The Fact Core loved his job. He loved not being corrupt any more. He loved watching the turrets as they rode in neat lines all the way to Packaging. He loved seeing the rejects being weeded out. Everything was pristine, organized, and flowing.
Sliding along his rail, his pink ocular gazed admiringly at the lasers as they performed their dance, cutting out turret pieces in perfect coordination. He reminded himself to get some music down here later, something fairly appropriate for their pas de lumiere. Perhaps some Mozart or Bach – oh! Or Liszt! The very thought of such sophistication made him nearly giddy with joy, and he railed off in search of the proper euphoric euphony.
He was halfway to his office when the old intercom gave a loud whine, followed byher booming voice.
"Fact Core, you are to report to the Central Command Chamber immediately."
He froze. His pink, dial-like optic went dark, with only a 'slice' of pink appearing at a time, circling around his ocular like a rotary phone. Why would she want him? And why now? According to his databanks, he hadn't done anything wrong.
Regardless, commands were commands. He hopped on to the rail leading to the Central Chamber and sped off, still thinking of Liszt.
**
"All you've got to do is take the moron with you -"
"Not a moron," Wheatley quietly interjected.
"-and plug him into the nearest computer when you get there. And then you run back out. Simple as cake."
The Fact Core turned sharply away, avoiding his boss's glare. "No. The Fact Core lacks both tactical training as well as physical capability to undergo such a task."
"Yes," GLaDOS hissed, her patience thinning, "that's why we have the body."
Chell pursed her lips, looking up at the pink-eyed core on the rail. He was shivering quite violently, sending a soft rattle through the beam as he tried his hardest to look away. Scared to death, not that she blamed him.
With a sigh, her eyes fell on the robot 'body' that GLaDOS had mentioned. Sitting slumped against the far corner of the room, it looked like a prototype of Blue – or Atlas, depending on who you were talking to – but with a hollow shell in the middle, shaped to hold some round thing, namely a Personality Core.
The Fact Core said nothing in response to GLaDOS, choosing instead to stare at the floor. Doug, standing as always a few steps behind Chell, sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"The Robotic Assisted Weaponry and Mobility Armor should give you enough protection." Doug sighed again, knitting his brows so fervently that several creases formed. He rubbed his forehead as if to massage them away. Evidently he didn't like his creations being rejected. "I specifically made it with speed and maneuverability in mind, so you should be able to work quickly and safely."
The Fact Core turned again to look at the robotic armament.
"Granted, I didn't have the capacity to give it any weapons—" At this, the Core began shivering again. "—but if used properly, it will get the job done."
Chell huffed. This was ridiculous. Give her a gun – hell, give her a portal device – and she'd be able to do the job in half the time. Once more, she looked at Fact, shaking her head slowly. Looking up at GLaDOS, she started a bit as she realized that the AI was already glancing her direction.
She made a typing motion with her fingers. GLaDOS shook her large head.
"I know what you're going to say. And my answer is 'no'. From both of us."
Chell whipped around to glare at Doug, who shrank back.
"Y-yes, we both agree that the best thing for you is to stay here."
"I allowed you to leave and pick the moron up."
"Not a moron" Wheatley hissed again, still keeping his voice low.
GLaDOS ignored him and continued. "I won't have you risking your life on something that a robot could easily do. That Personality Core is more capable, and, frankly, expendable."
Chell turned her attention to Doug, switching her glare to GLaDOS. She reached a hand up to the Fact Core, who was barely within reach, and gave him a gentle, comforting tap of her fingers. He responded, naturally, by shivering harder.
Chell prodded her sternum with her finger, then pointed exit-ways. The stern look on her face remained constant.
"No," repeated GLaDOS.
With a slight huff, Chell stuck her nose in the air. Quickly, she turned and bolted from the chamber. GLaDOS sealed the door behind her.
Doug scratched the back of his head. "It's for the best, really. She just can't go."
"This won't be the end of it." GLaDOS flipped on her triad of monitors, flipping over several more panels that were also connected to visual devices. Chell was seen breezing down the hallways, heading not in the direction of her room but for the testing chambers.
"Oh no," GLaDOS groaned.
Passing Blue and Orange, she snatched Blue's portal device from his hands. He made a scratchy, annoyed sound, but she didn't stop or even slow for a second. Dashing into the nearest open test chamber, she fired portals at two of the three cameras hung high on the walls. Feeds on two of the monitors immediately went to static, but the third clearly showed Chell's angry visage.
"Get out of there this minute," GLaDOS said via intercom. "You have not been scheduled for testing and – hey! Stop that!"
A weighted cube was currently flying from a portal on the low ceiling to one on the floor, gaining momentum from its repeated drop. A well-placed portal flung the cube horizontally through the air, where it smashed into a wall panel, cracking it severely.
Chell ripped off a part of the panel with a savage grunt. She flung it far across the test chamber and into a pool of goo, where it dissolved instantly. Out of GLaDOS's command, the chute dropped another weighted cube, and Chell started the process again, wrenching and tearing at the panel while the cube gained the necessary speed.
GLaDOS slunk back, curling her body in disgust. "My God, that psycho's going to break everything."
"You can just make more panels," Doug said. He winced as a cube shot toward the camera, smashing it to bits. Static filled the screen. "And cameras."
"That's not the point!" GLaDOS wriggled angrily, snaking back and forth. The monitors disappeared behind the panels, though the noises of Chell's assault could still be heard, even from this distance. "She's doing it on purpose and – augh!" GLaDOS winced.
Doug scratched at his beard. "And you can feel it." He sighed. "When should we give in?"
"Now you know how I felt," grumbled Wheatley, earning a violent shake from GLaDOS's claw.
"Amazing how no one cares," she growled back. He rolled his optic and remained quiet.
Suddenly, GLaDOS gave a violent jerk. Half of her body went to the right side, the other half twisting to the left. She curled up, nearly into a neat ball against her casing, and, to Doug, wore an expression as if she'd heard nails on a chalkboard.
"Th-that… what is she doing!?"
Her triad of primary monitors switched pictures, suddenly shifting to life as her birds flew to the test chamber. Chell turned to them as soon as they arrived, crossing her arms and giving a death glare into their tiny cameras. The birds focused instead to the wall behind her.
"Oh my God," Doug gasped.
On the wall, scratched in with some bit of refuse that Chell had found behind the panel, was a message:
I AM NOT A CHILD
In smaller letters below, something else was scrawled:
YOU CANT KEEP ME HERE 4EVER
"Y-you know," Doug said, "I think we should let her go now…"
**
"Scraped on the walls? Just like that?"
"Yeah," Doug said, giving a puff of nervous laugh. "GLaDOS repaired it almost right away, but imagine! Doing something like that! And so quickly!"
"She sounds like a real terror."
"Oh, no. She's actually quite…"
He paused, thinking of all the harsh glares Chell had given him. Her stormy eyes always seemed to sink deeply into his soul, dragging out his harsh secret by its ears, and carve a hole in his heart. The group hug the other day had been the only time where she'd actually shown him any kindness.
Not that he deserved any.
He gulped, unsure how to finish his statement. "She's a capable woman. Certainly capable."
"Yes, but we knew that. Impressive, but unsociable."
"She doesn't really need to talk. Her actions say enough."
A light, airy laugh rose into the air. "Apparently so!"
There was a moment of silence before the childlike voice spoke again. "Does she suspect you yet?"
"Who, Chell?"
"Yes, of course. Is there something you're not telling me, Doug? Something GLaDOS should suspect you of?"
A light shade of pink coated his cheeks. "Of course not. And I'm sure Chell doesn't suspect anything. Not that your shenanigans helped."
"I'm sorry. But there's no way I'm keeping quiet around that monster!"
He gave the cube a gentle pat. "GLaDOS isn't our enemy any more. You need to -"
He straightened up, looking toward the door. Quiet footfalls announced Chell's approach. Rolling his desk chair away from the work station, he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"We'll talk more later."
"Well, you can talk to me later. I want to see this girl for myself."
Doug gulped, unsure of what to do. Should he make introductions? No; he knew she wouldn't hear Cube's voice. He'd end up looking crazy.
Well, crazier.
Chell stepped into Doug's office, her lip curling at the low light and dingy atmosphere. She didn't really like visiting, even when Orion was being held here. Doug seemed to revel in the darkness, in the clutter. While she tried to convince herself that he was harmless, his preference for dark, hidden areas and his unnatural shift between bizarre, adoring smiles and nervous tremors definitely set off some internal red flags.
Not to mention the fact that she'd just heard him talking to someone…
"Chell!" He rose from his chair, welcoming her with a smile. "I wasn't expecting you until later."
Her eyes flashed from him to the cube and back again. She frowned. His expression shifted nervously, though he still kept the smile, and he ushered her towards the main lab. "I just wanted to show you the prototype ASHPD I was designing."
He pronounced it 'ash-pod,' which threw Chell off a bit. She was always used to hearing it referred to as 'the portal device' or even 'portal gun.' She knew the acronym in her head, but to hear it out loud was…odd.
Everything about Doug was odd.
She followed him slowly, her eyes still trained on the cube that sat on his desk. GLaDOS's long-ago words rang through her head:
"Your Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak."
But this one could play music? Chell forced a grin, wondering if it was perfectly capable of stabbing someone as well.
The lab was brighter, lit by fluorescent bulbs instead of the tiny cone of light in Doug's office. On a table sat the portal device, looking somewhat sleeker and more streamlined. Instantly, she picked it up, cradling it into position. She found, instead of a trigger, a narrow tube at the end of the device into which she put her hand. Inside there was a grip, and she could feel two buttons beneath her first two and last two fingers. Her thumb rubbed against a rough, round button on the side of the grip.
"I haven't really played with the anti-grav," Doug said apologetically. Regardless, he beamed proudly at his creation. "Naturally, the two buttons are your portals, and the thumbkey allows you to dissolve both portals at your whim. It's non-functioning right now, though."
Chell clicked the buttons inside. The tube that contained her arm was fully padded, and though the whole device went up to her elbow, it didn't chafe or weigh her down. Tilting her head, she tapped on a small pair of lights near the end of the device. Two LEDs, both dark. One was clearly yellow, but the other was too dark to discern the color.
Doug smirked. "That's a bit of a surprise for later, if all goes well. I just mainly wanted to make sure it fit well and was comfortable enough for you to carry."
Chell nodded, a grin sneaking over her lips. She swung it around, aiming at walls and points on the ceiling. Yes, the aim would be greater, using the muscles of her whole arm rather than just her hand. Slipping her arm out, she handed the gun back.
He may have been crazy, but he was one hell of an engineer.
**
Chell's attention was drawn away from her workout by a loud, repeated series of clanging noises. Lowering the weights, her mouth twisting with curiosity, she stood from the freeweight bench, grinned at herself in the wall-length mirror, and set down the hall to see what all the fuss was about.
The aspect that drew her attention most was that the banging was not uniform. She was used to mechanics in this place, the drawn-out melody of construction and destruction, all set to the rhythm of science. This particular hammering was… chaotic. Arrhythmic. Therefore, it demanded explanation.
She entered the Central Command Chamber to see Doug, frowning with deep thought as he scribbled on a clipboard. Both his and GLaDOS's attention was drawn to something in the far corner of the room, evidently the source of the banging.
Doug's eyes suddenly went wide, and he sidestepped, narrowly dodging a large chunk of bent metal.
"Watch it," GLaDOS growled. "He's my only scientist, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill him."
"Whoops, sorry," came Wheatley's voice, sounding quite excited and not at all sorry.
Chell peeked in, looking at the origin of the twisted metal. Two loud stomps led her to a tall, hulking creation in the corner. It was, of course, Aperture white, with a rounded top sloping into a small hind end. Its arms were long and reached to the ground, with large forearms and high shoulders. The back legs were bent and shorter, making it look like a large, round, white gorilla robot.
It turned, and Chell gasped. In the middle of the large round top was an inset optic, bright sky blue.
"Oh!" he cried, a sheath sliding up from the bottom of his optic to give him a surprised look. "Oh, luv, it's you!"
He lumbered toward her, staggering awkwardly on his back two legs while the front two swung clumsily to and fro, actually striking against each other. His arched body straightened up, and he waved his black-hinged, four-fingered hands at her.
"Look!" he chirruped excitedly, "I've got hands, luv! Hands! An' look what else I can do!"
Clunking around to face a wall, he lifted both arms, interlocking his fingers into a ball and prepared to smash the closest panel. A blue dazzle of electricity shot through him, spiraling down his body. He let out a cry and staggered backwards, reeling before he set a hand upon what would have been his forehead, had a true face existed.
"Wha- why'd you do that!?" He gave an angry look to GLaDOS, his optic narrowing into a horizontal slit.
"Because I told you specifically not to break any more panels, and it seems you can't learn your lesson without a healthy dose of pain."
Wheatley seethed but didn't make any other attempts at destruction. Instead, he toddled up to Chell on his short legs. He towered more than a foot over her head, standing taller than even Doug. Chell honestly felt intimidated, but she knew that GLaDOS wouldn't allow him the same power trip he'd been on before.
"We didn't make him for speed this time, since you're going with him," Doug said meekly, glancing with uncertainty at Wheatley. Evidently he wasn't happy about the Intelligence Dampening Core's towering size, either. "She wanted sheer power - for protection, you understand."
Chell nodded. Wheatley, sensing the tension, sank down, his massive fists touching the ground, until his optic was shoulder-level with her. His optic showed adoration, reminding her briefly of Orion. Then he raised a fist at her, brightening.
"Oh, look what else they gave me!"
From the middle part of his large forearm, a circle popped out, strongly resembling a revolver's cylinder. A panel that stretched from his wrist to the cylinder also popped out, arching back on a track to fit with the cylinder's chambers.
Chell gulped as the barrel of Wheatley's gun-arm was, quite literally, staring her in the face.
"Moron!" GLaDOS barked. "Do not point that at her! For the love of Science, you're supposed to be guarding her, not executing her!"
"I'm not a – graaggghh!" Wheatley's body jerked as another shock went through him. Doug, who happened to be standing close enough to feel the hairs on his neck raise, jumped back like a surprised cat. Chell also started, then glared coldly at GLaDOS once the lightning faded.
"Good thing I didn't load the guns yet," Doug gulped, rubbing down his neck.
"Don't look at me like that," GLaDOS said, staring back at Chell. "It isn't my fault he's a slow learner."
Chell huffed but shook her head. Approaching GLaDOS, she made a typing motion, and like magic the old word processor appeared. After scratching her nose, Chell typed angrily, her fingers fluid on the yellowed keys.
"Yes, I know you're not a child. Your stance on this issue was painstakingly clear."
With a small growl, Chell continued typing.
"Ah, now that, I must disagree with. You may not need a 'babysitter,' as you so eloquently put it, but you do need protection. I'm not about to send you out there just to have that idiot drag your lifeless carcass back inside. Besides, he and I had a long discussion, coming to the conclusion that it would be in no one's best interest this time to see you dead."
"Uh, if I could..?" Wheatley interjected, clunking forward. "I don't really think there's any way to really, really prove that I'm sorry. But if I could do this one thing – just-just this one thing – for you, maybe I could prove that I'm just a tiny bit more than scrap metal."
Chell glanced at him, dubious.
Wheatley sighed, his mammoth body sagging. "What I mean to say is, I won't let nuthin' happen to ya. And not just 'cause the mission."
She narrowed her eyes slightly, but nodded. In all honesty, she was certain he wasn't trustworthy, but if she wanted to see this plan to fruition, she'd have to go along with it. Initially, she'd just wanted to take the mission to ensure Wheatley's safety, knowing full well that 'accidents' could happen on the way to or from City 04. If Wheatley mysteriously vanished or got blown up, GLaDOS could chalk it up to Fact's negligence or miscalculation.
"Well, good. We're all in agreement."
From the back of the room, Chell heard Doug mumble, "I'm not."
"I've designed a special testing track for your new body." GLaDOS looked down at Wheatley, resuming her role as The Boss and also seemingly enjoying the fact that she, out of all of them, could still overshadow the Intelligence Dampening Core. "We'll start on that as soon as you're ready. Chell, I know I promised myself not to test you, but this situation requires your special arsenal of skills. I want to make sure you two can work together as a team, provided you don't make an effort to kill me again."
It was a poor attempt at a joke. GLaDOS twisted nervously to the side before continuing.
"If all goes well, we'll ship you out tomorrow. Doug's got the new portal device prototype finished; I'll give it a final test tonight." She lowered, looking somehow deadly serious. "We are gonna bring the Combine to their knees…"