"Space, space, space, wanna go back! Go back to space! Back to space with Space Buddy!"
Chell glanced up from the receptionist's desk towards the door of the hospital as it swung open, revealing Wheatley' tall figure. He was trying to hold open the door with what looked like a box, while trying to fend off Space Core.
"Good on ya, mate!" he yelled at Space Core. "Space! Yes! Why not marry space if you love it so much?!"
"Space?" Space asked happily.
"Yes! Space! Hey, look over there! It's SPACE!" Wheatley shouted, slamming the door. He leaned against it and sighed in relief. "Finally. Longest walk of my life."
Chell raised an eyebrow. "What took you so long? We all left the beach a while ago."
"I was looking for this and got lost. And was attacked by a giant bird. And fell off a cliff. Worse than navigating Aperture, that forest…" He dropped the 'box' in front of her.
She blinked in confusion. "Is that…my Companion Cube?"
"Indeed it is," Wheatley beamed. "I noticed you left it outside the shed. So I brought it back for you!"
Chell glanced at the Cube critically. "Do you know why I left it out there?" Without waiting for him to answer, she continued. "Because I didn't trust GLaDOS." Wheatley winced a bit at the casual use of the name, but didn't interrupt. "Sure, she let me out, but in my mind, giving me my Companion Cube back was a bit of a stretch. She probably booby trapped it or something."
Wheatley frowned. "So She let you go…and you don't want the Cube because She—you think She did something to it?"
Her expression softened at the disappointed look on his face. "I'm probably just paranoid. I suppose the thought of her being nice to me after the countless murder attempts is hard to wrap my head around." She picked up the Cube and placed it carefully on the desk. "Thank you for bringing it all this way. It must have been heavy."
"It was nothing, really. The hard part was finding you. And even then that was by accident…"
"Well, I'm glad you did. I don't think anyone else would be able to help you out," Chell said. "Morality Core told me that GLaDOS just…did something to make you human and kicked you out of Aperture?"
"That's about right. I'm guessing the others got on her nerves, so she pulled Space and me back down, pulled the others out of the incinerator, and made sure we had a way to move. Then, she just…got rid of us." Wheatley shrugged. "Not that I'm complaining; not at all. I'm glad to be out, and I'm able to, y'know, move without a management rail."
She smiled and gestured to the door. "The others are wandering around the town, exploring. You want to join them?" When he hesitated, she rolled her eyes. "I'll be right out; I just have to put my Cube up in my room. Maybe you can get me alone so you can apologize." Satisfied with the prospect, Wheatley left the hospital.
This thing is much harder to carry without a portal gun, Chell thought, picking up the Cube and climbing up a flight of nearby maintenance stairs. At the top, she emerged into a small, red walled living room. She had a bit of trouble fitting the Cube through the doorway into the hall, but finally she was able to get to the end of it. Pushing the last door open, she placed the Cube in a corner next to her closet. Flopping backwards onto the queen sized bed, she sighed.
Aperture is invading my life again… Chell thought. Back when I was a test subject, all I was concerned with was getting away from it all, and now that I have, it's all coming to me. She sighed again. The guilt trip from seeing all the other cores again was enough, but then…Wheatley? She didn't know how she was supposed to feel about him now. He was obviously sorry for what he had done to her, but was it forgivable? Attempted murder isn't really something to be taken lightly. Was it his fault, though? She squeezed her eyes shut, a memory overtaking her other thoughts.
"Alternate Core detected."
"Oh, that's me they're talking about!" Wheatley said excitedly. The little robot was hanging in midair, suspended by Chell's portal gun.
"To initiate a core transfer, please deposit substitute core in receptacle," the announcer informed them, as said receptacle rose out of the floor.
"Core transfer?" GLaDOS said angrily from the middle of the chamber, her optic narrowing at the two of them. "Oh, you are kidding me!"
"I've got an idea! Do what it says, plug me in!" Wheatley suggested.
"Do not plug that little idiot into my mainframe!" GLaDOS commanded.
"No, you should plug that little idiot into the mainframe!" he insisted, not noticing the insult.
"Don't you dare plug him in!"
"Plug me in, plug me in!"
"Don't. Do it."
Wheatley rolled his optic. "Don't listen to Her. Do it. Do it!" With a triumphant glare at GLaDOS, Chell finally obliged, plugging Wheatley into a small machine in the floor.
"Substitute core accepted," the announcer said cheerfully. "Substitute core, are you ready to start the procedure?"
"Yes!" Wheatley said confidently.
"Corrupted core, are you ready to start the procedure?"
"No!" GLaDOS shouted.
"Ohhhhhh yes, She is!" Wheatley insisted.
"Nonononononono!" GLaDOS shot back.
"Stalemate detected. Transfer procedure cannot continue."
"Yes!" GLaDOS cheered.
"Pull me out, pull me out, pull me out, pull me out, pull me out, pull me out, pull me out!" Wheatley yelled in a panic, trying to disconnect himself. Chell quickly ran over to help him.
"…unless a stalemate associate is present to press the stalemate resolution button."
Upon hearing this, the personality core changed his mind. "Leave me in, leave me in! Go press it!"
"Don't. Do it." GLaDOS said again.
"Yes, do do it!"
"Don't press that button! You don't know what you're doing."
"I think She's lying…" Wheatley whispered to her. Chell glanced to her left, and spotted the button. She took a step towards it. Suddenly, the floor pulled back to reveal a catapult, which threw her up and away from the button, back towards Wheatley.
"Not so fast!" GLaDOS narrowed her optic at Chell, with obvious hatred. "Think about this. You need to be a trained stalemate associate to press that button. You're unqualified."
Ignoring her, Chell shot a portal from her portal gun behind the catapult blocking the way. She shot another one on the floor, and dropped through to the room with the button. She moved to go press it, but more panels appeared to block her way.
"Don't listen to Her!" Wheatley called encouragingly as Chell tried to find a way around the panels. "It is true that you don't have the qualifications. But you've got something more important than that. A finger, with which to push that button, so that She won't kill us." Chell laughed silently despite the seriousness of the situation, and shot a portal across the room, running towards the button before the panels had time to appear. She smiled a bit, and pressed the button.
"AHH!" GLaDOS yelled. The panels surrounding the button dropped down.
"Stalemate resolved. Please return to the core transfer bay."
"Here I go!" Wheatley cheered as the receptacle lowered into the ground. He paused. "Wait, what if this hurts?" he asked nervously. "What if this really hurts? Ohhh, I didn't think of that."
"Oh, it will." GLaDOS assured him quietly. "Believe me, it will."
"Are you just saying that, or is it really gonna hurt?" Wheatley twitched nervously, sending out a few sparks. "You're just saying that, aren't you? You're just-No, you're not. It's going to hurt, isn't it?" The receptacle lowered all the way into the ground, and Chell couldn't see what was going on. "Exactly how painful are we t—AUUUGGHH!" he screamed suddenly. Chell winced. It didn't sound like a painless experience at all.
From the center of the room, where GLaDOS was, the floor opened up and several arms came out. They began to disassemble GLaDOS. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" GLaDOS shouted. "NO! STOP! No!" Chell felt a tiny twang of guilt at how panicked GLaDOS sounded. Panels soon came up around her to shield the procedure, but there was no need—Chell was already looking away. "No! NO! NO!" she shrieked. Then she let out a scream so terrible it sent shivers down Chell's spine. However, it was quickly cut off. The panels dropped, GLaDOS' 'head' on the ground next to Chell. In GLaDOS' place was Wheatley, looking quite proud of himself.
He spun around in GLaDOS' chassis, the mood in the room quickly brightening by the change in power. "Wooooow! Check me out, partner!" he called down to her. "We did it! I'm in control of the whole facility now!" He spun again, dizzy with excitement. "Whoa-ho-ho! Would you look at this. Not too bad, eh? Giant robot. Massive! It's not just me, right? I am bloody massive, aren't I?"
Chell rolled her eyes and nodded. She tapped her foot slightly impatiently, not wanting to ruin his moment. "Oh! Right, the escape lift! I'll call it now." Wheatley said sheepishly. Moments later, an elevator rose up out of the floor. "There we go, lift called!" Chell happily stepped into it, the glass door closing behind her. She turned back to Wheatley, a smile on her face. "Look how small you are down there," Wheatley peered at her. "I can barely see you! Very tiny and insignificant." Chell considered that, and glancing at Wheatley's new huge body, nodded in agreement. "Let me tell you, I knew it was going to be cool to be in charge of everything, but," Confetti rained down on the room, as though in celebration, "wow, this is cool!" His voice took on a bit of pride. "And check this out; I'm a bloody genius now! Está utilizando este software de traducción de forma incorrecta. Por favor, consulte el manual. I don't even know what I just said, but I can find out!"
Chell rolled her eyes, for some reason understanding the Spanish perfectly. She waved her portal gun in the air to get Wheatley's attention again. Wheatley blinked. "Oh! Sorry. The lift, yes. Sorry, I keep forgetting." He let out a nervous chuckle. The elevator began rising, and Chell began to become as excited as Wheatley was. She was escaping! Finally! In an effort to restrain herself from cheering, she focused on what Wheatley was saying. "This body is amazing, seriously!" He spun around yet again. "I can't get over how small you are! But I'm huge!" He started laughing. Chell smiled, happy for him. But…something was wrong. His laugh was turning much more maniacal. The elevator slowed down a bit, but she didn't notice. She pressed her free hand against the glass of the elevator, staring as Wheatley began to laugh like a super villain from comic books. Finally, the laughter trailed off.
"Actually," Wheatley said thoughtfully. The lift stopped just short of leaving the chamber, and slowly came back down to the ground. Chell could do nothing but stare in disbelief. "Why do we have to leave right now?" Chell could think of many reasons why. "Do you have any idea how good this feels?" Wheatley asked her. "I did this! Tiny little Wheatley did this!"
"You didn't do anything…" a voice said angrily from a corner. Chell had forgotten about GLaDOS, stranded in a corner. "She did all the work!"
"Oh really?" Wheatley glared at Chell, his full concentration on her. "That's what the two of you think, is it? Well, maybe it's time I did something than!" Another mechanical arm reached out of the floor and dragged GLaDOS' 'head' into a hole in the floor underneath him.
"What do you think you're doing?! No! NO!" GLaDOS protested, but the floor closed up.
"And don't think I'm not onto you too, lady. Do you know what you are? Selfish. I've done nothing but sacrifice to get us here, and what have you sacrificed? Nothing! Zero! All you've done is boss me around!" He narrowed his optic at her. "Well, now who's the boss? Who's the boss?" Wheatley moved closer to her and whispered threateningly, "It's me!"
Chell winced, the memory evaporating. Her feelings about Wheatley could be sorted out later. She had a few other things to take care of, first. She left the room, not noticing the little red lense of a camera following her every move.