Chapter 7

Memories?

Light filled the human core's eyes. The minor wounds all over him quickly healed while the gaping wound on his chest was still recuperating but he could still move with much less pain than before.

Now that he was fully awake he carefully got up and noticed that he was on a bed and not in his makeshift house.

It was more detailed. It had double chests lining the walls, a few furnaces near the roof, and stairs leading to an upper floor. The whole house was made out of stone, not cobblestone, smooth stone and cobblestone flooring.

He noticed another bed beside him. Craig was on the bed and propped up against a pillow, reading a book without a title.

… He also noticed that Rick wasn't here.

"That's probably for the best" he muttered to himself. Fact ignored him.

Wheatley's attention instantly focused on the book and slowly got up from his bed, wincing a bit for being so stiff. By instinct he began stretching, as he did so he glimpsed at the book but couldn't make out what it said.

Narrowing his eyes in annoyance he leaned over with his hands behind his back, "What are you reading?"

He glanced over at him for a moment, as if the answer was obvious, and then went back to reading.

Pouting a bit he began invading his personal space to see what the book said instantly annoying the purplish-pink headed core by sitting beside him and practically leaning on him trying to make out the words as if he didn't have his glasses... come to think of it everything looked pretty blurry to him than usual.

"D'aw, are you two girls getting all cozy?"

Both of them jerked their heads up to see Rick entering the house and shutting the door behind him.

Craig glared at the human Adventure core then at the Intelligence Dampening sphere, his cheeks were rosy red from annoyance and anger.

He gazed at him with a confused look of why he was mad, "Wut?"

Simply he shoved him off the bed.

"The hell was that for mate!?"

"Fact: When personal space is invading one's personal space is to shove them out."

He rolled his big blue eyes, "either way that hurt…"

"Other than Craig being a girl," Rick commented ignoring his burning glare, he looked at Wheatley with that smile, "You doin' alright?"

He held out a hand for him.

Wheatley glanced at the sweaty hand then at him and got up himself, stumbling, "Y-yeah… why do you care?"

He shrugged (cause Wheatley denied his hand) and walked over to a chest, saying, "Well you were badly hurt. If we ever get back I don't want the lil' lady to be upset if she found out you were dead…"

He winced at word. He lost count of how many times he almost died in this world because he was careless.

"By the way I fixed your glasses."

"Y-you wut?"

He took his thick black bordered glasses that were broken along with another pair which was probably Craig's half moon glasses from the chest and handed them to the two.

They exchanged glances confused then took them, putting them back on.

"Why are you being so nice to us?" Fact asked first before Wheatley could open his mouth.

"Y-yeah!" He added pouting a bit, wanting to say it first.

Of course he didn't give a direct answer nor answered at all as he glided back to the same chest, "You two heal enough for an adventure?"

Willingly Wheatley shook his head vigorously, "I'm good!"

He glanced at them with that smirk, "C'mon you two don't need to be total wimps about it."

"You don't know what I've went through!" the intelligence dampening human shouted suddenly, "It was horrible! Absolutely horrid! I almost died a couple of times!"

"But you didn't have us at the time now did you?"

He paused, "well no…"

"There you go. You'll be a lot safer with someone like me around." He replied proudly, grabbing an iron pickaxe and sword from the chest and placing them in the sheaths of his belt.

"Fact: You're hopeless." Craig stated matter-of-factly.

Rick rolled his eyes and tossed Wheatley a wooden sword which he quickly squirmed away and fell over his bed and onto the other side, bumping his head. Something in his mind sparked…

Wh-why are you crying little girl? Are you lost? Are you ok? Did someone hurt you? Did you hit your head?

He stared at the ceiling stunned.

What was that?

Then Rick's voice traveled into his ears, "I'm surprised you're not brain damaged."

Another spark…

…- That you may have a minor case of serious brain damage…

A familiar memory and an unfamiliar

He felt confused as he just stared into space.

"… Hello? Earth to moron?"

Of course that'll get him.

He came out of his thoughts to see the brute standing before his head and the so called know-it-all beside him with two swords in his hands and stared down at him confused.

"Are you ok? You've been awfully quite for a while now." Rick firstly spoke, his eyebrow raised.

"Being in that same position will hurt your back," Craig responded in his stiff way.

Slowly Wheatley got up, stretching out his back and hesitated, "Oh uh, j-just thinking really… old memories popping back up. Happens all the time, really. Nothin' to worry about— Is that sword mine? Why do I get a wooden sword and Craig gets a stone?"

Rick was wise not to answer and headed out the door.

The human fact machine handed him the wooden sword and followed him out.

They left him alone with his thoughts as he stared at his bare feet. He spread his toes and flexed them silently on the cobblestone floor.

Suddenly a meaty hand grabbed him and yanked him outside.

When Wheatley saw the outside world he knew he was nowhere close to his house. They were next to the forest and on a beautiful grass plain where animals roamed freely. He remembered that the house was meant for two… Only for him and George…

Sadness swept him over again and he froze in place until he was nudged by a white sheep that stared up him with derpy eyes. His personality unfazed by his sadness he talked uselessly to the stupid sheep as the two human cores continued walking.

Rick's eyes caught the sight of a meandering cow. He pulled out his sword and crept towards it. Before he could get closer fact instantly pulled him aside and scolded him, "Have you gone stupid?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked, shaking away from his grip.

He gestured with his head over to Wheatley who was now hugging the sheep and buried his face in its wool.

"… Oh right… Listen, you keep him company while I go adventuring for a while. I don't want you two ladies to get in trouble in the depths of the caves."

Craig rolled his purple eyes, "Really have you lost brain cells? Your personality has changed slightly."

He tipped his fedora upwards and smugly smirked, "I don't think anyone wants to be alone in this world. Take Wheatley for example he made friends with a cow. A cow. I would be caught dead if I was seen doing such a thing. Human beings or what we used to be, cores, androids.—"

"So you're acting like this for a selfish reason?" he interrupted bluntly.

"It's not exactly selfish. Like I said I don't think anyone wants to be alone in this world… therefore I don't want to lose any of you just by being like myself."

This brought memories back to when George left Wheatley and blamed them for it. They almost died because of his anger.

Which was actually a valuable lesson when you think about it... dangling from a rope from one arm and hanging on to the ones you need with the other… He was silent in thought.

When Craig was about to question him further he was already walking away towards an open cave.

He huffed and glanced at the book in his grasp, then at the blue haired human and sighed as he approached him.

When he reached him he simply stated, a bit coldly, "Fact: Sobbing into a goat's hair will likely make you break out in hives."

Wheatley sniffled and pulled away from the sheep as it instantly walked away from them. He let out a sigh and hugged his knees.

Fact simply sat a few feet beside him and began reading the book.

After moments of silence the human moronic core broke the ice, "Y-you still haven't told me what you are reading."

He exhaled, "It's a book of this world."

His eyebrows shot up, "Wut? How did you get that?"

"I'm not sure, it was in my hands when I first opened my eyes to this world… maybe cause I was the first here."

"What do you mean?"

"It says on the first page in this book it says the only way to retrieve this book of everything about this world is to be the first to see it… apparently it was I…"

He stared at him for a few moments then tore his gaze away.

Rick mined away at the pieces of iron in a rhythmic way then whipped his sweaty head. He was right next to lava and mined for diamond. Diamond was close to lava right? He couldn't remember. At least he was close with danger which was his dear love and addicting… it could cost his life one day.

He sighed, deciding to take a break, resting on the staff of the pickaxe. It was about to give out from being overused. He tried to think positively at times like this. That's why he was happy around the two sad sacks of humans. One fact he remembers on his journey with someone is to always have a good attitude and good things will come along with a happy travelers… even though they kept dying… but not him.

… He was lost, wounded but smiling that devious smile, knowing he'll make it. There was a ranger house on the side of the mountain… he needed help. That snake bite was getting worse.

He blinked

Where was this coming from? Snake bite?

What was he remembering…?

Suddenly a hiss and an explosion which sent him backwards

Happy Explosion Day gorgeous he cried out his upper shudder lowered to mimic a smirk as he gazed up at Chell.

… Why…?

The poison was traveling up towards his heart.

I can help you he heard a voice say.

I can ease your pain

Make you live forever

He was getting closer to the ranger house as the poison forced him to cough up blood… but he was still smiling… weakly.

I can make you live forever.

He felt a burning lava spark seer his clothes.

Open the door

He forced the door open… there was nothing but darkness.

'Hello?' He wheezed out.

His breathe was turning fitful.

Then… a metal claw grabbed him and pulled him down into a long hallway downwards as if Hell was waiting to greet him

His eyes shot open.

He was alive on the other side of the lava.

Everything was surprisingly quite for the two except for a few baas and moos. He read slowly and carefully, memorizing the page numbers and words. The book was like a thick novel any sane person would put down a book instantly by the size but Craig read it. Before he was human he was previously programmed to learn all about Aperture Science to learn to trainees while Cave was dead until he was corrupted by falling off his management rail and fell onto the hard marble floor by one of the trainees…

He shuddered at the memory. The feeling of the floor was so cold… but he never admitted he was corrupt and thought he was still in that classroom teaching third graders… wait…

He stopped reading. Where did that come from? He shook his head and went back to reading.

'The recipe for cake, (from above), is simple but remember that it's a lie.'

His eyes grew wide;

"'Let there be cake!' she responded to her massager and well let's say the outcome to the whole situation was death… Well are there any questions about today's lesson? I can only take one since its almost lunch."

A couple of students raised their hands.

"Andrew," the ginger teacher said pointing at boy in front.

"So the cake was a lie?"

He chuckled, "In a way but since she was dumb and unaware of the shortage of wheat that's why. But in all seriousness it wasn't a lie just a statement."

"… but it was a lie right?"

That question rung in his head as loud as the school bell which happened to be ringing at the very moment. He gave a sheepish smile to the class, "Alright, class, your dismissed. Oh, and Julius, make sure you don't forget about homework and don't blame your nonexistent dog. I know you're allergic to them."

The boy Julius said nothing but stared at the teacher dumbstruck then quickly left the room with his classmates.

There was a sudden chuckle when the child left which jerked his head up to see a rather stoat man.

"You really influence your students to learn don't you Mr."

"Um… who are you?"

"Just a helper of a company that could really use your help and that personality to help influence our employees and trainees to do better…"

"That's a very nice offer but I already have a lovely job and I don't want to disappoint the kids with a new teacher to get used to."

The man smiled… deviously, "I don't think you have a choice. We are in desperate need of cores."

Everything was blank…

Craig was panting heavily, shaking.

What was that?

That wasn't in his memory base… well he wasn't a core anymore now was he?

He stared down at the book for a while as he tried to decipher what just played in his mind. Hesitantly he touched his hair and pulled a stand to his face…

Yup, purple… not ginger.

Was he something else before a core?

An actual human?

He gazed over at Wheatley who was stupidly playing with his sword.

How long has he zoned out?

He gazed up at the sun and noticed it was nearly sunset.

Rick should be back soon.

Speaking of the Adventurer he was trudging out of the cave and towards them. Craig stayed where he was, deciding whether to say anything about what he saw.

Apparently he had something on his mind as well. He looked confused and the smile had vanished.

When he saw the two staring at him as he drew nearer he brought on a fake smile, "I see you two didn't get harmed."

"Yes, we are perfectly fine…" the purple haired human replied slowly.

Wheatley poked his back, "You're hurt! What happened?!"

"Don't worry about it. An explosion I can handle…" He didn't finish his sentence but cleared his throat and regain his smile, "c'mon, let's get inside before the creatures of the night appear."

The blue haired human shuddered at the thought and rushed inside before anyone else.

When he was gone Fact sudden questioned him, "What happened to you back there? Its not like you to let your guard down."

He hesitated, "Ah, well… Let's say I had a… memory rush."

The shorter one paused and touched his injured shoulder gently, as he said mostly to himself, "… I believe I had one as well."

But he heard him, "About what?"

He didn't respond for a moment until he simply said, "I… don't know…"

"C'mon you two what are you waiting for?!" they heard Wheatley called out in a shaky tone, obviously scared of those monsters.

Obeying they walked back into the house and shut the door behind them just as mobs started appearing.