Wheatley slid down the management rail, sending sparks behind him. The scientists told him to never go above ten miles an hour on the railing, but this was urgent. The lights were dim in this section of the facility, and he passed by some of the many drawings on the wall, but he ignored them for now, because they weren't important to him. His cracked optic was physically the only thing leading him to Chell.
The testing courses went somewhat from looking like crap to looking... quite nice, after a few rounds. GLaDOS was back, she never thought she could be a threat again though. The cameras turned to stare at her as she thought about the task at hand.
"You know, you shouldn't stand in the same place for too long. Who knows, your boots might melt. Or maybe the heel will collapse under your weight. By the way, you look wonderful."
She was not trying to be a robot anymore, and she was acting more like a emotionless human. The chambers started to pass by faster with each completion. All these new testing elements were strange to her: Thermal Discouragement Beams, Aerial Faith Plates and Hard Light Bridges. There were also older elements, mainly turrets, which she did not miss in the short time she spent without them.
She entered Test Chamber 16, where there was a turret behind a grate. She made note of it quickly, because she figured she could blow it up somehow. The beam whirred on and blew up a standing row of turrets.
"Ahh, I'm on fire!"
"It burns!"
"Ow, ow, ow!"
There were two cubes in the corner, she grabbed them both and quickly brought them back. One of the cameras turned to watch what she was doing as she blew up the turret with the beam, then she quickly ducked in.
A small row of turrets stood down under a grate, they moved their arms and began this wonderful melody. Across from them, was a very large turret, though it didn't look like the offensive type. She kept crawling, where she once again, found one of the mysterious rooms with vibrant paintings on the wall. This one read "UNMORALITY" coming out of a pile of dead bodies. This man... who ever he is, must be either crazy, or scarred.
"Oi!" A enthralled voice sounded. It was him again, Wheatley, or whatever. She'd seen him peek through the panels, but it looked like he finally found a spot where they could talk.
"What do you want?" she mused. Chell really wasn't sure if he was on her side or GLaDOS's.
"Oh my god, you can talk!" his optic shrunk for a moment before continuing, "Okay. So, uh... I'm going to break you out of here soon, I promise! I'm just trying to figure out how... Because-"
"How did you get back on your management rail?" Chell cut in before he could continue.
"Well, uh, GLaDOS put me back on it, and here I am! She didn't kill me! What's up with that? Emotions are weird, I swear. One moment we were talking, the next, we were extremely close, and the next, well.. I don't know, I guess it was the way I talked to her, it made her happy! But anyway, I'll be back soon, I promise!"
He kept sliding down the rail before turning out of sight. Chell sat down under the painting hoping that it would ease the pain in her legs, the moment wouldn't last though.
Not long after she sat down, GLaDOS began to speak, "You know, you could lose your girlish figure if you sit like that for too long. I CAN still feel you, you know... I know you're there."
She huffed as she struggled to get up before crouching out and continuing the test. It was rather easy, really. More like a wits test, than a actual cognitive test. Destroying turrets with lasers made her feel bad, at least if she knocked them over, they could be reactivated. The door slid open, and a low droning noise came from the walls.
It took a moment before it occurred to Chell: GLaDOS was humming. She never really though the AI could do anything but throw out lies and rude remarks. Knowing her, it wouldn't last. And it didn't. Right away, the first thing she hears is another jeer about neurotoxin.
A step out into the open, the quiet hum of the Hard light bridge, another laser, and a cube... of course. She figured if she did get out, she'd be categorized as 'crazy' and they'd have to euthanize her, or shoot her, or put her in a asylum.
Shadows appeared on the wall. It seemed like the same shadow though, which was strange to her. It was a man with ruffled hair. Sometimes she could see a shadow clearly, but usually ignored it. Chambers that had dens seemed to have more of these illusions. Sometimes she also heard voices, which was troubling. Schizophrenia? Maybe.
All she knew, was GLaDOS has a surprise for her.