"Congratulations on not dying this far along. I'm impressed. Most subjects don't make it this far. Especially those who are also morons."
Chell and Wheatley (mostly Chell because Wheatley did almost nothing) had made it through twenty chambers in one go. You couldn't tell he went through twenty tests by looking at Wheatley, but you definitely could looking at Chell. Various scratches, bruises, and some burns covered her skin, making her look like she'd just army crawled through hell and back. Chell forgot how much of a toll this place took on her body, being thrown around through portals and burned by lasers.
"You know what? I'm feeling a little generous. Why don't you go enjoy a break for a little while? Just stay where I can see you. We can't have anymore incidents. Meanwhile, I'm going to check up on preparations for your next few tests."
Chell was fine with a break, even if it meant she had to be watched the whole time. She closed her eyes and slumped against a wall next to the elevator, while Wheatley stood by and fidgeted nervously. He'd been a little on edge ever since he was reunited with Chell.
"Er, not to seem too impatient here but do we really have a plan? Because, it's starting to look like we don't, and that's... well it's- it's actually a bit alarming. So if we have a plan, I need to know what that is. Right about now. Any time now."
She opened her eyes to give him a side eyed glance, then closed them again.
"Oooh, I see. Now you're not gonna tell me, are you? I mean, I get that you don't like to talk, but maybe just this once? You know, so I have some sort of idea what's going on."
Chell continued to ignore him, because normally that worked. However, this time he was determined. He came closer to her and knelt down.
"Please?"
She pondered her choices for a moment. Should Chell really give up the one thing she had the freedom to withhold from Aperture? If it were any other AI in this facility who'd asked her, the answer obviously be a hard no. But this was Wheatley. Although he wasn't doing a good job of it, Chell had noticed he'd been trying his hardest to be by her side no matter what. She could tell that he wanted so badly to make up for what he'd done, yet she still hesitated. Oh fine. Chell thought. There's nobody else around anyway. Just to be sure of that claim, she glanced around the room. Of course, they were the only two present. She took a slow, controlled breath. Don't make me regret this, Wheatley.
He leaned in, eyes wide with excitement.
"Yeah, come on. OH! Say apple!"
Chell thought it was dumb, but shrugged and went on with it anyway.
"Apple."
Wheatley froze. He didn't expect her voice to be that soft. Then again, he didn't know what he expected.
"You said it! I knew it, I knew you could talk!"
Chell rolled her eyes and stood up.
"I knew I'd regret it."
She started walking towards the elevator when Wheatley stopped her.
"Wait luv! I didn't mean to say that! What I meant was that it's just a bit if a surprise to me. I mean, it's such a relief now that I can communicate with you and all."
"Yeah, and now I wish you couldn't." Chell shot back as they both stepped into the elevator.
Wheatley shut up and stared at the floor. Did she really mean that? If so he had a lot more work to do if he wanted her to trust him again.
Chell sighed and allowed her face to relax. She didn't mean to snap at him like that. She just liked it better when he couldn't read her expression through her words, because that's always how it had been.
"So ah, the plan?"
Chell nearly forgot to go over her plan with Wheatley. If he was gonna help, then she had to clue him in.
"Right. Remember the reactor core?"
Wheatley nodded.
"Yep. Powers nearly the entire facility. What about it?"
"Okay, to get there we need to either convince her to let us off the track and out of sight, or cause a diversion and escape. Once we do that, we go shut it down, thus, shutting her down."
"Sorry luv, but that might not work. Even if we manage to cut power to the reactor core there's still other power reserves scattered across Aperture."
"Saw that coming." Chell sighed. "How many?"
"Umm... one, two- four. Four others. Significantly smaller, but not too far apart. I'd say an equal distance."
"Alright, then in order to avoid being caught before we complete the mission, we find a way to shut them all down at the same time."
"Yes! Brilliant!" Wheatley laughed. "But just one small problem here- there's only two of us."
Wheatley was obviously right. How were they gonna shut all five reactors down at once without any help? Chell tried to wrack her brain for any ways she could trick GLaDOS into doing it for her, while Wheatley took on another thought process. What if they gathered allies? GLaDOS couldn't have stopped her android experiment with just him. Who else did she use it on? He tapped Chell's shoulder.
"Hey, I think I've got an idea. What if we team up with some others? Kind of like a special operation. I'm sure there's others around here who would just love to see the surface."
Chell didn't think it was too bad of an idea. The only problem was finding a way to access other potential contributes to the cause. If even one person slipped up, GLaDOS was sure to catch on. Since Chell saw no other reliable way out, she decided to go with Wheatley's plan. It was a risk she was willing to take if it meant freedom was waiting. She gave him a thumbs up and a warm smile, one that had never been directed at him before.
"Oh, you're sticking with it? You mean you actually like my plan? Hah, this is- that's brilliant! That's great luv!"
Her smile dimmed down to a smirk as she turned back toward the elevator doors.
"Thanks. Call me Chell."
