Chell ducked as another missile hurtled past, retreating as far back as the metal debris she was hiding under would allow. It soared past with a trail of smoke in its path, leaving the remnants of its terrifyingly loud hiss behind. The air was still filled with the horrible sounds trailing off, echoing around the place and causing people to cover their ears. Chell took a deep breath and charged out into the open, crouching as low as she would allow yet still being able to run fast. Gunshots and screams filled the air, and in the distance one could hear the orders of both sides being barked at soldiers.
The air was rigid, as if it had just been insulted by the offending rocket launchers, and the happenings of the rest of the world seemed like distant memories swirling around at the bottom of a very deep, very murky lake. Chell grimaced at the acrid, pungent smell that hung in the air like a mist, choking the air out of people and burning the inside of their nostrils. Great. So Chell had gone to the one place she had never wanted to go back to just to be healed of her lungs, only to come back and find the world swallowed in a toxic, bitter atmosphere from the oil and sulphur from the raging war that had grown a great deal in her absence. Something had happened between humans and the Combine, probably involving the Resistance Group, and now the war had gotten serious. Chell had arrived back with clean, fresh lungs only to have them blackened again by the sour, acidic air.
Chell coughed against the smoke again and darted under a fallen ceiling, the dust and the rubble floating in the air, outlined against the light seeping in through the cracks in the wreckage. Here, she could shelter, but only for a while. With the Combine filling up the City like water filling a bowl, you could never stay in one place too long before they found you. She shivered despite the intense heat and pulled her plain, blue jacket tighter that was part of the strict uniform around her. Tucking a stray strand of hair gingerly behind her ear, she leaned forwards as best she could in her crouching position and stared out between the rubble. The sun was beginning to set, painting the city in gold and casting dark, lurking shadows on the dusty ground.
After the sound around her grew quieter, Chell decided it was time to move on again and crept out of the latest pile of fragments and remains. Ducking a low ceiling, Chell clambered over the pile and skidded down the other side leaving a cloud of dust in her wake. The air was thin here, and the shadows even darker. Wildflowers struggled to squeeze up through cracks in the dry, barren earth, the amount of oil and wreckage not helping. She squeezed through another crack under some corrugated tin, huffing and gasping with every movement. The sharp edges snagged at her clothes and pulled at her hair, like hands pulling her back. She pulled on a determined face and carried on shuffling through on her stomach like a worm, snaking her way to freedom.
Now out in the open again, she quickly had to retreat back when upon sight of one of the Combine gunships sailed past, shooting lightning-fast bullets at something in the distance Chell couldn't see. Hiding in the shelter of the tin, she waited until the Gunship was out of sight before venturing back into the open. After a thorough check that the coast was clear, Chell scuttled out and ran off, staying low. Scrunching up her eyes from the dust, she crawled into an old, abandoned shack and sat herself down in the corner, making sure to stay as low as possible.
Sighing and relaxing for the first time that day, she closed her eyes and let the breath gush back down into her lungs. Letting her senses down for this one moment she was completely out of sight, she practically jumped out of her skin when there was a horrible, gut-wrenching thud followed by the rustling of something. She clutched her knees tighter at the sudden noise, widening her eyes and trying to keep absolutely still and silent. There was no sound for another few seconds, and Chell was almost about to let go the breath she had been holding, when there was another thud and something fell off the top of the crate, rolling along the floor and landing next to her feet. Chell froze; she was expecting someone hostile to then jump up from behind the crater, and knew that she was probably in great danger, but she definitely didn't expect it to be what it was.
There was another rustling, and something else rolled off the top of the crate, before the loud, incredibly loud, sound of someone pushing the crate along the floor was heard and the crate had shuffled out of the way. The source of the noise was revealed to Chell. A man was sat there, wearing one of the blue uniforms, a gun clutched in his hand. Relief rippled across his face when he saw Chell, and he lowered his gun and pressed a finger to his lips. She nodded, only just containing the amount of joy that washed through her at the sight of another person who wasn't running around screaming with their hands behind their heads.
The man made a patting motion with his hand, silently motioning for her to stay low, and she nodded, hunching her back over further. He stood up wearily; she watched with interest as he crept towards the window and, peering out with the gun cocked in his hand, narrowed his eyes in concentration and shot a single bullet. A single 'aaargghhh!' filled the air as the man quickly withdrew his hand, a smirk plastered on his face as he re-loaded the gun. Swiftly shooting another one into the sky, he nodded at her and shuffled across to the door, beckoning her to follow.
Now placing her trust in this man, Chell took his lead and followed him through the door and back into the never-ending maze of rubbish and waste and junk. The man broke off into a run, leaping gracefully over the debris with Chell in his lead. She didn't want to admit that jumping such a great distance reminded her strongly of Aperture, but she didn't mind as much now she had only been back for three days. The memories of GLaDOS and how she and Wheatley had tried to kill each other so many times while testing were still fresh in her mind, and after spending a whole month back there the past few mornings she had woken up and expected to find herself back in the Relaxation Chamber.
Following him around twist and turns and dodging under fallen ceilings and broken buildings, they jumped over rubble and generally tried to stay out of the sight from any Combine soldiers, drop-ships and gunships. Chell had absolutely no idea where they were going, but she followed him anyway because he probably had a better idea and knowledge of City 17 than she did. The only places she knew were the street she lived on and the country road back to Aperture, but other than that had never decided to venture the City further. Eventually, the man slowed to a stop.
Pulling her by the wrist down through what looked like an underground tunnel system of some sort, he only turned to face her when they were completely submerged underground. He turned to look at her, dropping her wrist and speaking for the first time. "Follow that tunnel down there," he spoke, his voice deep and husky as he raised his hand and gestured down the tunnel chute, "and it will take you to safety."
Chell was now confused. Like, really confused. "Why me? There are hundreds of people back there, and you choose to show me the top-secret tunnel that is possible the only place that leads to safety?"
He looked at her earnestly, obviously trying to keep in his patience. "Because you're the only civilian I've met so far who hasn't run off screaming, because that always gets them captured. Half the city is in those ships, being taken somewhere I don't know. I need to stay behind to help the remaining people, but you're the only one I've found so far that I can help. More people will be coming soon. Now go, or there's no chance for you."
Not wanting to disobey him, Chell glared at him as she went and past before gathering speed and tearing off at a run, the sound of an explosion overhead rattling the tunnel and causing soil and dirt to fall from the ceiling. She shielded her eyes, blinking a few times to get the dust out. As she started ascending further and further underground, the tiny sliver of light behind her began to lessen and lessen until it was almost pitch-black. The tunnel suddenly felt tighter and Chell began to find it hard to breathe.
Without being able to see, she had to permanently keep a hand on the wall just to reassure her that it was still there, and that she wasn't in fact dead. The air was damp and musty and every breath was thick. The tunnel was mainly straight, but it was so dark Chell wouldn't know if she was running the same direction all the way through or if she was subconsciously turning. The darkness left her alone to her thoughts, and the thought back to the mystery man who had helped her get this far. She wondered if she would have survived as long if she hadn't had the luck to run into him.
But she ran, and it always felt like someone were squeezing the life out of her, the walls caving in and slowly crushing her in an empty grave, where no-one would no where she died. She was always half-expecting the ceiling to fall, but she had to tell herself that if the man had helped her he would make sure that the tunnel was safe beforehand. She would just have to make sure she made no sudden movements or noises.
After walking for a while to regain her breath, she picked up her run again and let her feet pound heavily against the earthen ground, the water from the ceiling dripping onto her hair and her face dirty from when she had wiped it with her hand. She couldn't wait to get onto the other side of this rancid hell-hole. It was almost like being back in Aperture; thousands of kilograms of weight above your head and the breath of clean, fresh air and the warmth of sunlight upon your face unknown mysteries no-one could experience down there. Chell longed for a deep inhale of fresh air, because at least Aperture's air was better than down here.
She was beginning to lose hope of ever finding the end, so she sat down on the earthen soil and leaned against the walls, hanging her head back. Chell had thought that she was going through torture down in Aperture, but she hadn't known that worse, far, far worse was happening on the surface.
Groaning, she wiped her hands on her face again, half-tempted to bang her head against her knees in irritation. Annoyance spread through Chell like a wildfire. This was only another event in a whole series of misfortune that was basically her life. Nothing good ever happened to her, and for the most part her definition of 'good' was when nothing bad was happening.
She groaned again, realising the uselessness of her life. Did she have a purpose? Was she just the meaningless person sat in the background, waiting for her nonexistent destiny to meet her? She certainly didn't want to be. Chell wanted to be helpful, of use to at least somebody.
Jerked out of her thoughts when there was a loud rumble and bit's of earth crumbled from the sides of the tunnel, rolling down and shaking on the ground, Chell scrambled to her feet, looked left and right uncertainly, before sprinting off adrenaline down the direction she was pretty sure she was following. Her hair whipped against her face from the speed and caught in front of her eyes. Usually she would have pushed it away, but it was so dark it wouldn't make a difference to her sight.
The rumbling stopped after a bit, but Chell continued running after her mini rest. A feeling bubbled inside her stomach that the tunnel was nearly coming to an end and she would be back on the surface of the outside world soon, which urged her to continue her fast pace. She was now fitter than she was before from all the excess testing while recovering in Aperture, and she could now run for further distances. It still hurt though, and by the time a tiny sliver of light appeared in the distance Chell's breath came out in short, ragged gasps and her face was pink and blotchy. She wouldn't know that though, partly because she couldn't see her own face, and partly because it was too dark to see it even if she could.
Half of her was tempted to turn around and run the other way, as the tunnel began to slant upwards and Chell was tired enough as it. She wasn't quite sure about going towards the light, because, well, she was afraid that she was going to die, what with all that 'if you see light at the end of the tunnel, don't go towards it! You'll die!' nonsense. But although she wasn't one of the brightest humans out there, she was practical and knew well enough that she probably wasn't dying. She had always thought of the death tunnel as unrealistic and distant, being more of a single white light in a shadowy room of nothingness, rather than an all-too-real tunnel with real dirt and real earth, and the musty, rank smell was enough to tell her that she was fully conscious.
So, slowing down to a walk now she was in no particular hurry, she began the trek upwards towards the light at her own leisurely pace. All the while, the light at the end of the tunnel was growing brighter and bigger until Chell could even make out shapes in the distance. Fresh air blew in like a breeze, caressing her cheeks in a peaceful manner so unlike the air back at City 17. It was so good to feel light on her face, and as she was nearing the end the light hit her face and caused to her blink a few times after her eyes had become accustomed to the dark for so long.
The light was fully visible now, and Chell could hear the sweet singing of birds as she stepped out of the dank tunnel and into the open. She sighed peacefully and shut her eyes, remembering the fear she had experienced in City 17, despite how hard she had tried to cover it up through determination. She would almost have collapsed to the ground thanking God for her good luck of meeting that kind man, when the realisation that she could feel wheat under her fingers hit her and her eyes snapped open. She was in the wheat field, the all-too-familiar wheat field that she had only seen three times before. The time she was freed, the time she came back, and the time she was freed after coming back, fully healed. And now she could add a fourth.
Chell pondered on her options for a moment, trying to find the right path to take. If she headed back through the tunnel, now unnoticeable too anyone who didn't know it was there thanks to the wheat, there was almost guaranteed certain death, but if she stayed in the wheat field, there would be no chance of survival unless she found food.
Heaving a sigh, she turned away from the tunnel leading to death behind her and trekked back to the only place she could go. The place she had only left feeling rejuvenated three days ago.
{O}
GLaDOS stared at the screen bleakly as she watched the events unfold before her optic. It was almost unbearable to watch; everywhere ATLAS and P-Body went, something horrible, torturous, excruciating was happening, and it was too much for even GLaDOS. Her 'feelings' were getting to her, and she wanted so badly to switch the screen off and forget what she had just seen.
It was almost like having Morality attached to her again, it was so much. To see all the pain and torture on the screen before her, with the horrible knowledge that everything she was witnessing was actually happening at the very second she watched it, miles and miles away, up on the surface. It sent chills fluttering through her circuits, and it was enough to fry her wiring.
Just, the amount of pain see could visibly see, etched onto the faces of the people being hopelessly tortured by the ruthless Combine. When ATLAS and P-Body began following the Combine, GLaDOS had to look away as they dragged the people into a locked room and the only sounds were the hair-raising cries of agony. ATLAS and P-Body were stood frozen, optics, or 'eyes' wide in fear at the horrible sight that was happening before them.
GLaDOS had seen enough. When the screams had died down, she switched the screen off and turned away solemnly. Summoning ATLAS and P-Body back, GLaDOS was just glad that they had the ability to shoot a portal wherever they please and appear back in the Central AI Chamber. Had she not thought of that plan, it would have been very hard for them to come back and she didn't want to think of all the horrible experiments the Combine would perform, especially on them. And if the Combine discovered they were robots, they would stop at nothing to discover the manufacturers. GLaDOS knew she was taking a great risk by sending them out into the world, but GLaDOS had seen enough to know ATLAS and P-Body could take care of themselves and that with the technology of the Combine, they would discover Aperture. And that would mean the end.
Seconds later, ATLAS and P-Body stepped soberly into the chamber, sorrow and despair etched onto their mechanical faces. GLaDOS had no need for words, but watched as they laid down the portal gun gently on the floor and slumped with their backs against the wall. If GLaDOS had built them with the ability to cry, they would have been as they clutched each other's hands and stared gravely at the tiled floor. Unfortunately, having water placed beforehand in their bodies to only be activated when 'bad' emotions are registered, the risk of short-circuiting would be too great. Besides, what would be the point in giving androids, who shouldn't be able to experience emotions in the first place, the ability to cry? It was utterly pointless in GLaDOS's eye, but from what she had just seen she wished she could let it out. She wished those idiotic scientists had given her the ability to cry, because her Thought Processor was going crazy and the 'feelings' she was registering seemed to be spinning out of control. When asking Chell about feelings, for scientific purposes only, obviously, Chell had told her that crying was like letting all the emotions bottled up inside oneself out through your eyes, and GLaDOS wanted nothing more than the emotions of pity and pain to come pouring out of her, even if it was in the form of water.
But it wasn't only sadness. GLaDOS was also beginning to see why humans felt sick after seeing things disgusting, as even though she was a machine and wasn't as affected by it as humans would be, some of the things she had seen were completely gut-wrenching. All these emotions were very helpful for science, though, she thought, trying to take her mind off things. She also thought she was doing very well at keeping her emotions hidden. Yes, it was very hard for her bodily functions to show any sign of emotion anyway, but ATLAS and P-Body had known her long enough to tell what she was feeling, thinking and experiencing by the way she held her frame, and the brightness of her optic, and maybe even the tone of her voice if she was particularly emotional, but that rarely happened. Actually, it never happened, but if she was particularly depressed that would probably be the thing that would.
Sitting in silence as she turned and started tapping away at one of the keyboards with help from robotic arms, GLaDOS tried to ignore the low sighs behind her as she concentrated on a nonexistent project. She figured she should say something, as she didn't want to make them think she was upset about what she had just seen, but for the second time in her life she couldn't think of anything to say, let alone put into words. Becoming speechless seemed to be happening more and more often it seemed. But with the thoughts and flashbacks of the horrible things she had witness stopped her from thinking about anything else and every time she thought of something that might have been okay, she would simply forget it as the gut-wrenching screams rang through her Thought Processor.
Besides, things were sloping downhill now Chell had left. GLaDOS only had the non-organic beings of ATLAS, P-Body and Wheatley to keep her company, and GLaDOS once again found herself thinking of her ex-test subject. She would be up there, now, in that terrible world, and GLaDOS had to shut her optic when the thought that Chell was most likely being tortured by the Combine at that very second flashed through her mind.
GLaDOS's main frame shuddered at the thought, and for the first time she recalled ever experiencing it, GLaDOS felt regret. She regretted ever sending Chell back, and now her 'feelings' were growing stronger, it wasn't to test her. If Chell had stayed, she would be safe. It would be like when she was recovering; she and GLaDOS would have a mutual bond, and Chell would have the freedom to do what she wanted when she wanted. She would be able to live forever down here. Then again, with Wheatley hanging about, it might not be as safe as GLaDOS thought it would be. Still, it would be safer.
And now Chell was probably dead, her innards spewed out across the floor of the Combine's Torture Chamber, her blood smothered against the floor and her throat ripped out. GLaDOS didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think of all the awful things they would do to Chell's fragile, mangled body. "You two," she snapped, turning her gaze on them and hiding the anguish in her voice. "I think you've had enough rest. Surely the things you saw can't be that bad, can they?" she asked, watching them shudder in fear even though she didn't enjoy it nearly as much as she used to. She understood perfectly why they were upset, yet didn't want them to know she felt the same way. Possibly worse.
"Stop your moping. You're both acting like humans. Now, pick up your guns and head to the Cooperative Testing Initiative. We've got some testing to do."
With a huff, ATLAS and P-Body picked themselves up, their faces a display of sadness and grief. GLaDOS would be spending the rest of eternity testing, so she might as well start now. For science. Just when ATLAS and P-Body were stepping through the automatic door, there was a loud crash soon followed by an 'Oof!', before Wheatley stumbled in, his hair even messier than usual and his blue eyes bright and vibrant. Every time he moved, his robotic joints made a faint zipping sound and his jaw kept twitching nervously. GLaDOS sighed as he passed ATLAS and P-Body, while making an effort to look as intimidating as possible. He chuckled nervously. "Uh, h-hi, GLaDOS!" he said, leaning backwards slightly from her gaze as he shuffled awkwardly along the tiled floor, her silent optic following him carefully. "I, uh, heard some screaming, so I thought I'd just come check everything was, uh... o-okay..." he trailed off when GLaDOS's gaze narrowed and he could clearly see that everything was, in fact, okay. "Right, everything's okay, no screaming," he said, almost to himself. "Sorry, shouldn't have bothered you, I'm just going to, ah, go now," he grinned timidly, jerking his thumb behind his head and trying to avert his gaze from her. "Should never have come. Sorry, sorry,"
Meanwhile GLaDOS was mentally slapping herself for not turning off the sound, as she hadn't thought of the fact that every scream and wail from P-Body's clip would be heard all over the facility.
Wheatley chuckled again, looking somewhat sheepish as he scuttled backwards, tripping over his own two feet. Before he reached the door, however, he paused and turned back to her, still looking a bit apprehensive. "I kinda forgot, as well, um, my jaw is a bit... well, broken," he said, pointing to his jaw, which twitched again as if on cue. "Hasn't been working great recently, twitching a bit here and there, yeah, not been as good recently."
GLaDOS sighed and looked at him. "It proves that you're even more moronic than I initially thought you were by the fact you didn't even think of going to the Repair Chamber."
"I, uh, tried that already. Didn't seem to do anything," he grinned fretfully again, ignoring the moron joke. Then he yelped when an electrical spark jumped out of his jaw, crackling and sparkling in the air. "Is that supposed to happen? You know what, I don't think that's supposed to happen. It's even getting hard to taklgerabfbashgfasgfjafh..." his eyes widened and his hands flew to his mouth. "I qaiweuryabxvmzbdfjg spea-asrfhjadsgfhj!"
"Your jaw appears to be malfunctioning. It seems that you can't talk," she said dryly, but Wheatley didn't seem to listening. He was rolling his artificial tongue round his mouth and trying to speak, but every time he made a sound another spark fizzed out of his jaw and it would twitch again. "Bla-ah-ah-aha?" he asked, but his sounds were now completely unintelligible.
"You know, it's almost better like this. Your incomprehensible gibberish is tons better than your incessant rambling. Maybe I should just not repair you."
Wheatley's eyes widened and he started shaking his head frantically, protesting even though it made no sense. "Ca-blah blah-blah blah-bloo blah-blah-blah blah!" he spouted, his words jumbling together. He narrowed his eyes and seemed unhappy with his condition. "Blah-blah blah," he complained, and if he could talk his words would probably have sounded something like, 'I don't like not being able to talk.'
"You know what, I've changed my mind. Your rambling is much better than this. In fact, I may take away the ability to speak altogether. That would be a nice break."
"Blah-blah blah-blah blah-blah blah-blah blah-blah-blah-blah!" he protested, obviously disliking the idea.
"Oh well. I can dream. Now head over to the Repair Chamber now, or I will make sure you will never be able to speak again."
Wheatley sighed and nodded glumly, deciding on keeping his mouth closed. Even though it was his Voice Modulator that generated the sound, it needed to work cooperatively with the jaw to make the sounds into words, unlike his simple sphere body, and if the jaw stopped working properly he would be able to make sound but unable to make them into words. This was partially the reason it took him so long to get the hang of talking at the start.
He started trudging miserably back towards the door, feeling GLaDOS's gaze bore into his back, before he was interrupted when the room was shadowed in a flashing red light and a loud siren wailed into the chamber. Startled and worried, Wheatley yelped, "Bleuhh!" and scrambled backwards towards GLaDOS, but she was already staring intently at one of the screens. On all of them, in big flashing red letters, were the words, INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!
GLaDOS turned and watched as Wheatley scrambled around, panic and alarm written across his face as he stumbled about. As she expected, drowned out by the wailing of the alarm, was the sound of loud, repetitive knocking from above the chamber.
Switching the screen to the camera feed outside and ignoring Wheatley, GLaDOS felt relief surge through her at the sight of Chell knocking on the door, looking bored and annoyed and in far better condition than the last time she was knocking on that door. Part of GLaDOS wondered how she had survived the Combine, but she had no time to think about it before she had opened the door for Chell and the bottom of the lift appeared in the ceiling.
Wheatley stopped and the alarms died down, as he stared, puzzled, at the descending lift. While GLaDOS sat waiting, only a few words left her Voice Modulator;
"Not again."
{O}
When Chell came back the second time, it had come as a bit of a shock to Wheatley. He hadn't been expecting it, and to top things off his whole world had gone utterly dark seconds after the bottom of the lift had appeared in the ceiling of the room. The rest of his memory was blurry after that, but he could remember one thing.
He could remember feeling pain. Only a little bit. Just a faint little sting, a physical pain. But looking back on it now, Wheatley couldn't believe how stupid it was. How stupid he was to not notice what the pain was until GLaDOS had looked him in his eye and told him, when he had woken up.
Yes, eye. Not eyes.
Because GLaDOS had put him back in his sphere body, and the tiny pain he had felt was actually his mind registering the pain of the Core Transfer Receptacle. Still, it was very minor compared to what he would have felt had he been conscious, and he was glad he wasn't. In fact, it made him wonder why GLaDOS made all Cores unconscious before putting them through that thing, because it definitely took a whole deal of pain away.
So it turns out that upon the arrival of Chell, GLaDOS had sent him into Offline Mode so it wouldn't generate havoc, and shoved him back in his Core body, so he could only inflict the minimum damage on Chell and the facility. Which was, in fact, no damage.
But he can't say he wasn't relieved. It felt great to be back in his usual sphere, and the first thing he had said was, "Well this is bloody brilliant!" And it was. He had spent his entire life in that sphere, and no matter how great the functions of the android body were, they couldn't beat the simplicity of the sphere which was far more suited to his artificial mind. He could concentrate on other things so much more now he didn't have to worry about walking and moving his fingers and everything of the sorts. It was a mystery that humans managed to live with it their whole lives, even though they're born with lesser brains than robots!
Then GLaDOS thrusted him back onto his Management Rail and he was forced to wander the empty facility alone for the next few days. Even though it was nice to be back to the ways he was used to from his entire life, the abilities he had were limited and the most her could do was slowly drift throughout Aperture sighing to himself miserably. He wasn't allowed to see Chell, like he'd want to, and GLaDOS stayed awfully quiet throughout the whole thing. Never even told him why Chell had come or what had happened. She had only appeared on a screen when he awoke on his Management Rail and told him that Chell had returned and that because of it he would have to go into his core body. He didn't mind, but that was all the details he had got and he desperately wished he had more, just to make things more refined.
Instead it made him confused and curious, and every second of every day the only thing in his Thought Processor was why she had come back and how. He couldn't concentrate on anything else and his not knowing almost drove him to the point of insane. He would make up mad theories in his head that made perfect sense to him at first, and then minutes later when he had come up with another one he would realise how far-fetched and unrealistic they actually are. One of his theories was that birds had somehow mutated and were eating people alive so she had retreated back to Aperture for safety. This was one of his more... crazy ideas, and it was even unbelievable when he had first come up with it.
Still, it was one of his favourites. He would keep replaying a scenario of Chell being violently murdered by a giant, man-eating bird over and over in his Thought Processor. Eventually though, the thought of man-eating began to terrify him slightly so he stopped thinking about that so much.
But now he was sat above an empty rail walkway, no light to be seen in the dark, shadowy atmosphere, finally tired of doing nothing but drifting around the Management rail and thinking. It seemed his Thought Processor had given all it had to give and now he could no longer imagine any crazy reasons as to why Chell had come back to fill in the empty void in his mind that marked the lack of his knowledge. He still hadn't come to a final answer of what had happened, and couldn't possibly reach one now, so he was driven even nuttier by the fact he didn't know.
The clanks and bangs of all the metal machinery around him were the only sounds in the air and, as he had been for the past five days, he felt completely alone. It almost felt like he was the only living thing here and that he always would be. He was beginning to understand what GLaDOS had felt, because the prospect of being the only thing here for the rest of eternity was awfully terrifying, even more so than an eternity in space. At least he had Space core then. Now, he still did have ATLAS and P-Body and GLaDOS, probably not Chell as GLaDOS wouldn't let him near her in the period that Chell was staying for whatever reason she was, but he felt so alone it was almost as if he'd never experience another person's company for the rest of his life. And that idea was probably even more terrifying than man-eating birds. To not see another person... ever... that would probably be the scariest thought Wheatley would ever have the misfortune to experience.
That night Wheatley wearily wafted back to the Repair Chamber, his upper lid drooping slightly as he stared forlornly at the floor. He visibly drooped; rather than him carrying himself with an upbeat, let's-keep-going-even-though-a-creepy-robot-lady-wants-to-kill-us sort of attitude, he looked as sad and miserable as a spherical robot could. Entering the Repair Chamber for Wheatley was much like watching the dirt being poured over one's gravestone. About as welcoming as a bunch of flies buzzing around your own birthday cake.
Glancing once wistfully at the space of floor that used to be his bed, he watched as the panels of the ceiling slid open unwelcomingly and the shadowy darkness beckoned him in. There was a whirring as Wheatley slowly ascended upwards into the sinister hole in the ceiling. As the tiles below him folded back up, Wheatley was enveloped in complete darkness.
The only light he could see now was the faint blue glow from his optic reflecting back off the smooth, cool surface of the metallic box he was currently sat in. To be honest, it was a lot more comfortable here than it was to sleep when he was an android; when you're a sphere, there aren't many feelings you can get when it comes to comfort. There was only one position, and it wasn't on that allowed you to feel uncomfortable, so much unlike the android body. Wheatley had found it hard to get in a comfortable position in the first few nights in there.
Eventually, shutting his optic to block out the glow, Wheatley slipped into offline mode for the night, trying to comfort himself with the thought that Chell would be gone soon and then things would go back to normal. Hopefully.
Unfortunately, the next morning, things didn't go quite the way Wheatley was hoping them to. Almost the second after he had woken up, the tiles beneath him had slid open and the artificial light from the Repair Chamber streamed in, temporarily blinding his vision. He blinked his optic a few times, his Optical Modulator getting adjusted to the sudden change in lighting. Sighing, he lowered himself out of his little crook in the ceiling and clicked back into place on the Management Rail. He was about to leave via the round, blue, automatic Aperture door like he did every morning, when the screen in the corner of the room flickered into life and GLaDOS emotionless 'face' appeared in view. Her yellow, glistening optic was narrowed slightly in irritation as she looked him down with obvious distaste, even for a computer.
"Good morning. Or afternoon. Or whatever time it is on the surface. I've decided we need to talk things over, so I'm inviting- well, more like forcing you to come to Central AI Chamber. We've got some things to sort out." Then a little blip announced her departure and the screen switched off, leaving Wheatley momentarily baffled and slightly shocked at the first speech he had heard in almost a week.
Gathering himself back to his senses, he decided it probably wouldn't be a bright idea to arrive late, not when it's GLaDOS, so he whirred along the rail and through the doors as fast as it would allow him, not pausing for though once along the ride above the rails. By the time he got there eventually, his database alerted him that only thirty seconds had passed in the time it took to get here. With a slight, "Phew!" of relief, and he came into the chamber along the elongating Management Rail, rambling on to himself about all the random thoughts that were flying through his head at that moment and how great it felt to have someone to talk to again, even if he did most, no, all, of the talking and whoever happened to be listening probably wasn't registering it anyway.
When he saw that not only an optic but a pair of eyes were trained on him, his wordy monologue trailed off slightly as he paused, glancing nervously round the room and shifting awkwardly in his body. The murderous look in Chell's eyes told him he was not welcome here, and the fact that he was back in his core body made all the horrible memories alive and fresh in Chell's mind.
There was an awkward silence after that, not even broken by any comments he had, as his gaze flickered between GLaDOS and Chell and back to GLaDOS again. When he did speak, it was only to break the horrible stillness that had settled in the room. "Uh, hi! It's been a while since I last saw you, hasn't it? Yeah, very long time. I-uh..." he trailed off when they both turned to look at him, their gazes equally scary. "Yeah..." he finished uneasily, looking down at the floor and not meeting their gaze.
"Oh. Well this is nice. At least this reunion isn't as violent as the last," GLaDOS started, catching their attention yet still leaving them time to glare at each other with a burning hatred. "I figured we need to get things sorted, as our little... situation isn't going to get us anywhere. I thought about trying to make you friends, but I didn't want to risk blowing the place up, so I've come to a conclusion. Unfortunately, the Combine attacks are growing more serious and don't seem to be lessening. For Chell to go back up there would mean certain death. I personally don't want her to stay down here, let alone alive, and nor do you," she glanced at Wheatley, who didn't notice, "but it wouldn't be good if my favourite test subject was murdered and tortured by men with guns."
Chell visibly shuddered. "So unfortunately, for all of us, I have no choice but to keep her down here until it's safe to go up. You two will test if needs be, and will generally try to stay out of each other's way. That way at least one of us will be safe."
When they just looked at each other, GLaDOS said, "I mean me. Now, you should both head back to your rooms while I think the rest of it through. Don't kill each other."
Her words were dismissive, and even Wheatley could tell. Slowly exiting the room, but not without a final glare at Chell, Wheatley headed back to the Repair Chamber to ponder on his situation. Part of him wondered why GLaDOS had chosen to keep Chell safe when she obviously didn't have to, but most of him wondered how he was supposed to be able to restrain from killing her when back in the android body.
Sighing as he re-entered the Repair Chamber to wait, Wheatley thought and thought and thought.
Chell was back. They weren't allowed to even try to kill each other. She might be staying for a very long time.
God help us, Wheatley thought.
A/N. Phew! Sorry that took so long! I think the ending was a bit rushed. Anyway, it's late and I'm tired and please forgive any mistakes and all. If there's anything you want to happen or something, please tell me in a review. Please review anyway though! It would mean a lot to me. Anyway, we've been really busy since it's the holidays and I've been really tired, and it snowed so the internet was broken for a lot of the day, so please ignore the time of this one. Hopefully the next one will be in soon. By the way, something really emotional and exciting is gonna happen in either chapter 7 or 8, because I want to try and be able to jerk tears. I'll probably fail, but hey, at least I tried! :) So, yeah, keep a lookout for 7 or 8 or both.
Disclaimer: All copyrights belong to VALVe, not me.
Thank you!
~Franki