"Bye mom! I'm going to work on the fence!"

Brax slammed his front door shut and once again, took off toward Caleb's. He brought the baking magazine with him so he could show Wheatley what a cake was. Wheatley had asked all kinds of questions in the two days he's been online. Such as; "What's in those comics that are so interesting?" or "Why does that Payton girl have such an unnatural hair color? Is she sick?" or "If there's so many human here then why aren't there more houses?". Luckily for him, Brax didn't mind answering them. He was quite fond of the little core, no matter how odd (or sometimes a bit crazy) he might seem. Caleb on the other hand found it slightly strange. Something didn't sit right with him and Wheatley. At times when Wheatley would be a little out of it or move/twitch in a weird way, or mutter to himself randomly, Caleb would be a little freaked out. Either that or he'd comment on how that needed to be fixed and how he could probably fix it. Of course, Wheatley always gave the same answer each time. He said he couldn't be fixed properly until returned to Aperture, then proceeded to give a long winded explanation on why he can NEVER go back to Aperture, no matter what. He didn't care if he was damaged. So long as he was at least functional, Wheatley wanted only to stay on the surface. As far as he was concerned there was nowhere better. That was just fine with Brax, since (despite being a robot) Wheatley was a great addition to his small friend circle. Even if Caleb didn't agree sometimes.

"No Payton! You can't!"

Brax heard shouting, and a bit of shuffling in the shed. He stepped closer, listening in on the chaos he was about to encounter.

"I have to! He's not gonna work if I don't!"

Clang!

"But what if it's too much? You'll fry him!" Caleb cried.

"We have to try. Do you see any other way to fix it?"

Thud!

"No but-"

Brax marched into the shed to find Caleb and Payton in front of her car with the hood propped open. On the worktable next to them was a completely still, completely silent Wheatley. Brax rushed over and placed a hand on the cold shell.

"What happened here?" he questioned Caleb.

"I don't know! I came in here this morning and he was off. I tried everything!"

Payton reached over to the worktable, picked up a few cables, and hooked them to her car battery.

"And now I have to fix it!"

"But it'll be too much for him!"

"He'll be fine." she sighed.

Payton reached over to grab Wheatley, when Brax grabbed her arm.

"Don't touch him!"

"Idiot, I'm trying to fix your stupid robot! Let go!"

Brax struggled with Payton a bit more until she finally broke free, then shoved him backward into Caleb. The two fell over, tangled together. Payton grabbed Wheatley and attached one end of the cable to a handle. She then climbed in her car and slammed the door. The two boys could only watch. Payton turned the key and the engine roared to life, filling the shed with it's thunderous rumble and shaking the ground beneath them. The two metallic ends of the cable flashed a bright white, sparks flew, then Payton shut the engine off and everything returned to normal. Brax immediately got up and ran to the work table. He grabbed one of Wheatley's handles, then yanked his hand back from the hot surface. Payton smacked him upside the head.

"Stupid, I just shocked him, of course he's gonna be hot!"

The familiar sound of Wheatley's whirring machinery came to life, and the core blinked, vision slowly restoring.

"Ughh, oh wow. Huh, I feel warm. Is that a good thing? Please tell me it's not bad."

Payton put her hands on her hips and admired what she'd accomplished.

"I knew it would work."

Caleb rushed over to Wheatley.

"What happened? Where did you go to?"

"Well funny story see, I saw a bird outside the window here aaand it got too close... and I got scared."

Caleb scowled at the core.

"All that over a bird?"

"Hey now! Birds are scary. Not my fault they can cause an emergency shut down. Normally I'd be able to boot back up just fine so I guess there's a lesson learned. Stay away from birds."

Brax laughed while Caleb rolled his eyes.

"So then, thanks for the reboot! Definitely needed that. Feel light as a feather now. Fresh as a daisy. Fit as a fiddle. Right as rain- well you get the idea."

Payton carefully removed the cable from both Wheatley and her car, then slammed the hood shut, dusting off her hands.

"Well you're quite welcome british sphere thing." she said, walking by and giving him a little pat. "Maybe you're not all that bad."

"Oh well thank you! You know, you're even-"

"Don't push it."

"Understood."

Payton gathered her things and climbed back into her car, preparing to leave again.

When she turned the key, the engine sputtered, and fell silent. She tried again. Nothing. After three more false starts she gave up, climbed out, and slammed the door. Payton turned towards Wheatley.

"What did you do to my car?" she hissed.

"Nothing! Nothing, I swear!"

"How could he have done something if he was pretty much dead?" Brax said, stepping forward.

"It must've been too much for the battery. Wheatley probably requires more power than we thought." Caleb pointed out.

Payton sighed.

"I just hope this didn't fry any important parts. Not that I can't fix it, it'll just be an expensive pain in the backside to order a replacement."

She popped the hood back open and started examining each bit of the engine, still hot from it's work to power Wheatley.

"This'll take a minute and some silence. Go play or something." she said, shooing the boys away.

Caleb led Brax to the backyard, where a whole playground of scrap metal and old wood awaited. In the middle of the yard was an old trampoline, covered in leaves. On the edge of the yard at the very top of a hill, was a tire swing which hung from an old tree.

"What first?" Caleb asked his companion.

Brax let his imagination run wild, then ran to the scrap pile and started picking out random pieces.

"What are you doing?"

"We," Brax corrected. "Are building a fort.

"For what?" asked Wheatley.

Brax scoffed at the question.

"For fun! Duh."

They assembled the fort, meaning for it to look like a hut. When they finished, it ended up looking like a sad tent that got pushed over in the wind. Brax stepped back and glared at it disapprovingly. Caleb set Wheatley down in the fort, and looked for something else they could do.

"How about the tire swing?" he suggested.

Brax immediately forgot about the fort and ran to the tire swing. Caleb grabbed Wheatley and followed.

"It's not very sturdy so be careful."

"Oh I'm sure it's fine." Brax said, climbing on top of it. "If it stood for this long then it should- oof!"

The rope snapped and the tree dropped Brax into the grass.

"Oi. You okay there?" Wheatley asked.

Brax jumped up and dusted himself off.

"To the trampoline!" He shouted.

Caleb groaned as he grabbed Wheatley once again and followed.

Brax kicked the leaves off the trampoline, sending them all in different directions. Then he started jumping, causing a cloud of dust to rise from it every time he came back down. Wheatley watched, fascinated with the height Brax was gaining so easily. The boy rose higher and higher with each bounce, spinning and twisting around in the air. He spontaneously decided that he needed to join.

"Uh, could I have a go? Just a quick little spin."

Brax slowed his jumping.

"Really? Are you sure? It's kinda high up."

"Oh I'm sure I won't even notice. You're also talking about the core who survived space, right? This is a walk in the park!"

Brax shrugged, jumping off the trampoline.

"Alright. I don't see why not."

"This is a bad idea." said Caleb, handing his friend the excited little core.

Brax set Wheatley down and stood next to him, prepared to jump.

"You ready?"

"Go for it mate!"

He jumped and came down hard on the trampoline, sending Wheatley six feet into the air. Brax quickly jumped off to avoid being hit by the screaming projectile. He hit the trampoline and flew eight feet upward.

"AGGHHHH! AH! OH GOD!" he screamed.

Brax was laughing so hard he was struggling to breathe, rolling in the grass while Caleb watched in horror.

Brax's amusement was short lived. With no way to control which way he went, Wheatley eventually drifted too far to the side. Caleb tugged on Brax's sleeve and pointed up. Brax moved to attempt to catch Wheatley, but was too late. Gravity dropped him onto the unforgiving ground with a Crack!

The two boys ran to help him.

"Crap! Wheatley are you okay?"

Caleb turned him over. He was still active, but there was a small crack in his shell and he seemed a little off. Caleb and Brax exchanged a look of concern while Wheatley began to sing in a slurred and choppy voice.

"For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow,"

"I think I broke him." said Brax.

Caleb punched him in the arm.

"You think?"

The two brought Wheatley back to Payton just as she was finished checking her car. She turned around to find the two boys standing behind her with the core in hand.

"Heya there miss!" Wheatley said, tripping over his words while struggling to get them out.

"I send you two off for five seconds and you break him again. At this rate he's never gonna survive."

"We're sorry! He wanted to try the trampoline so it's not our fault." Brax yelled in defense.

"No it's fine. I'll fix him again." Payton sighed, grabbing a wrench off a work table.

She gave Wheatley a firm tap on the top of his shell, and he came back to his senses.

"Okayokayokayokay, I'm back. Still a bit fuzzy here, but no matter. At least I'm back."

"As long as he stays here with you two, he's not safe."

"Woah sis, what are you trying to say?" asked Caleb.

"I'm saying that maybe Wheatley should stay with me for a bit. I think it's about time he had a break and stopped getting abused by you two."

"And be bored to death in your crusty apartment? No way!" Brax said, wrinkling his nose.

"Well maybe we should let him decide." Caleb suggested.

Everyone turned to Wheatley, who shrunk back from the sudden stares he was getting.

"Er, uh... I think- well I won't know for sure that it's a good choice until I actually try it. Sooo, I think I might go with her. Only for a little while though! Then I swear I'll come right back."

"So you're leaving with her?" Brax said, a little salty.

"Ah, yes. But it's only a temporary thing!"

Payton smirked at Brax's defeat. She expected him to speak against this.

"Fine. Go." Brax sighed. "I know when I'm beat. But tomorrow I'm coming to get him."

"Alright. I'll keep him safe, you have my word."

She placed Wheatley in the passenger seat, started the car, and drove off. Brax knew Caleb's sister was responsible, even though he didn't want to admit it. Still, he couldn't help but worry about the core.