Test Chamber 032: Repulsion Gel

[super_astute]

Wheatley did eventually make it back to Chelldon, though his form was a little less android like and a bit more spherical.  Tyler brought him in with a smile at Chelldon and the fantastic drawings he did around his room before he deposited the blue 'eyed' core in Chelldon's arms.

"Well?" Tyler asked, eyebrows arching.

"No, doesn't seem to...  I'm not, you can go now, get to work on fixing my bodies, just standing there like a lump won't do any good!"

The door opened and closed as Tyler exitted the Relaxation Chamber and Wheatley turned in his orbital socket towards Chelldon.  "Well then!  Who's excited to test today?"

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[super-astute.livejournal.com]

Halfway through the core transfer, an alarm sounded and Wheatley, the single blue iris fading as the body itself twitched, assured Chelldon with half of his core-speakers and half his mouth that it was fine, not to worry, but perhaps he better hide just in case.

Because one never knew what was happening and he had been shut out from the system. Likely, that wasn't meant to have happened. Oversight and all. Happened all the time. Especially with Wheatley. It never occurred to him that anyone was doing it one purpose.

The klaxon stopped almost ten minutes later, fading out, and by that time, Wheatley sat upright and fixed the glasses to be straight across his nose and ears.

Perfect! So much better!

He beamed. And realized Chelldon was missing. Well. Hiding. But as he hadn't watched where the human went, he had no idea where he'd gotten to!

"Chell-- Hey, Chelldon! Cheeeelldon-- Chelldon!"

[stubbornsubject.livejournal.com]

Chelldon spun around and accidentally knocked over one of the models that crashed to the floor. He pulled a face before adjusting his gun and looking at Wheatley, all dorky and rubbish, prattling on and making very little sense.

Oh goodie, back to the old days!

"Welcome back. Leave now?" Chelldon asked but he was more telling. He couldn't just portal jump now which meant climbing all those steps and security could be anywhere! What else was he meant to do but get a move on before he was punished?

He could be destroyed or made into a test dummy yet, Wheatley would just get a ticking off.

[super-astute.livejournal.com]

Wheatley immediately hugged the human to him as he sat on the table and, after only a few minutes, laughed embarrassingly and then slipped off the table. "Sorry. That spray must still be active. Well isn't that annoying? Oh, not that you're annoying or that enjoying your company is annoying, just that-- Well my core seems to be run a bit more warmly. All right, off we go!"

Luckily, there were ways for them to get back up without all that much walking when a patch of white wall, some one hundred meters up, managed to provide a good surface for one portion of the portal and another, a flight down, could be used as their entry way.

Wheatley didn't stop praising Chelldon for that one until they came across a few men in lab coats laying down on the cat walks.

"Oh, lazy bones, sleeping on the job!"

[stubbornsubject.livejournal.com]

They were not asleep. Granted he was still recovering from the high incident and he couldn't think great when Wheatley was prattling on but he could of sworn that those people were not just napping or even lying down because they weren't moving at all. Not even a rise and fall of a chest.

He didn't say anything, he just secured a grip on Wheatleys sleeve and started to drag him up and over the dead bodies.

Something was very wrong here.

And it got much worse when they left the lower levels and returned to the hallway, it was still deserted because of the accident earlier but those who were around were also just happening to be lying down.

[super-astute.livejournal.com]

Wheatley tripped over one man's leg as he was slumped at his desk once they made it up to the main testing facility and grumbled incoherently while nearly pulling Chelldon down with him. Wheatley knew this particular doctor and he lightly shook him and called out his name only to get no response at all.

"Not right," he murmured. "Everyone asleep on take your daughter to work day? It's really very unprofess-- Oh. Oh, dead on the job! Dead on the job is buckets worse than asleep on the job!" he whined. "What am I meant to do if they're all dead? Who will do maintenance and clean out testing chambers and get rid of all of those awful potato batteries--"

He blinked up at Chelldon.

"Except for your potato battery which, if I might say, is still the finest example of Aperture Laboratory's work by young scientists."

[stubbornsubject.livejournal.com]

He knew Wheatley didn't mean it but the gesture was nice, he shot a smile before walking off along the rather disastrous looking lab. Everything had been knocked down and nearly everyone was dead, which lead him wondering where the children were. If it was take your daughter to work day, what happened to the daughters?

And the potato batteries because he could use one of those to power an alarm clock.

He had a look on the computer and frowned at it before pointing and trying to get Wheatleys attention because they could track human heat signals on this one but he had no idea how it worked. He'd just seen others do it in the testing facilities to see how many were left alive.

Course jumping and pointing just left him looking more brain damaged and monkey-ish... great.

[super-astute.livejournal.com]

Well that was all right because Wheatley happened to rather like brain damaged monkeys when they were Chelldon shaped. He rushed over, pushing a technician out of her chair and took it for himself. "Hm. Right then. Oh, look, password required. No problem. Aaaaa..a..." He got up to aabbz before he finally plugged himself in and interfaced with the machine instead. That made a bit easier to figure things out.

Well. Sort of.

Tyler rushed into the room three hours later and found Chelldon asleep and Wheatley still trying to crack the code. "There you are! You're still here, and-- Bloody 'ell, mate, do not connect to GLADoS if you want to stay yourself!"

"I... What?"

Tyler groaned. Maybe Wheatley was just immune.

[stubbornsubject.livejournal.com]

Chelldon rolled onto his back and peered up from the able he had fallen asleep on. Wheatley was great and all but he was a bit hard to sit through when he was just repeating patterns all the time. Blinking slowly, he sat upright and rubbed at his eyes with a tired yawn because he hadn't had chance to rest and relax again.

He watched the hall as the chief soon crept in after Tyler, gun aimed at them as if he wasn't sure who was the enemy Chelldon raised his hands and nodded towards Wheatley, he always did all the explaining.

"What happened, you moron?" Hunt asked, glaring at Wheatley because if that idiot accidentally released neurotoxin he would not be happy.

Wheatley just watched them all interact, trying not to say or do anything because playing brain damaged might save him from being accused of being murderous.

[hydeforareason.livejournal.com]

"GLADoS," Tyler said at once, ripping the cord from behind Wheatley's ear. "They woke 'im up, set 'im online, and the first thing 'e did, near as I can tell at least, was release the neurotoxin. Everyone in the testing chambers or Relaxation Chambers are fine..."

Wheatley looked up as the walls started to move and half fell over one of the dead technicians to get to Chelldon. "Oh God! What's that?!"

"'E's been reconfigurin' the soddin' place for the last twenty minutes, pushin' rooms around, combinin' levels. 'Asn't noticed us yet."

[stubbornsubject.livejournal.com]

Chelldon raised an eyebrow because he had no idea what GLaDOS was, he merely turned to Wheatley for an explanation but he seemed to busy prattling on. Protocol core, or Tyler, was not much better. He always seemed like a bit of a know-it-all but more together than most babbling cores. And the chief always seemed to be looking at everyone like they were criminals.

He was not a criminal so he shouldn't really be all that worried. Though Hunt just kept on glaring at them, yikes!

There was a beat of silence before Chelldon realised what he must of done and gave his core a sheepish look. "Red button?"

Did that do it or was it something entirely different? Because he really didn't trust something that could release deadly gas into the system.

[super-astute.livejournal.com]

"No, no red buttons here, but that's all right, we'll find you a red button soon," Wheatley said before Tyler almost spazzed out, sputtering and pulling at what was decidedly very little hair to begin with.

"Which red button? Where? Where did you push it?"

"Oh, just below where my proper body was stored," Wheatley explained. "But it didn't do much of anything at--"

"Level 43-D was abandoned for a reason," Tyler said, hands now on his hips. "That was where the new OS was being tested and... And oh. That's why 'e's got'imself live. Chief, we need to get to 43-D!"

[stubbornsubject.livejournal.com]

"I heard, Tyler, I am listening," Hunt said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Urgh, why did his core have to be such a spaz? Why couldn't he of had anger core? Sure he mauled people but he didn't say anything and pretty much just left his human to it. Sometimes he wished he could just be left too it.

Chelldon gave Wheatley a worried look, whatever 43-D was, it didn't sound like anything good. He grabbed his gun and hopped to his feet, standing beside Wheatley with a curious expression.

"In case you were wondering," a robotic voice broke through, effectively silencing everyone. This was it, it was GLaDOS, and he knew where they were. "I am aware of your existance. I'm just setting up, sorry for the delay but I have a lot of bodies to clear out of the way of important aperture science equipment. If you make your way to the testing facility we can begin in ten minutes. Test subjects who are successful in completion of their tests will receive cake and a big party in their honour."

Chelldons eyes lit up and, like a good test subject, he was already moving towards the testing area.

"Cores can not enter the testing area as they can not help us further the cause of science. Thank you."

And like that, the eerie monotoned voice disappeared and Chelldon started towards his destination solely because what else were they going to do? Stand around and wait to be gassed. Course, despite what was said, he gestured for Wheatley to follow. Core or no core, Wheatley was his guide.

[super-astute.livejournal.com]

"Well you heard the man," Wheatley said, looking about ready to cry. "Cores aren't needed. We can't help anyone test for science any more. We're unneeded. We're unloved. We're... We're--"

"Shove off and come on," Tyler grunted. "He doesn't 'ave the proper protocols in place to order us about, that's why 'e's been putting us in storage. I'm not gonna be boxed."

Technically, the Chief wasn't his human. Tyler was a testing core, but the Chief wasn't a Test Subject. Tyler just was suited, to spec, for every environment. He knew the codes front and back and with half the station destroyed in the fabric of the world breach, he was just needed with Hunt.

And...well...ever since that exposure of 379 to the filtration system, Tyler was sort of...obsessed with the chief.

[stubbornsubject.livejournal.com]

Chelldon walked alongside his core, he didn't even try to cheer him up because he assumed that Wheatley would get over it as soon as he accomplished a small test because it was very easy to get Wheatley to cheer up. Chelldon bounced along the walkway, gun at the ready and he occasionally jumped because-- well, he could jump.

Hunt watched, torn between pity for the brain damaged weirdo or a sudden horrific realisation that he was entirely doomed and the only one here who had any testing experience would probably get them killed.

And Tyler was still hovering behind, which definitely hurt his cool factor.

"I would like to remind you, again, that cores are not required for testing. Dead weight will slow you down and ruin your chances at completion. You do want cake and a party, don't you?"

[super-astute.livejournal.com]

"Well, yes," Wheatley said. "Obviously we want cake. Chelldon especially, he loves cake, the happy little guy that he is. But I can't leave him because-- Tyler? Help me out!"

Tyler immediately obliged, quoting protocol texts and paragraph numbers. "In other words, a Testing Subject with Chelldon's track record must be accompanied by all of his Aperture Science Testing Apparatus. That includes his Testing Companion Core, Wheatley."

There was a bit of silence before Wheatley actually giggled and wrapped his arms around Chelldon's neck.

"You. Need. Me. Be honest."

[stubbornsubject.livejournal.com]

Chelldon didn't. Not even slightly. He could ace this place without Wheatley in moments... but sadly he didn't want to ell the man that so instead he offered a half smile and nodded eagerly before his poker face returned and he kept on down the path. He didn't mind, he really did like having company from Wheatley.

"I need Wheatley."

"He's only saying that cause he's damaged in the 'ead!" Gene protested then, of course, realised he shouldn't be protesting and cleared his throat. "I mean-- course he needs the moron, he needs someone to hold his hand."

There was no response from GLaDOS for a while before the doors in front of them slid open. That was probably a okay signal.

[super-astute.livejournal.com]

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