It was the day. Chell locked the door to her house, sighing. She had a bag slung across her shoulder, and a darkness in her eyes.
She wore a army green button up shirt and cargo pants, hair in a messy bun.
Her anxiety was through the roof.
She didn't go near her horse, deciding to instead walk to Aperture. Anything to stall. Still she was afraid of what would happen.
She didn't want to see him. She didn't want to have to stand there in front of the thing that had betrayed her.
She turned away from the forest and walked into the golden fields.
The wheat lapped against her sides, bowing before the wind.
The crunch of the soil beneath her boots sounded off rhythmically as she walked. The early morning air smelled of dew and honeysuckle, a gentle breeze pulled at her hair.
She walked for about 2 hours before she made it to that shack. The door opened as she approached.
Chell stopped in front of the decrepit shack, furrowing her brows.
A gust of wind kicked up some dust around the shack, as Chell stood unmoving.
Was this really worth it? Chell mentally slapped herself, no she needed to do this. This would be her closure.
Steadying her breath, she took her first steps back into that wretched facility. She entered the lift, nervously clenching and unclenching her hands.
It's descent was filled with uncertainty as Chell felt regret for entering. She couldn't run now. She couldn't escape.
She didn't have her portal gun. She had nothing but a knife and a blow gun to protect herself.
GLaDOS came into view, Chell met her optic and nodded.
GLaDOS swiveled in her socket to meet her, arms folded.
The lift reached the floor, the doors opening with a mechanical hiss. Chell stepped out.
"You've made some changes." Chell stated.
GLaDOS chuckled. "I could say the same, it's been a while. "
An awkward silence followed as they both knew what must be done.
"How is he?" Chell asked. "I mean- Has he changed? Or does he still want to kill me?"
An emotion snuck into GLaDOS's processor. Guilt.
"He's... He hasn't expressed any desire to harm you. He's barely coherent though..." the massive robot looked away.
"He's not able to talk?"
"He can, it's just... He isn't the same as you remember, Chell." Her voice became almost sad. But she quickly returned to her monotone drone. "I wouldn't trust that monster though, he's rather... unpredictable."
Chell nodded.
"I'm- I'm ready to see him."
A closed glass cell rose into the room. Inside, was a portly jump-suited android, who was chained up. His arms were bound behind his back, and a chain was fastened around his neck. Chell could see the terrified look on his face, and the tears threatening to spill over.
His uni-lense glasses were starting to fog up, as she watched the shuddering robot push itself up against the far wall of the cell.
"Is that...?"
"Stand up, moron." GLaDOS ordered.
Chell watched as the fearful robot rushed to his feet. Despite forcing himself not to move, Chell could see how his lip quivered. He looked ready to faint.
Chell walked up to the glass. His optic seemed to be permanently wide, the little iris constantly darting around. Chell put her hand on the glass.
"Wheatley...?"
The pinprick sized iris widened as he finally seemed to come back to reality. He looked at her.
Chell saw the recognition on his face.
His face melded into a grimace as tears fled down. His optic traced her form, sorry to every bit of her. To her powerful legs that had carried her through each test, to her incredible mind that was clever and sharp, to those jade eyes that held heralds within their forested chambers.
He fell to his knees, whimpering like a child. What had he done? Thank goodness she was alright. He'd betrayed her. She was beautiful.
Chell could hear his shuddering breath, despite the glass.
Why was he crying?
The way he looked at her- it was heart wrenching. He looked so pitiful like that, but wasn't that his game?
Wheatley made you think he wasn't a threat and then betrayed you. He fooled you with weakness, a bubbly personality, and rambling.
These were crocodile tears.
Chell backed away from the glass. Wheatley walked forward as she backed away, the chain stopping him short of coming to the glass.
He looked back at it, yanked it once, and fell again to his knees and sobbed.
She'd been his only friend. She had never told him to shut up when he rambled on and on stupidly. She had smiled whenever she saw him. He remembered the way her face brightened- how little it had meant to him then- It sickened him.
He looked up at her and said in a soft, yet sad voice, "Lady- I'm so sorry."
Chell shook her head. She scoffed. "I know you wouldn't be able to figure this out, but I don't fall for the same trick twice." She hissed.
He shook his head. "No- I mean it- I didn't even bother learning your name- I was bossy and evil- a bloody monster- I- I-" he stuttered helplessly.
"That is an understatement." She snarled, stepping forward. "You pretended to be my friend! You made me care about you! And when you were done- you treated me like an old toy- trying to throw me away!" Old scars began to burn, pain seething from their memory. He'd taken so much from her, all for what?
"I wasn't pretending- I did all that other stuff yes- but I wasn't pretending lady, you've got to believe me-"
"Again? I did believe you, and you betrayed me. You took my trust and ruined it. You deserved what you got." The hatred in her voice made Wheatley shrink in on himself a little.
She was right.
He lied down, trying to be small, trying to hide. He should have known better.
He didn't want to be made to stand there and feel the pain he'd pushed back. He was so tired of hurting.
"Alright, Chell, that's enough. His stress levels are going up again." GLaDOS said, pointing to a monitor with Wheatley's vitals on it. "I know from experience that he faints with too much stress. The coward."
The fact that GLaDOS talked about Wheatley as though he wasn't there showed the true lack of care Wheatley received.
But that didn't occur to Chell, who just saw the monster who had haunted her nightmares and brightened her dreams. The one who had left the scars she had.
"Let him faint! He should know what he put me through! The hell I endured because of that psycho!" Chell pointed at him accusingly.
He didn't lift his head, but his stress levels went higher on the screen beside GLaDOS.
"Listen, I don't particularly want to deal with his panic attacks right now. Do this for me, not for that little imbecile."
A burst of anger and heartbreak. "I'm NOT an imbecile! I'm NOT a moron! I'm NOT EVIL!" He yelled, his voice filling the large room.
Both Chell and GLaDOS looked at the moron in surprise.
"You have some fight left in you. Pity."
GLaDOS sent a massive shock through the collar on his neck. He screamed in agony, his tone mixed with his crying. The electricity nearly fried him, causing his software to glitch.
He fell over once more, optic flashing with static and disturbances. He twitched a few times.
If it were anyone else, Chell might've felt pity.
A small tendril of black smoke snaked up from his chassis. GLaDOS made a sound of disgust.
Wheatley stayed down, be submissive. Listen moron, shouldn't have spoken. Idiot. Monster. Bastard.
He shook a little, he was always afraid.
It looked like it hurt. But Could he even hurt? Could he even suffer?
He was a machine. He wasn't like GLaDOS or her right? Just a machine, he didn't have rights, or feelings. He was a piece of property. Chell wouldn't allow herself to see what was in front of her.
Darkness began eating away at the corners of Wheatley's vision.
GLaDOS noticed his stress levels were very high. She sighed, sending Virgil instructions to retrieve Wheatley's toy bunny.
Virgil was fast, and momentarily arrived, entering from a hallway that formed as he entered. He walked out and bowed to GLaDOS. He noticed Chell and his optic widened in surprise.
"Bring the idiot his only friend." GLaDOS said, raising her voice slightly so Wheatley could hear.
Virgil walked over to the glass cell, optic trained on Chell the whole time. As one wall fell, he entered and freed his hands. He gave Wheatley the bunny, and gave him a comforting pat.
Wheatley held it close, stroking its ears. He rocked back and forth, trying to soothe his now erratic nerves.
"Bloody hell..." he whispered.
Chell turned away disgusted. "I've seen enough." She hissed.
Wheatley's cell began receding.
The android jumped, realizing he was being taken away. He forgot the rabbit immediately banging on the wall.
"No! Please- Please- I'll be better!" The cell continued receding, with a hateful Chell staring him down. "Please...! Please... I don't want to die here..." he slid back to the ground. He put his palms to his optic, and bit his lip to keep from crying.
Chell continued hatefully staring him down, until he finally was consumed by the darkness. Chell sighed.
"Thank you." Chell said, turning away. "I'm ready to go."
GLaDOS nodded. She brought the lift down.
Chell began walking towards it, when GLaDOS's massive hand cut her off.
GLaDOS didn't say anything, but her head turned at a awkward angle.
The lights dimmed.
"GLaD?"
GLaDOS twitched a few times before she relaxed. Her yellow optic cooled, until the color seemed to settle into a brownish yellow.
"I didn't ask for you to forgive him. I asked for you to help him." The motherly voice of Caroline spoke.
Chell tensed up. She sighed, folding her arms. "Why should I help the creep?"
"Chell, you don't know what he's gone through." She shook her head. "I- I've always been stubborn. I won't listen to you- but he's- he has seen far more pain than even you."
Chell shook her head. "Bull."
"When you and I were enemies, tell me what pain did I inflict? How hard was it to survive?"
Chell looked away.
"Chell, what do you think the greatest collection of knowledge, who can access every torture method in existence with just a command, would do to somebody who betrayed them?"
Chell became silent. "He's manipulating, rude, and stupid."
Caroline shook her head. She gently lifted her adoptive daughter in her palm.
She pulled a screen down. A feed showed up. It was the moron. The date was a few days prior.
"I don't want to see it." Chell said, turning away.
Caroline took two fingers and forced her to turn around.
"Watch."
It showed him tossing and turning, him waking and crying for anyone to help him. His terrified sobs soon delved into him sobbing GLaDOS's name.
Chell watched what proceeded. His suicide attempt.
"He's a coward!" She snarled.
"Or are YOU!?" Caroline yelled. "That isn't the worst, that he's endured!"
"Maybe he's suffered but even when I saw him he was trying to manipulate me!"
"Did it ever occur to you that he doesn't want want to be alone anymore?" More screens came down, around them. One played Wheatley, having his limbs broken one by one, another played him snapping his arm during a test. Virgil beating him, Rick breaking a finger, a scar there, a wound here. Every screen played a moment of Wheatley's agony.
"Enough!" Chell yelled. The screens faded to black. "I've seen enough." Chell sighed, clenching her fist.
"One more chance." She looked away, refusing to meet Caroline's optic.
Caroline sighed. "Go to him, I'll fix my memory- I won't ever know."
Caroline set Chell down.