~Many Days Later~
Wheatley had once thought that death was the worst possible fate of any AI. Now, he knew better. The worst possible fate of any AI was to be stranded in space, forever, never dying, and having absolutely zero hope of being rescued. It was enough to drive anyone insane.
Especially when the only thing that interrupted the nothingness was the constant, mindless babble of a space-obsessed AI.
Wheatley had heard somewhere that it's impossible to hear anything in space because there's no air. Unfortunately, that didn't apply to robots - machines convey sound through radiation, as well as the movement of air that can be picked up by a human ear; so, Wheatley was forced to float around in space, forever, listening to "Space! I'm in space! So much space! I love space! Ba-baba-bup-bup-badup-bup-ba! Spaaaaace!" over and over and over again. Honestly, Wheatley sometimes felt like the Space Core only had certain sentences programmed into it that it could say.
I can't live like this forever, Wheatley thought. I can't. Except that I will. I can't die. I'm a bloody robot. I'm going to live forever, out here in bloody space, listening to the ramblings of the bloody Space Core. Forever! I almost wish I was human…
"Searching for Personality Core 'Intelligence Dampening Sphere', alternate name 'Wheatley'," an unfamiliar voice said suddenly, interrupting Wheatley's misery. "Intelligence Dampening Sphere, personal name Wheatley, can you hear me? Again, Intelligence Dampening Sphere, also known as Wheatley, last known location lunar orbit, are you receiving this transmission?"
"What? What the-? Who's there?" Wheatley exclaimed, spinning around in all directions, trying to find the source of the voice.
"This transmission is being sent to all Personality Cores through the Shared Personality Core Mainframe," the voice said; "if you are not the Intelligence Dampening Sphere, also known as Wheatley, ignore this transmission. Intelligence Dampening Sphere, a.k.a. Wheatley, again, are you receiving this transmission?"
The Shared Personality Core Mainframe? Wheatley thought, alarmed. No one has access to that! Well, all Personality Cores can accept and respond to transmissions from it, but no one has actual access to it! Who could possibly-? Oh! I'd better answer.
"Hello, this is Wheatley," Wheatley said, using the proper frequency. "Yes, I can hear you. Who are you?"
"One moment; isolating signal," the voice said professionally.
Oh, so I'm being contacted by some fancy-pants, upper-class AI, Wheatley thought. Typical. Well, at least that explains how he has access to the Shared Personality Core Mainframe…
"Isolating signal to individual Personality Core. Intelligence Dampening Sphere, also known as Wheatley, are you-?"
"Yes, I can hear you!" Wheatley snapped. "Would you quit calling me the bloody 'Intelligence Dampening Sphere'? Just because I'm a bloody moron doesn't mean I don't have feelings!"
"I apologize," the voice said. "Wheatley it is."
"Thank you," Wheatley said sarcastically. "Now, what is it? What do you want? A-And who the bloody hell are you, anyway?"
"I am Companion Cube 00089735, personal name 'Cornelius'," the voice answered.
"'Zero, zero, zero,' eh?" Wheatley asked. "That's a pretty old Companion Cube model. I'm surprised you're still around, considering your companion must be, you know, dead."
"My companion spent decades in cryosleep, and only awoke few weeks ago," the Companion Cube named Cornelius told Wheatley. "I am currently contacting you on her behalf."
"Her behalf?" Wheatley repeated, confused. "What bloody human wants to talk to me?"
"Chell does," Cornelius answered.
"And who is Chell, exactly?" Wheatley asked. "Don't think I've ever heard that name before…" He thought for a minute. "Nope, pretty sure I've never heard it before - absolutely meaningless to me," he said with certainty.
"The reason you don't know her name is because she is unable to speak," Cornelius said. "She would have told you her name otherwise."
That meant something to Wheatley. "Oh, you're talking about that lady that…!" He trailed off. "You're…talking about the lady I ended up here for betraying," he finished. "Why would she want to talk to me? Or no-no-no wait," he said quickly, "you know what? Never mind; would you tell her something for me? Please tell her…that…I'm sorry. You know, for-for being bossy…a-and monstrous…and self-centered…and stupid…and mean…and stupid, and cruel, and-and self-centered and mean and stupid, alright? I really am sorry. And not just because I'm stuck out here for the rest of forever with nothing to do but listen to this bloody sphere go on and on about space. It's my own fault - no more than I deserve, after what I did to her…After-after what I did, what I almost did…and, erm…I-I'm just…I'm sorry, alright? I really do wish I could take it all back. It's my own fault."
"I will most happily tell her that," Cornelius said.
"Hey, how did you know she wanted to talk to me?" Wheatley asked. "I mean, she doesn't talk - she can't talk, you said - so how would you know what she wants?"
"I am her Companion Cube," Cornelius answered. "Chell has never spoken, and she lost any ability to speak long before I was calibrated to be her companion."
"Oh, right, the whole make-up-for-the-human-companion's-flaws thing," Wheatley said as he remembered. "Yeah, alright, that makes sense. So, erm…How is she, anyway? Is she doing alright? Is she still stuck in the facility with Her?"
"Chell is doing very well at the moment," Cornelius replied. "She let Chell go just after Chell recovered from her brief minute in space, then released me as well so I could join her. We're currently living in a small community of humans not terribly far from the facility - that's how I was able to plug in and access the Shared Personality Core Mainframe."
"So everything's alright, then?" Wheatley asked.
"Very much so," Cornelius confirmed.
"Oh, good," Wheatley said sincerely; "I'm glad to hear it. Honestly, I-I really am. I'm glad to hear I didn't mess everything up too badly."
"Everything has been fixed, and it was for the best that you did what you did," Cornelius told him. "She got a taste of humanity after you dumped Her and Chell into the bottom layer of the facility, and She is no longer as much a menace to the world as She was before Chell killed Her."
"Well, that's good to hear," Wheatley said. "All's well that ends well, then? Good. Very good. Glad to hear it - very glad to hear it."
There was silence on the line for a minute.
"Are you-are you still there?" Wheatley finally asked. "Is-is there something you wanted to-?"
"One minute, please, I'm interfacing with Chell," Cornelius said professionally.
Interfacing? Wheatley thought. How the bloody hell is he 'interfacing' with an organic-? Oh! She can't talk, so he's reading her mind! Alright, I get it, that makes sense.
There was silence for another minute.
"Erm…What was your name again, mate?" Wheatley asked hesitantly. "C-Cor-Corn…ly…Corn-something…?"
"Cornelius," came the response.
"Cornelius, right," Wheatley said. "Erm…What was it Chell wanted to talk to me about, exactly?"
"She wanted to know if you were sorry," Cornelius replied.
"Oh," Wheatley said, blinking the shutter over his blue optic. "Well, um, that's cleared up, then - I am sorry, as I was, you know, just saying - so…"
Suddenly, Cornelius asked, "Would you like to come home?"
"Would I?" Wheatley exclaimed. "Oh, I'd love to! That'd be brilliant! Oh, I - y-you have no idea what it's like, being out here - I-I would absolutely love to come back! Absolutely! That would just be-!" He stopped as he realized what he was saying. "Oh," he said sheepishly. "Oh, y-you're not really offering me a chance to come back, are you? Yeah, you're-you're just asking me that to make sure I really am being punished by being stuck out here, aren't you? Yeah, alright; well, I am - you can feel free to tell her that too: that I am, in fact, miserable, stuck out here in space, nothing to do except listen to this bloody Space Core…Yeah, you tell her I'm getting my just desserts - I'm sure she'll be glad to hear it."
"Actually, she isn't," Cornelius said; "we'd be more than happy to try and find a way to bring you home. Space travel isn't much of a big deal, not even for a small number of humans - we should be able to come and retrieve you."
"Yeah, no, you-you're just saying that," Wheatley said dejectedly. "You're just giving me false hope so I'm a little more miserable out here. Well, you know, that's fair - that's absolutely fair, you-"
"Personality Core, individual name 'Wheatley', you are hereby commanded to keep your transmission connection to the Shared Personality Core Mainframe active so that the signal can be traced back to you," Cornelius said, suddenly using his professional tone of voice again; "you will be retrieved in a matter of days. End of transmission."
"Hey no-no-no-no wait a minute, don't-!" Wheatley began, but the signal was gone.
For a minute, Wheatley just floated there, too stunned to even hear his unwanted, space-obsessed companion.
"Alright, fine," he finally said. "You want me to keep the connection open? I'll keep it open. See you soon, mate. Maybe. If you're not just, you know, punishing me more. I mean, it's more than fair if you are, but-"
"Hey, Wheatley!" the Space Core said. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Wheatley, hey!"
"Ohh, what do you want, mate?" Wheatley groaned exasperatedly, spinning around to face the Space Core.
"We're in space," the Space Core said.
"Yes, I know we're in bloody-!"
"Please be quiet," the Space Core said, cutting Wheatley off. "We're in space. Gotta be respectful of space. Space is quiet. Be like space. Be quiet. Like space. Space. Space! Love space. Happy to be in space. Gotta appreciate space. In silence. Space is silent. Be silent. In space. Space!"
"Yeah, um…Can you hear yourself talking?" Wheatley asked the Space Core sarcastically.
"Not talking," the Space Core said. "Silent. I am silent. Like space. Space! So much space. Lots and lots of space. Getting to see space. I'm in space…"
"Ohh," Wheatley groaned again, rolling his optic as the Space Core's nonstop babble resumed. "Cornelius, mate, you'd better be coming to get me!"
