Teenage

Relationships are always curious things, but theirs was particularly odd. He was an android with the mentality of a child. She was a human of roughly nineteen, but with a maturity that far surpassed her appearance.

They met on her first day in the testing tracks, the scientists wanting to see if humans and robots could build trust. He'd stood in the corner humming to himself, pretending to be interested in the scratches on the panels. The door had opened, and he turned, already beaming.

"Ah, brilliant! I've been waiting forever! Not, not that you're late, you're probably not, probably, far more likely, really, I was early. But still, waiting, alone, in here…" he trailed off, taking in her facial expression. It was intense, disbelieving and maybe just a little curious.

He chuckled nervously, waving his hand as though trying to shoo off a fly. "Yep, I'm for real. First thing people always ask, you know 'who's the guy in the robot suit, now way you're that far along, Aperture!' But, here I am! All synthetic but, ah, it's real enough for me, right?" One white plastic hand thrust forwards, the other rubbing the back of his neck, sheepishly. "Sorry, haven't even introduced myself, have I? Wheatley, personality construct number…erm…well, whatever. Not important, really, that's what the name's for, right? Identification, that is."

He paused, clearly waiting for her response. The girl considered playing mute for a minute, but gave it up; ignoring that smile would be like kicking a puppy.

"…Chell."

"Chell, huh? That's, ah, that's you? Very pretty name, unique even." She resisted the urge to point out that she'd never even heard of anything like him before outside of a science fiction novel. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Chell. You know, you're the first test subject I've ever met? Nothing but scientists before you…"

She tuned him out, and they set about the course. It was simple puzzles, tests of trust and cooperation more than anything else. When he had to focus, he'd shut up for a few seconds, the tip of his pink-tinted tongue poking out of his mouth as he aimed the portal gun. Then, the moment they were through, it was back to chattering. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, but as long as she didn't openly reject his monologues, he seemed happy to continue with them.

After six chambers, one of the scientists pulled him aside. She could hear them hissing to him about test results and interference and thought she heard the word death tossed in. He fidgeted, looking scared…and very quiet. The girl couldn't have said why, after such a short time together, she wanted to stand up for him (she supposed it was the puppy metaphor again.)

She cleared her throat, getting the ambiguous white-coated form to glance at her. "He's fine," Chell whispered, so softly she wondered if they could hear. Raising her voice, she continued, "Really, he's not a distraction, and it's not like he can help the way he was built. Blame the programmers, not him."

After a few suspicious glances and some more muttering, they let him rejoin her. He waited until they were in the next test chamber before letting out a relieved sigh.

"Phew! Oh, that was brilliant, luv, really saved my circuits back there!" The smile he gave her was practically blinding, his eyes wide with admiration. "The way you just told them, bold as anything, 'nothing wrong with him!' Scary people, scientists, bloody brilliant, but, ah, still scary. You do not know scary 'til you've seen an irritable scientist with a toolbox, let me tell you…"

Somehow, his thank-you turned into a story about the manufacturing wing. She just smiled, nodded, and continued testing.

Once the results were in, they'd both be reassigned. But they bumped into eachother (sometimes literally) often enough, and if there was one thing that was consistent in the entire facility, it was him, with his bright optimism and constant ramblings. Lacking a view of the sky, in her own mind, Chell saw him as her moon: not always visible, but always there, forever subtly changing, but still a source of comfort and guidance. He saw her as his only human friend…or, well, friend period, really.

Much later on, what could've been a chance meeting would take a different turn.

"Ha, I knew there was someone in–AH! Oh god you look…Wait…Ch-Chell? Is that you under that grime? It is, isn't it, ha, can't fool ol' Wheatley! Wow, it's been ages…"

Yeah...I'm not proud of this one. I feel like I'm missing something that desperately needs fixing, everytime I read through it. Ah well, life goes on.