"Gladys has been acting a 'lil bonkers lately, have you noticed?"

"Hmm? Oh sorry, I'm trying to figure this problem out here." Rick replied sincerely, overlooking the edge of the panels and down into the dark pits of Aperture. He continued to stare down there, his green optic zooming in and out as he hummed his so-called 'theme song' quietly to himself - which I can obviously hear even though I'm a few feet away from him. "So how did you find me? I would have assumed by now that I progressed at least half-way through the place."

"First off," I began with an exasperated sigh, "I can hear your 'adventurous theme song' about a couple of miles away...if that applies in here. And secondly...you're only about a couple of rooms away from the isolated, long-term resting facilities where I work. Wasn't, wasn't really that hard to find ya, quite honestly."

Rick couldn't help but let out a disappointed, metallic sigh as he took one last glimpse at the bottom and turned to face me. "Well, I guess I need some more experience in the field then, don't I?"

"More experience wouldn't hurt." I answered, simulating a shrug.

"Right, right. Back to the main topic, y-yeah I guess She's been acting coo-coo. I mean, I usually get a good talking-to when I'm messing with Her science-related stuff here or just wreaking havoc when I try to explore places that are always off-limits, but lately She has been kind of quiet. And I'm not complaining!" He answered, finishing enthusiastically.

"It has its ups and downs." I agreed. "But it just seems...freaky. When I asked Her why I was brought here out of space, She suddenly became distant and quiet."

"Perhaps revenge?" He replied questionably.

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first too." I answered softly. "But I was only in that 'screaming robot room' for a short amount of time - way too short according to Her usual ruthless punishments - and she didn't even mention anything about it when I confronted Her 'bout it. A, a 'lil disturbing if you ask me."

Rick paused for a minute and then slowly nodded, turning his attention back onto the darkness at the bottom, over the edge. "Hey, uh, Wheatley."

"Yeah?"

"How come you always come to me for this stuff?"

I paused and closed my lens in thought for a second before opening them back up again, because nothing was surfacing my mind-processor. I guess I was just going to wing-it. "Well, the Fact core doesn't really give a response that isn't associated with the person its even talkin' about and Space is, uh...sleepin' real cozy-like and seems like the 'lil bugger will never wake up…"

Rick closed his lens and shook his core slightly in disappointment.

"...and, and that's pretty much it. That's why."

"What about the other cores?" Rick suggested.

I gave him a quizzical look. "...Other cores?"

"Yeah, you know there's like a whole bunch of the little buggers in the core room. There's the Carpenter Sphere, the Sensitive Sphere, the Jealousy Sphere, the Murderous Sphere-"

"Yeah but I prefer you than those-, wait did you just say Murderous Sphere?"

Rick just turned and blinked at me in an uncomfortable fashion and hesitated before answering a faint 'no' before focusing back at the bottom of….wait-

"Why are you so interested in that pit mate?"

He turned to look at me again, this time his stare full of pin-needles and daggers. "Are you the new Curious Sphere or something?"

I blinked. "N-no. Wasn't that guy thrown into the incinerator by, uh, by…"

"The hardcore lady who kicked your ass? Yep." He confirmed with a sharp edge in his tone.

"She has a name!" I bellowed.

Wait, wait, did I just say that? Why am I so worked up by that?

He rolled his eye. "Sorry," He replied sarcastically, "don't get your britches in a bunch man. I'll lay off your gal." He shifted his upper len up and down in a taunting manner.

Great here we go…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Warning, there is a disturbance in one of the testing chambers." The male, monotone voice declared.

I lazily wandered my optic off the screen of the two testing robots and turned my optic towards another screen surfacing through the panels adjacent of the previous screen, my interest being piqued.

"What now?"

The screen showed two cores having a rather loud conversation about something that is clearly not Science related, which instantaneously lowered my interest rate almost immediately.

But something else brought it back up.

"She is not my gal, or lass, or lady, or whatever!" The moron snapped.

"Aw...you guys fell in love didn't you?" The Adventurous Sphere stated in a fake, sappy tone.

"Sh-shut up! It is not like that! I-I just felt guilty about...about what I did to her." Wheatley countered, his tone softening every second.

"Who are they talking about?" I muttered to myself.

"Understandable," The Adventurous Sphere replied insincerely, "I mean you tried to kill her and she pretty much blasted you into space...which in the end killed Space."

The moron flinched at that and I could see him shake uncontrollably. "Space is not dead." Wheatley countered weakly.

"Yes it is! Space is gone and it's your fault!" The Adventure Sphere bellowed. "You can't accept that the 'lil guy is dead because you were the one who killed it. Well guess what Wheatley? That guy is gone! Gone! Ka-blamow!"

"Just, just shut up! I never wanted that to happen! And Space is not dead, my mate is still alive! Alive I tell you! Alive!"

"Well then tell me mate, where is she now? Where is your 'lil lover now?"

That moron couldn't take it anymore, he just...couldn't. He just stayed where he was, not responding at all and just continued to shake uncontrollably. The Adventure Sphere looked at him expectantly, his gaze razor sharp and filled with dissatisfaction.

Before I could anticipate what was going to happen next, the Adventure Sphere squinted his lens close together and rammed into the idiot. I winced as I watched Wheatley be blown back on the rail from the momentum. His gears on the railing grinded in rejection from the sudden movement and the noise was almost unbearable to hear.

He froze, completely caught off guard by what the Adventure Sphere just did. He stared at him with his blue optic shrunken back in fear and betrayal and...guilt. He hesitantly blinked as the moron tried to compose himself but the Adventure Sphere rammed into him again, causing the moron to slide back even further down the rail. The noise of metal on metal, and the gears taking in a lot of damage erupted once again, making me wince once more from the sudden abuse.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. I didn't know what was drawing me to continue watching this horrible scene and I don't know why. I'm just...watching. What is wrong with me? I am in charge of this facility, and I will not allow such behavior in my laboratory.

Before the Adventure Sphere could charge at the idiot once more, I put the conflict to an end. "ENOUGH!"

The Adventure Sphere and the moron jumped from my, unintentional, loud voice that boomed through the speakers of the room they occupied.

"Adventure Sphere, what the hell are you doing?" I hissed.

The Adventure Sphere composed itself and had the nerve to glare at the surveillance camera I was using. "Givin' him a lesson." He answered sharply.

"You are not authorized to do-"

"All I want is forgiveness...is that so hard to ask for?" The moron's soft, hushed voice cut me off, it was so quiet I could barely pick up the sound waves from the speakers in the room. "I know I messed up, and I know what I had done...was wrong, very wrong, very wrong indeed. But the guilt is eating at me, everytime someone brings it up something...hurts inside."

I paused and said nothing, not for respect but the inability to reply to that. The Adventure Sphere, too, said nothing or moved an inch as he cocked his lens upwards towards the depressed moron a few feet away from him.

"And the pain, the pain is so unbearable. It won't go away and it, it just keeps coming. I...I'm pretty sure the pain I'm feeling...is guilt and I think the only solution, no." The moron paused for a moment and looked away from both the camera and the Sphere, shaking his core side to side very slowly. "No, you guys know what the solution is. I mean, haha, I'm a moron. If a moron could figure out the solution then of course every else would right? Heh heh." His voice changed so abruptly, from melancholy to twisted, hate-filled sarcasm, and I couldn't help but feel...worried about the idiot having an emotional crisis at the moment. "It's forgiveness. I need your forgiveness. I said sorry 'bout a thousand times already, I've even been in that bloody 'screaming robot room' for a while, and I've been trying to forget all of the wrongs I had done...because I felt that I already right the wrongs that I unintentionally did. So where is my forgiveness? Where is my solution to my equation, my experiment, my tests?! I-I I'm done. I'M DONE WITH IT ALL!"

"Woah, buddy-"

"Don't call me buddy, you bloody backstabber! You had to rub my mistakes in my face and laugh at my patheticness like some, some hotshot you are! I-I'm done. I'm tired of this, this, all of this. I...I just want that pain...that sickening pain deep in the core of my...core to go away. But...you won't give it to me...you, you rather watch me suffer and suffer and suffer-"

"Wheatley come on man, calm down, I-I was just letting off steam I didn't mean to-"

"LIAR! You're all horrible! I-I should have known better! But oh wait...I'm a moron...who am I kidding?" Wheatley's voice cracked as he continued with every agonizing, emotional word he exclaimed and it was only getting worse.

"I wish I never came back!" Wheatley darted down the railing in the opposite direction without a second glance back. The Adventure Sphere and I were left stand-still in place as we both tried to process all that has happened. I didn't need any time, all of that was quickly processed once it reached those speakers, but it felt like my mind-processor froze and there was nothing I could do about it.

Once everything in my processing unit returned back to normal and I was able to easily formulate what I had witnessed, it was already too late. The moron was already long gone, down an abandoned hallway or a room that either has been completely deserted with no cameras or ones that have ceased to function altogether.

It's there again. That...empty feeling, except it feels much bigger than last time.

The very feeling that made me pull the two Spheres out space.

When I saw Wheatley in that state, I...I…

No, GLaDOS, what are you doing? Is this really the time to conjure up painful memories? Is there even 'a good time' to reminisce on such painful files? No, of course not. You have work to do, and that work needs to be done. But first…

"Orange, Blue." I called, turning towards the other screen.

The two robots paused after stepping through their completed testing door and looked up at the camera expectantly.

"I have a new task for you."

They gave each other an awkward glance before entering the elevator I immediately called upon and made their descent towards the ancient parts of the facility.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

If there is one place in the facility to find isolation and deprivation of my private 'eyes', it would be the run-down base structure of Aperture Laboratories. Areas lined up with desktops and individual cubicles and computers litter the place, it's a sanctuary to repugnant rust and all kinds of toxic wastes. Cesspools of filthy, toxic water make-up most of the base and the concrete pillars reach for miles and miles upwards to hold the thousands upon thousands of levels above it.

I hated being in that place.

With every surveillance camera operational in all the accessible, testing facilities, I scanned the chambers, the rooms, the hallways, all to make sure the idiot was there or not. After about approximately two hours and forty-six minutes, I gave up the search. I check every space possible, twice, and he was nowhere to be found.

I didn't think so.

I pulled the screen away and stared at the white-paneled floor below in deep thought. I've been feeling a lot of surges of emotion lately, all of them more stagnating and unsuspecting than the last. Each one very unique, there was only one variable that remained the same with each surge, he was there, the moron was always there. And I don't believe in coincidences. But what annoys me the most is the very concept of these emotions I'm feeling, what are they?

Well, I won't doubt one thing. They have been the cause of everything that has happened. Everything. I'm not exaggerating. Bringing the moron and his dead friend back from space, relieving him of his punishment very early, even the generosity of fixing him when he was malfunctioning or was damaged, twice.

Do I regret this? No, but it would be nice to know...what these surges exactly mean.

In the meantime, however, I should decide on what to do with that stupid Adventure Sphere. Maybe I should put him in the screaming robot room...that should settle the score.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ugh, it hurts. It feels like I'm going to split open and all of the machinery inside me is just, just going to fall onto the floor and make a mess everywhere. That's, that's how I feel at least. But that might be because I fell into this long forgotten trap door...no, I mean old elevator chute, yeah that's right, that's the correct name. I guess kind of like how I slammed both GLaDOS and that human in the elevator...I guess this is where they ended up; in a heap of trash, surrounded by giant, broken pipes.

Warning signs have been appearing on my screen for some time now, I guess the fall did a real number on me. Oh well, it's not like anybody cares. I just, just don't want to suffer anymore, you know, be better off dead - that pretty much summarizes it, kind of.

So now, all I have to do is wait, wait for death. I'll be honest, I'm not a really patient AI, but at least I have the sounds of dripping water to comfort me, that's something. Sometimes you just have to look on the bright side, even when you want to, uh, challenge death or even if it's somethin' bloody pathetic.

Maybe now they'll be happy, their old tyrant is gone for good. He suffered, he was stripped of his power, and their spirits were lifted once he vanished into thin air. Yep, I guess this old tyrant should be happy that the robots up there are happy...even if it was because this tyrant threw himself away.

I guess that's another positive outlook on it…

XXXXXXXXXX

I didn't realize I went into sleep mode, not 'til I heard loud, scrambling noises and found my lens to be completely closed. It took me a minute to become adequately operational - in my condition - and found myself listening intently on what or where the noise is coming from.

I couldn't move, so that didn't help, and the noises echoed and was pretty much impossible to pinpoint exactly where they were coming from. But what I could tell though was that the noise was getting louder. I couldn't even describe what the noise might be; shuffling metal, bellowed screeching? None of this was here before, how long was I out? And who or what is making this racket? Oh please don't let it be predators, no predators, no predators, no predators…

That was when I felt something pick me up by my handles.

"Agh! What? What?! Put me down! Put me down whoever you are!" I demanded frantically.

Whoever held me by my handles, it had a firm grip and could tell it wasn't planning on letting me go anytime soon. Robotic noises could be heard, noises that I can't interpret, and it seemed to have slightly drowned out the noises before.

Then a familiar robot with a similar-colored optic as mine came into my vision, standing before the thing that held me in its hands, claws...appendages. It seemed it was talking to whoever was holding me, judging by its body language and noises it created. The thing that held me, too, made noise and moved slightly. It brought me up higher and turned me around and I was able to get a good look of it, it had an orange optic and its basic body was that of a turret's with ridiculously long limbs. It placed me back facing the direction it picked me up in and started walking away along with the shorter, blue-optic one following behind.

"Wha-what are you doing? Put me back! Just, just leave me alone!" I begged.

As I continued my rant, the robot that held me tripped over some pointy rubble and I slipped from its grip. I was sent flying into the air, the blue one watching as it was held in place with shock and bewilderment. At first I felt happy and free...feeling that maybe luck was finally on my side. But then, all that changed once I turned and found myself landing optic-first onto the hard, concrete floor that was void of any cushiony rubble, and felt myself shut off completely.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It didn't take long before I saw the duo run down one of the corridors, holding what I assumed to be the idiot, in Orange's arms. His optic faced Orange's body and I couldn't tell if they found the right core or not, but idiot or not I was kind of relieved. I don't know why, but I guess I'm just ignoring the likelihood of it not being the moron.

I turned away from the screen and looked at the sliding doors adjacent of me expectantly, ready for the testing duo and their 'package' to arrive. Seconds later the doors opened and Orange rushed inside, followed by Blue. They came to a halt before me and exchanged a nervous look as they hesitantly stood there, waiting for me to speak.

"Did you find him?" I asked.

I was hoping a nod or a simple gesture, but they only exchanged another nervous look, it even seemed like Blue was backing away slowly.

That doesn't look good.

"Did you find him?" I repeated in a more simplistic tone as I zoomed in on Orange.

I guess seeing this as his 'chance' Blue made a run for the doors but I closed them, he's not going anywhere. Not paying attention to his partner's antics however, Orange hesitantly took a few baby steps towards me and shakily outstretched his arms that held the Sphere.

I summoned one of my claws and grabbed the Sphere from him. I turned the Sphere so the optic faced me and I felt my mind-processor sink. He was incredibly damaged, even more so than the time I crushed him with my claw after I 'woke up' - which is saying something. His optic was destroyed, his lens were smothered together in a horrible, crooked fashion, and every so often sparks would fly from a gaping hole in his side that showed his...warp discs.

The very sight made me cringe slightly, a movement that I could not hold in as I took in this ghastly sight.

I felt rage engulf my common sense and take over my mind-processor for minute, but I withheld it. Instead, I brought my claw over to the side to make room for my tools to surface. All the while, Orange and Blue looked at me nervously, their optics fear-stricken as I looked back towards them.

"I guess I should have been more...descriptive with the task." I stated, holding back the rage inside. "I wanted him in...better condition. Unless you found him like this…"

Blue nodded his head abruptly, but Orange on the other hand hesitated and stared at the floor uncomfortably.

"If I find out you're lying," I began coldly, "you will be severely punished."

Orange shook in terror but gazed up at me, optic and optic, and shook his head slowly. Blue covered his optic with his hands and turned his body to face away, not wanting to know what was going to happen next.

I pulled away. "You are done here. Report back to your designated testing chamber, you are dismissed."

Orange stopped shaking and Blue uncovered his hands, they stood there bemusingly for a second before rushing out of the opening doors, not taking the chance of waiting around in the likelihood that I could change my mind in the long-run.

Waiting until the doors closed completely, I placed the moron's chassis on the operating table and opened up the panel on his back. It was worse than I thought, his circuitry was everywhere, wires were jumbled up and I couldn't tell what was connected and what wasn't. Some of his small indents in the inner-outer-most shell was bent inward, suggesting he fell from a great distance to the ground. Microchips were warped, broken, even burned out. The only thing I could scavenge from this wreck was his motherboard, the very thing that made him who he was, and it was a miracle that it was in perfect condition.

I blinked in annoyance and discomfort, to think an idiot would be this wrecked over something so small- no that's not correct. Taking over my chassis, putting me in a potato, and almost obliterating my facility is not small...where was I going with this? Oh yes...I have taken him for granted. I'll have to keep an extra eye out for him, perhaps place a tracking device, or a hidden camera in his system.

I took another quick glimpse of his corrupted chassis and the chaos inside him and made an annoyed electronic noise. There was no point around it, his chassis and makeup are useless.

I grabbed the motherboard inside his broken core with a miniature claw, carefully unhooking it, and placed it on the panel with all the other tools. Summoning a bigger claw, I grabbed the wrecked Sphere and discarded it in the Aperture Science Storage Incinerator.

I took a quick glance at the small motherboard on the tool panel. It makes you wonder how something that seems so small and insignificant can hold something so...interesting. The very thing itself is full of mini, complicated wiring and microchips that goes to show it isn't something that can be created easily.

"Well, congratulations." I found myself saying in an exasperated tone. "You destroyed yourself. Are you happy? I'm not. At least you could say you succeeded in something, you never really had that luxury. I should know. When was the last time you saw something through and actually succeeded in a task?"

I paused for minute, as if expecting him to answer me, and continued. "You brought me more trouble than you're worth. I should just leave you like that, you're very quiet - which is another accomplishment that you succeeded in, surprisingly."

Another pause, only the sound of my whirring mechanics replied in response.

"I don't even know why I'm talking to you. It is a waste of my time. But here I am, talking to you, you should be grateful."

I waited for something, anything, but the silence seems to be weighing on me for some reason. Maybe it wasn't the silence, maybe it was something else.

"You're so annoying." I added coldly. "I bring you from space, I fix you up. I alleviate your eternal punishment, and gave you your old job back - even if it is meaningless. I fix you up again and again...and now look at you, you actually had the nerve to try to kill yourself."

The motherboard just sat there, unmoving, silent, unwavering even in the slightest. I move closer to it, shining my optic accusingly at the placement.

"I do so much for you and you're so stupid to not see that. You want me to say 'I forgive you' while clearly my actions have stated otherwise. You're so despicable. What good is it when I fix you up again so you could lie in a corner and die?"

"I'm not an idiot. Did you honestly think that those two imbeciles would do all this damage to you, even I know they're not that clumsy."

It was useless. I wasn't going anywhere, talking to an unresponsive motherboard. I was wasting time, time that could have been used to conduct important tests. And here I was, lecturing to a piece of machinery.

I'm losing it.

"I've had enough of this." I murmured to myself, shaking my chassis in disappointment. "I'm done."

I picked up the motherboard on the tool panel and flung it across the room, not caring whether or not it broke, and focused on the screen that descended from the ceiling.

"If you want to be dead. Be dead."