Wheatley was reawakened by the feeling of liquid being poured down his throat. He jolted awake, latching onto whatever was releasing the thick sweet liquid down his throat.

"Jeez, slow down Professor." Space core murmured quietly. "God, what did they do to you?"

Wheatley opened his optic slightly, but didn't loosen his grip on the feeding tube. A feeding tube? How long had he been out? And was that Neil?!

Neil gave Wheatley a look of pity, lowering his gaze. Wheatley caught sight of Virgil in the corner of the room. Wheatley recognized the room enough to know it was his cell. He was propped up against the far wall, across from the hard-light bars, where Virgil monitored them. The tube was connected to a machine. It had the Aperture science logo on the side, and four wheels on the bottom.

He still felt the unbearable weakness within his limbs, the slightest movements seeming very hard.

Wheatley closed his optic, suckling at a steady pace.

"Don't say anything to Virgil." Neil whispered, making a show of tending to Wheatley.

"Space friend all fixed up! Space friend is all ready for his space mission!" Neil turned around and grinned.

Wheatley didn't catch on, but wasn't going to say anything. Especially considering how good whatever this liquid was. Wheatley didn't particularly feel like opening his mouth to speak when he could just sit there and eat.

The pain that had been in his stomach had ebbed, and was replaced with a full and comfortable feeling. If he had to test 18 hours, he certainly wouldn't mind being 'paid' by being fed.

"Excellent. Well done, Neil." Virgil praised.

Neil gave a pleased smile. Wheatley looked him up and down. He was in a lab coat, and he also had the same kind of unilensed glasses that he had. Niel had a thin frame, and had a bracelet on his left wrist. Wheatley believed it said "The sky's the limit, but space is infinite!"

Wheatley was so focused on eyeing his friend that he didn't notice the tension from his stomach swelling. The discomfort hit him like a train, and he groaned around the tube.

Neil turned around and turned off the contraption that started the flow. He removed the feeding tube from Wheatley's mouth.

Wheatley hiccuped, moving his hands to cradle his stomach. "...do i...do I have permission to talk?"

Virgil's face seemed to be contemplating. "..Neil, can you keep a secret?"

Neil gave a questioning look.

"Nevermind..." Virgil shook his head. "Subject, you are allowed to go to bed." Virgil turned heel and deactivated the hard light bars, stepping out. "...and Niel, please get the subject a blanket. I saw him shiver." With that, Virgil walked away, head held high.

Neil waited until Virgil was out of earshot. "What was that about?"

Wheatley shrugged. "Don't know-Ic!-, Don't care." He hiccuped. His stomach churned, making him wince.

"Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention." Neil sighed.

Wheatley shrugged. " 's alright. It's better than when it's empty."

He yawned. "...so I'm allowed to go to sleep?"

Neil gave him a bewildered look. "Don't you think that we should plan our-" Niel hushed his voice. "-escape?"

Wheatley sighed, rocking to his side. He stood, weakly shuddering. "Alright then..."

Wheatley caught sight of the mirror. "...hold on... I haven't gotten a proper look at myself."

Niel gave a frustrated groan. "We don't have time for that!"

Wheatley paid him no mind, shuffling to the mirror. What he saw he didn't like.

He wasn't ugly per se, but he looked...evil. He traced the odd blue sections on the sides of his face, wearily frowning. He opened his mouth, and was appalled. His teeth were jagged and sharp, like a sharks. He felt like he was going to cry.

He was big. He looked mean. He hated himself, he decided.

His orange jumpsuit covered his chest optic. He unzipped the zipper to get a better look at his chassis.

That's when he got a look at his neck and shoulders. He shivered in disgust. All the muscles were visible. No skin. He shuddered as he watched his esophagus move as he swallowed. His shoulder muscles weren't as bad he supposed.

Why did his own muscles bother him more than the other android's muscles? He honestly didn't know.

He unzipped his jumpsuit further, eyeing his membranous stomach. The blue tint wasn't enough to hide what was inside of it, he could see the thick liquid within his stomach.

It was tinted purple, likely meaning that the mixture was actually red or pink.

He zipped himself up and stared into his own optic hopelessly. Dark thoughts invaded his processor, turning his expression from curiosity and bewilderment, to dismay and anguish.

He was a moron. He had fucked up every part of his useless existence. He had failed his prime function, failed every job he'd ever had, and by god he had failed the only friend he'd ever had.

The lady. Wheatley's lip quivered, sadness filling him. He began to cry, staring into his own optic.

He put his hands on the mirror and rested his head against it, weeping.

He'd betrayed the only person to not call him a moron. The only person who smiled when he spoke. Her soft eyes that hadn't looked at him like a bother, no, she had seen him as a... as a friend. All he could ever do was fuck everything up.

Wheatley clenched his teeth.

...And now. Where was he? Back in Aperture. Everyone still hated him. The only difference now was that he was a prisoner. No, a slave, just like he had made the lady. He looked like a monster. No...

"I am a monster." He sobbed, tears fell from his optic, scrubbing off his face. He looked into his optic once more and couldn't take it. He walked into the opposing corner, and plopped down.

He put his face into his hands, tears slipping between his fingers.

Neil frowned. He walked over to Wheatley and sat beside him. He placed his hand on Wheatley's shoulder. "Hang in there, Professor."

"What's the point?" Wheatley hiccuped.

"We can escape, and if can get to a computer I can fix your code!" Neil said excitedly.

"We aren't going to escape, mate." Wheatley shook his head.

"Yes we will! We just have to-"

"Look around Neil! Look where you are! We are in her domain! Don't you get it? Do you remember what I did?!"

Neil shook his head. "I didn't know all details. But it couldn't have been that bad-"

"I promised a subject freedom, guided her to it, and then, at the very last bleeding second I betrayed her." He stood.

"But-"

"-And then! I punched her down a several mile deep hole. And then, when she survived, TO WARN ME, I basically enslaved the woman, and when i was through with her-" Wheatley laughed forcibly. "-I tried to MURDER her. She'd never done a thing to me. " He was inches from Neil's face. Optic wide and full of hatred.

Wheatley sank back into himself.

"And do you know why?"

Neil became quiet, waiting for him to continue.

Wheatley lifted his head and grinned at him. "Because I could. Because I was stronger than her."

Neil stood up.

"I don't deserve to escape, mate. I'm gonna function until she kills me. Or perhaps she has a sort of mind transport thingy, and when I die, she'll just put me in a new body."

"You know, I deserve this. I want to hurt people. That has to be it."

Wheatley's optic focused on Neil.

"I could hurt you, you know. Easy. Look at you, mate. You're so tiny. Me? Ohhhhohoh, I'm a bleeding giant."

Neil opened and closed his mouth. A slight fear emerged. He wordlessly left the cell, a little more frightened of Wheatley.

Wheatley didn't really want to hurt people, but in his sensitive state he began to think he truly was a monster. A mental flaw began to emerge. Wheatley had always been treated like detritus, and now he was beginning to succumb to the abuse.

The lights shut off, and it suddenly felt cold.

Wheatley only put his head down and went to sleep.