So, i'm angry at some you tube person for trying to correct me on the definition of sentient, which I know for a fact means feeling and emotion and the ability to act of those feelings and emotion -_- which is why they give the term to any robot in any movie that can feel and think.
Sorry for any Sammy/Alex mix up...i guess it's not completely fixed yet...they are both names i used for space core
it's supposed to be Alex DX lol
anyway...enjoy this chapter...a little bit of fluff
Days passed and each one was the same, much to Chell's chagrin. She woke be woken up by Wheatley, eat breakfast with the human personality cores then Glados would test her multiple times on simple portal based tests. The woman would refuse to talk to her, minus a few snide comments when Chell either refused to test or 'accidentally' cut the cameras off.
After testing the girl would make her way to either the break room, where she and Wheatley would talk or snack, sometimes they would be joined by Curi and Sammy. Together, those two could kill people with just words.
Apparently they hadn't actually met until then either. Chell had headaches every time she listened to them talk. She remembered the day Alex brought in a book on space. Each page turned brought about a string of questions.
"What's that?"
"Space!"
"Oh! What's that thing?"
"Star!"
"And that?"
"Another star!"
"That?"
"Star!"
"That is big! What is it?"
"The Sun!"
"And that?"
Flynn would occasionally burst in, telling the two that space did not exist, which made Alex upset and Curi cry. Rick would walk in and cheer them up again, get into a fight with Flynn and then hit on Chell.
A week had passed since her first day waking up in the hospital wing. And each day of waking up in the relaxation chamber, rather than the Aperture she knew, only solidified the belief that she was not even in the same dimension anymore. Thinking about it caused headaches, so the best option was to leave this Aperture and head into the world.
I wasn't much of a plan, but it was definitely a goal. She stepped alongside Wheatley. Testing was over for the day, and it was off to the break room, before heading to bed. The accented man talked and talked, filling Chell with a small sense of security. As long as she heard him talking happily about whatever he talked about, she knew she was safe for the moment.
Once in the break room, he bought a couple of bags of chips for them to snack on, "So, love I've been wondering something…how come you don't speak? Were you born mute or was there an injury?"
Chell rolled her eyes. She had to admit, this was the first time someone had actually asked, but it was still annoying. 'I used to be able to speak just fine, but I would refuse…only to either anger or annoy GLaDOS when I wouldn't respond to her many taunts and comments.' the girl sat back for a moment, 'When I woke up a long time later, I was told I may have had brain damage. I don't think it was my brain that was damaged, but maybe my vocal cords or something. I tried talking once and nothing really came out, plus it kind of hurt.'
"Ah, I see, love," he handed her the notebook, which she gently set on the table in front of them. She had learned a lot about this Wheatley over the passed week.
He definitely loved talking just for the same of talking. She would listen to him for hours when they had the time. He had absolutely no problem carrying conversation by himself, and occasionally he had a funny story to tell.
The man also had a sore spot for being called stupid. Chell had witnessed him snapping at Glados when she 'accidentally' called him a moron to his face. He spit out the all too familiar line of "I am NOT a moron!" and had stormed off.
When Chell finally found him in the break room, she couldn't help but crack a smile. He was playing classical music over a small radio and flipping pages in a book.
It was a quiet afternoon, while he read the book in an angered flurry. Chell mostly had been sitting listening to the pages turning, thinking about this and that, mostly the time he 'read' Machiavelli.
He had eventually cooled down and returned to his normal happy-go-lucky self, talking Chell's ear off.
He turned to her again, after having finished the story where his buddy Jerry had once developed a robot that could translate languages, but it malfunctioned and would only translate your words into a very long and well worded insult.
"Hey, love…I've been thinking…you don't really look like you're happy here. So why don't you just…um…you know…escape?" he whispered the last part.
Chell's eyes fell downcast. How many times had she tried escaping a simple lab? She just stopped counting all of the dreams of freedom and all of the attempts. She had only tasted the surface once since being trapped by the A.I. and only moments later, or so it seemed to her, she woke up in the relaxation chambers again.
'I've tried so hard to leave Aperture behind me. But every time I see freedom, it's ripped away and I wake up in Aperture again.' she slowly wrote.
Wheatley's face twisted in confusion and sadness, "That's just terrible! Sounds to me like you've been eating everyone else's share of misery!" he then fell silent, but only for a moment, "I could help you escape…you know get you out of here…we could hunt down and escape pod or even…"
Chell placed her finger to his lips smiling softly. If she was going to escape, she definitely was not going to go looking for said escape pod, especially if Wheatley was the one helping her find it.
Besides, she may already have a solution. Thanks to the mysterious graffiti in her Aperture, she knew certain chambers had little secret hiding spaces. All she had to do was find that chamber and shut off the camera. Once there, she would be able to slip into the vents AND keep the portal device for any future use escaping.
The only problem was making sure the rooms do in fact exist. They should, since most of them were ventilation shafts and old offices. The vents would be a pretty good way to go as long as there was no neurotoxin.
"…and if we could some how…no, no, no…that would just get you into hot water. What if you were to sneak out the front door?" Chell shook her head and motioned to the orange jumpsuit.
"Ah…right…the red buttons…did not think that through…that would not end well…" he laughed nervously.
Chell sighed. It made things a little more difficult if Wheatley wanted to get out now, but maybe she could use that to her advantage. He had grown up here, ad he works here. So essentially he knows the inner workings of the lab. Wouldn't he be able to lead her out through the production lines like before? That's what they had been heading to when they were forced to confront GLaDOS.
It made things a little easier, but now problem was slipping into production and finding the lift to the exit.
Chell nodded to herself and rose from her seat. It was late and this plan needed careful thinking, quick, but careful(something she felt she was pretty good at).
"Bedtime already? Bloody hell, it is getting late!" he stood up, "Well best be getting you to your chambers…" he walked with her to her room.
Wheatley waved her a good night, before sulking off to his office. Chell sighed. He was miserable here. Just like the Intelligence Dampening Sphere had been.
She shut the door and tried to get a full night's sleep.
XXAPERTUREXX
GLaDOS watched the monitor as BLUE and ORANGE made their way through old Aperture. She hadn't known the humans would have been so resourceful when she took over. There they were down behind some sealed door, just waiting to be tested on.
Her monitors told her that they were in a different sort of stasis pod than the ones she typically used. With any luck, the subjects knew what they were doing and won't face cognitive deterioration.
She watched the two playing around in front of her camera as they neared the end of the current room. ORANGE waved happily at her.
"Yes, I see you. No, I don't care." content that the A.I. responded to the robot, she took off to meet BLUE before falling down the shaft into the next level. Hopefully they wouldn't screw up now that she was so close to having more humans for testing.
She turned her attention to the monitors in the extended relaxation center. These rooms were now clear of the humans that were useless to her as well as cleaned and prepped for her newer test subjects. This time she would take great care in which humans she used and how they will be kept in sleep. Number one was not letting the main power grid be shut off in case of emergency.
The former pest she had dealt with was lucky she hadn't been under much longer, else she would have suffered a fate similar. Although it was lucky for GLaDOS that she had been alive and fully functional. Her and that damned metal ball wouldn't have flipped her breaker switch and got her up and running again.
Just thinking about what would have become of Aperture had her absence remained the way it was just made her angry. Black Mesa could have easily slipped in and stolen important technology from her. But nothing bad had happened, minus the almost reactor meltdown prior to her being woken up. Nothing was missing and none of the portal devices were gone, nor the few pairs of long fall boots created, except the pair put on that pest while she had been under.
What robot decided to give her that procedure? She hadn't authorized it! It was hell getting all the personality constructs back into what jobs they were meant to do. Apparently when she was killed, they had begun to run rampant and destroy Aperture trying to do what they pleased.
She of course took the corrupt ones and put them back in the bins they were meant to stay in, and the rest of them were put back to work.
A loud explosion noise managed to grab her attention and she watched as BLUE stood on a red button laughing at ORANGE who had just been blown up by several turrets.
"BLUE did you do that to ORANGE on purpose?" He stopped his laughter and waiting for the reassembly machine to bring his cooperative partner back. Said partner walked back in the room growling and making angry hissing noises at the blue sphere.
GLaDOS temporarily regretted letting them do this mission. Each passing course brought more and more human gestures, which only furthered her anger and impatience with them.
As the 'test' dragged on and they finally were able to make it to the door, GLaDOS narrowed her optic. The door wouldn't open.
"It won't open…wait, is that camera connected in the door? Try something." The two robots looked t each other and shrugged before embracing each other in a manner that sickened GLaDOS, but none the less the door began opening.
"You did it, you really did it. All your testing was worth it. Just look at all those test subjects! Think of all the testing! You saved science!" she felt agitated as they started that ridiculous human dancing again, "Enough celebrating. We have more work to do." then she simply exploded them so be reassembled in her chamber.
Looking at all the humans, she couldn't help but feel a shot of testing euphoria pulse through her circuits.
Despite the simulated happiness she felt, she couldn't help but wonder in the very slightest, as in the most smallest bit, where the pest had gone. It had something to do with the (now incinerated) shattered device, she just knew it. Part of her, no matter how small, was curious to find out how it worked and if the girl was sucked into a black hole or maybe even another galaxy.
GLaDOS shook her core and turned her attention back to scanning her new test subjects. So far, their vitals were completely in tact. She would know for sure soon enough if cognitive part of them was also in tact.
XXAPERTUREXX
Chell sighed, hearing the familiar noise the announce made every morning, waking her up. She got up and stretched, making her way to the small bathroom to perform the morning ritual.
Wheatley was waiting for her by his office, like usual and together they made their way to the cafeteria. Alex and Curi were sitting at the table talking about space. Didn't those two ever stop?
"What's your favorite thing about space?"
"Space!"
"Are you going into space one day? OH! Can I go, too? Will I see a star?" she started her normal question spewing.
Chell nibbled on her toast and jam, thinking of her plan of escape.
"Hey, love, I see you got eggs and bacon today," Wheatley commented, sitting down with his own food. Chell looked down and nodded. She didn't really pick it, it was just the first thing she grabbed.
"Today is a busy day in the main labs, apparently She has something important to test, so you get the day off from testing," Wheatley pushed his food around on his tray, "I was wonderin', if you didn't have something else planned. I was wonderin' if you'd like to go check out the Nature Sphere? It's pretty amazing and I think you would have a whale of a time. I mean…we don't have to. You could always just go back to your room and what not. Although the Nature Sphere has many unique plants used in many of Aperture's products, most of them very pretty. Some even have nice scents to them, um…if you're in to that kind of thing."
Chell grinned, a bit curious about a Nature Sphere. She had never come across one before in her Aperture, but she also hadn't been off the testing tracks, minus old Aperture and the production lines.
She nodded, causing the accented man to stop his rambling and smile. It would probably be a lot of fun to do something other than test and sit in the break room before sleeping.
"The Nature Sphere? I wanna go! Is it really pretty? Will there be roses? Oh! What about carnations? Tulips? Morning Glories? Can I go with you? Can Alex go? What about Mora? OH! Aaron and Flynn's mom works there! We should meet up with them! Can we?" Curi perked up and giggled, awaiting Chell's approval. Her golden eyes seemed to widen with a childlike innocence as they darted between Wheatley and Chell, and occasionally to Alex.
Chell finally let out a small sigh and nodded, giving the girl the (not needed) permission to go to the Nature Sphere as well. She couldn't help but wonder if all of those plants that had overrun Aperture had been from a Nature area of their own, or if it really had been the work of her little potato experiment. She laughed at the memory of stealing that liquid and dousing her potato battery in it.
That seemed so long ago…and for all Chell knew, it had been longer than it had felt. She had been eight or nine then? She hadn't been chosen as a test subject until years later, when she had just become teenager. At least she thought so. She definitely hadn't been eight anymore.
No longer feeling hunger, she pushed her tray to the side and stood. Wheatley jumped up, toppling his tray over. Food went flying all over the table, causing Curi to squeal in surprise and wrap her arms around Alex. Alex frowned, muttering something about space and rambling incoherently about the topic.
"Oh, dear…" he began scrambling to pick up the food from the table. Chell sighed softly and helped him pick up the toast and scrambled eggs off the table. He shot her a weak smile, "You don't have to do that, mate. It's my mess, I'll clean it…"
Chell shook her head, continuing to scoop the mess back onto the tray. Curi stood up properly and smoothed her dress, "Did something startle you? Did you get scared, Wheatley? What happened?"
The man shook his head, grabbing the trays from the table and walked to return them. Alex frowned, "Maybe it's space madness…"
A few more minutes and they were all headed to the Sphere. The walk was filled with endless chatter between Curi and Alex.
"What's your favorite flower? Mine is the daffodil because it's a pretty color! I like picking flowers! Do you like picking flowers? Did you pick them as a kid? Did you make flower rings? Did you ever get sad when the flowers you picked wilted? I got sad, but new flowers always made me happy! Do new flowers make you happy?"
Chell sighed, feeling a headache coming on. According to Alex, his favorite flower was the Moon flower. His favorite fruit was a star fruit. His favorite stones were moon rocks and meteorites and anything else in space.
The entrance hadn't come soon enough for the girl. As soon as the door opened, she was given instant relief as the two sixteen year olds ran off to go look at the flowers and plants.
The test subject looked around and noticed it was like any other green house. The sunlight in the sphere was simulated through what looked like the same kind of technology as the hard light bridges, but this light was a little more unreformed and running along metal beams. There was a layer of beams below that that were fitted with nozzles. A few on the far left side were spraying water on a few fruit trees.
"You have to some see a special rare plant developed by Aperture and known only to Aperture! Oh man alive, it's a downright beautiful flower!" Wheatley grinned childishly leading her down a narrow pathway.
"Oh, and be careful, love. Some of these plants aren't quite…um…human friendly. They…they don't take well to human's touching them. Quite remarkable really…although…not for those who touch them…no…not pretty at all…" he seemed to go off in his own world for a moment before snapping back, "Anyway, I'll warn you if you step too close to one, alright, love?" Chell nodded as they went further into the controlled jungle.
The girl laid eyes on many different plants. Some she remembered from her childhood, others she had never seen at all, even in books.
"There it is, love." she looked up to see a small potted plant sitting in a window. It was a lone white flower with pink tips and vibrant green lea-wait. A window!
Chell pressed her hands against it and felt joy fill her. It was a window!
If she could just break through it, she could escape easily! All that plotting and scheming and the answer was right here? She couldn't believe it!
"You haven't seen the outside in along time…have you…?" Wheatley's voice broke through to her. She turned with tears trying to break through.
He frowned sadly, "I'm sorry, love…but that is a simulation screen…see…" he pushed a small blue button that was right beside a yellow one. The daylight flipped off and turned into moonlight, equipped with twinkling stars and a partially cloud covered moon.
There had only been one other time Chell had been completely crushed. That was when Wheatley had betrayed her in GLaDOS' chamber. She had been so happy and full of hope and when he denied her freedom…it killed her inside. Just as this had. Here she was staring at what she had thought to be the outside, her chance at freedom, and it was just another trick to crush her!
That was the final straw. Hot tears spilled over her cheeks and anger filled her. Maybe Cave was right. She should just get mad and find some combustible lemons! She would burn the labs to the ground if she didn't get free soon!
She clenched her fists and teeth and tried to blink away the tears. They had never helped her before and she wasn't about to turn into some weak girl who cried at the drop of a hat. Chell felt intense pain in her palms, where her unkempt nails were now piercing the skin.
She felt hands press down on her shoulders, "Love…you okay?" then he frowned, obviously upset at himself, "No, of course not. Stupid question…stupid." He looked into her eyes with his deep aqua orbs. She couldn't take it anymore. She was beginning to wish she had just died down in old Aperture, or maybe she could force this dream to end and she would wake up in stasis. Or maybe if she just die.
Chell turned her head away Wheatley, stomping her foot lightly. Drying tears still streaked her face. Wheatley sighed, not really knowing how to cheer her up with out making things worse. His heart began to speed up as his eyes fell on her face, or more importantly her lips.
He felt his cheeks redden at the thought of kissing them with all he had, He instantly felt flushed for such a thought. Chell looked at him and he felt his heart stop. Wheatley reached forward to grab her to do just that, but she was suddenly yanked back, falling into a huge potted plant.
The plants vines had made their way around her wrists. Wheatley gasped, "Oh man!" he gripped the vines and tried to pry her loose. "Just stay calm, I'll think of a way to get you out of here!" He continued his seemingly hopeless prying at the vines. After a few seconds of fighting with it, it let go of Chell…and completely wrapped itself around Wheatley.
Chell began to panic, not having any experience fighting homicidal plants. She moved forward to grab the plant, which was beginning to curl around his neck.
"No!" he gasped, "Go…get…he…p…" he pulled at the vine around his throat as Chell reluctantly turned to find a Nature Sphere Associate. She turned at hit something, falling painfully to her bottom. She looked up at a pale face framed with black hair. She would've said it was Flynn, but this man did not have pink eyes or glasses. His eyes were a light blue and his pupils very dilated.
In his hand was a spray bottle, which he used to spray the plant and Wheatley. The man then stood still as the plant fell away from the blue eyed accented man.
Chell grabbed Wheatley's arm and pulled him from the foliage. He gasped to catch her breath and rubbed at his wrists and throat.
"Now where is that rhubarb…" Chell turned to see Wheatley's savior walk right passed them and search for his rhubarb. Rhubarb? Wasn't that one of the thousands of ingredients the Logic Core said were in the cake?
"That's Login, he's a bloody brilliant cook, although you just have to look passed what he says…not really right, that one…he's also Flynn's bloody twin brother. They are both mad, though. Flynn is a know-it-all with information, where as Login knows everything there is to know about baking and plants."
Chell watched the man kneel down, finally finding the rhubarb. He continued muttering random things that apparently went onto the cake, some being completely inedible.
Wheatley gripped Chell's wrist, "We should probably get going before something else tries to kills us…" he flushed red quickly letting go of Chell.
They located Curi and Alex sitting on a marble bench, eating ice cream. The mute girl raised her brow, wondering where they had even gotten ice cream. It didn't take them long to spill their source.
"Guess what? Login bought me and Alex ice cream! You want some? It's good." Curi laughed, "I love strawberry! What's your favorite flavor? Do you prefer cones or bowls? OH! Do you like sprinkles? I love the rainbow kind, the sugar kind and the little nonpareil? Or are you the kind of person who likes ice cream on a stick? I don't like the ice cream on a stick 'cuz it falls off onto my dress and Glados get's mad at me for messing up my uniform. Don't you hate it when you get stains on your pretty clothes?"
Chell sat down and shook her head. The trip to the Nature Sphere had been a lot less relaxing than she thought. Well, a lot is a major understatement. She had almost been killed by a psycho plant, then Wheatley almost died. She met Flynn's brother, and the human Logic Personality Construct, who turned out to be just as odd as the robot she had known.
All she really wanted to do was crawl under the nearest bed and die. This hell was turning out to be worse than she had ever imagined hell. She supposed being in any other typical image of hell would be nothing to her.
She let her head fall into her hands, not even noticing Login come by to take Alex and Curi back to their respective Aperture employee apartments.
The girl just sat there, head throbbing in the pain brought on by too much thinking. After learning to think with portals, it seemed near impossible for her to think with anything else. She wanted out, and she wanted out NOW.
"Love?" Wheatley gently tapped her shoulder, "You should probably be getting back to the relaxation room soon…I have to get to work and She won't be happy with you wandering around without an escort…not to mention the bloody red buttons…those things are quite annoying, actually…pointless…mad…"
Chell frowned. Even her only friend she had in this hell didn't trust her to sit and think amongst the deadly foliage. She stood, trying to retain the dignity she knew she had lost years ago and walked almost robotically passed Wheatley. He followed behind her quickly, trying to keep up as they made their way towards the relaxation center.
"I'm sorry I messed everything up, love…I'm such a moron…" Chell turned to him and furrowed her brows. It wasn't like Wheatley at all to call himself a moron, especially since he was so adamant about NOT being one. She reached out and lightly smacked his forehead, saying to him in her way that he was not and that it wasn't his fault.
"We'll, see you later, love." he waved, smiling like a goof as he walked down the hall.
Chell closed the door and plopped on the bed, closing her eyes and sighing, hoping a nap would help her.
So? feedback and critique is well appreciated
OH! I have Pics up of mah lovely human designs!
http : / sabaku-no-kurai . deviantart . com / (no spaces) quite a few pics up o.o so view if ya want lol
~Lady Pyrien