After Doug had a half hour to calm down a bit, he remembered that he should probably be checking on how the facility was running. It all looked fine so far. For now, though, he didn't want to worry about this. He searched the system and found that there was actually a program that automatically corrected all the levels of the facility. It was something that had turned off once GLaDOS left the mainframe. Wheatley must not have noticed it when he'd been in control.
He tried to call out to Valentine for her to come back, but she must not have been able to hear him from within the chamber. Reluctantly, he had to resort to using the intercom system in the hallway outside. He really didn't want to have to use any of his control of the facility for petty reasons like that. His main objective was to find Nora.
Valentine came back in hesitantly. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked.
"Not really," Doug said. "But I managed to stop panicking for now. There are only three things I want to use this power for. I want to find the kid that was in here before, I want to find Nora, and finally, I want to find someone to take over the facility. I can't just detach myself. I either have to give control to a core or suitable substitute, or I have to be…forcibly removed."
"Well, shit," Valentine said. She sat down on the floor next to him. "Hey, it'll be okay. I can help you do all of those things if you need me to."
"I sort of want to talk to the kid alone," Doug said. "From one pack rat to another."
"You might think that that's an insult toward yourself," Valentine said, offering him a smile, "but rats are adorable."
Doug laughed a little. "You really are weird," he said. "But you know what to say to make me feel better."
Valentine scooted closer to him so that she could lean on his shoulder. He put his arm around her to hold her close to him. The thin wires that were digging into his shoulders made this motion a little uncomfortable. He didn't care, though. All he wanted was to hold her in his arms him right now.
"There is one good thing that came from this," Valentine murmured.
"What would that be?" Doug asked, both skeptical and curious.
"You don't have to worry about running and hiding."
"I don't know if this is too much better."
"Do you still feel that itch?"
Doug hesitated before answering. "Yeah. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. It's just really annoying."
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault."
"Shut up and take my sympathy."
Doug smiled again. "I….I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have you here to get me through this," he said nervously. "The whole facility probably would have collapsed in on itself by now."
"Nah," she said. "You'd be able to get through this."
"I don't know if I could have," he said. He tried not to think of what self-harm he probably already would have inflicted if she weren't sitting with him now.
"So what should our next course of action be?" Valentine asked.
Amelia and Mikey walked through warehouse-type departments where various tools for testing were made. They had already passed the Edgeless Safety Cube and Weighted Storage Cube areas. They were now entering the Weighted Companion Cube wing.
The first thing they noticed here that was different from the other wings was the various murals that were scribbled on the walls. They looked to be made of paint and maybe oil pastel. Some of them depicted a woman with a ponytail and orange jumpsuit. Others were just chicken scratch notes that were absolute nonsense.
The most common drawing was of what appeared to be a robotic, perhaps gyroscopic ball with a purple optic. Along with these images was a reoccurring black stick figure with orange scribbled all over the head. This figure seemed to be running toward the ball or reaching out toward it, but was never able to reach it.
"Well, these aren't spooky at all," Mikey said, nervously smiling at the oddity.
Amelia laughed a little.
They walked for a few minutes in silence, Mikey seeming restless as he was constantly shifting his gaze and clearing his throat slightly.
"So, um, how are you feeling?" he finally asked.
"I'm okay," Amelia said. "What about you?"
"I'm fine," Mikey said. "I'm just wondering because you seemed kind of….isolated. Yesterday, I mean."
"Oh," Amelia mumbled, looking away from him. "Sorry. I just haven't been feeling well lately."
"Everything okay?" Mikey asked, leaning to try to see her face.
"Yeah, don't worry about me," Amelia insisted. "If I weren't okay, I wouldn't be here."
Mikey paused nervously before he reached out to take her hand in his. She stopped walking and looked at him in confusion. Her cheeks were growing pinker than usual.
"Amelia…Y-You can always t-talk to me," he said, not able to keep eye-contact for too long. His voice cracked a little, and he realized that he didn't sound nearly as smooth as he had hoped to. "I just want you to know that."
Amelia didn't say anything to this. Mikey's heart raced as panic to set in. Had he just messed up? He still couldn't meet her eyes.
Suddenly, the walkie-talkie crackled a bit before Valentine's voice came through.
"Um, hey, guys?" she said with uncertainty. "Can everyone hear me?"
There were several affirmative answers over the line.
"Okay, cool," Valentine said. "Well, Doug wanted me to call everyone to meet in the lobby."
There was a pause before Amelia said, "Uh, Valentine, you need to say 'over' when you're done talking so we know you're done. Over."
"Oh! Right." Valentine said. "Well, we all need to meet in the lobby. Over."
"Is Doug hurt?" Nate's voice came through. "What should I be ready for? Over."
"I think it would just be better to discuss it face-to-face," Valentine insisted. "It's kind of complicated. Uh, over."
"10-4," Amelia said. "We'll all head back to the lobby. Amelia clear."
She turned around and started to lead Mikey all the way back. Mikey's heart ached as he noticed her trying to subtly wipe away tears.
It took about forty-five minutes for everyone to make it back to the lobby. Well, almost everyone.
"Where's Doug?" Chell asked anxiously.
"Yes, what has he gotten himself into?" Wheatley added.
"Okay, first," Valentine said, "You can all sit down for a minute. You all look tired."
Most of them went ahead and sat down, but Chell and Nate just stood in their places.
"Valentine, is Doug okay?" Chell asked.
"I'll get to that," Valentine said. "Now, there's good news and bad news."
"Good news?" Wheatley asked. "So you found Nora?"
"No, not quite that good," Valentine said. "But we discovered that GLaDOS isn't controlling of the facility now."
"That is pretty good news," Wheatley said, smiling at this. "But who's in charge now?"
"That's the bad news," Valentine said. "When Doug entered her chamber…The system kind of, uh, forced him into the mainframe."
No one spoke for what felt like a long time but was really just a few seconds.
"Sorry, what?" Wheatley asked. "I might have misunderstood you. It sounded like you were telling us that Doug was plugged into the mainframe."
"Yyyyeaaaah…." Valentine said, both nervous and awkward.
"But that's impossible!" Wheatley said. "Isn't it? The system would only plug in a core!"
"Maybe you should just see for yourself," Valentine suggested.
She led them straight to the chamber. The way was much easier than before since Doug had made a clear path for her to get back to the lobby. They went through the glass walkway, and Chell got shivers down her back. This walkway didn't bring her happy memories.
The door to the chamber rose to show them what had become of Doug. Chell clasped her hands over her mouth in shock and horror. Wheatley was stunned speechless for a change.
"Valentine, what are you doing?!" Doug demanded, becoming flustered as he tried to hide the wires that here coming out of his back in a futile effort. "Why did you bring them here?! I-I didn't want anyone to see me like this!"
"I'm sorry!" Valentine said. "You didn't say anything to me about that!"
"Oh my god!" Wheatley said, inevitably finding his voice again. "Doug, what happened to you?! How—I didn't even know this was possible! I thought that maybe your mind had been dumped into the mainframe, but your whole body is plugged in! Wow, does that look painful!"
"Yeah, okay, Wheatley," Doug grumbled in annoyance. "I get it."
"Well, it's not so easy, is it?" Wheatley continued, ignoring the nudges in his side from Valentine. "I bet you're feeling that itch now, aren't you? I bet it's really bothering you and all you want to do is test, eh?"
"Wheatley—"
"Now you know how I felt! You know why I had to test! It wasn't easy! It's not like—"
"Oh my god, Wheatley! Shut up!" Valentine yelled. "Jesus Christ! He already feels bad enough, man! He was just plugged into the thing that he's been running from for years! This is probably the worst thing that could happen to him!"
"Valentine," Doug said, placing a hand on her shoulder. He looked very uncomfortable as the itch irritated him a little more from having so many people to test around him now. "I know you're trying but you're really not helping right now."
"Oh. Sorry," Valentine said, looking down with her fingers laced together.
"So what does this mean exactly?" Mikey asked. "Doug, you're in charge of the facility now, right?"
"Yeah, I am," Doug said.
"Well, shouldn't this be kind of a good thing?" Mikey asked. "We don't have to worry about being tested or running from a crazy computer system."
Doug didn't answer and it made the room tense.
"Doug, you're not going to try to use us for testing, are you?" Chell asked quietly.
"No!" Doug finally said. "I mean, believe me, I don't want to! But don't let your guard down completely. I don't know what the mainframe might make me do."
"So what now?" Amelia asked. "How should we go about searching now?"
"Well, first, I was thinking that everyone could grab lunch," Doug said. "It's late in the morning and even I'm starting to get a little hungry."
"That sounds good to me," Natalie said. "There's an employee cafeteria here, right?"
"Yeah, of course," Doug said. "Actually, I think I can put up signs to lead you there and have the kitchen bots cook something up for you guys."
"Kitchen bots?" Jon asked in awe. "That sounds awesome! That's some futuristic shit!"
"Doug, do you want me to take a look at yer back?" Nate asked, slightly worried. "Doesn't that hurt at all?"
"I'm okay," Doug lied. "The system healed me up pretty well already. Just worry about getting lunch. Except for you." He gestured toward Mikey. "I kind of want to talk to you alone."
Mikey looked at Doug with confusion. "Uh, yeah," he said. "Sure. I guess that's okay."
