere."
The Big Daddy paused at the door before making another whale-like noise, the cue activating the door's mechanism; Chell watched it like a hawk, brows knitting.
Splicers…and now these things. And what exactly were Little Sisters? The dread in her guts seemed to give a roll, gleeful at her rising distress: what else could Rhapsody hold in store that Wheatley was leaving out?