AN/... Thanks for all the reviews guys =D, I know some of you hated last chapter whilst others said it was still good, so apologies. Any chance of getting to 100 reviews (at least) before the end of the story? We're at 70-something right now... I think =P. Anyway, I digress. I hope you enjoy! This is a Rick chapter mostly! And for those who are upset/angry I killed the baby, can I just say *SPOILER ALERT* There will be extremely cute chapters soonish, that involve... A baby! So shush your baying for revenge guys! ;) good stuff's gonna happen!

Chapter 12 - Aperture Laboratories

Wheatley POV - I was cold. I didn't have anything on me but my clothes. It was getting dark. But at least now I could think alone. I sat on familiar grass, in complete silence, free from the hustle-bustle of roads and houses and streets. Just me, and the special field. I say alone, well I feel as though little ghosts of me and Chell were still here, sitting under the apple tree, kissing in the rain, you name it. Talk about haunting memories. I desperately wanted to cut all the ties for a while, and retreat into a world where I haven't done anything wrong. Because in reality, I had completely messed everything up. In one day I had made Chell cry, managed to turn a best friend into an enemy, hurt my own child, and to top it all off, I decided to run away from my problems, which wasn't going to solve anything. Trust me to ruin everything all at once.

Still some part of me remained that would not accept the fact that Rick had no reason to lie earlier, and that the baby belonging to me and Chell was most likely dead. The other half however, was bitterly cynical, and constantly reminded me of how absolutely everything was my fault. Of course it wasn't wrong. Everything was my fault, I mean, who kicked the ball? Me. Who ran away? Me. There was no denying it.

The wind nudged my face persistently, flicking my hair over my ears and into my eyes. Any loose material of my trousers or shirt flapped violently in the harsh gusts, allowing brisk icy air to freeze every inch of my body. It wasn't even nightfall yet and already the weather had turned bitter. I had never felt more like an outsider, never felt more hated, than now. Heck, I even hated myself right now, so God knows how much more everyone else despised me. Hesitantly, I huddled up, knees against chest, preparing myself for a very long, difficult future.

Rick POV - the doctor stood before me for a few long minutes, obviously expecting me to say something. I couldn't stop my eyes from turning into slits, and directing their angry glare upon him. With an awkward smile and a nervous giggle, he left. I grunted.

Soon after that, my eyes closed again, not feeling obliged to go visit Chell. It would feel like an invasion of privacy to do so, I wasn't a family member or boyfriend, so I doubted I had the right to waltz in there directly after she just lost a child. Although, she was alone... No. I can't go. Wheatley should be here. Stupid idiot moron. Okay, so maybe I was being unreasonable to him, because as his friend I know very well he always tries to be helpful to those around him, but to be honest, I don't have the understanding personality that most people do. So instead, I dwelled on everything he has done wrong. Well, where to start?

Nope, too many things sprung to mind, and it was enraging me more. I'll just focus on today. Well, he didn't listen to me or to Chell, therefore resulting in booting a ball as hard as humanly possible into Chell's pregnant stomach. And then, well I am ninety percent sure he was the cause of the scratch on one of my car mirrors. The penalty for that was supposed to be drowning, but I didn't want anyones blood on my hands. Unlike Wheatley, who was a cold murderer. How comes people don't get arrested for killing unborn babies anyway, seems a bit odd. It's still a murder isn't it? Manslaughter? Hmm, I really didn't know. But my point still stands. It was all Wheatley's fault. I think the thing that made me most angry though, was the fact that Wheatley just ran away. Ran away from everything, leaving Chell to clean up his mess. I expect that inconsiderate prick is simply hanging around doing nothing, absolutely zilch, just brooding over today's events and feeling sorry for himself instead of scooping up the remainders of his pride and dignity and coming to help his girlfriend. He could hold a little more respect for her.

Crying suddenly filled the waiting room, and I glanced up curiously. Some kid had broken his arm by the looks of things, it was sticking up at a weird angle. He was forced to wait for a doctor though, which seemed slightly inhumane. Head down, I went back to doing nothing. Well, I was doing something, I was waiting for Chell. However, I had no idea how long she would be, so closing my eyes and blocking out the world really did seem like my best bet.

An indefinite amount of time later, the annoying doctor reappeared, smiling his little head off. I didn't see anything worth grinning about.

"You're friend... Chell... Is going to be fine, she can go home. Did you bring her here?"

"Yeah. I did."

"Okay, come with me, I left her in the ward," he gestured for me to follow, and I sighed, heaving myself to steady feet. I hadn't noticed how short the doctor was till I stood up, his bouncy hair only came up to my shoulder. Chuckling under my breath, I followed quietly, unsure how exactly to greet Chell. I could hardly say 'hi' or 'whassup?', could I? Staying silent seemed like the best bet. At any rate, I didn't have enough time for further delay, and found myself standing in front of Chell. She was kneeling forlornly on the bed, staring at a fixed point on the floor. Her head barely inclined when I patted her arm.

"Come on, let's get you home. Did you bring a coat with you?" I asked softly, helping Chell onto her feet. She shook her head in answer to my question, so I shrugged my own grey jacket off. It had a lining of stubbly white fur, even in the hood.

"You can borrow mine, it'll be cold out. Sorry it reeks of aftershave, I spilt it all down me this morning."

Chell laughed a tiny, monosyllabic giggle. "Thanks. Trust you."

"Hey! It wasn't my fault, I think someone rigged the insides with gunpowder, it exploded everywhere!" I complained whole-heartedly, happy I could cheer Chell up slightly, even though I knew it was all an act. However brave she appears, I knew that deep down she's hurting like hell.

My coat looked funny on Chell, the arms covered her hands and you could easily fit another person in there (if they were really small of course). Still, at least she looked warm as I ushered her into my car, and jogged round to the other side. The engine grumbled groggily, but I managed to get it rolling slowly out of the parking lot and onto the road home.

Automatically, my hand flicked out and turned on the radio. It was playing some old song, and I vaguely recognised it from somewhere. Eh, it's probably always on the radio stations or something. I hoped Chell didn't mind the radio being on, it was impossible to know what to do after everything that happened today. I hummed quietly, fingers tapping the steering wheel impatiently as we caught a red traffic light. A cup of coffee would taste good right now. It was freezing, even with the heating turned right up. I looked at the temperature gauge in my car; it was minus four degrees outside. Even the trees were shivering, completely bare with no leaves. The sun was getting quite low in the sky, surely it couldn't be early evening already? The day had gone by in a blur, yet every moment seemed painfully slow at the same time. Weird.

"Do you like coffee?" I asked Chell absentmindedly, smiling at her kindly. She shook her head.

"Oh. Tea?"

"Yeah, tea's good."

"I'll make you one when we get home," I muttered softly, looking out of the windows impatiently.

"Do you want me to stay for the night, incase you need something?"

"Wheatley will be back, won't he?" Chell asked anxiously. "He won't stay away for the night will he?"

"Nonono, of course not!" I cried, but my reply was too fast and I don't think Chell fell for it.

"You think he won't be there, don't you?" She scrutinised my face for any signs of weakening.

"Well... I don't know... Let's just wait and see, mmh?

"Okay," she agreed in a mousy whisper, looking up at the dimming sky towards the faint outline of the moon that waited for nightfall above. I wondered if she was doing that thing where you look at the moon, and know that however far apart you are, your loved one could be looking at the exact same thing. Sappy old Wheatley probably would be looking at the moon, although it was still very pale and subdued in the blue-grey sky.

"What do you want for dinner?" I sighed, utterly ravenous. Only about five minutes till we reached our road.

"Not hungry."

"I am. Eat with me so I'm not lonely?" I batted my eyelashes in mock cuteness, eyes big and shiny.

"Okay, fine," she said, muffling a giggle at my pulling silly 'cute' faces. A grin lighted my face, I was genuinely pleased. Even more so after the next corner, because we turned onto our street at last. I parked on Chell's little concrete drive instead of my own, and clambered out of the car as fast as I could.

"Damn! I forgot my keys!" Chell suddenly exclaimed patting all her pockets. Fishing in my jean pocket, I revealed a bunch of shiny keys, easily identified as Chell's.

"I remembered," I smirked, unlocking the door and holding it open for her. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she searched downstairs for Wheatley, then called his name loudly several times up the steps.

"I don't think... I don't think he's home..." I muttered gently, patting her arm reassuringly. Chell nodded weakly, and headed out of the room with mutters of getting changed. I didn't know what to do. Part of me hated Wheatley and didn't want him to return, the other half was more reasonable and saw how much Chell needed him. What could I say, I mean if Chell wants him... I guess tomorrow it wouldn't kill me to go searching. Although I would have a bone to pick with Wheatley before allowing him to even think about returning - that is if I could find him. Well, that's tomorrow's problem, not today's. Today was time to raid the kitchen and try and make a decent meal.

I wasn't a very extensive chef, but unlike Wheatley I had the ability and know-how to cook simple meals. Chell claimed she wasn't exactly hungry, so I expected that a fish finger sandwich would suffice. Mmm, my favourite type of sandwich. Chucking the frozen fingers in the oven, I began spreading the bread and filling the kettle for tea and coffee. I wondered if they had a big tray so I could carry everything upstairs, I think Chell planned on staying locked up in her bedroom for the night. Ah, there was one on top of the cupboard! Now all I had to do was wait patiently for the fish to cook and chuck it inside the sandwiches. Simple.

I say simple. I ended up with floppy, slightly soggy sandwiches. Although I'm pretty sure they'll still taste good. Hopefully. Piling the dodgy food plus tea and coffee onto a tray, I slowly began the treacherous journey all the way up the stairs, along the hallway, and into Chell's room. Honestly, I didn't have the etiquette to knock first, and barged straight in. Of course when you charge in without knocking, you always catch something you didn't want to see. In my case, the brave Chell I knew so well was crying, curled up as small as possible on her giant bed made for two. But Wheatley wasn't there to fill in the extra space.

"I... Err..." I stuttered, feeling like an intruder. She didn't even look up, so I dumped our dinner on a little wooden bedside table, and sat beside her awkwardly.

"What's wrong? Wait, dumb question. Baby right?" I questioned, not doing very well on the sensitive pathway at the moment.

"Yeah... But... But... But I miss him too!"

No prizes for guessing who 'him' is. I sighed, trying to keep all my biased, rude and offensive thoughts on 'him' bottled firmly away.

"It's okay," I whispered, putting my arm around her shoulders gently. "I give him till tomorrow, tops, then he'll be standing on the doorstop. Unless he has keys, in which case standing on the doorstep would be completely pointless."

"What if he's not?"

"Then... Then I'll go search for him," I said, really putting my foot in it.

"You will?" Chell's grey eyes sparkled, and I could hardly turn her away now. She needed as much help as possible. So, with regrets as tall as the Empire State Building, I nodded.

"What if something's happened to him?" she suddenly cried, beginning to worry all over again.

"I know he's not exactly the brightest light in the box, but believe me, Wheatley has it in him to avoid huge dangers. I can promise you he is fine."

Chell leant into me a little closer, and I hugged her tightly.

"Ugh, I feel like my head's going to explode," she groaned, rubbing it anxiously. I grinned, old memories glowing in the light of her comment, and I couldn't resist.

"Happy explosion day, gorgeous," I laughed, trying to make the situation light-hearted. My mission didn't fail completely, I got a quiet giggle in reply, and smiled proudly.

"Do you know how hard it was not to throw you in the incinerator?" She smirked, sitting up a little taller, although tear trains still marked her smooth cheeks. The oddest mixture of happiness and pain filled her eyes, showing how strong she is, how easily she can swallow the tears and smile.

"Awh c'mon, I wasn't that bad!" I moaned whilst holding an innocent smile.

"How can a core even be flirty, like a normal young adult?" She asked, painstakingly confused. I looked down, knowing the answer but not wanting to tell. Instead I simply shrugged.

"Only you, right?" She smiled, letting it go.

"Yup, I'm one in a million."

"So one person out of a million is a complete idiot?"

"Oh haha. I made you dinner, and even though it's soggy and mushy, I'm still a sweetheart, huh?"

"Yeah. Thanks. You're a good friend."

"Wait, I need to get my video camera, Chell is showing affection towards me!" I joked, shaking the bed with my laughter.

"Better make the most of it then," she grinned, turning to look out of the window. Gently, Chell leant over to grab one of my sandwiches and took a bite.

"Yuck, is this fish directly from the sea? It's all... Soggy," Chell complained waving it around grimacing, however a sparkle glowed in her eyes. I knew she was just kidding, and nodded.

"Yep, I think that one still has its brain in there."

"Lovely..." She put it back casually, trying not to show the very thought made her queasy.

"Do you want me to stay for the night - downstairs I mean - in case you need anything?"

"No, it's fine, I can cope. You won't be comfortable," she explained kindly, giving me a hug anyway. "But thank you. For the offer I mean."

"No problem."

The conversation abruptly ended there, both of us deciding companionable silence was the best option. No need to express emotions, but still being there for the other person. My daydreams were filled with worldwide adventures and bungee jumping and paragliding and surfing giant waves. Somehow, I expected Chell's thoughts held a more sinister front.

One issue with getting lost in a daydream is you have no idea how long you've been doing it for when you 'wake up'. Due to my strong imagination, it can vary from a few minutes to a couple of full blown hours. At any rate, Chell had at some point fallen asleep, still fully dressed. Quietly, I rolled l to my feet, and turned the overhead light off as I exited her room quietly. Descending sleepily to the front room, I set up post on the sofa. Chell may say she's fine, but I'm not taking risks. Anyway, as much as I hate this fact, Wheatley could return at any point, and for Chell's sake someone would have to let the moron inside. Piling up the cushions and wriggling under the blanket that lay on them, I couldn't help but fall asleep whilst on guard duty.

A scream woke me up, and I grabbed a baseball bat that had rolled underneath the sofa suspiciously. Several seconds after I believed it to be a figment of my imagination, the scream rang again, and this time I pinpointed the owner, because I vaguely recalled from a certain visit to a theme park exactly what Chell's scream sounded like.

"Great." I muttered frustratedly, rolling onto the floor and wiggling my toes to regain strength in them. As quietly as possible, I swiftly crept to the bottom of the steps, and, carefully avoiding squeaky floorboards, strode anxiously up them. The bat felt heavy and powerful in my grasp, and I bounced it up and down worriedly as I listened outside Chell's door. I couldn't hear much, no voices as some murderer or burglar or worse clambered through her window like I imagined. But Chell would never scream for no reason. So I softly nudged the door open, and peered through. I couldn't believe what an idiot I had been, the answer had been obvious from the start. Chell was having a nightmare. I often find Aperture Laboratories to strike the most horrible, scary dreams ever, although I don't get them frequently. Wheatley used to imply that Chell didn't have nightmares when he was sleeping next to her, and I used to laugh and mock him, saying that was just his wish. It would seem I had misjudged him on that part. Chell was writhing around, duvet tangled about her in tight restraints, and a couple of sweat beads formed on her temples.

"Chell?" I whispered. No answer. "Chell?" I tried again, a little louder. No answer. Dumping the bat at the foot of her bed, I plonked myself down next to her, and grabbed her hand. She wasn't waking up, so I'd just have to see her through. She calmed slightly after that, but I was pretty sure she was still trapped in her nightmare. Eventually though, when early morning came, and I had been sitting there for hours, her eyes opened, and she took in her surroundings quickly, sighing when she realised she was home, and always had been. My hand slipped from hers, undetected, and I folded them absentmindedly.

"Did you wait with me the whole time?" She asked, eyes suddenly bright. I nodded, smiling half-heartedly.

"In my dream, I felt someone's presence, and it helped a little. Thank you. Have you been sitting here since I fell asleep?"

"No, not at all, I was asleep on the sofa. Your scream woke me up, so I ran up to investigate, wooden bat in hand, ready to thwart the burglar or murderer that was trying to get you. But when I entered your room, nothing was out of place, apart from you, because you were having a terrible bad dream. So I tried to wake you up, and couldn't. Instead I sat with you. And sorry but I'm knackered, I'm going to go sleep again," I explained, climbing up to leave.

"Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"Goodnight," she smiled, sinking down underneath the covers.

"Night," I whispered, leaving the room and shutting the door behind me with a soft thud.

Memories after that were foggy. All I remember is how I woke up late that morning, drowsy and curled up on the sofa amidst cushions and a blanket. No sounds other than my slow breathing could be heard, so I assumed Chell was still asleep. I know she never sleeps in late, and I knew she would probably need breakfast when she woke up, so I cautiously made her some toast. Of course I was triumphant when the toast appeared unburnt, and neatly buttered by me. After that, I quickly made a cup of tea, and wandered upstairs. Again I did not knock, and found Chell still sleeping. However, she stirred, probably woken by my loud entrance.

"Morning, I brought you breakfast," I smiled, placing it on the foot of her bed precariously.

"Not hungry," Chell sighed, rolling over.

"You ought to eat, your body's nutrients will be all over the place since there's suddenly one less mouth to feed inside you," I muttered truthfully, sitting next to her. It worked, with a bemused smirk at me, she leant forwards, grabbed a slice of toast, and took a bite.

"How d'ya know so much about miscarriage anyway Rick? It's not like a core would have much use for that information, I expect the scientists left it out completely."

"Every core has a science file," I muttered, lying through my teeth.

"Wheatley didn't know, he had a science file," she retorted, folding her arms and scrutinising my expression.

"Okay, fine you got me. I googled it."

"You can't google an answer to a word you've never heard of," she said, and I winced because she had caught me out. I shrugged, turning to leave.

"I gotta go-" I started, but Chell grabbed my arm.

"No. Tell me the truth. It's not good to bottle stuff like that up, it's obviously upsetting you. I won't utter a word to anyone, I promise," she claimed, getting my attention.

"It's a long story," I hissed, turning away again.

"I'm game. We've got nothing better to do," she shrugged indifferently.

"Fine, whatever! You found me in the corrupted core bin for a reason, every core in there went wrong somehow. Fact couldn't speak completely accurately, Space, well they dropped him by accident and a plate shifted, now all he knows is space. And me, well I was the worst of them all, the biggest disgrace the scientists had ever come up with. A mistake. Because I recalled something no core had ever recalled before. I remembered... I remembered being a human."

"What?" Chell squeaked.

"I remember everything, it's horrible," I muttered, holding back tears.

"Are all cores... Did they all use to be..."

"No. Only a few cores were transferred from humans. Most were made from scratch."

"Wheatley?" She asked vaguely, and I understood what she wanted to know.

"He was built from scratch, no human could ever be that moronic," I smiled slightly, despite falling apart inside.

"What happened then? Tell me everything," Chell demanded, looking worried. She wrapped her arm around me, being a good friend, a good listener. I needed this, I needed to be able to tell someone. So I did.

"My name was Rick Holten. My eyes were the exact colour they are now, bright emerald green, the greenest of any boy in our town. As far as I remember, everyone was jealous of them, although that may have been my pumped up attitude. My hair wasn't brown like it is now, it was pure black. It used to stick up like hell in the mornings, I had to wet it a million times to get it into a halfway decent style. When it grew too long - and it frequently did - my fringe would flop over one eye - not very cool. Even so, I was ever so popular, and the most daring, adventurous kid on the block. All the boys wanted to be my mate, all the girls wanted to be my lover, I actually got a little fed up. Especially when my dad got me a leather jacket for my sixteenth birthday, they were just the height of fashion, I'll tell ya. Boom, the tiny midget boy with floppy curly hair suddenly became a sex god, with pitch-black fluffed up hair, cat-green eyes and a leather jacket.

Soon I grew a head the size of Jupiter, whizzing around in this little orbit that sung only my name. I hardly had a winning personality, put it that way. Then, when I was seventeen, my mum and dad died in a car crash. I was heartbroken, I shrank back into little mousy Rick with the floppy hair and no fashion sense. I swapped the leather jacket for my dad's old jumpers, warm and comforting. Of course, the reputation sank further when I ran away from my stupid horrible uncle's house and rolled up in a care home. I ended up worse than I started, with absolutely nobody. Being alone all the time, I began to pine for company, and pretty soon I met a girl I liked. And, surprisingly enough, she liked the unpopular Rick who was desperately in need of a hair cut. We became an item, like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. The same day I hit eighteen, I moved out, using some of the money my parents left me for a flat. Sharon - that was my girlfriend - was only a year younger than me, so pretty soon she joined me. We reckoned our whole future was planned out, together forever and all that. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.

I got Sharon pregnant when she was still eighteen, but her body obviously wasn't ready, because she had the most uncalled for, most violent of miscarriages ever, which is how I know of them so well. But that wasn't going to slow us down, not at all. A year later, the same again happened, minus the miscarriage. Although, the bad luck continued, and I never got as far as to witness my own child's birth. See, I worked at a local electronics store, and as one of the youngest, I got fobbed off with the delivery nobody wanted. The delivery of a whole bunch of computers, headed straight for a place called Aperture Laboratories. Nobody had been there for years, and most people who went in there never actually returned. It used to be a respectable science facility though, so no one ever investigated. Of course I came long after the time it was respectable, and had never heard anything of this so called laboratory. I had no idea what I was agreeing to when I filled the delivery van and set off that day.

The arrival caught me short, the building was tiny, derelict and abandoned. I assumed someone had given me the wrong directions as a joke, so went in to check, leaving the van behind me. The door handle was old, rusted, yet when I finally got the bloody door open, a crystal white, sterile elevator shaft stood before me. What could I do? If I could go back in time and not take that final step, I would have. But I can't. My squeaky trainers stepped anxiously into the lift, curiosity taking priority over my errands. When the door shut, it wasn't until a little while later I realised that was the last time I would stand in daylight as Rick Holten.

Men in white lab coats scrambled around, holding clipboards and yapping on about something called GLaDOS. Meant nothing to me. I asked where to go if I had a delivery, and the jumpy old man gave me strict instructions; a left, a left, then a right at the end of the corridor. My memory wasn't all that, and I ended up taking a left, a left, and another left. Facing a 'staff only' marked door again meant nothing to me, I sincerely believed I was going the right way. As always, I didn't knock, just barged straight in. And as always, I saw something I didn't want to see.

A huge wall of glass lay in front of me, gazing upon a large room of white tiles. A frightened man stood at one end, wielding an odd glowing gun and eying up the door on the opposite side. Some green gunk in a ditch separated him from it, and he shot a bullet at the tiled floor underneath his little platform. Faster than the speed of sound, the bullet expanded into a blue shimmering vortex. Confusion filled my gaze. What was this place? Zap, the man shot another bullet at the wall behind him, and this time a glowing orange-rimmed thing appeared. I could see through it, a view of yet more tiles, although these ones looked like they belonged to the ceiling. A frown formed on my expression, quickly turning to horror as the stranger jumped, fell, plummeted towards a blue death. But he didn't die that way. It all went too fast, one second he was falling, the next he shot through the orange hole, zooming towards the exit. I smiled for this brave man, judging that he would land safely at the exit any second now.

The next thing I saw was traumatising, absolutely horrifying. With a crack of ribs snapping like twigs, he smacked into the cold edge of the ditch, not quite clearing the gap. He... He lurched forwards, yelling, but couldn't find any handhold to grip apart from slippery tiles. Slowly, the man slid into the goo, and at the exact same moment I noticed it was some type of acid. His skin burned away, revealing muscle, his muscle burned away, revealing bone, and he was dead. I couldn't look away, couldn't move, it was like I was encased in ice. I barely flinched when a group of scientists burst through the door behind me, acknowledging what I had just seen.

'You can't be in here!" One of them yelled.

'He must die!' Another chipped in. But another looked thoughtful.

'He'll be good for testing.'

I looked down, down at the sinking skeleton of the man I watched die, at the gun that floated hauntingly on the brown-green ripples, at the sign marking clearly that I had just witnessed test chamber two hundred and seven. They wanted me to die like that, testing for some sick idea of science. The ice cracked.

'No! Please don't! I'd rather you killed me right now than do that!' I motioned through the glass.

'Not that type of test,' the man chuckled. 'You look like the sort of person with a winning personality. Let's chat elsewhere, it's awfully poky in here.'

Again, I made a stupid decision. I followed, turning my back on the others, ignoring the wink the man ushering me gave them. Next thing I knew, something cold and metal smacked me around the head, and I fell to the floor unconscious.

I awoke as a ghost, or so I initially thought, because I could clearly see my own dead body on the floor beneath me. My black hair had diminished in it's usual liveliness, my eyes were closed, and bloodstained bandages covered both my wrists and my neck. I couldn't cope, I was so scared. Then my vision turned upwards, to the glass panel on the wall at my own level. A metal ball with an electronic black and green eye blinked back, following my every move. Because the ball was me. Cue my mortified scream.

Can't say I was shocked when two men in white lab coats came running in. One wore glasses and had barely any hair, the other was young, with cropped red-brown curls. They sighed simultaneously as soon as they comprehended it was only me.

'It worked. Our first human to core experiment,' smiled the young one, picking me up by the odd black handles that hinged themselves to my... Body? Head? I didn't like being held, and I wriggled them angrily. He dropped me back onto the table in shock.

'I didn't programme it to do that...' The young one muttered, taking a step back like I was a rabid dog.

'Seems an awfully human thing to do, did you wipe it's memory?' Squawked the older one.

'I... Well... I... Umm...'

'Ugh you idiot!' The balding scientist turned to me. 'Whats your name?'

'Im an adventure core...' I started, and the young one perked up, admiring his handiwork. Until I finished my sentence. 'But call me Rick.'

'Great! Put him with the other corrupted cores, all of them yours, I notice!' He growled, and stormed out of the room.

'Sorry...' The young one whispered to me. 'It's all my fault.' And he opened a chute, allowing me to roll down it. I landed on a moving pile of cores, all of them yelling, talking, moving as well as they could with the lack of limbs. It was horrible, all alone down there. Over time, most of them stopped working completely, and to be honest, I wished the same would happen to me, because I ended up with the world's most annoying cores ever: Fact and Space.

Slowly, following the mourning of my girlfriend, my family, my unborn child, I crept back into the big-headed, flirty, horrible person I used to be, and desperately tried to forget anything related to my human life. I thought I had achieved that, until the other day, because I saw Sharon by the park, walking with a boy - most likely my own son. She was a lot older, granted, I must have been down there for at least ten years, if not twenty. But it was definitely her. And she'll have to carry on thinking I abandoned her and our baby, because not only do I look different, no human can ever know Aperture is still going. It's not that I still love her, because I can't, not after all that's happened, but I'm going to have to go through the whole forgetting process again. I mean, when I was turned human, I truly believed I could have a completely new start, no ties to the past, and be a new person. Seeing them was just like a kick between the legs, a punch in the gut."

My hands twitched, and I shot back into present. Chell was still beside me, arm tucked around my shoulders, and she patted it comfortingly.

"I'm sorry, I know that doesn't change anything, but I am. And I understand about starting fresh, I don't want to be labelled test subject my whole life. As for forgetting, it's a lot harder as a human to forget. But you can push it to the back of your mind, so unwanted memories rarely return into your life."

"You're right," I sighed, leaning backwards. "I don't need to forget, I need to let go."

AN/... Okay, that was the last sad chapter of the whole entire story, I promise! Next chapter has a bit of action and a LOT of cuteness ;) that's right, Wheatley will be back! Please please review guys, and also, if the maths side of Rick's story doesn't work, please don't tell me so, just accept the storyline haha =) I'll update ASAP!