A/N: *insert apology for taking so long to update* *insert lame excuse to justify hiatus*

I still want to stress that i will never leave a story unfinished. So if I still actually have followers on this old thing, be joyful, because you're in for a treat. An extra long chapter to make up and more content inbound soon...

Anyway, please enjoy and if you can, drop a quick review. It does help me to keep motivated...

Chapter 9

'Well, this is nice...' Wheatley thought. If he closed his eyes he could almost imagine he was walking through the park. Or the city scape. Or maybe the carnival.
He bet he could win Chell one of those overly large and impractical stuffed animals and she would thank her with one of those looks she sometimes gave him.

A silent nod and radiant smile that conveyed more gratitude than most people could with words. He loved her smile. And her eyes.

Too bad his daydream was interrupted by the scientific smell, the ominous sounds and the overall creepiness only a laboratory could posses. But, allas, a boy can only dream.

He was even more rudely awakened when Chell roughly grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him against the wall. For a split second Wheatley thought she was going to kiss him, but the sound of approaching footstep made him swallow any witty retorts (or at least they seemed witty to him) before he could utter them.

The sound increased and was now accompanied by 2 male voiced. Chell pushed even closer to him to make sure the dark corner would hide them sufficiently, making Wheatley blush an undignified hue.

The voices were now close enough to make out what they were saying:
"...but he was quiet persistent. It seems the master has authorized us to proceed into level 4. He wants us to start project Aperture as soon as possible, even if we feel it's to early."

"Well, that's why he's the boss. Can't argue with the higher up's, or you might end up like him..."

The second voice responded. He tapped against something that sounded like paper. Chell could logically conclude he was carrying a bunch of files containing information concerning the elusive 'him' the man was referring to.

She momentarily wondered if they were talking about C.C., but discarded the thought almost immediately. Besides the fact that it wouldn't matter to the current situation anyway, this whole conspiracy went beyond one missing boy. This could be the find of the century.

"Yeah, well. That's why I'm discussing these things with you instead of him, aren't I. By the By, Have you read that incoming report on..." As both the voices and footsteps faded away, Wheatley finally managed to breath again. He hadn't realized he had stopped to begin with, but the dizziness he now experienced might have been a dead give away.

Wheatley idly wondered how convenient it had been, the 2 scientists in question had just been discussing something cryptic yet relevant as they had passed in earshot. He barely read books, but it still sounded like an awfully convenient trope to him.

Chell was pulling his cuff roughly now. She was starting to regret making him tag along, the only thing he did was space out and blush adorably. On the other hand, would she really prefer doing this by herself? And wasn't Wheatley the only one who would stick by her no matter what she did or say. Or rather, what she 'didn't' say.

Everyone she had ever known had laughed at her or called her out on her distaste for verbal communication. Even her parents, who had been there to see her grow up and basically lived with a mute all their lives, sometimes called her weird.

Only Wheatley had never brought it up. He asked her once, at their first meeting, why she preferred to stay silent, and Chell had shrugged in response. This had flabbergasted him into silence in turn, but in the end, the teen never brought it up again.

More footsteps were now coming their way, and Chell quickly saw they were all out of convenient dark corners to hide in. There was a door however. She quickly pushed Wheatley in first and closed the door behind her. She placed an ear to the door in the hopes of catching some more useful information,but the muffled footsteps passing the door was all she got.

Chell turned around to find Wheatley standing a little way of, bending over a railing. She quickly noted the change in surroundings. Instead of the white, sanitary environment so reminiscent of a hospital, they now found themselves in something looking like an old factory. They were standing on a walkway, there where flights of steps going down and up. The rest of the room was just open space, as far as the eye could reach, filled with tubes, cables and more unmentionables.

"I wonder how deep this goes..." Wheatley murmured, not expecting an answer at all. For a moment he entertained the idea of sending a well aimed spitball into the void, like he had seen in the movies, but a light cuff on the back of his head stopped him.
Damn Chell for always reading his minds when he was about to do dumb things.

She started the way up without awaiting his opinion. It's not like either of them had any idea where they were going anyway. So Wheatley followed her up, trying to imagine these were steps leading somewhere nice and not his imminent death.

"Just hold still for a moment... Sheeze, this is hard enough as it is!" Penny called, doing her utmost best to balance on unfamiliar robot legs, trying to use her unfamiliar robot arms to open an uncooperative hatch.

Atlas, for what it was worth, was busy trying to determine how he had sinned in a previous life, to be stuck balancing a robot version of his best friend on top of his also robot body to try to get out of what seemed to be a Stephen King worthy nightmare.

Just as he was about to retort, his leg slipped and he ungracefully did a face plant, Penny landing in a heavy heap on his back. At least the lack of nerve endings had a plus side after all.

A camera observing them in the corner started blinking with a red light, and a radio voice proceeded to give them the following instructions:

"Hello and, again, welcome to the Aperture Science computer-aided enrichment center."

The recording sounded like it had seen better days. Either that, or it had been made using an outdated speak-and-spell.

"We will now proceed with the planned cooperative testing. Blue will procure the blue device. Orange will procure the orange device."

They were so caught up to trying to decipher the jumbled recordings, both Penny and Atlas almost missed the sound of the floor opening and 2 pedestals sliding upward, each topped with a similar looking machine. The only difference was the coloring, consistent with the colored lights Atlas and Penny had observed themselves to be fitted with.

They gingerly approached these anomalies. After all the shit they have had to put up with this morning, getting instructions telling them how to proceed was a relief. Without having to share a word, they both knew it might be better to follow through for the moment.

"After procuring the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, please proceed to the first testing chamber."

A inconspicuous door in the wall slid open, revealing even more of the same white-washed tiles. But at least now they were getting somewhere now. Cradling the gun-like equipment in the 3 fingered hands, the 2 friends went to face whatever awaited them.

"Do you smell burning flesh?" Wheatley asked quietly. "Cause I'm pretty sure that's burning flash smell. Or at least it smells like the burn unit at the emergency room..."

He was walking ahead of Chell now, taking the steps 2 at a time, mumbling to keep himself from getting too scared. He never thought there would be a time he was wishing for the horror hospital again, but this place was even worse. Every time an object passed through the glass tube overhead, Wheatley nearly fell down the stairs from fright. Another reason why walking ahead of Chell might be a good measure.

"Do you remember the time I nearly chopped my ring finger off?" He went on. It seemed to him most of his 'amusing' stories happened in the ER. Might have more to do with him than them though.
"I met a doctor whom..."

Whatever the doctor might have been was abruptly cut of as a door opened, a mere 2 feet from Wheatley's nose. A burly looking security guard looked surprised for all of 3 seconds before making a grab for the nearest delinquent. Wheatley managed to jump backwards, almost pushing Chell of the stair with him.

Luckily she backed away simultaneously and both teens managed to avoid the outstretched arm. They rushed back the way they came quickly, the man hot on their heels.
Changes of both of them outrunning him were small, seeing as the guard had a height, stamina and knowledge of general layout advantage.

'So, we'll just have to do something he won't expect.'. Chell reasoned. Desperately looking around, she found a small platform beneath the walkway they were currently on. Looked like it was part of the ceiling of the lower levels. Obviously it wasn't meant to be stood or walked on, but it was better than nothing. With a supple movement, she vaulted herself over the railing.

Wheatley let out a frightened squick behind her, to him it must seem like she was throwing herself into an endless void, but she was counting on his absolute trust to make this plan work.

If she had judged him correctly, and after all this time Chell was certain she had, he would be both naïve and loyal enough to follow her lead, no matter how stupid it seemed.

And to be fair, she was right. As she landed heavily, barely able to lose her momentum by performing a roll, she immediately looked upwards to see him take the jump. And he would have, no hesitation, had the guard not made a flying dive of the last couple of stairs, grasping Wheatley by the ankles just as he was about to jump.

Maybe they could have seen this coming, had they known how desperate security was not to fail their job. As mentioned before, not doing what you're supposed to do, could count you your life in a place like this.

So instead of making a jump of faith, Wheatley tripped and roughly slammed into the rail instead. All the air knocked out of him as he painfully exhaled. The guard wasted no time grabbing the unprepared teen in a headlock and slamming him into the wall harshly.

Everything instantly went black.

Glados had made up her mind. While she still felt some lingering pride that her research had proven to be, not only groundbreaking A.I. technology, but also applicable in real life, she hadn't meant to let it actually come to this.

It was just a pet project at first. Something she did for fun that made her father smile and actually notice her admits all his work and daily life priorities.

Besides, she enjoyed programming and testing. It's a lot like traditional creative endeavors, like painting and writing, in that you can create your own world with your own rules.

Thank god Glados had quickly grown past that childish god-complex the creator always contracts, and instead focused on A.I. That would be used for the greater good. Being able to replace humans doing dangerous jobs with robots was just the tip of the iceberg.

But than Caroline became sick. Terminally so. She had less than a year to live, or so the doctors claimed. 18 months later she was still going strong, thanks to her fathers abilities (read funds and connections).

But it wouldn't last forever. Glados knew. Caroline knew. Her father knew. But he became obsessed. Something in her research had send him hell bound on finding an alternative.

Digital immortality.

Is it possible to preserve a person inside a robot, inside a network? Will it still be the same person, or just a shadow of what once was? How far can we extend their capabilities?

All these questions Glados had gladly solved for her father, in theoretic disputes, hungry for that tiny shred of his affection she still craved.

But theory was not enough. It had to be a reality. And now Glados could only shiver at the human lives wasted to make her 'dream' a reality.

Hope you enjoyed. let me know what you think. ^_^

more to come soon...

Yessica