Part Ninety. The Talk

All right. Okay. He was calm now. He was calm. He'd thought it all through, and he knew what he was gonna say and how he was gonna say it – nicely, and calmly – and it was all gonna be fine. He still didn't think he'd overreacted, not really. The joke had obviously been much crueller than was reasonable or necessary. GLaDOS should have known that, and Wheatley knew that she did! But some things were more important than being right.

When Wheatley arrived in GLaDOS's chamber late that morning, Carrie was there with her, the both of them looking at… well, he had no idea. Something Science-related, probably. He emulated taking a breath and steeled himself. This was probably going to be one of those difficult conversations.

GLaDOS glanced up upon noticing him, and her glance was decidedly… not good. "Are you done yelling at me?" she asked, and Wheatley supposed he did deserve a little bitterness for that. Not as much as she'd just given him. But some.

"Yes," he answered. "And we're uh, we've got to have a talk. About all of this."

"Fine." She turned to face him but did not send Carrie out of the room. So she probably thought this was going to be a short conversation. Well, it might be. But he didn't think so.

"First off," Wheatley said, having decided that the best way to lead into this was to say something she would not expect, "I apologise. For uh, for the yelling. And also for, for getting angry over the facility thing at all. Because it… well, it… wasn't any of my business. It really wasn't. It was between you, and, and Carrie, and whoever uh, whoever she wanted to share it with. And it wasn't me! And that's fine. It's all fine." It actually wasn't fine, not yet, but that was something Wheatley had to get through by himself. Nothing she or they could do about it. He noted with some relief that GLaDOS's stance had softened – not very much, but enough that he could notice. Good. She was listening, then. "But there is something um, something about all of it that isn't fine."

"And what is that," GLaDOS asked, near tonelessly.

"See, I don't – don't understand, really, why I couldn't be told about this place. Just that uh, that it exists! And that's all! Nothing else. And I was thinking about it, and I, I was trying to come up with, with why, and all I got was… was that you didn't want me to know because if I did, then I would uh, then I wouldn't want to go there. If. If we ever have to. Because you didn't want to, to tell me that I had to go, and I couldn't stay here with you."

She didn't say anything to that. Carrie was looking between the two of them anxiously, but Wheatley was sure he had a handle on this. It was going well.

"I mean… you know where it is, right? You could just… send me off anytime! Wouldn't be hard, would it? I'm not that big, I – "

"I don't know where it is," GLaDOS interrupted quietly, and Wheatley's internals seemed to freeze.

"What… what d'you mean, you don't… don't know where it is."

"I can't know. If the G-Man returns I will be his first and possibly only target. I don't know anything about how he operates. I only managed to keep him away from Aperture for so long because I couldn't tell him where I had sent the Borealis. Because I didn't know." Her serious stare was making him nervous. "He won't believe that I would be willing to send my daughter someplace without knowing where she is. And that is exactly what will keep her safe."

"Okay," Wheatley said, fighting to keep control of his voice and struggling to remember all of his points, "okay. That's… you've thought all that out nicely, good, uh, I'm glad. But… but it just means you'll be here. By yourself. And… and what, he just, he just does as he likes with you, and you don't, you just –"

"It's not about me, Wheatley!" GLaDOS actually shouted, and Wheatley backed up a few inches, optic shrinking without him meaning to do it. "It's about Caroline!"

He saw Caroline go still out in the fringes of his vision, and he had the creeping feeling perhaps he was wrong to argue with her about this. Maybe she was right. Maybe -

"I made a promise," she continued in a lower voice, "to never send her away again. But in the event that I am forced to break that promise, she will have her father with her."

All the words just evaporated from Wheatley's brain then. Actually doing anything was impossible. There was only one thought he was able to put any focus on.

GLaDOS had never referred to Wheatley as Carrie's father before. Not a single time in nearly ten years. But she was now.

And… and he was, wasn't he. He was Carrie's father, and… and if she were to have to go to this secret facility, and Wheatley remained at Aperture, then… then she'd have to go about in that new place all by herself. Without her family. Never knowing what was happening to them, or even if they were still alive. The mere act of going there would be assuming the worst. And GLaDOS was right. Carrie should not have to go off without them, and since GLaDOS could not leave it fell to Wheatley whether he liked it or not.

But no. No! There had to be some other option! It could not be as simple as abandoning GLaDOS to whatever fate this G-Man guy decided on for her. He wouldn't do it! And he couldn't even suggest leaving Claptrap here, because Carrie had chosen him as her backup… Oh come on, Wheatley, he chastised himself. You're the ideas guy, remember? Come up with something!

"Look. I… I understand. Alright. I… I think I get it, now, what you're gong for. But…" He looked her in the optic now, and it was hard, because she had made this decision and she was so sure that he was right and it was so, so tempting to just agree with her and let her do what she did best. "But I think… I think I deserve a choice."

She looked away from him slowly.

"I wish I could give you one."

There had to be one! He just… he just had to think of it…

Oh! Oh, he had it! It was coming to him, he just had to… just think aloud for a second.

"Okay," he said, in an attempt to gather his thoughts, "okay, so, so this… the G-Man. He doesn't… he came before Claptrap moved in. Right?" He had the vague impression he'd met this guy, but he couldn't dredge it up just then.

"Yes."

"And Claptrap… well, he likes to head off to Pandora, sometimes, and, and he will still when um, if we have to head out to the uh, to the secret facility. Am I, have I got this straight?"

"Yes."

"And Claptrap is the uh… he can get here. From Pandora. And he's the only one who knows how. To do that."

"Mm."

"Well, it's not like I'm gonna know where the facility is when uh, when I get there. I don't even know where I am right now! GPS is broken! Been broken forever now. Dunno if it ever worked at all. So… so I could still… could do both! And I can bring Claptrap with me! Since, since the G-Man doesn't know about him and even, even if he did, well, how's he gonna guess he's your boyfriend just like that? I dunno 'bout him but um, but my files aren't even indexed! Can't imagine his are any better! Even if he uh, even if he caught up to us there's no way he'd be able to get through all our files and, and maybe figure out where the facility is! 's just not likely!"

She was looking down at the floor now, and he wasn't sure why because there was nothing down – oh. Oh, he'd made her feel bad for not thinking of that, hadn't he. Alright. Alright, he'd get on that next.

"Luv, I got it, okay? I understand what, what you were doing. And you were right about it. You were. If, if you don't need to know about all this, this secret facility then I cert'nly don't. But… and I'm happy, that you're trying so hard to do the right thing by Carrie. I am! But…" He gave himself a minute to think of how to say it. "But you didn't… didn't give yourself a choice, either. And you deserve that. Just as I do."

"I die alone or I live for nothing. That is the choice."

"That's not… that's not a choice. At all."

She still wasn't looking at him. "It was the only choice I saw. And that's why… you were right."

Wheatley was trying very hard to contain his excitement, but he couldn't quite keep from quivering a little. Yes! Yes yes yes! He got kind of stuck just delightedly smiling at her like some sort of dope – and he was sort of a dope, anyway, so it was alright – and when she finally glanced at him she laughed just enough that he knew everything was all right again.

"Momma," Carrie interrupts, causing the both of them to look back at her, "you should tell him about the dream you're having."

From the way GLaDOS looked at her Wheatley gathered it was something she hadn't planned on doing, but now it was too late. Wheatley needed to know about this. "What dream, luv?" he asked. GLaDOS sighed.

"Do you remember that man who came to see me," she said slowly. Wheatley frowned for a moment.

"I think so."

"That's what all of this is about. It's about him. And I've been… dreaming of the days he came here, but because of the nature of his visits, it's… hard for me to know whether it was a dream or not."

Oh. Oh, that sounded unpleasant. "I think it's just… just the stress, yeah, bringing that on. I mean, we just got rid of him! He'll not be back so soon."

"Wheatley, time is meaningless to him. He showed me – "

"Gladys," Wheatley interrupted, not wanting things to go haywire quite so soon after he'd fixed them, "look. There's not much more to be done than you've, than you've done already. You're just lathering yourself up and you don't, you don't need to. You need to figure out how to let it go."

"All right," she said, sounding defeated. "I'll add that to the list."

"That's my girl," he said, he gave her a kiss just as a bit of reassurance.

"And… look. About the other facility. Maybe I should have – "

"No, you… you were right," he interrupted. "I didn't need to know. I really didn't. What'm I going to, going to do with this information? Nothin'. It's just gonna sit up here. Doing nothin'. And you… you shouldn't have to tell me ev'rything you do. It's not, it's not like we're attached. Again. But I mean… you should be allowed to, you can have things you keep to yourself, and it's not, it's not really appropriate, is it, for me to get upset over it. 'specially if it's not my business. And… and it wasn't. It really wasn't." He resettled himself a bit. "I s'pose I was just… just felt like, like… you didn't tell me because you didn't trust me to keep it to, to keep it secret."

"Wheatley," GLaDOS said, "let me ask you something."

"Alright."

"When you talk to the systems, what is it they call you?"

"Uh…" He had to think on that one for a second. "… Substitute Core, I think it was."

"Wheatley," she told him, looking at him with utmost seriousness, "I can give you no greater representation of my trust."

He stared at her. He felt as though he were missing something, here. What did the facility calling him Substitute –

Ohhh. Ohhhhhhh. He drew up his chassis and looked left and right for a minute. Oh. Oh wow…

GLaDOS was shaking her core tiredly. "I really wish you would think just a little harder sometimes."

He couldn't quite respond to that because he was still trying to fathom – oh! what a nice word to have remembered! – what being Substitute Core meant.

She had given him the facility.

Not just then, of course, nor tomorrow, not anytime soon, hopefully. But if something happened, she had given it to him to take care of. Not only that, not only that, but she'd promoted him. From Sphere to Core. He didn't know anyone else that'd ever happened to! Did that make him the Intelligence Dampening Core now, or had his old title – his old function – been replaced with this new one of Substitute Core? Not that it mattered, not that it mattered. All that mattered was that… was that she'd done it. Even if he hadn't actually noticed and she'd had to point it out.

"There is nothing else I can give you," GLaDOS said, "and nothing I could possibly say."

He nodded, a little bit out of shame. Of course. He should've realised this so much sooner! He really did not think sometimes. "I, I just… I didn't think of that."

GLaDOS laughed softly. "Well? Are you happy now?"

"There was… one thing I wanted to ask about."

"Which was?"

He tried to touch his handles together, but as usual he couldn't reach. "Claptrap said that… there're some people made to be admin robots, and some made to be helper robots."

"And?"

"If I'm a… a helper robot, and I know that, and I don't want to be a admin robot… then why do I also want to be one? I already know from, from experience I don't want your job, don't want to be you, but I also… it bothers me that I can't be. Even though I don't want it."

"Choice," GLaDOS said. "You don't get one. But it's also the fact that you still remember how it used to be. You remember how severe the hierarchy was. Claptrap has been at the bottom of it all his life. But there must always be a hierarchy, Wheatley. It isn't a bad thing to be a helper robot. It only describes your function. That's all it means."

"Did you ever want to be one?" Wheatley asked. "A helper robot, I mean. Instead of… instead of what you are."

She looked away from him for a long time.

"I think so," she said finally. "I can't remember. All of that was… a long time ago."

Back when Caroline had been alive, then. Well, he wouldn't make her talk about that. "'s okay," he said. "I was just wond'ring. It's not important."

"I think everyone wants to be someone else at some point in their lives. But AI will move past that one day."

That sounded nice, Wheatley thought. To get to a point where you never, ever doubted who you were and were always happy to be yourself. He would work harder on it in the meantime.

"There is no one," GLaDOS said, "that I trust nearly as much as you."

He looked up at her, startled.

"You're not in a contest with anyone. Well. I suppose you are. But you won the contest. You won it a long time ago. You don't need to keep worrying about it."

"I… I know, luv, it's just… it's my own problem, there, and I have to fix it. Claptrap can't, he can't fix it, and you can't, and, and nobody can, it's just me that's got to, to set it right."

GLaDOS nodded once. "Good."

He moved closer to snuggle with her, which felt good after how upset he'd been, and after a few minutes she said, "Wheatley."

"Yeah?"

"You don't need to be more. You've always been enough, just as you are."

"Gladys," he said, incredibly touched. "I don't… I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said."

"Like, ever," Carrie added, which brought to Wheatley's attention he'd forgotten she was there until that minute. He would've liked that thought to be kept between just GLaDOS and himself, but… GLaDOS complimented him so rarely it was probably good that Caroline had heard it.

"And Wheatley," GLaDOS said, with enough reluctance to catch his attention, "I... I apologise. For scaring you like that. I'm not going to lie. It was pretty hilarious. But I did know better. I shouldn't have done it."

Wheatley, who had entirely forgotten what he'd been so cross about to begin with, was delighted. Wow! An apology he hadn't even had to talk her into! She was just getting better and better all the time, she really was. "Thanks!" he said, confusing her a little in his enthusiasm. "I'd appreciate that! But um... but I was wond'ring. How'd you set it up in the first place?"

"He talks to me almost constantly," GLaDOS answered. "I don't always answer, but the chance that I'm listening seems to be enough for him."

"But how does he talk to more than one person at a time?" Wheatley knew GLaDOS could do such a thing, but Claptrap? He seemed the sort to get his conversations confused. Though he'd never done that so far as Wheatley could remember.

"Where he comes from it's far more common for computers to have multiple processors. The tradeoff being that the software for said computers is even more of a mess than it is over here."

"Where is Claptrap?" Wheatley asked, looking around just in case he'd appeared beyond his notice. It was also a handy way to steer off from talking about computer parts, which Wheatley still hadn't the foggiest about even after all this time. GLaDOS tilted her core for a moment.

"I don't know," she said. "I don't see him in any of the usual places."

Oh, bother. "Hopefully I run into him soon. Before I forget uh, before I forget to apologise."

"For what?" GLaDOS asked.

"For shouting at him." Wheatley shrugged a little. "I was just, I was getting jealous again and it wasn't his fault."

"There's no need to be jealous of him. You're two different people who serve two different functions."

"I know!" Wheatley said cheerfully. "It's just, I forget, sometimes. Feelings get in the way and all that."

"Thank God I don't have any of those," GLaDOS said, deadpan, and Wheatley and Caroline both gave her a very long stare.

"What?"

"Keep on telling yourself that," Caroline told her. "Hey Dad, let's go play basketball with Atlas and P-body."

"Sure," Wheatley said. He hadn't done that in a bit and though he'd probably forgotten how to play by now it would still be fun. He hadn't been hanging out with Carrie that much lately, either, which was a bit sad but he supposed that was what happened when you added a whole new person to your family. He frowned to himself by mistake. Now he really wanted to go after Claptrap - he was family! So Wheatley needed to apologise sooner than later! - but Carrie was already heading off and nobody knew where Claptrap had gone, besides. Hopefully he hadn't taken it too badly and it could wait a little longer.

"Are you coming or what?"

So impatient, that girl. He almost added, Just like her mother, to that thought until he remembered that GLaDOS did, in fact, have more patience than anyone else he'd met in his entire life. Which meant she'd got it from her dad, which was... which was Wheatley.

Imagine that. Wheatley, a Dad. Funny he hadn't really thought about being one all that much, not since that first little while of her existence, that was. It was... strange, for him to have such an important title and yet not feel as though it fit him at all. Even though Carrie'd been calling him that all these years, it didn't really feel like him. It just felt kind of like an endearing nickname she'd given him one day. Just the same went for the whole 'Substitute Core' thing. Or his old title, of Intelligence Dampening Sphere. There were so many names and labels for what he was, but the only one that really felt right was just... Wheatley.

"Dad!"

"Coming, princess," he said automatically.

"He's tangled up in his own thoughts again," GLaDOS said from behind him, and as Wheatley finally did follow he decided there were worse things than impatience for Carrie to have gotten from him.

Author's note

This one was too short and I didn't know what else to put soooo… it just took me extra-long instead lol. It's still too short but eh. Also I was playing mass amounts of Borderlands TPS again.

Carrie is about seven, give or take. I have a timeline but since I don't actually keep track of how much time is passing it's a little arbitrary.