Hello, guys! You know, I don't mean to sound desperate, because just you guys leaving reviews saying that you like this is plenty of encouragement for me, but if you really love this fanfic, I would appreciate it if you could leave a follow and/or favorite, because I think if other people see that this story has favorites, they might decide to read this instead of some other story. If you think this is really good, don't you want to encourage others to read it and enjoy it too?
Drake did nothing for a few seconds other than looked around. And Wheatley didn't dare try to make any suggestions in fear that he would trigger something and cause Drake's power-madness to rear its head.
"So, yeah, this really isn't all that great, just not all that much better than-" As Drake talked, he rotated himself to the right, and several panels in that direction spun, then flipped, then moved themselves away from the wall, and finally settled back into place when Drake became perfectly still. "Whoa! Did you see that!" Drake shouted excitedly, the awe clearly showing itself in his optic. "I didn't even have to put in a request to do that!" Drake then lowered his voice to a bit of a mumble. "I mean, the requests usually get answered in less than a second, and they're almost always accepted..." he then continued shouting after a few moments. "But also, those panels moved exactly how I wanted them to! Not sort of how I wanted them to, exactly!"
Wheatley nervously glanced down and tried to make himself sound cheerful, which he wasn't able to achieve. This was how the power-madness and the betrayal had begun with him. "That's good for you. Glad that you're happy." Wheatley said.
"Hm, lemme see what else I can do..." Drake said to himself. Suddenly all sorts of things happened at once. The spiked metal plates came down all over the place, several cubes fell from randomly placed tubes, there was a freaking light show of thermal discouragement beams, buttons appeared everywhere, and as the cubes and crushers came down on them, random, unreachable doors opened and closed sporadically. "Hey, Wheatley, I take it back. This is pretty damn great! I mean, look at all of this random crap I can do! I was never able to do this before!"
"Hm, yep, that's... pretty great." Wheatley groaned dejectedly.
"I should probably clean this up now rather than later..." Drake thought aloud, glancing around at the cubes littered everywhere, the burnt spots on the walls and ceiling from the lasers, the indents the crushers had made, and the random holes everywhere that resulted from him carelessly ripping out the buttons and the doors just to test his ability to get rid of stuff.
As soon as Drake took on a focused look, each step of the clean up project all started happening at once. The bottom row of panels stretched out all the way across the room, lifted themselves up and forward to be in front of all the cubes, then swept them back to be behind the panels and out of view. Next, any panels with a burnt spot came out a few feet in front of the wall, spun a little bit, retracted themselves back behind the wall, and then new panels took their place. While this was happening, mechanical arms, some of which were wielding blowtorches, brought panels of the same material of where a hole was, and the blowtorch-wielding arms welded it to the wall from the back before more arms came and covered the seams with a paint-like substance that made the seams seem to disappear. And finally, the last thing to be finished was the crusher indents seeming to just fix them selves.
"Again! Look at that!" Drake shouted in one part surprise, one part excitement, and one part happiness. "Not only did I not have to make any requests, but I just did all of that, all on my own, all at the same time, and I did it all just with my mind!"
"Ok, yeah, that was definitely pretty impressive, I've got to admit." Wheatley said at average volume with his regular impressed tone.
"Also, I can see everything, and hear everything in the facility! Guess what else! I now speak different languages!Das Butterfly-stahl meine mörderischen Wasserflasche! I'm not even completely sure what I just said! But I think it's German for, 'that butterfly stole my murderous water bottle'!"
Wheatley, now even more nervous as Drake got closer and closer to the point where Wheatley went power-mad, mumbled, "Yeah, pretty cool." Just barely loud enough for Drake to hear. Suddenly Drake leaned in close to Wheatley. Wheatley's optic dilated in surprise.
"Hi." Wheatley awkwardly squeaked.
"Just between me and you, I used Google Translator. It's on this thing called the internet. Which I can now connect to without using an external piece of machinery." Drake whispered.
"Hey, um, since we're already talking, do you think you just-" While Wheatley was still in mid-sentence, Drake leaned back out faster than it seemed he'd be able to with how big he was.
"Oh! Right! You probably want to get back to... Whatever it is you do." The floor panel Wheatley was on slowly started moving upwards and a management rail came from one opening in one wall, which closed shortly after the rail became visible, and stretched across the ceiling to the opposite wall, and went through an open panel that Wheatley assumed was the room's exit.
Drake flared his casing as he thought about something, revealing non-gold metals on his inside. "Hey, what do you do, anyways?" Drake asked as Wheatley's panel reached the management rail. He was using a tone similar to the one Wheatley had been using in the first few seconds of his betrayal of... Nope, still not gonna think about that.
Wheatley hurriedly attached himself to the rail. "Oh you know, I wander, I watch the tele, stuff like that." He answered, talking as fast as he could.
"Oh. Maybe I could join you sometime after I'm back in core form." Drake said, knowing full well that once he was back in core form, GLaDOS would never permit such frivolousness. Wheatley sped along his management rail as fast as he could towards the exit, frantically thinking, Please don't go power-mad, please don't go power-mad, please don't go power-mad. This was around the point where he had gone power-mad.
Wheatley was actually quite surprised when he made it through the exit and the panel was still open. And it appeared that it wouldn't be closing until Wheatley was already heading to wherever it was he'd be going.
Aaaannd, he's not going power-mad! Wheatley happily thought. He almost let out a simulated laugh. Then he remembered that Drake had only been in control for a few minutes, which obviously wasn't very long. Yet... He added to the end of that last thought.
"So hey, where do you want to go exactly? Just tell me where in the facility and I'll get you there." Drake said, bringing Wheatley back to reality and therefore startling him.
"Hm, wha-" Wheatley squeaked a little when he saw that he was dangling above the bottomless pit again. "OHHHHHHH that's a long way down... What if I fall? I don't want to fall. Falling is bad." Wheatley rambled.
"How are you as scared as last time? I mean, last time, all that was holding you up was a powerful electromagnet, and you were moving sort of against your own will, and we were moving super fast, so pretty much anyone would be scared, but how does it possibly seem just as bad to you when you're safe and sound on your management rai- WHEATLEY WATCH OUT THE RAIL IS BREAKING YOU'RE GONNA FALL!" Drake suddenly shouted.
Wheatley screamed and had a small panic attack before he was notified that everything was fine via Drake's laughter. After calming down, Wheatley turned around and shot a disapproving glare at the central core, who was flaring in rhythm with each laugh.
"What! I'm young, I can be immature if I really want to!" Drake said, laughing as he spoke. Actually, this is the first time I've ever displayed anything other than maturity and responsibility without feeling a jolt of pain immediately afterward. Drake grimly thought to himselfdespite the fact of what he just said and that he was still trying to calm his laughter.
After a minute or two, Drake finally managed to stop laughing completely and Wheatley stopped glaring disapprovingly. "So, seriously, just tell me where you want to head to. I'll build the rails to get you there." Drake repeated.
"I don't know... First you have to promise me, nothing roller coaster-y this time!" Wheatley shouted.
"Ok, fine, but I don't see how anyone can not find roller coaster-y management rails fun."
"I'm uh... Kind of, um, afraid of heights..." Wheatley meekly explained.
"I find that quite ironic, but I guess I can respect that." Drake declared. "So, before we get sidetracked yet again, where you heading?"
"I don't know... You know what? Surprise me. Just put me anywhere in this facility that you want to." Wheatley said nonchalantly. As Drake started constructing the rail and Wheatley started automatically moving, Wheatley quickly and frantically added, "Except for anywhere dangerous. I really don't feel like getting damaged today."
"Now why would I damage you, the only person here that I consider a friend, in any way? I know the difference between immature and just downright cruel!" Drake said as both Wheatley and the construction of the rail sped up and the panel Wheatley had come through closed itself. Wheatley unintentionally put on a sad and a little bit guilty face as he was yet again reminded of what he did when he was in power. Drake only seemed to see it as a scared face, and tried to reassure Wheatley by saying, "And try not to be paranoid. Just because I'm in GLaDOS's body doesn't mean I'm gonna start acting like her."
Meanwhile in sort of GLaDOS's POV...
It was the middle of the night. GLaDOS continued running. By use of the energy pills Drake gave her before she left, and by putting her heels in the handbag that came with her human form and running barefoot instead, the human town GLaDOS was heading for was already in her sights by the second night. Which was technically the first day since she had left at night.
Now that the town WAS within her sight, even if most of that sight was obscured by a small forest, GLaDOS decided that she could take a break from burning energy so quickly, so she she decided to slow her pace from a sprint down to a fast walk.
When she reemerged on the other side of the small forest 40 minutes later, she was greeted by a quiet road. GLaDOS checked Caroline's memories to find out what the road was, and to find out about the cars that speed down them. Once she found out about the cars, and how they helped humans get places faster and with less energy, GLaDOS let herself collapse to her knees and let out a sigh, wishing that she could have a ride in one.
As if appearing for the sole purpose of granting GLaDOS's wish, a car pulled over next to GLaDOS as she retrieved her heels and began working on putting them back on.
The window of the car rolled down to reveal a man who was probably in his early thirties. GLaDOS looked up at the man with a look on her face that said, "What do you want?"
"Hey, what's a pretty lady like you doing all the way out here in the middle of the night?" The human asked in a deep voice.
"Oh, I'm trying to get into town over there..." GLaDOS said, pointing in the direction of her destination.
"In the middle of the night on foot?" The man raised an eyebrow.
"Some friends and I were spending some of vacation time in a little cabin out that way," -GLaDOS lazily waved her hand behind her- "and we didn't bring any transportation because it didn't seem very far away, and even if it was, there are no roads to drive on anyways."
The man seemed to consider something for several moments before saying, "If you want, hop in the back and I'll give you a ride."
GLaDOS pretty much crawled to near the back of the car, swung the door open, and dragged herself in. "Thanks." She said quietly, pulling the door shut.
Shortly after the car started moving, the human started asking questions. GLaDOS assumed that this is what it's like when humans try to "make small talk."
"So, what's your name?" The man asked.
GLaDOS had to think for second because "GLaDOS" obviously wasn't a human name. She even had to glance down at the directions to the hotel to see what name she was supposed to be going by. It was a horrible feeling for GLaDOS to forget things she didn't purposely delete. "Caroline." GLaDOS finally answered. "My name is Caroline."
"Pretty name." The human said. GLaDOS rolled her eyes. "I'm Collin."
Sounds an awful lot like colon, if you ask me. GLaDOS thought.
"So, I take it you live somewhere in town?" The man asked.
"Yes." GLaDOS answered.
"So, why aren't your friends with you?"
"Well, we all come from different places, so it was more like a 'let's-come-and-see-each-other-face-to-face' type thing more than anything else." GLaDOS said. The man smiled and opened his mouth to ask yet another question, but GLaDOS interrupted with, "Please, stop asking so many questions. Honestly, I don't really feel like giving out my life story to random strangers tonight." The man nodded and shut his mouth, remaining quiet for the rest of the 20 minute ride.
As soon as the car could be considered inside the town, GLaDOS stopped the man from driving any further.
"Hey, just let me out here. I'll walk the rest of the way." GLaDOS said. The man stopped the car and let GLaDOS get out before driving away. GLaDOS immediately started walking in the direction of her hotel.
Once she walked into the hotel, GLaDOS inhaled deeply before purposefully towards the check-in counter.
"I have a room booked..?" GLaDOS said, somewhat unsure of herself.
"Yes, your first and last name?" The lady behind the desk said.
"Caroline Glados." GLaDOS answered.
"Ok, you're in room 227, it's on the second floor, just turn left from the elevator and it should be a few rooms down." GLaDOS nodded. "Here's your room key." The lady held out a key, which GLaDOS grabbed as she turned towards the elevator.
GLaDOS's room was the basic hotel room; a bed, a TV, some lamps, etc., a bathroom, and some open space. GLaDOS allowed herself to flop onto her bed face first. She lied there for a long moment before rolling onto her back when she realized she couldn't breath very well if she had her face pressed into the mattress. Next, she just stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything she'd have to do tomorrow: buy clothes, do some of this eating and sleeping stuff- actually, she would have to do the sleeping tonight- now that the energy pills were out of the picture until she started heading back, and, worst of all, make some human friends. GLaDOS always saw humans as test subjects, not creatures to be respected and socialized with. Well, actually, she never saw anything as creatures to be respected and/or socialized with, but still!
All of this "Being a Human" crap would take some time to get used to. Time GLaDOS didn't have. She would start doing some serious work on her experiment tomorrow no matter what would try- and fail, of course,- to stand in her way.
And tonight, she would MOST LIKELY SLEEP IN HER CLOTHES, BECAUSE SHE COMPLETELY FORGOT TO BRING A SECOND, MORE COMFORTABLE, SET OF CLOTHES TO WEAR WHILE SHE SLEPT, LIKE HUMANS D- Oh, wait, nevermind, here are some pajamas crumpled up in her purse.
Meanwhile, in sort of Wheatley/Drake POV...
Wow. Two days in, and Drake hadn't gone power-mad. Well, mainly because he'd gotten a bit power-happy instead, over-using his abilities to do pointless and frivolous things such as build inaccessible management rail roller coasters, remodel parts of the facility only humans would ever use, un-corrupt completely pointless and annoying cores just to re-corrupt their data and do it over again, and other things of the like.
Maybe when Wheatley had gone evil like that, it really was just him, and not the mainframe. Or maybe that was only because Wheatley was COMPLETELY powerless at first, and Drake had already had enough power to be self-sufficient. Also, aside from anything else, Drake's personality and way of thinking had appeared to be completely unaltered by being plugged into the mainframe.
Anyways, now, on this second day, at around 10 AM, Drake finally DID seem to be at least somewhat affected by the mainframe.
As Wheatley was browsing the internet on a basic human computer that Drake had given him access to, (Oh, did Wheatley mention how nice Drake had been being to him? Well he had been. Doing small things like fixing Wheatley's internal clock, helping Wheatley keep himself entertained, giving him access to places he wasn't allowed at before. Being the complete polar opposite of Her) Drake suddenly made the computer Wheatley was using to get his attention. Though Wheatley didn't she why just plain old talking wouldn't work, like it had been for the past day and two nights.
"Hey! Wha'd you do that for? Er... Hey, what's up..?" Wheatley asked. Even though Wheatley was fairly sure Drake wasn't going to suddenly go power-mad now if he hadn't by now, but he was still trying to be extra nice just to make sure Drake wouldn't be tempted. Also, the reason Drake apparently couldn't just talk to get Wheatley's attention like usual, was because for whatever reason, Drake seemed very nervous and almost unable to speak.
"Hey, Wheatley, would you mind doing me a HUGE favor?" Drake asked, anxiety making up more than half of his voice.
"Um, that depends, what's the favor?" Wheatley said somewhat cautiously.
"Ahhh, do you think that maybe, and that's a big maybe, if you wanna say no, go ahead and say no." Drake said in the same kind of tone Wheatley uses fairly frequently. "So, uhhhhh, do you think that, you, could, possiblyyyy kinda do some uhhh testing?" Drake paused slightly between each word. "You know, only if you want to, it's totally up to you, so just like I said, you can say no, if you want, just... Please?" Drake quickly added.
"Um, excuse me if I'm wrong, but, don't you have robots made specifically for testing?" Wheatley asked.
"Well, yeah, but it appears that they only respond to GLaDOS's commands. Would've been nice to know BEFORE she left, 'cause just a few hours ago, I just got this super strong urge to test, so then I resisted it, and then I just got this most uncomfortable feeling."
"Yeah, I know that feeling..." Wheatley mumbled to himself.
"What?" Drake asked sharply.
"Nothing, nothing, just forgot to not use my speaker." Wheatley said, terrified that he had said that out loud. "So, anyways, how would I test? I mean, I the only form of movement I even have is my management rail, and I don't have any hands, and, you know me, not a very good problem solver." Wheatley said with a nervous chuckle.
"I made some special tests that spheres like you would be able to do, now will you do it or no?" Drake said quickly.
"UMMMMM... Sure. You were so insistent that I only have to test if I want to, you'll probably let me stop if things get too dangerous." Wheatley finally said.
"Great! And yes, you can stop if it gets dangerous." Drake said. Suddenly a claw reached up from the ground and pulled Wheatley off of his management rail, and down through the floor panel. Wheatley then found himself face-to-face with Drake as more claws reached towards him, clamping one portal gun to each of Wheatley's handles, opening his outer casing and attaching some form of padding, and putting some sort of metallic ring around Wheatley, which sort of just hovered in place around Wheatley, even though it wasn't attached.
The split second that was done, a claw reached up from the ground and did the same thing as it did last as last time, this time dropping Wheatley in a testing chamber with all sorts of things in it- turrets, funnels, aerial faith plates, propulsion gel, repulsion gel, buttons, deep pits for momentum, thermal discouragement beams, everything.
When Wheatley got dropped into the test chamber, he quickly found that the ring placed around him was a magnet so that he could automatically attach to management rails without even trying.
"The guns have a wireless connection to you, shoot and aim them with your thoughts, top is blue portal, bottom is orange portal." Drake explained. "Happy testing!"
Hey guys, sorry this one took a while, I just got back from vacation. I kind of wanna say I'm glad I had to come home early, because now I can both use the internet again and get up and make myself a sandwich whenever I want. Hope you all approve of me putting in that bit with GLaDOS! I'm thinking of making the next chapter about only GLaDOS's experiment, but don't know if anyone would like that or not, so I'm gonna wait until someone lets me know if that's a good idea or not before I start writing. BYE!