Chell sat on top of her companion cube in her living room, staring at her plain white walls. They were so boring, so plain and empty… She didn't know how to accept that. She felt like a lot of her life was that was. Just plain and empty. She had been going through motions until a week ago. She was just accepting her empty, boring life. All she did was work and go home and stare at her walls and, occasionally, have mental conversations with her companion cube. She knew it never really talked back, that she was just imagining two sides of a conversation, but she didn't mind. The loneliness faded into the background when she talked to the companion cube.
The companion cube had had a name once. Chell was the only one that called it anything, that even knew about it, aside from GLaDOS, and naming it made it seem more alive and less…inanimate. But she knew this cube would never be her friend, would never comfort her, would never really have an opinion or even words to share. But she didn't care.
She needed that…companionship.
She stood and walked into her kitchen, her stomach grumbling. She didn't know when she should be going back to the facility. Obviously within the week, as testing was, presumably, supposed to be once a week starting immediately. The sooner she got it done, the better. Then she could leave for the week and not come back until another time next week. And she would go back, every week. Chell wasn't one to make a deal and back out on it. It was how she'd gotten as far as she had. She was not illiterate, she was not stupid, and she was NOT ignorant. Just quiet. And there were no exceptions for that at the facility, with GLaDOS.
Chell wasn't even used to thinking Her name. She was used to just trying to ignore any intimidation She had for her. But now, with things so severely different, Chell was making a lot of new changes, but most importantly returning to Aperture and…talking…to GLaDOS.
So many things were wrong with just that thought on its own. Chell opened a cupboard and dug around inside at all the cans. As it were, there were also canned beans out of the facility. And canned fruits, and vegetables, meals of sorts, and even meats. It was amazing, really. Chell had been away for so long and self-sustenance was a learning experience for her. She explored a lot of food varieties and started to learn her likes and dislikes. Despite having a few cans of meat, she didn't like canned meat at all.
She decided to open a can of Spaghetti-Os. She found that, when she didn't want to take the time to make actual spaghetti and meatballs, the Spaghetti-Os were sometimes a decent trade-off. She opened the drawer that held random little utensils that she needed and grabbed the can opener. In no time, she had opened the can and warmed it before returning to her companion cube and eating it. There wasn't silence to her eating, despite her loneliness. The radio was always playing Aperture's station, which had only a few different songs that constantly repeated themselves with advertisements from Cave Johnson and GLaDOS in between. Sometimes Chell found herself rolling her eyes at the stupid ploys they had, and constantly hoped that no one else in the world ever listened to this station.
She ate the Spaghetti-Os until they were gone, each bite having a slightly different yet completely, and boringly similar taste. When it was gone, Chell went to rinse out the bowl and left it in her otherwise empty sink. She returned to the living room and found the radio was now sitting on the companion cube where she had been sitting before. She jumped back and pressed her back firmly against the wall, unsure of what had happened. She looked to the right and then down the hall, then back at the companion cube, where she found no radio.
Her heart dropped and she decided it was time to return to the facility. Even if GLaDOS wasn't quite finished with the repairing and transferring of Wheatley, she could still get her side of the deal begun. She went to her room and pulled on the familiar outfit that she had to always wear to the facility, for fear of letting her other clothes be tarnished with the scarring nightmarish events that occurred there. She dawned her long fall boots onto her feet and pulled her hair up into a ponytail, keeping it out of her face. She was ready.
Chell's journey to the facility felt much shorter this time. Roger wasn't driving the bus today, which struck her as odd, but she didn't question it for fear of her curiosity being taken the wrong way. She didn't miss her stop, though she was off in a daze, and ran through the wheat field as fast as she could. It didn't feel long, but she was almost sure that it had taken her at least an hour. The familiar little shed sat there, glaring down at her. The discolored space was still there, and she held her hand over it again.
A tiny beep sounded and that more-than-familiar announcer spoke. "Test Subject Number: One. Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. Please step back and prepare for the immediate detoxification and re-initiation process. We appreciate your willing participation in testing."
Chell rolled her eyes with a small smile on her face. The pre-recorded messages were so repetitive and a little boring, but endearing. Nothing would change here except for her own presence, and Hers. And that was okay. Nothing could ruin the meaning of the facility for Chell more than the facility had done for itself. And what She had done.
"Please enter the detoxification elevator at the sound of the buzzer and await further instruction. You will be sent through a series of Material Emancipation Grills and adrenal vapor will be slowly administered into your air supply in order to readjust your system to the testing environment."
Chell entered without any further hesitation and it sent her down the elevator shaft and through the Grills. "The Enrichment Center would like to remind you that if you feel liquid running down your neck, relax, lie on your back, and apply immediate pressure to your temples. You are simply experiencing a rare reaction in which the Material Emancipation Grill may have emancipated the ear tubes inside your head." Chell chuckled softly at the comment, as she did almost every time she heard it. It was so absurd, having this announcement after the subject had already passed through the Grills. If their ear tubes are emancipated, chances were they can't hear the warning anyway.
"You're back. It's been a while. I've been spending a lot of time thinking. Here, come to my chamber." A portal opened in the test chamber that Chell had been dropped into. Had this been in the past, Chell would have stood and stared at the portal until it disappeared simply because she hadn't trusted the evil AI. Now, things were a lot different. They had an agreement. Though it was vague and had very little official guidelines, Chell hoped that the AI wouldn't take too much advantage of it, especially with the recent re-discovery of her human side. Chell stepped into the portal.
"I transferred the moron's information into an android that I've had sitting around for… well, only a week, really. I made him when we made our agreement. He'll have just as many glitches as the regular moron had before, and it may have more problems than I foresaw. But what is science without a few mistakes? That's why we test." GLaDOS stood at her "throne" in the center of her chamber, the chords from the ceiling looking treacherous and intimidating. Chell stood without emotion, staring at the AI. She would not give her words today.
"Oh, back to that already, are we? Fine. I see how you are. Are you here to test then? Because he's not quite ready to leave yet. Sure, he could, but his life-span would be much shorter. He needs to learn how to walk properly, and control his bio functions. Oh, that's a little thing I've equipped for him. He has literally all the same functions of humans, with the exception that he doesn't need to eat to survive. Oh, and I suppose his heart is automated, so the chances that it will ever cause him any troubles are slim to none. How does that sound?" GLaDOS smirked, a hint of deception in her eyes, but Chell dismissed it.
Chell sighed a little and got into a training-type stance.
"Testing time, I see. Maybe if you test well enough for me, I'll let you see him. Then again, maybe not. It all depends on the reports I get. And don't think I won't read the interesting ones aloud. Because I will." GLaDOS's behavior was much less human today. She was getting snarky and rude, and Chell was almost afraid at how things would play out.
"Over to that door, through the hall—actually, here."
The floor panel beneath Chell suddenly pulled out from under her and she fell for a while. "It's a good thing you have long-fall boots or you might be at risk. Of death." GLaDOS yelled after her. Chell landed on an aerial faith plate that launched her through a set of Emancipation Grills and she landed on the floor in the center of a bright white, clean test chamber. On the wall where the test chambers usually were was a big monitor. The monitor brought cold chills to Chell as she remembered how Wheatley incorporated them into his own tests and how he watched her and taunted her while she risked her life.
"The moron did actually have a few ideas. Now I can watch you through those cameras and you can watch me. I won't be telling you how to do anything, but I will definitely be able to share with you all of my emotions and upsets that you cause for me. So there's that."
Chell sighed and rolled her eyes.
"The first few chambers will be warm-ups before you get the ASHPD, so don't be expecting that too shortly. You have to be completely satisfactory before I even bring you close to it. Oh, and there won't be warnings for what's in the tests. I've found that when you don't have warnings, you become a lot more…conscious of your surroundings. Which is always better for science."
GLaDOS was really going to get on Chell's nerves if she was constantly on that distracting monitor, making faces and gauging Chell's reactions. It was bad enough that Chell was on verbal strike, like she usually was when it came to testing, and GLaDOS knew she could talk. But now she could do twice as much taunting and teasing than she could before.
This was going to be a long session of testing.
Wheatley groaned as he opened his eye—wait, eyes… and looked up at the bright ceiling above him. "Oh, bloody hell, that was one intense impact… Ugh, I'm still alive. No pain…no pain?" His hands came up to his face and rubbed it—wait, hands?!
Wheatley abruptly sat up and looked around. "What the—where am I? And why do I have arms?" He looked down and saw legs too.
"OH GOD! I'M A HUMAN?! NO, NO THIS ISN'T POSSIBLE!" Wheatley became frantic as he looked at his partially-clothed human body and tried to remember the last thing that happened.
"Okay, I was careening toward the earth, about to start on fire if I remember correctly, and…well, black. That's all I remember actually. Why am I talking to myself?"
"Moron. You're awake. Good. So, I have some news." Her voice came on over the intercom and the monitor that was stationed in the corner of the room in front of him beheld a cyborg woman with white hair and…yellow eyes. It was Her.
His eyes widened as he stared at Her, now rendered speechless. This was hard to achieve, especially when it came to Wheatley, but She was somehow on that level of scary and terrifying that She could almost render him paralyzed. And why wouldn't She be able to? He DID try to keep control over Her facility, and almost destroyed it in his attempt at being a control freak.
"Chell is here. She's currently testing for me. Well, for you, really. So that she can get you. Which struck me as odd, but humans are still a mystery to me. Anyway, you've been transferred into this android body. This cyborg body. So that you can leave and be self-sufficient without relying on Chell or a management rail." Her face had a sickeningly satisfied look on it and She was confusing him. Why would She be helping him? Or Chell? It made no sense.
"I'm going to be coming to watch your rehabilitation process start as soon as she leaves. But, there may be an interruption between that, who knows? Anyway. All you can do before that is try to explore your body. Good luck!" The screen went black, but Wheatley knew She could still hear and see him.
He looked down at himself, at his legs and at his arms and hands and his…everything. All this body was…was his. And it felt odd. He was given the ability to be completely self-sufficient. And this…it felt amazing. But also weird, very weird. Why would Chell want him of all people? And why would he be put in this…cyborg body? So many questions were hurling themselves relentlessly at his mind that he felt faint.
"Oh god. She made me a bloody human. Er, cyborg. Whatever. This could not be any worse. And Chell wants me? I can only imagine why. Maybe she's going through all this work to kill me. Or maybe she wants to let me suffer, and she'll make me test like I made her test. Oh, god. Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh—"
He stopped himself. What if it wasn't any of that? What if she just…genuinely missed him? Before the whole…incident…they were developing a trusting relationship. Each of them brought an equal amount to the table, more or less, and…well, they were almost friends. At least, he'd considered her one before he became obsessed with the power that, in hindsight, she helped him achieve. Maybe she knew it wasn't his fault. The corruption level was there on its own, before she started adding to it with those…annoying cores. Ugh. Spacey.
He missed him, really. It was so silent here. So lonely. Wheatley began to wonder how Spacey was doing out there. Surely he was still as euphoric as ever, what with being surrounded with space and planets and stars and junk. But he would still be slowly deteriorating, and now he'd be alone. Unless She brought him back too, which was rather unbelievable, considering how difficult and annoying she made it sound to have even one new android to be rehabilitating.
And now that that particular thought was on his mind, he wondered what rehabilitating even meant. It was a whole process? He wondered how long it would take. What if it hurt, like the core transfer did? Well, so far, he didn't remember pain from his own transfer from core to android; actually, he didn't remember it at all. He didn't mind that, really. Who enjoyed pain? Well, some people enjoyed pain, but not Wheatley.
What was he supposed to do in the meantime before She came back to rehabilitate him? Just sit there and…sing songs or something? No, he thought that sounded stupid. He stared down as his hands. At his hands. That was so bizarre. This was his body, his new android body… Cyborg. Whatever. She was confusing him with the terminology, and it didn't matter much to him anyway. He looked like a human, but his insides were a little different.
Experimentally, he tried to stand. His wobbly legs barely held him up, and he looked up to see that he was literally only an inch or two away from hitting the ceiling. He was ungodly tall! Strange, to go from a two foot little ball of a core into a huge human, with working arms and legs. He felt a thumping in his chest. This was exciting. He placed his hand—HIS hand, he would NEVER get over that!—on his chest and felt the rhythmic thumping that took place there. It sped up and he was amazed to feel this, this thing in his chest. Amazed and scared. What if that thing was a bad thing? What if it was signaling something bad? The thumping sped up and he suddenly grew terrified. What if it killed him?
"Oh, I'm going to die! No! No! Nononono—"
"Shut up, moron." She appeared at the door, her white hair cropping her face, which bore a snide expression. "You're not going to die. That's called a heart. It keeps you functioning."
"A heart?! You gave me a bloody heart? Am I going to die if this thing…breaks down or, or or malfunctions?" He was having a panic attack now, and he wasn't sure why, but the "heart" in his chest was beating much faster.
"No. Sit down. Stop talking." Her arm waved Wheatley toward the bed that he had woken up on. She was motioning for him to sit, and he decided to do as She asked. She walked over to him, not even reaching his height while he was seated. She was incredibly short, at least compared to him.
"Rehab is easy. For me. You clearly already know how to talk, so…there's that. Now walking and other basic function—can you PLEASE STOP TOUCHING THINGS?!"
Wheatley looked up with a deer-in-headlights expression, blushing a bit. He had been touching other parts of his body; his shoulders, elbows, knees, stomach, and pelvis, at which point She yelled at him. He was just trying to get to know his body. He was confused and it was all Her fault. And Chell's. He felt like she had no right to snap at him, so he glared at Her while resting his arms at his side.
"Walking. Get up and walk to the door." She pointed to the door.
Wheatley stood up for a second time, slightly less clumsily this time, and sauntered on over to the door. Walking wasn't so bad, he figured. It was a little fun.
"Okay, done!" He looked at Her with a smile, gleaming with pride.
Her bored expression made him quickly lose his confidence. Now, touch your toes."
"M-My toes? Why?" He bent over, his long arms reaching down to his long legs. "Easy!"
"Now. You're going to run down that hall, pick up the defective turret that's waiting for you, and run back. Sound good? Good. Go."
Wheatley took off out the door and down the hall, looking to see the ugly defective turret standing at the end of the hall.
"Bang bang bang! Did I get it?" The turret said in an unattractive voice as Wheatley approached it.
"Little bugger…" He went to pick it up, but it slipped from his weak grip. "Wait, what?" He tried to pick it up again, this time it fell out of his hands and tipped over.
"Hey! What's the big idea?"
"What in the…" He tried to pick it up a third time and finally grasped it, just barely. Wheatley scoffed and ran as fast as he could, fumbling to keep the turret up. He walked into the room and dropped the turret upon entering. "That was incredibly annoying!" He was getting worked up with this stupid rehabilitation. Was she just trying to make him feel inferior?
This was going to be a LONG day. He could just feel it.