Want You Gone

[Chapter Twelve: The Fall]

The junk had cleared after a moment of soaring down the tube, and I was finally able to open my eyes. At least, a little bit. We had been moving so fast, that all I could really do was laugh. It was like the feeling of being on a roller coaster. I had never been on one though. I only assumed that was what it was like. 

Wheatley was in front of me, thankfully. That meant he couldn't slam into me and knock me out. He seemed to be, no pun intended , having a ball as well. "This should take us right to her!" He cheered genially. "I can't believe I'm finally doing this!" I laughed, though I tried not to open my mouth too much for fear of drooling everywhere. We weaved through twists and turns, and though it was hard to see, I could see a huge portion of the facility. These tubes stretched for ages, in loops, around each other, every which way. It seemed endless. 

With a firm hold on my portal gun, I tried to grab onto one of Wheatley's handles with my other hand, so that he didn't get too far head of me. "Whooo! I knew this would be fun!" He shouted. "They told me it wasn't fun at all, and I believed 'em! Ah, but I'm loving this! Whale of a time!" Wheatley rambled. I smiled fondly at him as he did. It was nice to hear him so genuinely happy. "This place is huge! And we're only seeing the top layer! It goes down for miles! All sealed off years ago, of course!"I looked down at the void below us. Was that really all part of the facility? How deep did It go? What was down there?

"We should be getting close! I can't wait to see the look on her face!" I nodded in agreement, my hand slipping from his handle slightly. "No neurotoxin, no turrets-- she'll never know what hit her!" I giggled, my hand slipping away. Wheatley soared ahead of me slightly, seeming to lean more toward one side of the tube. He spun wildly. "Hold on now, I may not have thought this next part completely through-!" I tried to grab at him, seeing ahead that there was a split in the tube system. Just as my fingers grazed the handle, he barreled down the wrong tube. 

"Agh! I'm going the wrong way!" He yelled, his voice growing more distant. "Get to Her, I'll find you!" I stared at him as he slowly became too distant to see, until I realized my tube led into a dark shaft. I lost sight of everything else, so all I could do was wait for the joy ride to end, and hope Wheatley was able to catch up. Because honestly, I wasn't sure how we planned on fighting her. 

After a shot while, the tube threw me down harshly into a small room. I landed hard on the catwalk and groaned. I hadn't landed on my feet, but instead, on my side with as much force as the tube was shooting me along with. I wondered how I hadn't died from being thrown around so much, but maybe the cryo-sleep had some odd superhuman side effects on me, just like in the movies. I never figured it out, but right then, all I knew was that flying out of a vacuum tube and lading right onto a metal surface really took away a lot of your will to get up and keep moving. 

As much as it pained me, I had to get up, however. I was back in her part of the facility. Once she found me, she had the control. I had to make it into her Chamber before she even realized I was there. I slowly sat up, trembling lightly. I rubbed my arm and took a deep breath. No doubt was that whole side of my body going to be bruised for a while. 

With the minor setback shoved to the back of my mind, I lugged myself up the steps and into a hallway. It was beaten down, with broken glass and ceramic littered about. This was the part of the facility that I had woken up to; crumbling and overrun by plant life. I took a detour into a small hallway and glanced out into a huge, open space. I found a platform that was hanging over a room. In the room, was a door. I was close to her chamber, I knew that much, so I figured I would portal my way over to see where it lead. 

When I dropped down into the room, I hunched over a bit. The boots could save my legs, but the rest of my body still hurt from the tube. I stood up, steadying myself, and facing the door. Upon it was a sign that read: 'GLaDOS EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN AND CAKE DISPENSORY. KEEP UNLOCKED.'