More than Space

by AlphaKid150

This story takes place in the world of Blue Sky fanfic by WaffleStories. During the fiasco that's happening above ground with Wheatley and GlaDOS, 15 year old Nina, is searching for her older brother. Meeting GlaDOS, she makes a deal with her. She would test in return for his safe return. Months later, she meets Chell and Wheatley, learning the real truth about what happened to him

7. Chapter 7: Because of a Bag of Flour

The human test subject was gone.

The only source of entertainment for testing was gone, and there was nothing that she could do about it. It made her head boil, at the fact that so soon, the test subject was gone. Sure, she lasted up until testing track 6892, which wasn't so bad. It was more than four times as much that Test Subject 0.01 had done, which was good anyhow. But having lost her Test Subject was not the thing that made her angry. The fact that she couldn't see how she died was what angered her.

For what seemed to be hours, she has been trying to figure out the very reason why it had come to that point of her death. She knew how, for she had seen the boots slowly sink into the toxic goo that the test subject would always avoid, but that increased the amount of questions that rambled in her head. And she thought that she wouldn't be hearing them again in a very long time, since the connection between her and her mortality cores were destroyed years ago. She could thank Test Subject 0.01 for that.

She continued looking at the footage of the couple of cameras that last pointed out to Test Subject 0.04, which took place in the very bright testing room. She watched, as the test subject winced, her eyes "leaking" as she called it. She had never seen humans do that, so she figured that they do that when they see very bright things. She made note of that ages ago, since it was worth investigating. It didn't matter to her now, because what mattered to her more was the way she died.

She rewinded the tape again. There she was, again, rubbing her eyes, and that occasional swerve of her head to the left side, hearing something. That was something that disturbed her even more, since she did not know where it had come from. The sound was heard moments before the lights went out. It seemed to affect the cameras in the room as well, since they still were functional during power outages, not that power outages were something normal that would always happen in the facility. The very reasonable explanation could be because something either crashed next to the wall causing the outage, or because the wall panel moved.

That still didn't explain how she can't see the scene on how the Test Subject died. She continued looking at the monitor, keeping eye for anything that could have caused the outage. Moments later, the lights went off. She watched, as a few seconds passed in the darkness, the Test Subject looking around her confused. The cameras were made to see in the dark, so she had no trouble in seeing that scene. A few seconds later, the footage would glitch out into the next scene, which was the time when the power went back on, and she came back to see her boots slowly sinking into the goo.

She reversed to the part when the screen glitched out, for the 139th time. That was the odd part, when the screen glitched out like that. Even despite confronting the camera's files, it was all it saw. But it was illogical for cameras to see glitches. She felt her head boil up another degree. It wasn't impossible to find the footage, but it was aggravating to look for it anyhow. She decided to turn to the one last resort she had in mind. The cloud.

She didn't like going to The Cloud, that was for a fact. It holds too many files and footages that even her own monitor standing next to her couldn't handle. The facility can see everything, but again, the files needed to go somewhere for future reference, and, well, they go in there. Only the mind who is capable of containing these files from filling up in her memory was the mind in charge of it herself. But even so, it was like walking into a junkyard, full of unneeded files, and the one she needed resided inside it.

She scanned through the files, looking for something with the similar stats that the original file that the footage had. Maybe, the footage was removed from the live feed of the camera. That could be a possibility, but that would mean a user would have done it. She thought about it as she read the amount of time it would take for her to scan the files. Three hours. She didn't like the timing for that one. The facility recorded things from around a thousand years ago, ever since it was built, so it was a reasonable time stance, yet she was mostly used to scanning big files that took little to no time at all to finish.

It figures that with a lot of time in hand, she could multitask. She would try to figure out what was that sound heard in the left corner of the testing chamber, since it may pose for a lead. She replayed the footage again, only looking at the left side of the testing chamber, where the Test Subject would always look at. She looked at it, frame per frame this time, instead of the whole footage all together. The whole clip is 10,130,039 frames in total, running as smooth as 500 frames per second. Off she went, going through each and every frame in the footage.

This took much longer than expected. Around half an hour later, she found something off. It was exactly 1.04 seconds after the lights when off, and 0.01 of a second away from the footage was glitching. There, she saw a specific frame, in which seemed to clearly explain what that noise was coming from the left side of the chamber. She displayed that one frame in the monitor. Her yellow eye narrowed, as she looked closer at what information that one frame provided her. Even though some traces of the glitch can be seen, it didn't block everything on the frame, for she saw in the frame that a wall panel opened up.

She enlarged the frame, and took a closer look at it. The test subject was turning her head towards it. She had heard it and had looked it over in her direction. She tried drawing conclusions on how it may be connected to her death. Maybe that thing that came over in the wall panel pushed her over? What could have possibly caused the death of her test subject?

It wasn't until a message came from The Cloud. She looked over that, anticipating the information of the missing footage from the camera. She looked over the file with the best fit of match. It wasn't just information, but the actual file! She nearly bounced for joy. After so much looking, she finally found it, the very file to answer all her questions. She opened it up in her monitor, and then exited The Cloud. She eagerly played the button. This would clear some of the data of the massive amount of questions that she had about the moment.

Slowly, her eagerness fell into seriousness, as the playback of the missing footage began. There was the Test Subject, looking into the open space in the testing room. There was a purple hue in her face, as she stared at the figure of whatever was at the wall panels. She watched, as the test subject walked over to the pit of toxic goo. What was she going to do, jump? If she does, then why? What did the figure at the wall panels tell her?

She watched, as the test subject sat down, and unstrapped the Aperture Science Long Fall Boots off her feet. She tossed them into the pit. How did she know there was a pit? She couldn't have seen that unless someone had told her, but who? She shook her head, both the Testing Subject in the video and she, as they tried to remove thoughts echoing in their heads. When she was done shaking her metallic head, her yellow eye narrowed at the monitor.

"This is happening… again. I am seriously getting tired of the testing nonsense. She wants to play games, then she will. I will not fall for the same mistake I did the first time. That actually seemed like a lesson… so it would prevent me from making the same mistake twice. For once, I actually thank you, Test Subject 0.01."

She looked over at the monitor again. If she were to catch her escaped convict, she needed to know more. She looked back at the area where the wall panels opened up. Someone was helping her. Find the traitor, find the test subject.

The test subject continued looking at the boots. Since there was no need to keep finding lost footages, she adds that in her file. "Very possessive over unimportant things." she finished. It wasn't until then, when she awoke from the log, she caught view of the figure on the other side of the wall panels assisting the Test Subject. She replayed the footage a little back. On the door, somewhat in clear view, there it was. The traitor. A core that had a purple optical.

She sighed now, at the look of the core. "Oh, it's that core. That one, insignificant core that is just of waste of valuable electricity. I already knew that it was going to betray the rules here to begin with, and I was correct." She looked over now, at another log. It was full of the many objects and technology that had behaved differently in the past couple of hours. And even now, the list kept growing.

Her head boiled another ten full degrees as she thought about the core that was helping the Test Subject, who is now a traitor to Aperture. She opened up a video footage of the camera that was pointing to the relaxation vault. She called over the two Co-operative Testing Initiatives to come over to the Central AI chamber at once. She then called the Party Escort Robot, to track the two individuals down. From the cameras, she saw both Co-operative Testing Initiative run out of the Relaxation vault, since they too, felt her anger.

She had never liked that core, for its presence made her feel like she was matched with it. Not exactly, but it felt like she and it was matched with the amount of power that they each wield. She knows that she is the stronger one, for it is everything that she can control, but she is aware of the power of this "hacking" that the core can wield as well. It posed a challenge to her, to keep it's habits out of control. She didn't like challenges, so she always wanted to avoid it, or get rid of it altogether.

Obviously, she had always, along with many other things, kept a good eye on the core, trying to find a weakness into it, if it ever decides to have any ideas one day. Ever since the Awakening from the population of cores, ever since she even laid her yellow eye on it, she knew it was trouble. She had prevented the core from ever knowing its purpose into it. She knew if it knew its purpose, then it would have ideas to try to accomplish it, which could be possible, but she could never let that happen. It also counts for the reason of the incident that happened five years ago.

The doors to the Central AI chamber opened, exposing the two Co-operative Testing Initiatives rushing inside. They stood presently at her, ready to perform any task necessary to calm her. The robot with the Blue optical standing bravely in front of her, the orange one trying it's best to stop itself from shaking. Her anger, as they knew, was very, and highly, destructive. It was for both her sake, and the sake of the facility. "Bring me the Traitor core, and the escaped Test Subject. Bring them both here as soon as you find them. I have added the Traitor core's location into your Aperture Science Enhanced Optical System" She instructed the both of them. They nodded, and they rushed out.

The Central AI's cooling system was already running to keep her head from melting, which was even slightly impossible, since every Aperture Device can stand and still be functional over 10000 degrees Kelvin. But still just like almost everything in the Central AI chamber, it was alive too. And from the looks of it, they were trying to cool her off. But despite the cold Temperatures, it still didn't cool her off. She still needed to do one more thing. She activated the Camera from the Suspension room. There, it presented itself to the very camera that is pointed to the specific figure she needed to see.

She looked at the Suspension tube. Test Subject 0.04 had promised that she would test in order to guarantee the safety of her brother. She wasn't testing anymore, which means that she had no other reason not to shut down the life support system. Only then when the Test Subject came back into testing, whatever happened to her brother would be on her. She should have thought about the consequences before she had left, but not just consequences but the deal as well.

ERROR: LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS FAILED TO DISCONNECT.

PLEASE REFER TO YOUR APERTURE SCIENCE EMBEDDED MANUAL IN THE ERROR CODE SECTION

ERROR CODE LSS_T648

Funny, since she was sure that there wouldn't be any errors with disconnecting the life support systems at all. She tried to disconnect them again, her command seeming to literally scream at the suspension tube.

ERROR CODE LSS_T648

She grumbled now. She had no time for this. Her Test Subject needed to be punished, and the Life Support Systems are preventing her from doing that. She opened up the Embedded Manual that she never thought she should use. Errors were a very rare occurrence. Normally, the announcer would explain what had happened, and she herself would deal with the situation, but having command errors was another thing. This Facility was only supposed to follow her rules, and it was only supposed to listen to her only. There was no need to remember useless codes that she wouldn't use anyways. She displayed the manual at the monitor.

She skimmed through the manual now, only looking for the most important information, in which the definition of the error code resides. She found it now, in the 400th page. She didn't know how many error codes existed in that manual, but she didn't care anyhow. She was as glad that none of the errors, or mind you, any errors occurred during her control of the facility. She read the definition.

Error Code: LSS_T648

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR ACCESS TO THE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM IN A CERTAIN SUSPENSION TUBE HAS BEEN REVOKED BY AN UNKNOWN USER.

She didn't want to read the rest of the instructions. She already knew who the unknown user was. As if her head couldn't get any hotter, it did, because now, she was going to have to do everything in her power to revoke the access to the Life Support System from that core. It wasn't until a notification popped up on the monitor. She looked at it. The Party Escort Robot has been disconnected from the Aperture Science Cloud. She looked at the last footage when it was still connected. The Party Escort Robot had found them. They were heading back to the Personality Spheres Unit, again.

She watched, as the lift's doors opened, through the perspective of the Party Escort Robot. She saw, for a few moments, Test Subject 0.04, holding the Aperture Science Portal Device in her arms. The Test Subject swung the Portal device at the Party Escort Robot. The optical cracked even more, and the screen went blank. Her metallic head felt like it was going to bust. Test Subject 0.04 is a lot like Test Subject 0.01, except she has more nerve, and more destruction in herself. It was a bad duo, including with that core in her possession. She looked at how the Co-operative Testing Initiatives were doing with the search. They should have found the Traitor core, by now, and that they would be doing a better job than the Party Escort Bot was doing.

She looked over through Orange's vision. She saw the two of them. As confirmed from the Cameras, and the Party Escort Robot, Test Subject 0.04 was still alive, and seemed to be carrying the little Traitor in the grip of the portal gun. Shocking it from the Management Rail like she did to the other one was not going to be of much use. She studied now how the Test Subject looked at both the Robots at the door, for they seem to be pounding it very violently but at the same time, had gotten themselves stuck at the same time. Her face was full of fear, as she knew, but it was covered by determination. She looked at the Traitor Core. It seemed to be very much in pain, in trying to protect the being in the suspension chamber and in keeping the door shut. Maybe a being having a high amount of power may have its limits after all.

She analyzed the position in which her force is, and the force of the Testing Subject. Embarrassing enough, her testing Units are stuck on the door, but they would soon be free from its clutches. She knew for a fact that the Test Subject wouldn't have anywhere to go as well. She was stuck in a room with no portable surfaces. Even if she found a way to evade the Initiatives, she still wouldn't have a wall to run into. There was no way that the Test Subject would dare to jump into the pit. Nothing laid down there, as far as she knew. It would just be a death experience.

She watched, as the doors, flung open, allowing the Co-operative testing Initiatives to enter. Before she commented on how idiotic that action was, she knew from the look on her face indicated that she was going to do the impossible. She watched, as the Initiatives got themselves to their feet, only to see the Test Subject evade them once again. The Test Subject jumped in the pit. The Co-operative Testing Initiatives ran over to the edge of the room, and looked over into the abyss. The screams in both the Traitor and the Test Subject was heard, fading away in the depths below.

"Go after them!" she yelled at the Robots. Indeed, they did, following their orders from their commander. They jumped in the pit as well, into the darkness. She watched, as they neared the Testing Subject and the Traitor, since they were robots, and apparently, they were heavier than humans. There were more screams coming from the both of the convicts, as the robot with the orange optical reached out to grab the Test Subject - only to have itself disconnected from the communication after. She looked frantically through the opticals belonging to the blue robot. She watched, as pieces of its partner fell down above them. The blue robot reached out its arms to capture the Test Subject again… only to also be disconnected from the communication as well. The same unknown and excuse of a fate had happened to it as well.

She looked away from the monitor, away from the source of friction known to her anger. The Testing Subject and the core were heading down, very down, into the old parts of Aperture Science. She can't connect to them very well, or as well as she could in the newer parts of Aperture, even if she did increase the facility's Intelligence Quotient by 100%. She grumbles now, as she transports the data from all the robots that were destroyed in the chase into newer robotic bodies. It didn't matter if she needed to send out all of her robots and cores to catch the Test Subject and convict.

She will come back… whether she wants to or not.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

"This was a terrible idea!" screamed Solar, who was still attached to the portal gun Nina held. Both of them were falling, deeper and deeper into the darkness. Nina didn't say a word. She was much too focused on making sure that they themselves wouldn't land on the ground on anything other than her feet. Protected by the Long Fall Boots, they were the only area of protection that they had for now. It all depended on the long fall boots.

"Here!" Yelled Solar. "If you are scared of heights, try looking directly up for a change. It helps with the sinking feeling that most humans feel, when they are plummeting to the ground purposefully!" Nina still didn't pay attention to it, even as It swerved itself to look up. This resulted in even more screaming, as he took notice of the figures falling after them. "Never mind!" it screamed, reverting its vision right back at Nina. "Unless you want to be also killed by these robots, I highly suggest you keep falling, but at an increased pace!"

To the word, "robot", Nina dared to look up. There was no way that the Co-operative Testing Initiatives jumped in after them. She forced her head to look up. She saw them now, with their blue and orange opticals. She too screamed, and begged herself to fall faster. She would rather die than brought back to the Central AI Chamber, brought back to her.

"Don't worry!" Yelled Solar. "I'll deal with them, just keep falling!" Nina nodded, and looked down, focusing on landing on her feet. Solar on the other hand, found out that focusing on their situation was harder than it seemed, for the falling situation was one problem, while the falling robots above them was another, and not to mention the suspension chamber that it was protecting as well.

It looked up now, as more pain was felt, around itself. Why did the scientist add a pain simulator in the first place, it was not sure, but for one thing, clearly it wasn't meant to make it feel better. It tried focusing on the first robot, the one with the Orange Optical. It needed to command something to it. Something to make it stop chasing them. It narrowed its optical, and tried to send out a command, but it stopped itself, as even more pain emerged from itself.

An alert was presenting itself on its visual. Solar ignored the alert. Not now, in the middle of a dangerous chase between gravity and two Aperture Science robots. It tried to look at the robot with the orange optical again, and tried to send out another command. The robot still kept falling, its stance unflinching. Solar's optical widened. Nothing was happening.

Through the dark, Solar looked at Nina. She was more focused on getting them down, than dealing with what's happening from above. It watched, as her feet were pointed towards the ground. She was trying to save the both of them from below. Solar looked above, to see the robots again, now determined to save the both of them from the dangers of above. But the robots were nowhere to be seen. Solar looked widely everywhere around itself. The robots are gone.

"Next to us!" yelled Nina. Solar looked at both sides. Around them, the two Co-operative testing Initiatives were falling, one on each side of both of them. Solar watched as the robot with the orange optical, who was falling on the left side of Nina, reached out its hands towards them, to grab her. The core frantically searched for anything that could save her. That's when something peculiar happened. At one moment, the robot was next to them, reaching it hands out to Nina, to grab her. The next moment, it was gone.

Solar looked above itself. They were now being followed by… scrap? Solar analyzed the situation. The robot didn't see where it was falling, and how. It crashed into a stray wall panel sticking out on one of the testing chambers that Nina fell past to. It didn't fall on its feet, where the protection of the Long Fall Boots could have saved it. Solar looked at the other robot next to them, the one with the blue optical. Just like itself, it was surprised at its partner being destroyed. This only lasted for a moment, for then the robot looked back at Nina and extended its arms towards her bag.

Nina screamed again, now noticing the second robot's hands next to her. She swung the bag away from the robot, since it was dangerously close to it. Solar shook itself, as more alerts filled up its visual processor. "I will not let you hurt my friend, you hear me!?" It yelled at the robot. Solar looked down, and another wall panel emerged in the darkness from afar. "Lean away from it Nina!" Yelled Solar. Nina did as she was told. They barely missed the platform. The robot looked at them now, for a moment of confusion, until it too, also disappeared. Solar looked above itself. Pieces of scrap also fell above them.

Solar sighed. It was an unfortunate fate for the both of them to be smashed like that, even if they had the chance to save themselves with the protection of their feet. It looked back towards Nina. "Make Sure to land on your feet! Unless you want to end up like those two up there, then be really careful!" It said. There was no need to yell anymore, for now, there was one less danger that they were dealing with. Nina nodded. She looked at Solar, and smiled weakly. "Thank you." she said, as she looked straight back down. Solar nodded. "You're very welcome!" It said in return.

Nina continues to look down. Solar looked down as well. For some reason, both of them got used to the feeling of falling, but that didn't end their problems though, for now, they needed to get out of the state of falling. Solar looked around them, hopefully looking for something to help Nina find some ground.

They were now falling past some testing chambers, as the core noted, so they could use the extra help from the wall panels to help themselves into finding a stable ground. But then again, the platforms would be small, and Solar was uncertain if it could control things as it used to, for the alerts from its visual processor still presenting themselves. It pushed them aside. Not now. It looked off somewhere else to keep an eye out for. There were vital apparatus vents flying past them. Some were carrying Storage Cubes. Others were carrying Storage Spheres. Solar shook itself. How are those going to help them? It continued to look around, still trying to ignore the alert in its visual processor.

It wasn't until Nina broke out its thoughts, and yelled out to Solar. "Brace!"

Before Solar could ask why, the portal gun holding it shook violently. Both of them yelled as they tumbled on to the ground. They both landed on the ground on Nina's feet, but because of their force, it caused them to bounce out of balance. Nina lied down on the ground, as she tried to assess where it hurts too much. Her head? Her entire body? Bit that's when the pain spurted out on her wrist. She winced at first, but finally pushed herself off the ground. On the ground next to her, lied to but that was the least of her worries.

"Solar?" she asked, looking back at the portal gun where it resided. The portal gun was empty.

A sinking feeling was felt all over her as she looked around the area where she landed. Besides her left wrist, she wasn't seriously hurt. Just partly disoriented. "Solar?" she asked again. She couldn't see anything in the dark. She had to go back to using the light from the portal gun instead. It hurt using her left wrist to hold the portal gun out, but it was necessary to find her lost friend.

"Solar!" she called out, louder this time. There, in the distance, was a faint, sparking sound. "ereh revO!" Solar cried out, or tried to. Nina ran over to that direction. "Solar?" she asked, as she pointed her portal gun in the distance. Nearby, the light landed on a spherical shape on the ground. "There you are!" she said, and happily picked it up with her portal gun. "Are you alright? I didn't know you were loose until I didn't see you on the portal gun!"

Solar looked at Nina weakly. "kniht I ...enif ma I .tluaf ruoy ton s'tI" It said. Nina looked blankly at the core. The core looked back at Nina, in a mixture of fear and confusion. "?ti t'nsi ,gnorw si gnihtemos ...mU" It asked. Nina looked dumbfounded at the core. "You must have bashed yourself pretty hard when we fell." she said. Solar sighed. It looked up at Nina hopefully. "!eroc detpurroc a eb ot tnaw t'nod I ... em pleh esaelP"

Nina sat down on the cold ground and placed the portal gun next to her. She picked up the core and examined it. She tried her best to see what was the problem. Even if Solar was trying to tell her something, she knew that it didn't want to be stuck like this. Nina turned Solar over. There was a dent on its back, and from what she could see underneath the light from the operational end of the portal gun shining away from her eyes, was that the core's bottom handlebar was broken. "What can I do?" she asked herself out loud, as she placed Solar on her lap.

It wasn't until there was a sharp clanging noise was heard, back around the area where both of them had fallen. Nina rose upright as quickly. Solar made a sound, in which Nina concluded was a gasp. She picked up the portal gun on the ground, and carried Solar, with it, getting ready for a quick escape. But what fell out wasn't deadly robots trying to kidnap them once again… just pieces of their scrap.

Nina sighed with relief. They were safe, for now. She looked over at Solar, who was looking at her, in a worries expression. "!pu og ot deen eW" It said. Nina sighed. She looked at Solar now, and sighed. "I don't know what you are suggesting." she said. Solar groaned in anger. At least, that was one thing that Nina understood. She too, felt its pain, for trying to understand the core was something she wished she had the time for. Nina looked at the core, as a small thought went into her head.

"I may have an idea." she said, slowly, as her mind drifted off to the times before she made the deal with the GLaDOS Unit, when she was looking around Aperture for her brother. Right back at the vending machine full of beans. The food wouldn't reveal itself until she kicked it. Solar looked at her, hope filling up in its optical. Nina cringed. It didn't know what it was about to go through. "But, it might be a terrible idea as well. All in all, brace, because this might hurt…"

Solar was about to respond when Nina bashed it on the top as hard as she could. Both of them screamed now, since the pain was inflicted on the both of them. Nina wished she had used her other arm to bash Solar, for she had used the sprained one instead. 'It's what I get for hitting it in the first place…" she thought, as she rubbed it with her other hand. She looked over at Solar, who seemed to be also cringing in pain, except it didn't have any limbs to soothe the pain.

"You good now?" she asked the core, hoping that the idea wasn't as reckless as it seemed. The core looked at her in annoyance. "What did you do that for? Inflicting pain on me like that! I didn't know it would be that painful!" it yelled at her. Nina smiled, despite the core's remarks. "Looks like it did work after all," she said. The core stopped itself from shouting more at her. "Oh, you're right!" it said cheerfully. "How did you know that it could work?"

Nina shrugged. "When the doors down at Old Aperture don't listen to you, all they just need is a little 'push', and you get them to listen to you." she explained. Solar cringed. "Those poor doors…" it muttered, but then something else caught it's view. Nina's wrist. Even in the dark, they both knew that it was worse in the light. "Can you move it well?" it asked her. Nina nodded a little. "A bit, but it really hurts to move it." She stood up putting Solar on the ground and picking up the portal gun. She used it to pick up the core.

"Like I have a choice." she sighed, as more pain came up from her wrist. Solar looked at Nina. "You'll be okay, since of course, having a broken wrist is better than dying from her." it said. Nina's heart skipped a beat now at the way the core expressed her. A sudden feeling emerged from her, as a reminder of what she was forgetting. "Oh no!" she said. "We need to go up!" From the portal gun, the core nodded. "That's what I was trying to tell you before you bashed my head! We needed to head up!" It faced Nina, looking behind her to find a portable area. That one portal that Nina had shot earlier before they fell is their only hope for getting out of this mess.

Its eyes skipped past the scrap on the ground, from the devastating fate from the Co-operative Testing Initiatives, past the metal walls that would do no good for her, and even past the ongoing alert on its visual processor. Now was not the time. From what it was looking at, it seemed to be an old office area. Conditions of course, were not favorable for the office, as it concluded that the both of them had fallen through the Newer Parts and straight into Old Aperture. Nina, through the light from the Portal gun, had made the same conclusion.

"Do you think you can light up your flashlight?" she asked the core. Solar looked away from her, for then the light would hit on a surface and not directly at her face. A light emerged from its optical, flickering at first, but then it died out. Solar sighed. "It's busted." It said. Nina sighed as well. "Is there anything that I can shoot a portal on?" she asked Solar.

Solar looked around itself. Every wall, corner, and ceiling. Nothing. Solar shook its head. "Nothing here." It said. Nina groaned. "Then we have to go somewhere else." Solar nodded now, as it looked around for an exit. To the left of them was a small wooden door, about the same height as Nina. It nudged itself in that direction. "Over there," It said. "But be careful, and don't trip on any pieces of scrap on the ground."

Nina hurried over in that direction. The GLaDOS Unit already knew about their plans. They couldn't waste anymore time. With every second they lose is a second closer to her brother's death. She rushed into a hallway. "Darn it!" said Solar. "There aren't any wall panels over here either!" Nina groaned and ran one way, only being illuminated by the light of her portal gun. Her eyes looking intently for one thing and only one thing.

Solar looked up at Nina. It had never seen her so desperate, even during her times in the testing chambers, no matter how deadly they were, she never looked like that. Solar turned around and focused really hard. It needed to call in a wall panel. It was the only thing that It could do right now. Solar closed it's lids and sent out a command, hoping that one panel would just come to them. Old Aperture consisted of lots of wall panels, only that they ended up falling into one of the office areas, which from what it heard didn't consist of any.

More pain emerged all over it now. Solar shook itself. Why did it hurt now to just send out one little command? Solar looked over at the alert. It would be the only explanation. It wouldn't hurt to look over at it for a bit. They wouldn't be wasting time. It opened up the alert, only to be stopped by another one.

ATTENTION

USER HAS ENTERED COMMAND OF CATEGORY 7

THE COMMAND POSES A HIGHER RISK FOR ENTRANCE

RECOMMENDED: ENHANCED PROTECTION OF ACCESS

Solar shook its head. Not the great timing for the pain, since of course of the situation it was in, it needed it's special ability more than ever. Nina didn't know, but she would be counting on it if she knew that as long as it was powered on, nothing could happen to her brother. It looked over at his connected systems page in it's visual processor. The Suspension tube was there, and she was still trying to break into the control panel. Solar shook itself, and forced itself to create another Firewall to protect the commands. That would mean that she would have to guess another password before she can reach the control panels.

"What about here?" asked Nina, as Solar finished patching up the final lines of code. Solar shook itself, trying to ignore the pain washing over itself once more. Nina had ran into another room, this one darker than the other one. Solar looked through the darkness. There, it was, all the way to the left, a portable surface. "To the left!" said Solar, and Nina readied her portal gun. Solar watched, as an orange portal shot onto the wall. There, it displayed the catwalk platform that Nina had shot moments before their fall. Nina took no time to run into the portal.

She ran so quickly that she almost ended up throwing herself over the railing over the catwalk. "Careful!" Yelled out Solar. Nina didn't respond. She looked from left to right, looking for the lift. She found it on the right side, a couple of feet away. She ran across the catwalk to it. She entered the lift, the glass door swerving shut behind them. Nina pushed the button, and the lift took them up. Closer to her.

Both Nina and the core were silent while the lift took them up higher into the newer parts of Aperture. Unfortunately, to Solar, it was too intriguing for it. "So.. what's the plan now?" it asked her, breaking the silence between them. Nina let out a deep breath, for she realised the mistake of her actions. Still, there was no choice at this point. "I am not sure." she said, looking at Solar. "I need to stop her. She knows I am alive, and therefore, she is targeting my brother. I need to stop her before she stops the life support system in the suspension tube."

Solar looked at Nina, for it knew that Nina was pretty unsure at the last part. It looked at her face in the semi-darkness. The determination in her eyes was wavering. She couldn't hide the fear in them. Solar thought deeply past the alert from its visual processor. There was something a Test Subject did to her when she was confronting it. It had seen all the action from afar, but it knew something else that could be extremely helpful in their situation. To that, it thought deeply off.

"Here." it said. "Use this time to, um, bandage yourself up. Check for other injuries, see in the bag for anything broken, etcetera etcetera." Nina shook her head. "It'll hurt more if I look at it." she was referring to her sprained wrist still holding the portal gun. Solar shook itself now, for the answer to their problems was within their grasp. 'This thing,' it thought. 'Its so close!'

Nina could tell that the core was thinking about something. She didn't want to say anything though, for she didn't want to interrupt it's thinking process. Instead. She herself began to think of the most reasonable thing that she could do to stop the GLaDOS Unit. Maybe she can use her portal gun to go onto it and remove some cables? Although there were no portable surfaces in the Central A.I. Chamber. Her eyebrows furrowed, as stress kicked in. It wasn't until Solar, from the Portal gun, said something. It was a murmur of some sort, but there were a couple of words that were definable.

"Core transfer Sequence..."

"Huh?"

"I remember! Her weakness is the Core transfer Sequence!" Said the core eagerly. "Once she is corrupt enough, the Core transfer Sequence property in the Central A.I. Chamber would activate! She wouldn't be able to control the suspension tube anymore, therefore, stunning her long enough for use to find your brother and to get out!"

Nina looked at Solar blankly. "I have no idea what you said. How do I activate the Core transfer Sequence?" Solar sighed. "You need to corrupt her first. You need to attach corrupted cores onto her. There are some old spots in which the Mortality cores used to reside in her. If you can connect the corrupted cores, then she would be corrupt enough to automatically Initiate the Core Transfer Sequence. Just after that point, don't listen to anything else that the Announcer tells you, and run down into the lift with me. That's simple!" Solar watched as Nina nodded, understanding the process. But still, despite the clarification, she still had more questions.

"What about the cores attached to her? Would they get hurt?" she asked. Solar shook its head. "One the cores managed to escape from the portal to space, and lived to tell the tale even. They'll be fine, don't worry." it said. Nina sighed, in confusion, but she concluded that it was just telling her that they were going to be alright. "Because if cores, you know, have feelings like you, I wouldn't want to wake up finding out that some human attached me to her." she explained. Solar, nodded, understanding. "The least they can do is to annoy her with their corrupted abilities. Maybe then, she could think about uncorrupting them all some day." replied Solar.

Nina leaned against the wall. "Are you sure this will work?" she asked. "We only have one shot at this, and if we fail, I might never live to see my brother again." Solar nodded it's head. "Don't worry. Just connect me to the nearest management rail, and I'll deal out the rest. You just need to distract her for a bit before I send in the corrupt core." Nina looked at Solar from the portal gun. "I'll pick you up after so we can leave together. After all, you deserved it."

The lift lurched to a stop, and the doors opened. Nina readied her portal gun, and walked out. Solar guided the way, for his flashlight knew it wouldn't work, and had to guide her with its voice. "A little to the left, you are right in front of a fallen chair. Oh, now, be careful! You almost stepped on a ledge!" They rushed down through the semi-dark hallways. "Around the corner," said Solar, and Nina turned around the corner. There, she stood in front of a small cage, consisting of corrupted cores.

"Wha-" said Nina, but Solar shook its head. "There's more where that came from. There's probably like around 500 more of them at least." Nina's bewilderment only lasted for a couple of seconds, until she looked back at the core. "Solar, my brother. Is he…?"

"I have already scanned the cage for your brother's core. It's not here."

Nina sighed, but shook herself. Not the time to express her ongoing pain, physically and emotionally. "Quickly," said Solar. "Attach me to that management rail over there. I'll send you over the corrupt cores when the time is right. For now, I need a couple of minutes to 'wake up' the cores. You go and distract her." Nina nodded, and attached the core to the management rail next to the cage. She readied her portal gun.

It's now or never.

Nina watched, as the core disappeared into the tunnels that the management rail led. Shortly before it disappeared, It turned back towards her, and said "Good Luck." She took a deep breath, and nodded. This was the time to think rapidly, and not make any mistakes, for a small mistake could be her very last. Nina walked down the long hallway, all lined up with windows. With every step she took, she could feel the GLaDOS Unit closer to her, the big sphere residing the Central A.I. Chamber becoming closer.

She stood onto the metal doors, which were just the last barrier from her. She took no chance in rethinking her choices. The metal doors to the Central A.I. Chamber opened, and she stood there, in front of the GLaDOS unit. No fear was shown on her face. "GLaDOS!" she yelled, hoping that the volume of her voice could help her with her courage that she was lacking.

The GLaDOS unit did not answer. It seemed to be looking in a dazed expression, her yellow eye unblinking, but sort of faded. Nina stopped, right in front of her. What was she doing? The testing subject that she loved to touture was right in front of her, and she isn't doing anything about it. Nina stammered a bit, but then shook her head. Who knows what she was doing? "Hey!" she yelled. At this point, the GLaDOS Unit awoke from it's trance, and looked over at the direction where the small sound was heard. Her eye fell onto the young woman standing before her.

At first, she was surprised. This was the second time that a human testing subject actually had the courage to face her in the Central A.I. Chamber. She shook off the feeling of the familiar memories coming back to her. This was going to happen again, and she felt it. But then again, it was Nina, and this one was somewhat easier to handle. Her eye narrowed and looked upon her. "Oh." she said, annoyingly. "It's you. And to think that you were dead. How is life?" Nina shook her head. "It was better than testing." she said, looking at her square in the eye. The GLaDOS Unit looked at Nina, in a mixture of awareness and daze. What was she doing?

"You know, things have changed since you escaped." Said the GLaDOS Unit. It swerved its metallic body to fully face her. "For one thing, the terms and rules of a deal have been ignored, technology seems to be acting strangely, a core would soon be escorted to Android Hell, and a life support system in a certain suspension tube is in the middle of the process of shutting down." Nina shook her head, tears in her eyes.. "You broke the deal first." she said. "You tricked me. For one thing, you didn't tell me what types of tests I would do. For all I know, I didn't know that they are deadly. For another thing, you didn't tell me how much I was supposed to do! You can't expect a perfect deal when all of the terms and conditions were not discussed."

The GLaDOS Unit swerved its body back to the one monitor in the chamber. Nina watched, as some wall panels opened, exposing small ventilation systems. "Well, I have something for you. A brand new test awaiting to be tested. You are to go back there and continue where you left off." She said. Nina shook her head. "No!" She yelled. The GLaDOS Unit looked back at her. "I will not go back there, I won't!" She said, emotion shrouding her top priority in mist, oblivious to the fact that her power is nowhere near the power of what the GLaDOS unit can hold. She watched, as the GLaDOS Unit looked at her in an exasperated mood. A green smoke appeared from the vents.

"Your decision is quite similar to one made long ago by another testing subject. This leaves me no other choice but to exterminate you." Before Nina could question about this, another voice emerged from the invisible speakers.
NEUROTOXIN LEVEL AT CAPACITY IN FIVE MINUTES

"What!?" Yelled Nina to the GLaDOS Unit. "You know… it was a shame that you, being the most successful Human Testing Initiative that Aperture Science had ever acquired, had to leave so soon. As for you brother, I expect him, being a relative to you, to do slightly better than what you did." It said. Nina yelled out again. "No!" but her voice was shrouded with a fit of coughs, as she smelled a strong stench of the Neurotoxin coming through the vents. The Monitor above the GLaDOS Unit presented a countdown. The countdown to her fate.

"Over here!" said a voice on the speakers, interrupting her thinking. "You have less than 5 minutes to stun her!" Nina looked around the facility, and saw a Vital Apparatus Vent popping out of the wall panels. She ran towards it and stuck out her portal gun. There was screaming coming down from the vent. A spherical figure came out of the vent, and she managed to catch it perfectly, with three inches off the ground. Nina looked at the figure on her portal gun. There lies a corrupted core. It had a white optical, and it seemed to be spinning uncontrollably.

"Hey, you mind helping me out?" asked the core, in a feminine voice. "I'm spinning and I can't seem to stop…" and with that, it gave out a small whoo! Nina looked at the core. She wished she could help it, but it would only be wasting more time. It also seemed that the core was making itself spin. Nina rushed over to the GLaDOS Unit. "No! Nonono…" Said the GLaDOS Unit, in a panicked tone. "I will not let you attach this corrupt core on me." With that, a floor panel emerged from the ground, knocking Nina away from her.

Nina slid back on the ground, the wind knocked out of her. She looked up from the portal gun. The core was still spinning. The numbers on the Monitor read 4 Minutes and 23 seconds. Nina shook her head. She needed to avoid the floor panels. She stood up, and began running towards the GLaDOS Unit again. The GLaDOS Unit looked down, her yellow eye pointing to the ground, lifting up the floor panel. Nina stopped shortly in front of it, and jumped over it, placing the corrupt core into a connecting section at the side of her. The corrupt core looked blankly for a second, but then it continued spinning. "Still spinning…" It said.

WARNING: CORE CORRUPTION AT 50 PERCENT

The GLaDOS Unit looked over at Nina, its yellow eye weak from the corruption. It was trying hard not to sway back in forth, all around. "No! Get this off me!" It said, though it came out slurred. "Over here! The second one's out!" yelled out Solar. The GLaDOS Unit shook its head. "Not on my watch." It said. Nina watched, as her vision began to darken slightly. She coughed, and looked over at the Vital Apparatus Vent. The wall panel closed it off.

"Nina! The Ground!" Yelled out Solar, as a floor panel lifted off from the ground. The Vent reappeared again, and some more screaming was heard through it. Nina stuck out her portal gun, and looked over at the core that popped out of the vent. She nearly dropped it to the ground. She watched, as the GLaDOS Unit began to spin around - slowly. The corrupt core was not spinning around like the first one. This one had a light blue optical, and for some reason, it had an excited look in it's eyes. "Oh hey! Where are we? When are we? Ohhh, it's my birthday! I'm a year older now! Where's the cake?."

Nina shook her head, and staggered her way towards the GLaDOS Unit. The clock on the Monitor said that she has less than 3 minutes until the Neurotoxin capacity has been reached. She caught up with the spinning GLaDOS Unit, and placed the corrupt core next to the first one she placed down. The GLaDOS Unit stopped spinning, and she watched as the monitor displaying the time fazed out a bit.

It unfazed a bit after that exposing a cake in the background of the timer.

WARNING: CORE CORRUPTION AT 75 PERCENT

"Get these things off of me!" yelled out the GLaDOS Unit, at the same time when the second corrupt core cheered for joy. It had searched all of the GLaDOS Unit's files and found ones with information about cake and candles. Some birthday music played in the background for a bit, but it ended after another shout from the GLaDOS Unit.

Nina shook her head, unable to think straight. Everything she could see was green. The noises around her echoed, until only her heartbeat was heard, and some very faint voices. She walked over at the Vital Apparatus Vent, awaiting for the third and final corrupt core. It hurt to breathe. "Solar…" she coughed out. "The last one's out now! Hurry Nina, time is short!" it yelled out. Nina nodded. She watched as the third and final core shot out of the Vital Apparatus vent, only to fall back on the floor. "Ow!" said the core at the bottom. "You didn't have to catch me anyways, it's fine by me."

Nina picked up the core from the ground. It had a light grey optical, and from the way the lids were adjusted, it seemed to be a sad, sulky core. "You know, the color of my optical is supposed to represent sadness and depression..." Said the core. Nina walked towards the GLaDOS Unit, her head spinning, trying to ignore the core. The GLaDOS Unit spun, and she continued to walk towards the connector. All the while, the core continued talking to her, only to be ignored by her more.

"They said that before, I used to have a vibrant green color as an optical, but I seem to have lost it, being replaced by this grey thing, making me who I am now. You know, loss can change someone. It doesn't have to be something special but someone. You seemed to have lost someone special, didn't you? I can see it right in your eyes." Nina froze, the core inches away from being connected to the GLaDOS Unit. She finally caught up with the connector, but she didn't have the courage to stick the core into her. She listened to the core, its wise words echoing into her now empty mind.

"It's sad to lose someone, but you have to let go of the pain." it said. Nina shook her head, slightly, for all she could smell now was the strong stench. "No, he isn't lost." was all she managed to say, before sending herself in a large fit of coughs. "Nina!" screamed Solar. "What are you waiting for, stick it in!" But Nina continued to cough loudly, the core in her grasp, her vision darkening even more. "Calm yourself… and find your own path," said the core.

"NINA!"

The amount of force the core had put in to alert her of the crisis finally snapped Nina out of her fit and connected the core into the GLaDOS Unit.

WARNING: CORE CORRUPTION AT 100 PERCENT

VENT SYSTEM COMPROMISED: NEUROTOXIN OFFLINE

MANUAL CORE REPLACEMENT REQUIRED

Solar appeared into the Central A.I Chamber, the management rail sticking itself in the room though an opening in the wall panels. It scolded itself for not being careful with the last core. That last corrupt core was titled with the name of "Aperture Science Advanced Deprival of Depression Core", coded ASADD Core for short. It should have thought that its corrupt ability might have an effect on Nina, especially when she had nothing else to think about but Neurotoxin filling up her mind.

It looked over at the monitor, eyeing the Neurotoxin levels. The levels were decreasing, but along with Nina's health. It found her, on her knees, coughing harshly. It cringed. "You're okay Nina!" it said, hoping its positivity would help her condition. "You did it!" But Nina continued coughing, trying to keep up with everything going around her. Solar looked at the GLaDOS Unit. It was hanging limp in the middle of it all. Even through the corrupt cores, she can still sense Solar in the room.

"You…" She said slowly, as Solar called in the lift. "Out of all the Aperture Science Intelligence Spheres, I always knew that you would be the first one to betray me." Solar ignored the GLaDOS Unit, its attention returning to Nina. Unfortunately, it couldn't ignore the questions filling up its mind. "Wasn't that the so-called "moron" that did it?" It said.

"That was a mistake. You had the greater chance of being sent to android hell then he had."

"I'm not going in there again. You can no longer hurt me, nor her anymore, and be happy with it too. You are going to stay like this for a long time, or as long as it takes us to rescue her brother. I'm in control."

The GLaDOS Unit laughed. "You are not in control. You aren't even doing most of the work, and even if you were trying to, we both know it comes at a price." Solar grunted in pain once more, trying to hide it. It ignored the alert from its processor.

"Think about it. She'll be dead before you reach the surface. And yet you still help her, even though it is completely pointless. Why even bother anyways. You can just go back into Android-"

"Don't finish the sentence. You're bluffing, and I feel like it's pointless to try to scare me anyways." Solar looked over at Nina again. Her breathing was heavy and hoarse. She wasn't coughing as much as she was before, but her condition was not getting better.

ALTERNATE CORE DETECTED

TO INITIATE A CORE TRANSFER, PLEASE DEPOSIT SUBSTITUTE CORE INTO THE RECEPTACLE

Solar looked at the GLaDOS unit, in confusion. It's a chance to save Nina's brother and finally coax her to the surface, and yet Nina's life is at risk. It didn't know what was the better choice. The GLaDOS Unit saw this insecurity, and said something. Hopefully, it would listen to her now, even though it involved having to do a great risk.

"You can leave her, in exchange for something important of yours…"

Solar shook its head, finally deciding. Nina had to go up. "Come on Nina! Into the lift!" It said as the lift came down.

"I know you have been meaning to find out something about yourself that you could't find out in a very long time…" "What is possibly more important than my only friend? It's not like Aperture has a lot of opportunities to make some either." It said. Nina tried her best to get into the lift, but had failed as she had fallen back down on her knees. Solar panicked and tried to analyze the many different ways to try to get Nina's limp body over to the lift.

The GlaDOS unit slowly turned around, it's metallic head still limp "Why, the very thing that defines a core actually. You were found irresponsible for this information, so I removed it from your Aperture Science Memory bank long before you awakened." Solar stared at the GLaDOS Unit. "My initial code? My purpose…? It was all you?" It said. The GLaDOS Unit ignored its emotional state. "If you want it back, just leave her here. My Co-operative Testing Initiatives would soon come to get these things off of me…"

Solar looked between GLaDOS and Nina. Nina wheezed, and looked at the core, a lost hope settling in her face, before her eyes rolled back unconscious. Solar didn't know what to do. Exchange something it treasured for something it longed to have? The decision was hard, and worth thinking about. A lot. But time is short. Solar could feel everything happening at once. Nina's health diminishing, the Co-operative Testing Initiatives coming closer to the Central A.I. Chamber, the feeling of winning but losing it all at the same time. It shook its head. The answer was a no.

Before the core defended itself and Nina, something moved into the Central A.I. Chamber. The Co-operative Testing Initiatives. They walked over to the GLaDOS Unit to remove the cores off of her. Solar shook its head angrily, as all of Nina's hard work began to fade away. It knew this feeling, for it happened before to itself as well. Many times. Solar angrily looked at both the robots, and set up a linking connection to them.

It begged itself for its abilities to function this time, for it needed them more than ever. It sent out a couple of opposing codes to the Co-operative Testing Initiatives, the ones and zeros cancelling out their original code to follow her commands. The Robots froze for a bit, as the New user entered their main commands system, but the GLaDOS Unit blocked it out. "I can feel what you are doing." It said, annoyed. "And I would like you to stop now. What can you do? Your puny system and memory bank has made you useless, since it's so overloaded that even I can feel its maximum capacity."

Solar shook its head, not giving up. It still refused to look at the flashing alert at its visual processor. If it can't hack the robots as is, then it needs to be stronger to be able to do so. Solar stuttered, mainly for two reasons. One, being that the GLaDOS unit was right about it being weak. The second reason why it stuttered was of the solution it was thinking about. 'This,' it thought, shaking itself to rid of these feelings. "Was the only solution."

It started to begin the process of sending itself the code, thinking of the last time it had sent itself a similar command. It was around the time when Aperture was full of scientists, and it was being of help to them, or trying too. Something was wrong with the Aperture Science Reactor at that time, for it was only just built in the facility. Solar, being the only robot who knew about the problem, went into the Reactor Room to help fix it, only to find out that it's commands wouldn't work well. It sent itself an overclocking command, which increased its performance to make it strong enough to settle down the reactor. The overclocking procedure worked, and the reactor levels went back down to normal. This though, was the very reason why it was almost sent to the incinerator, for the scientists did not see it as "the facility's hero", but more of a "dangerous piece of technology that should be exterminated before it controls anything else." An employee had been put in charge with the order, but it wasn't until another employee had come over, and purposely distracted him, saving it from its fate.

He had long forgotten who he was, the identity fading over time.

Even though it wasn't thrown in, the experience was the most out of all traumatic events that happened to its life, but against its vow, Solar did it, and sent itself its overclocking code. It wasn't a long one, for it didn't plan to overclock itself that much, which was fine, for the notifications and Alerts on its visual processor were filling up its vision, but it was enough to call in the attention of one of the Co-operative Testing Initiatives. The robot with the blue optical froze, holding the ASADD Core in its hands.

It didn't regret what it did. The GLaDOS Unit, now beginning to move again, swerved wildly towards Solar. "Stop. You don't know what you are doing. I'll have to remind you that Android Hell is an actual place, and you'll have to go there, since you have a whole list of things that you defied me. Well, one that I am making anyways, since you are still doing things." she said. Solar tried to ignore her, as fear rushed all around it. The alert was flashing like crazy on its visual processor. It sent out another command again to the robot, who this time, moved for its will. "Put it back, now!" said Solar. The Robot nodded, and put the ASADD core back in the GLaDOS Unit's connector. The GLaDOS Unit yelled out to the two robots. "Don't listen to it! Listen to me! Get these things off me!"

"No!" yelled Solar, urgently. The robot with the orange optical, the one that isn't in its control, had reached out to the core that the robot with the blue optical had replaced. "Don't let it remove anything from her!" It cried out. Solar sent out more commands. The Robot with the blue optical lunged for the other robot, its portal gun smashing it into its optical disorienting it.

"No!" Cried the GLaDOS Unit, as the robot with the orange optical walked woozly around the central AI Chamber. The robot with the blue optical guarded the GLaDOS unit. Solar looked back at the robot with the blue optical. "Quickly please. Take her to the lift, and bring me down there too, before the other robot gets its bearings!" The robot nods, and takes Nina's body to the lift. It grabbed her gently by the shoulders. Nina didn't move. "It's fine." Said Solar, looking at Nina. "You're going to be fine."

Solar analyzed Nina. Even though it had no idea on human medics, it paid attention to the obvious. It listened for breathing, which was actually heard all around the Central A.I. Chamber, for how hoarse it was. Solar nodded to itself, the relief setting in. She was alive, but just barely. She needed fresh air, not the air the facility was constantly converting from carbon monoxide to oxygen pumping back into the facility.

It wondered how Nina would react, when she realized that they were out of Aperture Science but not her brother. Solar shook itself. Her vitals were diminishing, as seen from her face becoming pale white. She has to go up. By then, the robot with the blue optical had reached out and picked up Solar from the management rail, almost dropping it. "Careful!" it said, to the robot. It placed it right by Nina.

ALTERNATE CORE DETECTED

TO INITIATE A CORE TRANSFER, PLEASE DEPOSIT SUBSTITUTE CORE INTO THE RECEPTACLE

Solar shook its head. The opportunity was tempting. The GLaDOS Unit was not so scary looking now, with the optical facing away from it. She was still, very still. Solar wanted to do almost anything to give it a taste of its own medicine. Something to make it pay for how it treated Nina. The Core transfer seemed almost like a dream. It itself could take over the facility. But the thought was shrouded for an event that happened not so long ago, a core just like him who became corrupt enough to the point where its testing subject had to work alongside with her to stop him killing them all. On that day, Solar had to hack a lot of the Pneumatic Diversity Vents that were carrying out water to extinguish most of the fire.

THE SIGNAL OF THE ALTERNATE CORE WAS LOST

WARNING: CORE CORRUPTION AT 100 PERCENT

MANUAL CORE REPLACEMENT REQUIRED

It did not want to make the same mistakes as that core, even if it wasn't it's fault. Neither of the core nor Nina could afford more mistakes. In the whole process of trying to eliminate her, Nina almost died for that. Solar closed the door for the lift, the glass providing them a barrier between anything else that could harm them.

At that moment, the robot with the orange optical had gotten its bearings, and was heading towards the GLaDOS Unit again. Solar looked at the Robot with the blue optical. "Atlas, please don't let him take out the cores. Please, do everything you must." The robot stared at the core for a moment in bewilderment.

No one had ever called it by its real name in a long time.

"Hurry Atlas!"

The robot nods, and runs over to the robot with the orange optical. Solar watched as Atlas gave the other one robot a big punch, right by the shoulder. The good one, holding the portal gun. Sparks came out of it as the shoulder malfunctioned, and became unresponsive. The robot staggered back, weakly looking at Atlas. It continued to walk towards the robot with the orange optical. In its language, the robot with the orange optical begged Atlas to not punch it again. For a little bit, Solar felt sorry for the both of them. The orange robot was defenseless, even though it contains the equal amount of strength as Atlas.

It can't fight back its partner. It was built that way.

Atlas said nothing as it gave its Co-operative Testing Initiative partner another punch. The robot sprawled backwards on the floor. Atlas only stood there, looking at its partner. The other robot looked weakly at it before shutting down.

"That… was interesting. You have no idea how long I've been trying to make them turn against each other like that."

Solar didn't even realize that the GLaDOS unit had been paying attention to the fight. Guilt wired up against it, now feeling the potential pain that Atlas would feel when it woke up to find out that it knocked its partner unconscious. But yet again, they're robots, and they can always be repaired. It wouldn't matter too much.

"You really are just like me."

Solar's optical widened at that remark. Is it? Nina coughed again, and the core shook itself. Priority one. Nina. It stared back at the GLaDOS Unit weakly. The overclocking sequence wouldn't end, since it needed Atlas to keep guard of GLaDOS in case if the other robot awoke again.

"I'm not like you."

The lift arose, and the view of the GLaDOS unit had disappeared from its view. It paid attention to Nina, trying to ignore it's thoughts about what the GLaDOS unit had said. Her eyes were semi-closed, and her breathing was still hard. "We are close to fresh air, just hold on." said Solar. "You're going to be okay."

It didn't know if it said that for just her or for the both of them.

The lift continued to lift them, human, core, portal gun and backpack, higher up the ground. Once in a while, Solar would see turrets through the other side of the glass of the lift, and urge the lift to go up faster. Finally, the lift slowed down, and then, to a stop.

The newer area was dark, but unlike the other parts in Aperture, it was really dark. There was no blue hue in the horizon, and the area seemed to be in a small, compact place. Solar, examined the place, for it would not shut down until it knew that they were safe. Briefly, there was a singal, coming from in front of it, of the same technology that it is used for sending out commands. From what it could analyze, it seemed to be a door. It sent out a weak signal, and the door opened up, and a blast of cold fresh air hit the both of them.

Solar didn't have a chance to analyze the surrounding areas, its handles became limp, its optical rolling upwards, as it powered off.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

3 days later...

Baking, Wheatley thought, was harder than it looks.

The stench of burnt ashes filled the air. He could already tell that something was not right with this batch of bread, even before he opened up the oven to take a good look himself, which he still does, hoping that it was his human nose playing tricks on him. Unfortunately, they didn't, and so when he had Chell open the oven, fearing that the oven would burn his hands off, in there, through the plumes of smoke, was burnt bread. He sighed as she took the batch out of the oven. It looked better inside it.

"You left the oven on for too long." said Chell, inspecting the bread. She grabbed a wooden spoon from the cabinet, and poked it. The bread didn't budge. "You also added in too much baking powder." To this, Wheatley sighed in utter confusion and annoyance. "But I used one spoonful, like you told me too! This baking thing had too many rules. Even if they are written down, they are pretty hard to follow."

Chell looked at him, confused. "Which spoon did you use?" she asked him. Wheatley took her over to the kitchen sink, where the dishes lay, yet to be washed. There, in the middle of it all, was a soup spoon. Chell sighed. "A teaspoon Wheatley! You used a soup spoon." She walked him over to the cabinet, to the one where she kept all the spoons. She pointed to the smaller shaped spoons, which were next to the soup spoons.

This only confused Wheatley more. "You humans have a way with naming things." he said. "A spoon is a spoon. Can't it just be, say, a small spoon and a big spoon? It would be easier to know what spoon you would be looking for. You can literally walk up to the store employee, and ask 'Hello there! Do you guys have small spoons on Sale?' and he would just give you the small spoons. No need for elegant names if you ask me." Chell shrugged. "I'm not the one who invented the names of them."

Over the course of four months, Wheatley had been trying to perfect the recipe for bread. Ever since that first time when he baked the bread with Chell, he had been trying to perfect the recipe. He wanted to have at least one thing he could not mess up. One thing that he could do perfectly, like Chell, in baking, or Garret, in engineering.

He walked over to the fridge to grab the egg carton, determined to make one last batch before the day. Daylight time has been shorter than normal, and temperatures are getting colder each day. Chell had bought some warmer clothes to wear, which was actually helpful, unless you counted all the times when he nearly choked himself to death because the scarf around his neck would get tangled. He opened the egg carton to find it empty.

"There's no more eggs," he said to her, as he took the egg carton out of the fridge. "Look for another egg carton. I think there is an extra." Said Chell, walking over to him. Wheatley looked around the fridge, but there was no other egg carton. "This one was the only one." he said.

Chell looked around, just making sure. "I guess we'll have to buy more from Aaron." She said. "Hey, in the meantime, try looking for other things we'll need to buy. I'll go ahead and do the dishes." With that, she headed over to the sink filled up with everything that he had used to make the batter. Wheatley took the chance to open the windows, to get rid of the burnt smell. After that, he walked around the house, opening the cabinets and looking around for anything missing.

"Milk, eggs, and flour." he said, making a list with a small piece of paper he had found on the kitchen counter. He looked around the kitchen. The fruit bowl was empty. He remembered just the day before, he had eaten the last apple, hearing that it "keeps the Doctor away" from a small chant the younger kids sang. His mind ended up taking him to the first time Chell had brought them home, the humor and pain it felt when it brought back old memories.

He shook his head. He added fruit into the list. 'It didn't have to be apples, right?' he thought. 'Besides, even though they are tasty, I'm pretty sure that there would be other fruit, right?' With that, he folded the list, and put it in his shirt pocket. Chell dried her hands, for she had finished washing the dishes. "You got everything down?" she asked him. He nods.

"Alright. Let's head on over to Aaron's and see what he's got in the store." She looked up at the clock. "He's open for another hour or so." With that, she went off to get her coat. Wheatley went off with her as well. He puts on his coat, and then his hat. Those two things were easy. He looked over at his scarf, and sighed. He wrapped it around his neck, hoping that it wouldn't tangle like it always did.

Chell, who was waiting by the door, held it open for him to walk out. When he did, she shut the door behind them. A set of cold wind hit the both of them, and even under the set of warm clothes, Chell and Wheatley shivered. The leaves from a nearby tree flew around them as they walked down to the streets. All the while, Wheatley couldn't believe how fast the world around him was changing. Sure, it was a nice thing, having a slight change once in a while, but the cold wasn't boding in very well with Wheatley. He found himself tugging his scarf higher up his neck.

They arrived at Aaron's store a while after, both of them eager to get out of the cold. The afternoon sun hung higher up in the sky, and so far, according to Wheatley, it was no helping at all. They walked inside the Store, which was warm. There, on the counter, was Aaron, restocking some apples. Chell waved a small hello.

"Hello there!" said Aaron, happily. "How is everyone?" "Very well, thank you," said Wheatley, not entirely happy to see him. Nonetheless, he was a friend of Chell, and he is in their deeper secret about Aperture. Everyone in the town of Eaden knew about Aperture ever since she had kidnapped all of them, but only the four of them - that including Garret - knew the real secret, the biggest and darkest secrets. They don't talk about it in front of Chell and Wheatley, but sometimes, they asked questions about the place, and they would answer to the best of their abilities. Either way, Aaron was to be treated as an equal.

"We're out doing some shopping, since we are out of supplies, again." said Chell. "You think you can get us these?" She handed the list to Aaron. He read the list, his brow furrowing. "So, Wheatley ran out of your baking ingredients again, huh?" he said. To Wheatley, it sounded like he was accusing him of doing so. He only wanted to do something that he wouldn't mess up. It's not too hard to ask. "Well, I've got good news and bad news." continued Aaron. "The bad news is, I'm out of stock for the eggs and flour. I've got milk and fruit, although the only ones in season are apples at the moment."

Wheatley sighed. Apples wouldn't hurt, but he was hoping for a change. He looked up at Aaron. "What's the good news?" he asked. Aaron smiled. "So, I have a new barn not far away from the store, and from what I can tell, most of the things there are ready for harvesting. If you guys like, you can help me harvest the food, and I'll give you the eggs and flour in there in the meantime." He said.

To this, Chell smiled. Something to do out of the house, in which she never does because she had to stay in to make sure that Wheatley doesn't burn it down in his attempts at baking. "That would be good." she said. Wheatley looked at Aaron, a feeling of fear growing up inside him. The barn. Where lots of animals could hurt you, or even worse, make you sick, inflict even more insufferable pain, and in the end, death. Wherever Chell went, he had to go with her. Even he could trust himself alone in the house. "So, um… What animals are in your barn?" he asked helplessly.

"Some cows, a couple of lambs and sheep, those types of animals. Why?" Aaron asked. Wheatley shook his head as Chell looked at him. "It's fine. We'll all be there. You think we can invite Garret?" she asked. Aaron nodded. "Already have. See? Nothing to worry about." With that, he gave Wheatley a small pat on the back. "Harvesting starts early at seven tomorrow. For now, here."
Aaron turned back to the apples in the crate, and picked a handful up. He placed them all in a bag, and handed them to Chell. "Oh yeah, and here's the milk as well." he walked down to a small fridge, and handed Wheatley the small carton. "See you then!" he said, as Chell paid in the money for the two objects.

Wheatley nodded, and both said goodbye to Aaron. They walked out, with half their list of groceries done. The sun was setting, since days were finishing up faster. "Let's hurry," said Wheatley. "The last thing we want here is getting lost in the dark." In the dark, Chell looked at Wheatley. "But it's like walking out here in the daylight. Nothing changes except the lighting." Wheatley shook his head, in disagreement. "You never know what might happen, because it's dark. And when it changes, you won't even see it change." Said Wheatley. "Like this for example. Think about it. A flock of birds stand in front of you from here all the way home. Now, you need to find another way to head home, without messing around with the birds. But then, in the dark, we get lost."

Chell looked at Wheatley, and then burst into fits of laughter. She couldn't help it. She loved hearing what he had to say to back up his opinions or thoughts that came up to him. "Nothing changes." she said. "And even in the dark, the birds can't gang up on you like that. They sleep just like we do." Wheatley sighed. "That's true!" he said. "You know what? Just forget what I said earlier. Birds sleep, just like us humans. I knew that the whole time."

They continued walking to their home. It wasn't until they both saw it, in the distance. At that moment, something swooped right underneath the both of them, under the light from the stars. There was no moon in the sky, and poor Wheatley was petrified about the fact that something sharp touched the top of his head.

"What was that?!" he screamed. Chell looked around, also in confusion. She saw from the corner of her eye the figure that swooped down to him, but couldn't get a good look at it before it disappeared. She saw it again shortly after, swooping at her this time. Chell ducked, but Wheatley, for being taller, felt the figure rub itself on the side of his face as he too also tried to duck. "Aggghh!" He said. "What is that?!"

Chell followed the Creature, until she saw it go into the tree nearby her house. She walked over to it, Wheatley shivering behind her. She looked up at the figure, who was perched up on one of the tree branches. The creature gave out a slight "who." Chell took one step closer to the figure. The Figure screamed "WHO!" and flew at the intruders near the tree. It grazed it's two feet at Wheatley, and then flew off. Wheatley screamed.

Chell watched the creature flying away, Wheatley Screaming to get whatever was off his head. There was only one animal that makes that noise and flys away like that. She laughed at the irony of that happening, mostly on Wheatley. "You're alright." she said, trying to stop herself from laughing even more. "It's gone." Wheatley looked at her, his eyes wide with fear. "What. Was. That?!" He asked her once more. Finally, Chell snapped back to her senses, and explained to Wheatley. "All birds sleep… except for one. Owls." Wheatley looked between Chell, and the direction in which the Owl flew off. He sighed, as he entered the house. "And now, I won't sleep either," he said.

He took off his hat and coat, and finally his scarf. It tangled around his neck with the amount of dodging he had to do to try and prevent the Owl from attacking him again. He strangled with it, until Chell had told him to stay still for her to take it off of him. Once she did, Wheatley looked at her, sheepishly. He placed the bag of apples on the table.

"Well don't blame me this time. It was the bloody bird that did it." he said to her, as he caught her chuckling to herself about the incident. Wheatley sighed. "What is up with birds now these days? Are they supposed to go away during times like this? Migrate! That's the word. Migrate! Don't they migrate to somewhere else away from the cold?"

Chell looked at him as she placed the apples on the fruit bowl. "Most of the birds do." she explained. " But some birds don't mind it. They grow warmer feathers to keep themselves warm." Wheatley stuttered. It almost seemed like a dream that all birds go away in a certain time of year. But now, he regretted getting his hopes up too much.

Chell yawned. She looked over at the clock. 6:30 in the afternoon, but it looked like midnight outside. She sighed, and pointed upstairs. "Well, if we want to wake up early tomorrow, then we need to get to sleep earlier. I'll head to bed now. Night!" And with that, she walked up the stairs. Wheatley looked at the carton of milk that Chell had placed next to the fruit bowl, but forgot to put it in the fridge. "I'll be right up in a second. It wouldn't take too long, just putting the milk carton away in the fridge!" he called in after her. When he was met with a muffled "okay!" from her, he walked over to the fruit bowl.

At that same time, the radio, which was supposed to be off, let out a ear piercing skweee! Wheatley jumped. He already had enough of a scare today. He looked at the radio, in an awkward expression. 'Wasn't that thing off?' He asked himself. He grabbed the radio from the window sill, and shook it up. The small blue light of the radio flickers for a bit, before powering off.

Wheatley turned the radio on. It started to play an old blues song in which Wheatley didn't know the name of. There is nothing wrong about the audio, since he heard the song as clear as day. Wheatley couldn't help but shake the Radio again. Nothing changed. Wheatley though for a moment, at that sound he had heard. There was no way that he imagined the sound. It was such a scary sound that even he couldn't imagine it without fearing the thought of it.

Wheatley turned off the radio, and the music stopped. He continued to stare at the radio in a questionable gaze. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it, as far as he knew. Maybe he could take it to Garret tomorrow while they were out on the farm. He picked up the milk carton, and walked over to the fridge. He opened the fridge, and put the milk carton in. He hurried up the stairs, into which Chell lay on the bed, already sleeping. 'There is no way she slept through all of that…" he thought. 'But yet again, I have been asleep for only God knows how long, so I wouldn't blame her.'

He laid on the bed, and turned off the light. He laid there, his eyes slowly closing. Sleep was something natural that he could do now. When you least expect it, it comes to you, and you feel refreshed the next day. But after all the events that happened today with the Radio and the Owl, he felt sleep come, faster than usual...

...Only to be woken up by a screeching noise, and the so called Owl coming for him, it's talons dangerously close to his face. Wheatley awoke with a small scream, in which he stifles realizing that Chell was still asleep. He looked at her, who remained motionless. He sighed, but it couldn't help his beating heart to slow down. Wheatley felt sweat drip down on his forehead, as he looked around. He was still in the room, the same one, in which he had fallen asleep in. He sighed in relief, as he reminded himself that it was only a nightmare.

But still, he felt his throat parched. He needed to drink water. He got off from the bed, and walked down the stairs. 'A glass of water would be nice.' he thought, as he walked into the kitchen. He opened another cabinet, which contained bottles of spring water bought from Aaron's store. It wasn't technically a glass of water, but it was at least something that he wanted. He closed the cabinet.

And then just like that, the radio screeched again. Not so loudly, and it didn't seem like a screech anymore but more like a static. Wheatley jumped, and some water from the bottle spilled on his shirt. He looked over at the Window sill, to where the Radio sat. Its light was glowing blue, like it did when it was on. Wheatley rubbed his eyes, and looked at the radio again. Its light was still glowing blue. He was sure he turned that radio off a couple of hours ago.

He looked at the clock. 1:44 am. Why would the radio turn on at this time? He set the bottle of water down, and ignored the irritation of his wet shirt. He looked at the radio, and then froze. There was a muffled voice heard in the radio. He picked up the radio, and looked at the button. It was not pushed in like it was supposed to be when it was on, and yet, the voices coming from the radio became increasingly louder, but still undefined with all the static.

Not knowing what to do, he sighed and looked over at the stairs. Knowing that the radio was on would only mean that he would have a harder time sleeping with all the rackets. Technology was not a very strong part about Wheatley, even though he himself was one once before. He picked up the radio and sat down on the table, and shook the Radio again. What was it trying to say? Was it talking to him? Was he still asleep? Was the radio trying to wake him up? The voices in the radio faded away for a small moment, but then, they came back again on a large Skreee!..

Wheatley covered his ears. This time, it was too loud. "What do you want?" He asked the radio. "Do you mind? There's someone sleeping upstairs y'know, and I think if I am being honest with you, it would be a lot better if you would turn it down for a bit?" But the radio kept making that loud sound. Wheatley feared that at this point, he would become deaf if this kept up. He stood up from the table and quickly ran over to the couch, where two medium sized pillows resided. He quickly put the radio underneath the both of them, and pressed down against the two pillows, softening the noise.

"Geez…" said Wheatley. "Look. I know that something is wrong with you, but not now, alright? Maybe you can scream all you want in the morning, but not during night. Someone's sleeping upstairs, and would be very mad to wake up and find out that it was you making all that noise." Nothing changed the condition of the radio. It still made the awful noise. Wheatley consulted with it, begging that Chell wouldn't wake up. How was he going to explain himself about the phantom radio?

"C'mon now, I know someone who might help you. He helped me of course, and that's why I'm recommending you his help, because of how well he helped me that is. It might help you a lot, and I'm seeing him tomorrow - or rather, today, in just a couple of hours. Can you wait till then? You can keep quiet while everyone sleeps and in a couple of hours I'll take you to him? How does that sound?"

The radio spazzed out for a bit, and then kept quiet. By then, his ears were ringing, and Wheatley wondered if it would stay permanent. He would have to ask Chell in the morning, when she woke up. For now, he lifted the pillows out of the Radio. It's light blue light was off, and he sighed. Silence. "Thank you!" he said, and took the radio back into the window sill. He placed the radio in its usual spot. It's official. He would have to take it to Garret's tomorrow right after the whole 'farming thing' in which he was still worried about.

He picked up the water bottle in the kitchen, and drank the rest of it up. He then grabbed a paper towel, and cleaned his shirt, along with the small puddle of water on the ground. He was alert, and ready in case the radio had another outbreak again. He disposed the dirty towel, and looked over at the window sill once more -

-only to see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him.

Wheatley jumped back, as it remembered those long talons and scary feathers. "Ahh! Oh you bloody scared me, again!"

The owl looked at Wheatley through the window, and tapped twice. It gave a small hoo! And then it flew away. Wheatley looked at the window once more, in bewilderment. Was that from his mind, or in real life? He shook his head. He was tired. He had to get to bed.

He drank the rest of the water, and took one more look at the radio. He would have to remove the batteries from the radio if he wanted to keep the house quiet. He walked over to the radio. "I'll need to do this, but if you are still here, I'll have a good friend repair you." He grabbed the radio, and looked over at the back, like Chell did when she would change the batteries. One look at the back part of it made him decide to abort this, for he knew two things. One, was that the radio needed help, and fearing that removing the batteries would harm it more, he decided to not do anything. The second reason why he didn't remove the batteries was because he didn't know how. He decided to stick with the first reason, for it was far less embarrassing than the second.

He went back upstairs, and hoped that the radio wouldn't turn on again while he was sleeping. Much more, as he sat on the bed, he hoped that the Owl from his nightmares wouldn't come back to stalk on him again.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

The early November sun hit the window, as the alarm clock echoed around the room. Chell was the first to wake up. She rubbed her eyes, and looked over at the clock. 6:30am. She stood out of bed and nearly jumped out of her skin. Wheatley sat on the bed. Not moving, but sitting. 'Had he fallen asleep like that?' she asked herself, as she walked over to him.

Surely enough, he did. The experience with the radio from last night had left him up all night just thinking about what ever could be wrong with it. The Questions filled up his mind to the point where he had to sit down to have a think. Chell, not knowing this, figured that it was from the bird which kept him awake. She nudged his shoulder a bit. He jumped at the feeling, but then when he realized the thing that touched him was a hand and not an Owl's talon, he took a deep sigh of relief.

"You alright?" she asked him. Wheatley rubbed his eyes. "Sorta." he said. He was tired. It really was a good idea to be sleeping early the night before, but maybe, a bit earlier, and then it would have been good for him. "Was it the Owl?" asked Chell, as she walked over to him. Wheatley nodded. "It was part of it anyways." he said. "The radio down the stairs scared the living daylight out of me - if there was any to begin with."

Chell stood up and opened the door out of the room. "Hmm. We'll have Garret take a look at it. Probably nothing serious. Hurry up and get ready. We need to be at the store by 7." Wheatley nodded and got out of bed, and into some insane cramps. 'Maybe I should have laid down instead.' he thought, as he got ready.

In a couple of minutes, he met Chell in the kitchen. She was looking at the radio. "Did anything happen to it while I was upstairs?" he asked her. Chell shook her head. "Nope. Looks fine with me. What did it do?" Wheatley opened the fridge to where he put in the milk. "It just screamed, while it was still off. It screamed loudly anyways. You should have seen it last night. I couldn't turn it off! Seriously, how did you not hear it last night? I thought that my ears would never stop ringing once I got to bed!"

Chell shook her head. "I'm no mechanic. We can have Garret look at it along the way." she said, and put the radio on the table. Wheatley poured his milk in a mug, for he would drink coffee. It was his usual thing to drink in the morning for breakfast, along with some bread. The one that Chell makes obviously.

Chell sat down drinking her usual. Tea. Sometimes, she would eat it with some of her bread too, but most of the time it's just tea. This time was no different, as she drank her tea from her cup, and Wheatley sparked up again their conversation from the day before.

"How is it that you like tea so much? It's just water and a leaf in it, that's all! It's tasteless! Seriously, there is more tasteful food all around you, and the only one thing you decide to drink first everyday is tea!" Chell looked at the coffee mug in his hands, and shrugged. "Could say the same for you, considering that your beverage is made out of beans." She said. Wheatley shook his head. "But still! You could add milk in it and it tastes amazing! Also with a spoonful of sugar of course, but for one thing, it does taste good compared to that tea."

She continues to drink her tea. Who was she to blame? It was mostly her fault for letting him serve himself a cup of using her tea leaves. A couple of days ago, he was so focused on trying to figure out what's in the tea that made her like it so much. After taking one sip, he regretted drinking it immediately.

Apparently Green Tea was not his favorite drink.

After drinking both their coffee and tea, they both quickly rushed over to the coat hanger to put on their jackets. Wheatley quickly put on his hat, and then this time, carefully wrapped his scarf around his neck. Chell was already out the door, for he had taken too long on the scarf. Right before he left the house though, he remembered something. "Wait!" he called out to her, as he ran back inside. He had forgotten, out of all the things, the radio. He came out with it moments later.

"Don't want this thing to start giving me three stikes too." he said. When met with Chell's look of confusion, he pointed to the radio. "I promised it last night that if it stayed quiet, then I'll take it to Garret and have it checked out. I don't want to get its bad side when I come home to find out that I broke the promise." Chell shrugged and walked out the door. She didn't want to question it.

Both walked on to the street, the crisp November morning awakening them more, for it was too cold for the both of them. By the time they arrived at the store, they were glad to see that they were going to head over to the barn by Aaron's truck.

Garret was already at the front seat of the car, and with Aaron at the driver's seat, then that left the back seat for the both of them. "Glad you could make it!" said Aaron from the front of the truck. Chell smiles. "Anytime." she said. Wheatley smiles, as a surge of fear washes over him. This vehicle, as far as he knew, seemed dangerous. The tires were too big, there was a closed space, and there seemed to be something that he had to do to keep him down on the seat. He watched as Chell got inside and strapped herself in the seat of the car. When she looked at him, he could feel beads of sweat rolling down his neck.

"Are you sure that this 'truck' is safe? I mean, you have the strap on, that's good. But, you know, operating it. It's not going to go out of control, like some things do, right?"

Aaron looked over at Wheatley from the driver's seat. " Of course it's safe. That strap is all you need to stay safe. And I can drive just fine. No need to be afraid,"

'Afraid?' thought Wheatley, as he crawled onto the car. 'Who's he calling afraid here? All I'm just doing is making sure that this thing, while driving, is safe. The last thing that we all want is to be killed in a bloody accident.' He fiddled with the seat belt, feeling disappointed that it was just like the scarf, and that it also got tangled. Chell sighed next to him and adjusted the seat belt for him. He smiles sheepishly.

Aaron, finally started the car, for he couldn't drive while Wheatley tried to get on the car. He didn't blame him. The poor lad had never been in a car before. The engine started, and he pushed the car forward. All the while, he looked behind using the review mirror, to him squirming underneath the seat belt. There was something white in his hands. "What'cha got there?" he asked. Maybe it would take his mind off the experience for a while.

Wheatley presented the radio to the both of them. Aaron couldn't get a good look, since he needs to keep an eye on the road. Garret however, was interested. "Why'd you bring the radio?" he asked him. Wheatley handed it to him. "It was making such a racket last night. Had me all up that time just thinking about what was wrong with it. It just screamed, very loudly. But get this, it was switched off, but it still made that awful noise."

Garret looked over at the radio, and flipped it around twice. "Funny you should mention, since my radio did somewhat the same thing last night." he said. Wheatley's eyes widened. "Yours too? Oh gosh, then perhaps you know what happened to them?" he asked. Garret shook his head. "It could probably mean that something is blocking the radio single from Foxglove again. Remember your old, um, body?" he asked.

Wheatley nodded, remembering about his old Aperture Science Human Relations Avatar device he had used ever so long ago. The abandoned device caused the signal from Foxglove to waver, interrupting people from the music they were listening to. Garret had to bring it down. It's now at his workshop, awaiting itself to be checked over by Garret. He planned to do that right after checking out the amazing technology from his turret, to whom he had called it Oracle. According to Chell, it was acting just like the ones she had seen sometimes in the small nooks where she can't see them, always guiding her way in the mazes of terror.

Wheatley looked over at Garret. "Do you think it could possibly be interfering with Foxglove again? Like its signal increased itself to reach something again?" he asked. Garret shrugged. "I guess. I'll have to abandon my work on Oracle for now. I'll check it out once we get home." Their conversation ended like that. Garret puts the radio in his coat pocket, for they were big enough to carry anything. Wheatley sighed, not liking the silence. The truck wobbled and tumbled, and with each jolt he cringed, expecting something awful to happen.

"Take a look out the window."

He looked at Chell. She was looking at him, and motioned herself to the window next to him. "It's nice out." she said. Wheatley looked over to the window, and watched as blades of wheat flew past them. The car wasn't going too fast, but from Wheatley's point of view, they were whizzing past him, into a blur of blond-yellow.

"We aren't that far away how," explained Aaron behind the wheel. "This Wheat Field is not part of the property of the farm, but I did get special permission to harvest a bit of the wheat. We can use the windmill a couple of minutes of a drive from the barn to turn it into flour."

Chell smiles. "Thank you." she said, but Aaron smiled. "Thank you for coming in and helping me. You know, it is a lot of work in handling the farm." Wheatley looked away from the window, ignoring the small conversation between the two of them. He had more things to worry about, and that included finding a way into doing the farm work without messing anything up.

It didn't take long before Aaron pulled up the truck into a big red building. Wheatley gawked at the sight of it. "This is yours? This is ginormous! How'd they built this thing anyways?" He wanted to get out of the car, to explore it all, but he realized that he was still restrained to the seat belt. He fiddled with it a little bit, before Chell pointed out something he hadn't noticed before. A red button which was holding him down.

"How about you do it?" he asked her, "Since, honestly you are more of an expert at doing these things than me." Chell sighed and leaned over in the car to push the button. Wheatley watched as the seatbelt zipped up on its own. "Smart little thing, isn't it?" He said.

He stepped out of the car, and looked up. The roof was very high. The ceiling was made in a weird way, and that's when Wheatley realized: there was no ceiling. "What are you going to do when it rains?" he asked Aaron curiously. Aaron looked at him. Garret turned around. Aaron had already assigned him to head on over to the tractor to harvest the remaining wheat blades in the field.

"I mean, there would be leaks everywhere, and the open doors? You'll feel more drafts in here!"

Chell sighed. "We don't live in barns. Only animals." she explained.

Wheatley chuckled to himself. "Sorry, sorry. Still have somewhat a lot to learn. It's amazing how many things you can fit in a human brain to be honest. You can be able to learn something new everyday without forgetting it!" Aaron lifted an eyebrow. "That so?" he asked. Wheatley shrugs. "All right, follow me. Chell, you think you can help me with the cows?" Wheatley looked behind to see Chell already picking up a bucket. She already knew what to do. He turned back to see Garret. He was going to get the keys to the tractor. He knows what he's doing.

He followed Aaron to the side of the barn. There was a tower of baskets. Aaron handed him one of the woven baskets to him. He looked at the baskets. Not too big, but big enough to carry something, but what?

Wheatley did not know what to do.

He looked at Aaron expectantly. "Am I supposed to be a Basket holder or something? Because if I am, then It's alright. I'll stand here with the basket, and just do whatever you tell me what to do with it." He looked up at Aaron again. He Gestured to something in the distance. Wheatley looked over in that direction. It seemed to be a cage, made of thin wiring. Inside, there was a small wooden house.

"I'll give you the easiest job around here since it's your first time here." explained Aaron. "Chicken duty." They walked closer to the cage. One look inside the cage and Wheatley's heart skipped a beat. Chickens. As in, birds.

"Are you sure that there isn't a simpler job around here that I could do instead? I would do anything else than… that." he gestured to the Chickens.

Aaron looked at Wheatley. "C'mon Wheatley, this is the simplest job around here. What's wrong?" he inspected his face, the look of slight fear in his eyes, and his shivering legs. "Now come on, you aren't afraid of chickens, are you?" he said. Wheatley shook his head. "No, no. It's just that…" and then he sighed. "I'll take the job." he said. He didn't want to admit, out of all the people, to Aaron that he was afraid of birds. Not all of them, but just the big scary ones, with giant talons and wings.

Chickens just had to be one of them.

Aaron nodded, satisfied. "Alright. The eggs are in the nests. Sometimes, there would be a Chicken on that nest, and so all you have to do is just pick it up and move it somewhere else until you grab the eggs. Got it?" He asked. Wheatley nodded. Aaron looked at him once more in the eyes. "If you need help, or if something in there happens, I'll be at the sheep pen." he said. Wheatley nodded again, once more. After that, Aaron leaves.

Wheatley looked back at the door to the Chicken cage. There was a reason why the cage was made out of thin wire, and Wheatley didn't want to know exactly why. His hand clutched onto the basket as his other hand reached for the handle. 'They're only birds. Just tiny, small, safe birds that don't have big scary eyes and sharp beaks.

He took a step into the coop, ducking into the frame, and then watched, as a bunch of yellow puffballs came running towards him. "Ahhh!" he screamed, and ran back out the cage. He hit his head on the frame. His heart was beating too quickly, that he felt that anymore of this, he would be dead before the favor was done. 'Either by a heart attack or a concussion.' he thought.

Once his heart rate beat back to normal, he looked over at the cage handle again. One more try, for the sake of it. He pushed open the handle of the cage. He watched, more closely this time, as he entered the chicken cage again, carefully ducking his head. There he looked over to see the puffballs run over to him again. He cringed, questions filling up his head about the puffed beings with legs, until he saw one of them a tiny beak and a small dot resembling its eye.

"Oh," said Wheatley, readjusting his glasses. "You look harmless," He watched as one of the puffballs tried to climb up his boot. That's when it hit him. "Oh wait! I know what you are!" He kneeled down, and petted one of them on the head. "You're the tiny ones that don't do much harm, until you grow up, right?" The puffballs continued to try to get up on his shoe. "You have a name. There's a name for this animal. Aaron said chicken, so that must be the adult, which means you're chicks!" The Chicks peeped. "We'll then, I better be off. I need to be really careful on this, because it's bloody dangerous. Well not for you guys. You'll be fine, but, keep the cheers on for me, eh?"

The Chicks no longer found his shoe interesting. They stood in front of him. Wheatley nodded, stood up, and walked over to the house. The door was slightly ajar, big enough for the chicks to come out. Wheatley opened the door. Behind him, the chicks had lined up in a straight line, following him. Wheatley looked behind him. "Uh, do you want to go in first?" The chicks looked at him awkwardly. "I'll right then…" said Wheatley as he turned towards the room - to see rows and rows of full grown chickens.

He could feel sweat dripping down his forehead. "Why God why me." he said to himself. There were chickens on the ground, on the walls, and even on the ceiling. Not exactly on the ceiling, but it was made the same way as the barn, only with a nest on one of the bars keeping the roof upright. This had a death trap written all over it. He turned back to the chicks, hoping they would know what to do, but they still stood behind him. Watching.

He didn't have a choice. He walked straight in, also ducking his head, with the basket clutched tightly in his hand. Every chicken in the room was looking at him. The room was silent as Wheatley walked into the room, to the farthest corner. There were some empty nests over there, and Wheatley didn't want to grab a hold of anything else besides his basket and the eggs.

On the first nest, there were four eggs. Wheatley quickly grabbed them and carefully put them in the basket. There was a silent clucker among the chickens. Wheatley gulped down the lump in his throat. He walked over to the second nest. It was the last empty nest in the room, and his basket wasn't yet full. He picked up two more eggs from the nest. A total of six eggs. Six eggs.

He looked over at the nest next to the one he collected the eggs from. There was a chicken sitting right on it, looking right at him. It had big wings, and its eyes looked like black beady pearls. His talons were hidden under all those feathers, waiting for a chance to strike. The image of the owl came back again from the night before. He stuttered, and looked back at the chicken. "Listen, how about we make this fair?" He asked.

CLUCK!

Wheatley nearly jumped back. It was the only sound heard in the room. "Be careful! You know, I could have stepped into one of your friends! At least let me know when you do that, okay?"

CLUCK!

"Okay, good good. Do you think you can move over a bit to see if you have any eggs for harvesting? Nothing much, just getting on and off something."

...

"Not that hard. Y'know, there is the easy way and the hard way. You can just move away from your nest for a bit, or-

CLUUUCK!

"AHHHHH!" It was either the giant cluck or his screams, but the ruckus in the corner of the chicken coop has caused chaos in there. Wheatley, scared for his life, ran out of the chicken coop,with all the baby chicks following him, along with a couple of other chickens.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

Garret had finally finished harvesting the wheat for the day. He was happy to find out that he was ahead of schedule, by the use of the digital clock on the Radio that he had in his coat pocket. He made a mental note that he must return the radio to Chell and Wheatley after he finished tinkering with it.

It wasn't until, over the noise of the rumbling motor of the tractor, he heard screaming. Garret shook his head. "Probably just the ringing of my ears after being in this thing all morning." he said to himself. He put his foot on the gas pedal, and the tractor moved forward. He turned the Tractor towards the barn, and to his surprise, Wheatley was running around the barn screaming, with a pack of Chickens behind him.

Garret forgot all about the tractor and the wheat. He ran as fast as he could towards the barn. "Wheatley!" he yelled out, but the poor guy was now at the other side of the barn. He ran into the sheep pen to grab Aaron, whose job was to shear the sheep's wool. "Chickens out!" he gasped out. "And chasing Wheatley!"

Aaron abandoned the sheep and put down the shears. "Dear lord…" he said, when he ran to the back of the barn. Instead, they saw Chell, who was quickly running out of the cow pen. They followed her down to the inside of the barn, into which they found Wheatley, climbing up a couple of stacks of hay to get away from the chickens. He caught sight of the three, and shouted in surprise.

"Oh here! Over here! Um… help me please? It seems to me that I have BIRDS on my FEET!"

Chell walked over to the haystacks, and shooed the chickens away. Wheatley was already down on the ground as she was trying to shoo away the chicks. "Oh no! Not those ones." he said. "I feel they have a liking for me, and they are harmless enough, don't you think?" He watched as the chicks all huddled together in his feet. They were poking at his shoes, particularly, the shoelaces.

Aaron sighed, but couldn't help but laugh. "I said to harvest eggs, not start up a wild goose chance." Wheatley grumbled. Chell looked at Aaron. "You gave him the chicken task?" she asked him. Aaron nods. "Simplest task in here out of all of 'em." he said. Chell sighed. "At least be there with him." she hissed. "Remember, he was only human for a year."

"Looks like it," said Aaron.

They watched as Wheatley picked up one of the chicks on the ground. He looked up at Chell. "You should touch these! They are so soft! Wish they stayed that way forever though, and not turn into one of those." He pointed to a full grown Chicken staring at him in the distance.

Garret sighed. "Well, I'm glad that we got you out of trouble Wheatley, before you got into some real business." he said. Wheatley stood up, and handed the basket to Aaron. "These are the ones I managed to get." he said. Aaron and Chell peaked onto the Basket. "Why, they didn't even break at all, not even a crack!" said Aaron. "You're a natural Wheatley!" Wheatley couldn't help but smile.

"I'll bring back the tractor." Said Garret. "And then we can head on over to the windmill to make the flour." Aaron nods. "I'll round up the chickens, and Wheatley will join me, right?'

Wheatley smiles sheepishly.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0

It didn't take long for both of them to finish their final tasks. Chell had already been cleaning up from her task when she saw Wheatley dash around her with chickens in pursuit. They all met back into the truck. Aaron and Wheatley last.

"He was sure right about the chicks having a liking for him." said Aaron, as he hops into the driver's seat. "Wouldn't even stop following him."

Wheatley hops into the backseat with Chell. He fumbled with his seatbelt. Finally, it was positioned the right way, and he managed to even click the seatbelt in place. Chell smiled. Aaron started up the truck, and soon, it left the barn. Garret had latched on the trailer of harvested wheat behind the truck beforehand, saving them a lot of time to reach the windmill.

Again, Wheatley found himself staring at the window. He couldn't help it. It was a better sight outside in the daylight than it was from the darkness of the early morning. He didn't mind watching the blades of wheat rush past him. He looked back, to see Chell looking at him. "Wheat, huh." he said. Chell smiles. She watched as the blades of wheat rushed past him though the window.

"Did you ever wonder why you were named this way?" she had asked. Wheatley looked at her confused. "Not really," he said. "Never really have much memory of my old times as a human. The memories are quite fuzzy. That kind of is the downside of being human. As a robot, I can see things clearly, and unblur the images in my head, but as a human, what's gone is gone."

Old times. That was something she had wished she longed to know about herself. She suspected that Wheatley would have the same case, only that apparently he can see a bit in his past. She looked down and furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember at least something about her that could answer some questions.

Wheatley looked at her. "Relax," he said. "I think I might have a bit of the same brain damage as you anyhow. I still can't remember anything, but I can still do pretty much anything else a human could do. Why, if anyone were to see us right now, they would not even note the brain damage! At least be happy for that," he said.

"Amnesia."

Wheatley looked at Garret. "Pardon?" he asked.

Garret turned to look at Wheatley. "You both have amnesia. Your limbic system is damaged in your brain somehow, but if that were to be true, then you would have a hard time with emotions, and remembering things. Somehow, in your case, you guys can remember things like the backs of your hands, so technically, not that bad to be considered brain damage."

The truck tumbled and Wheatley reached out for the door to lean on it to steady himself. "Amnesia. How do you know about it?" Garret smiled for a bit. "Lets just say that you aren't the only people interested in solving the mystery of that place." He said. "I'll admit I did do some research." He shrugged. "Better anyways to protect anyone else heading East."

Wheatley looked down on his legs. He didn't know about Amnesia. Technically, if anything was wrong with his mind, it was brain damage, simple as that. He looked at Chell, who stared at Garret. "Can it be cured?" she asked.

Wheatley stared. He didn't expect her to ask about that. Why would she want her memories back? To remember old things? To understand their situation?

What would she do with them after?

He looked up at Garret, awaiting an answer. "It requires surgery," he said. "And in your conditions, it might need a specialist to come and check you out. Unfortunately, we don't have these here in Eaden." Wheatley looked back at Chell. He didn't mind not having his memories back. In fact, he just wished he forgot most of the major details that happened between him and Chell. But that was slightly impossible. He watched her looking out the window. Would she mind about her old memories?

Before he could say anything to her, Aaron interrupted the uneasy silence. "We're here." he said, pulling over the truck to the side of a big brown building. Wheatley pushed the red button on his seat belt, just like Chell had done. She didn't look like she was in the mood anyways, and he figured that all she needed was some time to herself.

He exited the car and looked up to the building. It was a big building, with a propeller in the front of it. It looked somewhat like the propeller toys he had seen children play with in the town. It moved gently with the wind, each flap making a swoop! noise when they wizz towards them. The fall breeze made it seem like a peaceful place.

"Wheatley! Come on!" said Garret from the doors to the windmill. "You're going to miss the grand tour of this place. I'm pretty sure that you'll find it much more interesting in here." His voice awoke him from his thoughts. He followed Garret into the windmill.

Garret was somewhat right. It was pretty interesting in the Windmill. Machinery was everywhere, grinding blades of wheat and turning it into flour. "This is where it all happens." said Aaron. Wheatley tried to pay attention to most of the things that Aaron had to say about the process of grinding wheat into flour. There were so many terms and items starting from chutes and hoppers, rhynds and maces. He couldn't pay much attention to all the details. He figured that the best way to understand the person teaching him something was to first understand a bit on his own.

He watched giant hammers made of wood pound on piles of wheat. He watched as conveyor belts pushed the small grains of wheat into a white box in which looked like a filter, only with more machines inside it. What comes out of it was pure white powder. Whatever happens in that white box seemed to be pretty advanced, for it looked way different than it was when it entered the box.

He turned back to see Aaron walking over to the end of the machinery. Already, there were about 6 bags full of flour. "Everything here is powered by that giant windmill. In other words, wind. Here." he hands Chell a bag of flour. "As a Thank you for helping me out with the farm." she smiles. "Thank you. We really needed this." she mostly looked at Wheatley for this one. "It's like Garret said. Practice makes perfect. Though sometimes Chell always tells me that I'm practicing excessively. But if it makes you perfect at something, it's not bad, right?"

Garret laughed. "Try to keep it as a schedule buddy. It doesn't always work like that if ya do it too much."

Aaron followed Chell back to the truck. She puts the back of flour where she sat in the backseat, while Aaron and Garret unlatched the trailer containing the wheat blades harvested from the tractor. Wheatley watched from afar. Aaron eventually looked at him, and gestured to the entrance of the windmill. "You can grab one rake, and start to pick the wheat up and put them into the machine. There is a hatch sticking on the side of the wall in which you throw them in. The windmill would do the rest." He explained.

Wheatley walked over into the windmill to the wall full of tools. There were a lot of weird things there. There was something that looked like a small hammer. There was a broom. A could of sticks with pointy things made of metal. He stuttered at the sight of them. 'Pointy things are dangerous.' he thought, as he took a good look at them. ' I think those are just for the machine to use.' With that, his eyes land on something else that might look like the right tool.

He walked outside to Aaron and Garret. They had undone the latch to the trailer to the truck, and were now coming to pick up their tools. Chell followed behind them. When Aaron caught sight of the tool Wheatley had, he sighed. "Are you sure you want to pick up blades of wheat with a shovel?"

Wheatley looked back at the tool. "Isn't that what we are using to pick them up?" Garret shook his head. "Not really. There is a tool that we can all use that can make picking up blades of Wheat easier, but if you insist…" they continued walking into the windmill. Wheatley couldn't help but follow them. He watched as Aaron took out one of the tools. With the sharp bits. Garret picked another of the same tool up. Wheatley sighed and put the shovel back. Garret saw the disappointed look, and patted him on the back. "No worries." he said. "In this world, one can't be good at everything. I guess farming isn't your thing. We all get that."

He continued walking towards Aaron. Wheatley turned around and met face to face with Chell. She had two of the tools with pointy bits in her hands. She handed one to Wheatley. "We can try to do this together." she said. "This is my first time too." Wheatley smiles slightly, and puts the shovel down. "Well alright." he said. "But just for the sake of it, please make sure to keep the point bit of, uh, whatever tool this is down. Don't really know the name of it, but I know that one look of those pointy bits meant trouble."

"It's called a rake."

Wheatley takes the rake from Chell. "Rake, right." he said. Both of them rushed over to Garret and Aaron, who already had the hatch of the windmill opened. They were already shoveling the wheat piles with their rakes into the hatch. Wheatley and Chell followed along.

"Here." said Aaron. "You stick the pile with the rake, and then you pick up what you can get. Then you dump it all into the chute over here." and points to the hatch. Wheatley and Chell nod, and try to do just that.

Being the taller one, out of the four of them, Wheatley managed to dump the piles of Wheat into the chute with somewhat ease. Chell and the others had to lift the rake up a bit to reach the chute.

Wheatley watched, as Chell tried to lift up her rake into the chute, but the pile of wheat slid on the shaft of the broom, and most of it fell right at the ground. The rest landed on her.

Wheatley stifles a laugh, as she brushes herself off. "You'll get the handle of it." he encourages.

They spent the rest of the morning dumping the harvested wheat on the chute. By the time it was done, Aaron smiled "We finished at a good time!" he said. It's barely noon!" Chell nods. "Do you mind giving us a ride home?" she asked him. Aaron nods. "Sure thing." he said.

Everyone got back into the truck. Garret and Aaron stayed behind to latch the empty trailer back into the truck. Chell adjusted the bag of flour. It sat between them, Chell and Wheatley. When Aaron walked back into the truck, they awaited for Garret, who while working on dumping the wheat on the chute, had taken off his jacket and was now running to the side of the Windmill to retrieve it.

"All set!" he said when he returned. Aaron pulled out of the windmill, and headed back on the road from where they had traveled from. The car ride was still bumpy, and Wheatley found himself watching blades of wheat whizz past him while he leaned on the side of the truck to keep his balance.

They passed the barn. No one spoke, tired from the morning's work. A soft tune was here on the truck's radio. It was a familiar tune, and it reminded Wheatley of the one song that all the radios in that place would play. A repetitive cheery tune.

The barn whizzed past them, and nothing could get more quieter than that. Garret had found himself humming the tune of the small song on the radio. Slightly, the company in the car. The fall sun was already setting, making the blades of wheat golden yellow. Everything and everyone seemed content in this blissful time of the day.

Until both radios, from Aaron's truck and the one that Garret had on his pocket screamed. There was a loud, very loud static noise. Of the sudden it happened, Aaron, behind the wheel, braked instinctively.

Wheatley couldn't comprehend what happened after that, but after the truck made the sudden move, everything in the truck lurched forward, including himself. He looked around wildly in fear. There was a small "thump" heard next to him, and just like that, the whole truck turned white.

At first, Wheatley was confused as to why everything turned white. It wasn't blank white, but it was a powdery white, sort of like very thick fog.

"Get out of the truck!"

Aaron had no need to tell that to everyone. In fear, Wheatley was already pulling at the belt that really did save his face from being smashed against the headrest in front of him. The white powdery fog covering the inside of the truck was now affecting him, and he found it harder to breathe. In fact, everyone found it hard to do that so. Wheatley coughed and sputtered, and looked for the button that held the seat belt in place. He found it soon after, and crawled out of the truck. Chell helped him up, and they both ran away from the truck, into fresher air.

They met up with Garret and Aaron, who were the first ones out of the truck. They helped out Chell and Wheatley, and when they finally stopped coughing, Wheatley was the first to speak. "What happened? Everything just exploded! It nearly bloody killed us all!" he asked. Garret and Aaron looked back at the truck, its insides covered in a white sheet of powder.

"The radios gave me quite a scare." Said Aaron. "I stopped the truck so suddenly that the bag of flour that was sitting next to you and Chell fell over, and the force of that ripped bag and released it into the air." Wheatley looked back to see the truck. "So much for the flour." said Chell.

The four of them stood in silence, the static of the screaming radios dying down - slightly.

Garret sneezed. Aaron looked back at everyone, once more making sure that no one had gotten hurt from the accident. A genuine look at everyone and he started to laugh. Garret and Chell, laughed as well. Wheatley wiped off his coat. There was a white powdery layer on everything, including on everyone's clothes. They looked like the snowmen he had seen in children's books. He also laughed.

After a while, it was Chell who switched the topic. "Now what do we do?" she asked.

"Find out how to shut this thing off," said Garret. His face grew serious. "I'll be honest, I thought that his whole radio thing was a one time thing. Didn't expect it to happen again." Said Garret. The Static of the radio wasn't too loud, so they were able to hear his voice over the noise of it.

Right after Garret had said that, both radios from the truck and on Garret's hand shut off. Wheatley looked at Garret in amazement. "How'd you do that?" he asked. Garret looked at Wheatley. "I didn't do anything…" said Garret. Everyone looked at the radio that Garret held in his hand. The light was wavering, and the switch was on "off".

"Um. Is that supposed to be a coincidence?" asked Aaron. Garret shook the radio. Wheatley examined it from what he could see. "It did the same exact thing last night, only that that static on my radio was softer than this,"said Garret. Wheatley shook his head. "No, mine was really loud. Not as this loud, but loud enough to hear it loud and clear."

"Lets fan out the truck for now." said Chell. "We can come back to the mystery of the Radio when we get home." Garret and Aaron nodded, but Wheatley shook his head. "I'll catch up in a moment." he said. "I think I need a breather for a couple of more minutes. I breathed a lot of it in, and my throat is making this burning itching thing. I think staying out here would help me." Chell nods. "Alright" she said.

She walked over to the truck. With the doors open, the cloud of flour thinned in the truck. Aaron and Garret caught up with her. Garret placed the radio on the ground. He took out his jacket, and flapped it, getting rid of the remaining particles of the flour on the truck. Chell and Aaron followed his actions.

Wheatley watched them fanning out the car. He was amazed by how everyone was able to adapt to the situation as quickly as that. Meanwhile, he was really close to actually yelling out about how the whole truck experience was really a near death experience. His doubts were right.

A couple of minutes had passed, and the cloud of flour had thinned. By then, the mess was cleaned up by Aaron, who promised to give Chell another bag of flour in the following day. Wheatley was already catching up to them to help them out, if he didn't hear a noise behind him. He turned around. A voice.

From afar, he could see a lump on the ground. By then, where they were, the wheat field was trailing into meadow. They weren't too far away from Eaden. "I think I see something over there," said Wheatley to the others. "Bit of a weird shape on the ground… hang on, I need to clean my lenses." For the first after exiting the flour cloud in the truck, Wheatley wiped his glasses with his shirt underneath his jacket.

"Wheatley, what do you see?" called out Aaron. Wheatley didn't respond. He had already started to run towards the figure on the ground. With his clean glasses, he saw that the figure was a human, and from the looks of it, it didn't seem to be doing so good.

The person was an older girl. It looked kind of like the people that he had seen in some alleyways in Eaden, or helping other people with their work. Garret had called them adolescents.

The girl was not looking so good. Her face was even paler than Wheatley's, and his face was covered in flour. She coughed and wheezed, a lot, and on one of her hands, there was a roundish bulge on it. There was a backpack in which she held the other hand.

"Dear lord…"

He turned around to see Aaron looking at the body. Garret and Chell trailed behind. When they arrived at the body, they didn't know what else to say. Wheatley picked the girl up. Chell took off her jacket and wrapped it around the girl. "The poor kid…" said Garret to himself as he watched the two of them carry her onto the truck.

The only thing that they left behind was the bag. Aaron ran after Chell and Wheatley to start the truck. Garret stayed behind to pick up the bag. It wasn't until something happened. Every single time when he got closer to the bag, the radio in his pocket would make a much higher pitched static.

"Garret! Hurry!" yelled out Chell. He shook his head and picked up the heavy bag. Whatever its relation was with the radios was going to have to wait. He entered the car moments later, radio in one hand and bag in the other. "Hurry!" said Wheatley. "She needs to see the lad that helped Chell!"

"Dr. Vic? Well that's where she was going anyways," said Aaron as he sped into the roads. Not too fast, but quick enough to get the body fast enough to urgent care.

Garret turned around to see the two of them, Wheatley and Chell, eyeing the girl. "She looked just like the way you looked when he came into town for the first time." he said to Chell. She nods. "That's the point. I had a gunshot wound on my leg. She doesn't have anything."

"No wounds for this kid. She keeps making this weird wheezing noise from her mouth." Explained Wheatley. Aaron looked at him slightly in the rearview mirror. "Keep an eye on her, and tell Dr. Vic everything that you know. Just like last time." he explained to him. "Almost, last time."

Wheatley nods, remembering what he had done last time with Dr. Vic when it was Chell who he had saved. Dr. Vic had said that Wheatley had done a good job at explaining what happened. Only that he didn't know all the facts. It wasn't just a random machine that he and Chell stumbled upon that shot the bullet, and it wasn't in the wheat field either.

Aaron pulled up to Dr. Vic's clinic in no time. Wheatley and Aaron had carried her in. It was mostly Wheatley who did all the work carrying her to Dr. Vic, ducking underneath doorframes. Dr. Vic had taken her off of his back, and into a separate room. It was the one across from which Chell was in a year ago with her wound.

Aaron walked back to Chell and Garret. Wheatley joined the group, and watched as Dr. Vic closed the door behind him. No one said a word. They heard the girls coughing and wheezing on the other side of the door. After a long time, the door opened up again.

"How come you're always the one finding people in the most dire conditions?" he asked when he came out of the room. He had a thermometer in his hands. He walked down to the closet. Wheatley followed him. The others stayed in their place. "I really don't know. It just… happens." he answered.

"She was lucky," said Dr. Vic, as he opened the closet. There inside were warm blankets. "Any more time outside, and she would have died of hyperthermia." He took some blankets out and rushed back into the room, closing the door behind him. Wheatley stood right outside the door, next to Chell, who had walked up to him slightly. Garret and Aaron followed. There was a faint noise in the radio now inside Garret's pocket.

"Still didn't figure out what's wrong with it?" asked Wheatley, trying to change the subject. Garret pointed to the bag. "That's another funny part. I think it's coming from the bag." he said. Briefly, he shows Chell and Wheatley what he had noticed. The closer he got to the bag, the more static was heard from the radio.

"Hmmm." said Chell. She sighed. "I wouldn't play with that if I was you." Garret looked at Chell. "Why not? I'm not opening it, although you're kind of right about that manner-wise." he said. Chell shook her head. "We'll ask about it when she wakes up. Right now, let's put the bag right inside the room where she's in, so she'll know that her stuff is here." said Wheatley. Garret handed him the bag.

Wheatley knocked twice on the door, in which it opened to Dr. Vic. The room was warm.

"Her bag…" he started to say but Dr. Vic nodded. "Right by the bedside table, where her boots are."

Wheatley nods. He quickly puts the bag next to the boots, not taking a good look at them with the yearning of wanting to get out as soon as possible. He would let the Doctor do what he needed to do on the girl to make her well again, just like Chell. On his way out the door, Dr. Vic called out to him.

"Where do you guys get these boots?"

"Pardon?" asked Wheatley. With the door open, Chell overheard the conversation.

"The boots she was wearing. They are the same ones that Chell had. You know, the ones made of metal"

"Really? I hadn't even noticed." He said. Dr. Vic walked down to the bedside table, and picked up the boots. They were small, probably to fit the girl's shoe size, but no matter how small they were, they could be noted everywhere.

Chell's heart skipped a beat when she caught sight of the boots.

Thigh high, in white color. Made of metal, with a piece of curving at the end from the thighs.

Aperture Science long fall boots.

0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0