Doug stared down at the pathetic chamber that Wheatley had thrown together. There were holes in the ceiling, and Wheatley didn't seem to care anymore that Doug was running around the facility. Doug just couldn't stand the idiocy of that bot any longer. They were both going to die when the meltdown finally occurred and Doug wasn't sure if he even cared anymore. What did he have to live for anymore?

"For god's sake, you're boxes with legs!" Wheatley complained. "That's literally your only purpose! Walking onto buttons! How can you not do the only thing you were designed for?"

Wheatley turned away from the monitor and Doug could have sworn that he was mumbling something to someone in his lair. Doug tried to strain his ears to hear, but he thought he saw something move in the observation room. He tried to pass it off as his imagination, but when he looked over, he was so startled that he almost fell over. Chell was standing in the observation room looking out at the chamber. Wheatley seemed to be too distracted to notice her. Doug squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. She was still there. But was she really here? Was she really, truly here? His heart was racing. He hadn't felt so hopeful in a really long time.

"Warmer. Warmer. Boiling hot. Boiling—Okay, colder. Ice cold. You're Arctic now. You're very cold. Very very very cold. LOOK, JUST GET ON THE BUTTON!"

Chell shot a portal through a vent and shot another in the observation room. A smile spread across Doug's face.

"How can you not do the only thing you were designed for?"

Chell entered an observation room and saw Wheatley. He had installed a monitor into this chamber so that he could watch the testing. She smiled when she saw him, but it quickly faded when she saw the crazy turret/Weighted Storage Cube creatures.

What the…?

She squinted. Were there two turrets crammed into each Cube? What had Wheatley done? GLaDOS didn't seem to care at all.

"Warmer. Warmer. Boiling hot. Boiling—Okay, colder. Ice cold. You're Arctic not. You're very cold. Very very very cold. LOOK, JUST GET ON THE BUTTON!"

What had happened to her little buddy? Why was he so evil now? She looked around the chamber and her gaze stopped at a face in a hole in the ceiling. A human face. He had long, shaggy hair and a rough beard. Both were jet black. And he was smiling at her.

My guardian angel!

She looked back to Wheatley to see if he noticed the face, then looked back to the ceiling, but the man was gone.

Doug hurried away from the hole in the ceiling when they had met eyes. She had seen him, and she had looked happy. Or was that excitement on her face? Either way, Doug's smile grew bigger.

"Good," he said out loud. "Good! I'm glad she saw me! She finally knows who's looking out for her!"

"Oh, that's funny, is it? That's funny? Because we've been at this for twelve hours and you haven't solved it either so I don't know why you're laughing! You've got one hour! Solve it!" Wheatley disappeared from the monitor.

Doug looked back down and she was gone. "She must be making her way into the test chamber," he mumbled. "She'll make things right. At least somebody came back up here."

I know I saw someone! Chell thought. There was definitely a man up in the ceiling! It was the man that guided me through the facility before!

She walked along a catwalk toward the chamber. A short lift brought her up to another catwalk, and she suddenly started to panic. What if Wheatley just tried to kill her again when he saw her?

He didn't mean to, she insisted to herself. He was just angry. Wait, that's something that people being abused say. I just don't know what to think.

The catwalk ended and dropped her off in a ditch that led her to the entrance of the test. When she crossed the threshold of the chamber, she immediately looked up to try to spot the man again, but she had no luck.

"Solve this puzzle for him," GLaDOS said. "When he comes back, I'll hit him with a paradox."

Chell used her Portal Gun to lift one of the poor robots. Both turret heads looked at her with terrified little eyes.

I'm sorry, little guy, Chell thought as she set it down on the large button on the floor.

Wheatley suddenly reappeared on the monitor. "Ha ha, YES! I knew you'd solve it!"

"Hey, moron," GLaDOS said.

Yeah, that's a smart thing to say to the bot that wants us dead.

"Oh. Hello." Wheatley seemed surprised that they were back, but he didn't seem to care. It was like it didn't even matter to him. Chell felt her heart sink a little.

"Alright," GLaDOS said. "Paradox time. This. Sentence. Is. FALSE. Don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it…"

"Um, true. I'll go true."

Chell cracked a smile. What? Why did he answer at all? Did he think it was a riddle?

"Huh. That was easy," Wheatley continued. "I'll be honest. I might have heard that one before, though. Sort of cheating."

"It's a paradox!" GLaDOS said. "There is no answer! Look! This place is going to blow up if I don't get back in my body!"

"Ahhhhh, false. I'll go false."

Did he really think that was another paradox?

Suddenly, a voice said on the intercom, "Explosion imminent. Evacuate the facility immediately."

"Hold on!" Wheatley said, leaving the monitor. "I thought I fixed that."

"Warning. Reactor core is at critical temperature." There was static over the intercom and the voice stopped.

"There," Wheatley said, reappearing. "Fixed."

What exactly is going on? Chell wondered. What was that voice talking about? Do we even have enough time to clean up Wheatley's mess before this place blows?

"Hey, it is great seeing you guys again," Wheatley said. Chell's spirits quickly rose and fell again between this sentence and the next. "Seriously. It turns out I'm a little short on test subjects right now. So this works out perfect."

Perfectly, you jerk, Chell corrected with a scowl.

"Annnnd off we go!"