Payton backed out of the shed and honked the horn as her brother waved her and Wheatley goodbye.
"So how long is this journey really? Not to be a bother with the questions. Just curious."
"It's only ten minutes. Nothing much."
That was the only question Wheatley asked before he became distracted by the trees and buildings that whooshed by the window. Payton glanced over at him every now and then, wondering what he could possibly be thinking about. Despite being slightly unnerved by him, she felt a little sorry for Wheatley. He'd been through so much leading up to now and she had to show empathy in some way. Her act of hospitality should do just that. Payton felt that he'd be safer with her anyway. Even though Caleb and Brax seemed to get along fine with Wheatley, they were just too destructive. Especially Brax. In Payton's eyes, Brax was too rough for the core. They both had drastically different personalities and because of that it's a miracle they even formed the bond they have now. I think he'll like it better with me. Payton thought.
The car pulled to a stop in a small beaten parking lot.
"Welp, here it is."
Wheatley looked up at the old building. It had three floors and was made entirely of brick. By the door, it was labeled "Studio apt. 2A" with the year the building was built underneath, reading "1997".
"I know it's not pretty, but the inside is better." Payton said, turning to Wheatley. "Now how am I gonna get you inside?"
She took a few minutes to think up a plan, then went to the back of her car and came back with a tattered blanket. Wheatley stared at it, then at Payton.
"Yeah sorry. Not gonna fly. I know I can't actually breathe but I still hate being smothered. Can't stand it."
Payton threw her hands up in the air.
"Come on, it's all I've got! Unless you have a better idea."
"Nope. Not really. Unless you count staying here. I'll stay here all day. It's great here in the car."
"Not a chance dude. I've got things to do and none of them are in the car." she said, shaking her head.
Payton grinned and held up the blanket.
"You're coming with me bud."
It was an exhausting scuffle for Wheatley, but on Payton's end it didn't take much at all. She had to fight him verbally and then fight with the stairs, but that was all the effort she had to put into it. She kicked the door open to her apartment, then set him down on the couch. The stubborn core glared at her with resentment, but it wasn't very intimidating. Payton knelt down and met him at eye level, smirked, and gave him a pat.
"See now was that so bad?"
"Yes. It was. Very bad." he grumbled.
She stood up and walked off.
"I've gotta make dinner. I'll put something on TV here in a sec."
Wheatley stared at his reflection in the blank screen in front of him. He knew what television was, since they had one in every break room in Aperture. For some reason humans found them necessary. He never actually got to watch TV before because there weren't any rails in the break rooms. Rails. The thought of the rails he used to travel on made him appreciate the world he lives in now. With his human friends around, he no longer depends on a path that was planned for him. He can make choices now. Now that he thought about it, he didn't only have the freedom to go where he wished, but to speak his mind. In Aperture that wasn't much of the case. He would often hold back certain thoughts in fear that she would be listening. His memory of her made Wheatley shudder.
Knock knock knock!
Payton whipped around to face the front door. She wasn't expecting company.
"Who is it?" she yelled.
"Payton? It's Tay! I got the day off so we can chill if you want!"
Payton's eyes widened.
"Who's Tay? If you don't mind me asking who this person is because I'm not uh, forcing you."
"Who was that? Do you have someone else over?"
"It's nobody Taytay! Just the TV!"
"But the TV isn't-"
Payton cut Wheatley off by wrapping him in the blanket again and stuffing him into a cabinet underneath the TV. She opened the door and let Tay into her apartment. They shared a hug and Payton gave a nervous smile.
"I missed you! When I came over this morning to bring you breakfast you were gone. You never disappear just like that."
Payton brought Tay to the couch where they sat down.
"Sorry, I had some things to take care of at my parents' place."
Tay scooted closer to Payton.
"Well now that you're back, what do you say to a movie and some popcorn?"
"Sounds like you just want to get into my mind tonight." Payton giggled.
"How did you know?"
"I'm onto your little tricks, miss."
The two sat for nearly thirty more minutes, running their hands through each other's hair and talking about their day. Payton was careful not to give anything away regarding Wheatley, who was beginning to get fed up with waiting in a small cabinet space for this lady to leave. She couldn't just barge in uninvited. What made her so important that Payton shoved him into a cabinet and forgot about him at the sound of her voice? He rolled closer to the cabinet door to investigate, not that it did him much good.
"So what movie did you have in mind?" Payton asked.
"Oh I don't know. Some mystery here, a bit of drama there. Maybe some romance."
"We both know you live for the drama specifically."
"Only the finest."
Thud. Wheatley had leaned too much against the cabinet door, causing it to swing open and dump him onto the floor. Tay clutched Payton and screamed. Payton face palmed. Wheatley escaped the blanket as he rolled away from the cabinet, stopping halfway between the TV and the couch. He caught sight of Tay.
"Umm, Hallo!" he chuckled sheepishly.
"Payton! What the hell is that?" Tay said, pointing at Wheatley.
"I guess the cat's outta the bag. Great work Wheatley."
"Thank you." he said, completely missing the sarcasm in Payton's voice.
She stood up and grabbed him off the floor. Tay froze on the couch, unsure whether to run or call someone. Maybe both?
"Tay, this is Wheatley the... british... sphere thing."
"Again, pleasure to meet you. Love humans so this is great. Just having a splendid time."
"Wheatley, this is my girlfriend Tay. Please stop freaking her out."
"Right. Sorry. Apologize for that dearly."
Wheatley took a moment, then it registered.
"Wait, girlfriend? Isn't that an endearing term between human males and females?"
Payton glared down at him.
"What are you trying to say? Cause if you've got a problem with it then-"
"No! No no! Not at all! No problems! Homosexuality between humans is just rare for me that's all! Please don't hit me with something."
Payton smiled at the core's desperate attempt to save himself from her wrath. At least he's more accepting than most people. she thought, setting him down on the couch.
Tay started to move away from him when Payton stopped her.
"It's fine. He's just jumpy. He doesn't mean any harm."
"Yes exactly. I mean absolutely no harm at all. One hundred percent safe. No need to worry about me here."
"You're not helping your case bud."
"So, hold up. You're from the Aperture facility? I thought that place was long gone." said Tay.
"Funny story- It's not actually. See, it's run by her. She's a nasty, lunatic supercomputer. Proper maniac. It's a shame to see that place controlled by someone so crazy. At least it's not falling apart anymore. I guess that's one thing it's got going, isn't it?"
"Wow," she said, impressed. "What was it like there?"
"A bit boring really. Nothing happened after she got overthrown and shut off. Up until I got help from a lady in the relaxation centre and we accidentally woke the madwoman up. She wasn't too thrilled to see us, that's for sure."
Tay had sat there asking the core fifty million questions through the afternoon. She learned the story of Wheatley's perilous journey through the facility as he traveled alongside his test subject friend. After telling his story a few different times now, he didn't mind running through it again. Tay seemed to be listening intently to every word. To have anyone listen to him was a godsend for Wheatley. This was yet another thing about the surface that convinced him he'll never miss Aperture.
"Alright you two, time for bed." said Payton, as if she were talking to little kids.
"Awww, I don't wanna go back to my apartment! Can I stay with you tonight?" asked Tay.
Payton smiled and put her hands on her hips.
"Taytay, you can't be here every night. Caleb's friend is gonna drop by in the morning and I don't think I wanna deal with his certain attitude when he's around you."
Payton leaned over the back of the couch and gave Tay a light kiss on the cheek, then looked down at Wheatley.
"And no you can't take Wheatley with you."
"But he's so cute!"
"Um, I'm sorry, cute? Did you just- is that what you think?" Wheatley stammered.
Tay gave him a friendly pat and got up to leave.
"Well what else could you be?" she chuckled.
Wheatley paused. Well at least she didn't call me a moron. he thought, as she shut the door behind her. Payton sighed.
"What a long day. You gonna be fine on the couch?"
"It's fine. I'm alright anywhere really. Don't have to worry about me."
"Good." she said, yawning. "I'm going to bed."
"Okay ah... goodnight." Wheatley called after her.
Payton flipped a switch on the wall on her way to bed and the living room went dark, leaving Wheatley alone with his thoughts. He started at the reflection of the glow of his optic, bouncing off the TV and coating the room in a soft, dark blue light. He'd gotten used to the dark ever since he started living in Caleb's shed. He found a sort of quiet solitude in it. However there was once a time when he was afraid of it, although he wasn't exactly sure why. He thought back to the last time he was caught in a dark place, afraid. He was with his human friend. He had just helped her escape the testing track and was leading her down a narrow catwalk when the lights went out. She had shut them off in an attempt to stop the rouge test subject and the core. Wheatley, however, had other plans. He wasn't about to let the dark stop him and his friend from getting out of there, and in a desperate act of bravery (or it could've been stupidity since he was trying his luck) had switched on his flashlight. The same one that the scientists had told him he would die if he used. Obviously, they lied.
Looking back, there were a lot of things they lied to Wheatley about. Why they would do that, he wasn't sure. Maybe they just didn't want to give him too much freedom to use certain equipment. After all, they made that same mistake with GLaDOS. It seemed reasonable to make sure not to screw up the same way twice.
Wheatley shuddered at the thought of her. He spent his whole life wondering how she was so cruel. After he was connected to the mainframe and became corrupted, he no longer needed to ask that question.
Sure, he had plenty of time to reflect and feel guilty afterwards when he was in space, but no matter how much reflecting he did Wheatley still felt like a major jerk. He had never been so guilty before, and wasn't quite sure how to handle it. Ever since that day, he told himself that if he ever saw her again (which he knew was highly unlikely) he would apologize deeply and try any way he could to make it up. He could only hope that it would be enough. Maybe, just maybe, there was a small chance that she might have mercy on him.