It was a little after noon by the time they headed out in Spencer's old pickup truck. Wheatley couldn't stop marveling over the fact that he was riding in a vehicle. It felt so odd to be sitting and moving forward so quickly. Chell seemed very amused by Wheatley's child-like wonder.
"Don't fall out the window, Wheatley," she teased.
Wheatley was sticking his head out the window and smiling as the wind blew his hair back. At an attempt to freak him out, Spencer sped up until he was almost pushing seventy miles per hour. This almost didn't seem to faze Wheatley, though. He felt his human heart beat faster with the thrill of the speed.
"We should ride in the truck bed on the way back," Chell said. "That's even more fun."
"Truck bed?" Wheatley asked, looking back at the flat end of the vehicle that was stuffed with boxes. "You count that as a bed? The beds in the Relaxation Chambers are softer! You humans don't actually sleep in there, do you?"
Chell and Spencer laughed.
"Of course not," Spencer said. "That part of the truck is just called a truck bed. Though I suppose if you really wanted to, you could lay a mattress back there and camp out."
"You humans are so odd," Wheatley said. "Why would you ever want to sleep outside?"
"'You humans'?" Chell repeated. "You can't say that anymore. You're a human, too."
"But I'm different," Wheatley said. "I'm new. In a way, I'm superior."
Spencer scoffed. "Are you saying that babies are superior to adults?" he asked. "Babies are new humans, too, you know."
"That's not the same," Wheatley claimed. "I used to be an artificial intelligent machine. That makes me wiser."
Chell rolled her eyes but she couldn't stop smiling.
"How much longer until we get there?" Wheatley asked. "As fun as this is, I'm getting a little restless."
"Well, this town takes about forty-five minutes to drive to," Spencer said. "I'd say we still have ten more minutes until we're there."
"I think I'm getting thirsty, too" Wheatley said. "Did you bring water?"
Spencer gave him a funny look. "Yeah," he said. "There's a bottle right in the cup holder. I pointed it out earlier, remember?"
"Cup holder?" Wheatley looked around the cab of the truck and spotted a bottle of water being held next to the ashtray. "That's a brilliant invention. You don't even need to hold your drinks. Do you have that for food, too?"
"No," Spencer said. "We usually don't eat in the car unless it's fast food. In that case, we keep it in paper bags."
"That's not nearly as clever."
Spencer shrugged.
Wheatley took the water bottle and fumbled with the cap. He couldn't get it off for the life of him. It was actually a bit pathetic to watch. Chell took the water bottle from him and unscrewed the cap.
"I'm not used to having hands yet," he claimed. "I'm still getting the hang of it."
"I understand," Chell said. She handed the bottle back to him and Wheatley's clumsy hand brushed against hers. She was surprised by the little shock she felt in her chest from this contact. Embarrassed, she folded her hands in her lap and kept her eyes forward as Wheatley chugged down the water.
"Hey, don't drink it all," Spencer said. "We need that for the trip back, too."
"Can't we just refill it at the next town?" Wheatley asked.
"Hm. Normally we'd have to trade for it, but this town we're heading to is actually pretty friendly. I guess we could always ask."
Wheatley put his arm up on the windowsill and rested his chin on his arm. The wind blowing in his eyes made him feel sleepy, but he didn't want to take a nap. He didn't want to miss seeing any bit of the surface. There was so much sky and so many different plants. They passed seemingly endless fields of wheat; young, shabby trees with fresh leaves growing on the branches; wild flowers and tall grass making a shallow wilderness in which ground squirrels and badgers hid. So much life out here that Wheatley had been completely oblivious to for so long. He'd never imagined the surface could be like this. He'd only thought about how great it would have been to make it out of Aperture with Nora.
What would I have done up here as a construct, anyway? he thought. I would have been completely dependent on a human for mobility. I don't think I would have been able to find an exoskeleton like those Cooperative Testing Bots. I hope Li will make Nora human, too. Once I find her, that is. She'd be confused if she suddenly became human in Aperture.
