She stood at the edge of the platform, poised to jump nearly twenty feet into the portal below. She gathered her breath, muscles tensed, and then...
"GAH! Sorry, I just looked down again. My bad."
Chell face palmed for the fiftieth time in the span of four tests. She couldn't keep doing this with him. Between reminding him to step back while she was busy and keeping Space from wandering off, Chell's migraine from earlier was starting to make its reappearance. She whipped around and pointed to the corner, in which she'd instructed him to stay in just a few minutes ago. Wheatley looked down at the floor.
"Ah, I'm sorry luv. Won't happen again. I swear this time, it'll never- Oi!"
He leapt forward and grabbed Space, who was leaning dangerously close to the edge of the platform.
"Stay away from there! Let the lady work."
Wheatley placed him in the corner and turned back to Chell.
"As I was saying, it'll never happen- oh, you're already over there."
Chell had already launched herself across the room to where the exit was opened. She waved pointed into the portal at the bottom of the pit and waved Wheatley over. He looked down and backed away slowly.
"Er, I don't know luv. It looks a little bit too high up for my taste."
She let out a long sigh and crossed her arms. We don't have time for this.
"Oh alright, fine! What if I miss though? I'll be smashed to bits down there! Then what?"
Chell shrugged. She honestly didn't know what would happen after that (if it ever did occur) but she didn't want him to worry about it too much.
"Okay, here we go then. Just gonna jump into that... really far away portal. Seriously, why is it that far down?"
He stood there fidgeting nervously with the upper handle of his old shell before he called over to Space.
"Hey, do you wanna give it a go first? I mean, no rush. Take your time here. After all it is a bit terrifying. Anyway, move along so we can-"
"YEAAHHH!!!"
Space was far more enthusiastic about launching himself through portals than Wheatley was. He wasted no time at all. He bounced up to the edge and dove right through, landing safely next to Chell on the other side. Wheatley watched, amazed at how athletic the little android was. If Space could do it, then how hard could it be? Wheatley shuffled to the edge. It took all the courage he had to convince himself to get it over with.
"Okay... here I go. I'm going. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna uh, jump I guess."
Don't die, don't die, don't die, don't die.
Wheatley stood up straight, clutched his old shell tightly, and stepped off the platform. He screamed as he was sent into free fall. He couldn't tell which way was up, and which was down. Wheatley only knew that he was being flung through the air at an alarmingly high speed.
Chell watched him fly too far and slam against the wall behind her. Wheatley hit the ground in a limp, blue and grey pile. She rushed over, followed closely by Space. Chell shook him violently in hopes he didn't knock himself offline.
"ughhhh... man alive."
"Space friend? How was space? Did you like it?"
"Nope. Not in the slightest. I'm never doing that again."
He attempted to stand, but his body twitched and his legs gave out beneath him, causing him to collapse back onto the floor.
"Ah, just perfect. One of the bloody batteries got knocked out of place. You know, they really don't build things to last anymore, do they?"
Please tell me you're still gonna be alive for the mission. Chell thought as she looked him over. He hit the wall pretty hard, but all
the damage was internal. The only external signs of the fall were some slight scratches, and a tired expression. His eyes weren't their usual bright blue. They were dimmer, and less alive. Wheatley wasn't kidding about being damaged, but what was she supposed to do? If they were gonna complete their mission, she couldn't carry him around the whole time.
Chell lifted his arm over her shoulder and gave him a worried look. Are you gonna be okay for this?
Wheatley gave a tired smile.
"I'll be fine luv. Just a bit uh..."
It took him several seconds of staring at the floor before finishing his sentence.
"... low on energy. Just don't let me power down, alright?"
Chell nodded and lifted him to his feet. Space handed Wheatley his sphere, and it hung inches off the ground from his arm. Now how was she gonna complete the tests? She would get Space to help but he wasn't the best at following multiple directions at once. Plus, Wheatley was heavy. Wouldn't GLaDOS fix him like she did last time? Chell looked hopefully at the camera above her.
"Don't expect me to help. I'm far to preoccupied at the moment to care about the little idiot. You got a free pass with the turrets, but that was it. Also, I enjoy watching him suffer."
She should've know GLaDOS would say something like that. Space stepped up and challenged the camera.
"Fix him. Your test broke him. It's your fault space friend is hurt."
"I can make you go away too." she hissed.
A panel shifted behind the wall, revealing a dark hallway.
"My patience with you is running dangerously low. Deal with it yourself."
Space crossed his arms and pouted. Chell glared back at the camera. Fine. Maybe I will. She marched through the gap in the wall, leaving the testing track behind. Chell thought about how this would effect their plan, but after a while she decided that it really didn't. In fact, they needed to escape the testing track anyway, so GLaDOS basically just handed Chell the very chance she needed. However, the only setback here was Wheatley's condition. Chell had no idea how she would fix him. Yes, he said a battery might've been knocked loose, but what else? If he could barely even stand, then something else had to be wrong.
"ughhh, luv? I don't mean to be a bother, but maybe hurry up a bit?"
Chell picked up the pace. She didn't mind speeding up if it meant saving a minute or two. It would take enough time away figuring out how the hell she was gonna get him open, without killing him. Chell would've completely missed the room off to her side if Space hadn't pointed it out.
"Right! To the right, space lady."
She stopped and entered the room. Everything was white, just as it had been in the medical centre. Chell couldn't believe it was that close to the testing track, but then again, this whole place was practically organized backwards. She searched the room for a place to set Wheatley, but since it was small, she settled for propping him up against a wall and lowering him to the floor. Space crawled up next to him, making sure Wheatley stayed awake.
"Space friend, why do you carry old space friend everywhere? Does it still work?" he said, placing a hand on the sphere in Wheatley's lap.
"Huh? No buddy, it doesn't work."
"Why do you have it?"
Wheatley hesitated a moment. His thoughts were painfully slow, dragging on in a tired circle through his mind. Is this what lag felt like? He'd watched less developed cores experience running low on power, but he never had it happen to him. He constantly had a flow of energy run throughout his systems, every hour of the day, and all the way through the night. It was what allowed him and Space to stay alive up there for so long.
"I guess it's for uh, sentimental reasons. Parting with yourself is... difficult. Even that's a bit of an understatement."
"But it's not you." Space pointed out.
He brought a hand up to Wheatley's chest.
"That's you. Is that you, space friend?"
Wheatley thought the answer to this question was obvious. He pushed Space's hand away and scoffed.
"Well of course it's me. Who else would it be? It's Wheatley."
He looked down at the cracked lens of his old optic. The reflection of a frizzy-haired android stared back at him, his eyes shining through his glasses with what little light they had left. Yep. That's Wheatley, isn't it?
Chell shooed Space away and he went to watch her from a chair in the corner. She looked around to make sure there weren't any cameras watching. Chell didn't want her to hold Wheatley's lifer over her head if she failed. Once she was absolutely sure the room was secure, she set the old Wheatley aside and leaned in.
"Okay, how am I supposed to do this?"
Wheatley was silent for a moment as he tried to dig through various files for the answer.
"Alright, so be careful here. Uh, of course you're gonna have to open a little panel on the front. Find a screwdriver, that should do it."
Chell searched the cabinets until she found one old, rusty flathead screwdriver. She'd have to make do. She reached towards Wheatley, then hesitated.
"What? Why- why are you looking at me like that?"
"Um, your shirt?" she mumbled.
"What about it? It's fine! You know how to take it off, just do it!"
"Okay! Shout at me again, and watch what I do with this flathead."
Wheatley shut up as she brushed aside his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a solid black frame, and a white panel in the center of his chest. She took a deep breath and started to work on freeing the four screws that held it in place. They each came loose with no resistance and she set them carefully on the counter.
"AGH! Oh god..."
Wheatley flinched at the sight of his inner workings, as they whirred busily, each piece doing its job to keep him alive.
"Sorry luv. Aghhhh, just get it over with."
He lifted his head and shut his eyes tightly, trying desperately to clear the image from his head.
"Now what?" Chell asked.
"A glowy core thing, in the middle, behind a few wires. It's right there. Pull it out. Do it before I have a panic attack!"
Chell reached in and yanked the small blue sphere up out of its slot.
"NOT TOO HARD! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL-"
Wheatley's shouting was cut off abruptly by a few sparks, and a light blue flash. Chell shielded her face with her arm. When she lowered her arm again she found Wheatley out cold, the whirring of his systems was starting to go quiet. Chell frantically shoved the core back into place, and the whirring started up again. He lifted his head and gave a small groan. Chell gasped.
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"
Wheatley attempted to speak, but gave up when nothing came to him.
"Crap! Okay, just hold on. I'll fix it, you hear? Stay calm for second."
Chell searched for way to get him talking again. She reached above the core and found a few loose wires.
"Heads up, this might hurt a little."
She pressed them back into place and a high-pitched screech came and went, shortly before he made a simulated gasp for air.
"AH! I swear you're trying to kill me! Stop that!"
Chell ignored him and moved on.
"You're welcome. Now what do I do?"
"Uhhh, the core again. CAREFULLY! Be careful this time, you violent woman."
"Got it."
Wheatley could just barely feel her warm hands slowly lift the power source from its slot. He wanted to shut his eyes again, but something about the whole thing captured his attention, and struck a bit of nervousness. He knew the whole reason she was doing this procedure was so he could be well again, but somewhere in his mind there were warning bells that screamed 'she's going to brutally murder you and leave you here for what you did to her' . It took all his strength to hold back from thrashing around and pushing her away. He had to force those warnings into the very corner of his thoughts, and place every ounce of trust into Chell's hands. Literally. She was holding his bloody heart right before him. Wheatley was entirely at her mercy.
Chell opened the core and set the cover delicately on the counter with the screws. She could easily read the absolute horror on Wheatley's face as she held his main power supply. Chell shook her head and focused on the task at hand. One of the two large batteries had indeed been knocked out of place. These two batteries couldn't be the only ones. There were more scattered throughout his tall, thin frame, but this one was what caused all that trouble. She lifted a hand to the black cube to press it back into place, but pulled back when she felt a small shock.
"I didn't even touch it yet!"
She glared at Wheatley.
"Sorry, my fault luv."
"Calm down." she instructed. "Otherwise we'll never be done with this."
"I'm trying! I can't control it. It's a constant flow of electricity. Never stops. It's why I don't have to recharge."
Chell sighed.
"Then you need to power off so I don't get fried trying to fix it."
"What?!"
She raised an eyebrow and he gave up. There wasn't any other way. Now he was really placing all his trust in her.
"Fine. You get five minutes." me muttered.
Chell watched as he closed his eyes and went limp. The glow of his core dimmed until it was no longer blue, but black. No more electric currents, no more problems. Chell pressed the battery and it slid neatly into its slot with a light click! Finally, it was done. Wheatley's face was much more relaxed while in a neutral state. She smiled and started reassembling him, humming to herself as she worked.