GLaDOS and Me

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

"G'morning."

She glanced at him but only for the barest second, turning back to the system log again. He frowned, wondering if he'd done something wrong, until he realised that her chassis wasn't tightened. That would have signified that she was upset or annoyed, but it was too loose for that. Something else, then.

He walked up the stairs cautiously, setting down the bucket of Lego he'd brought with him, but she still didn't move, her gaze fixed on the system log. "Something wrong?" he asked gently, noticing that the pile of cards was gone and the box moved to one side. She looked down and brought out one of the maintenance arms, tapping at the glass, and he looked down to see the three broken toys three feet away from him, which he honestly had not noticed. "Oh, that's right. I'm sorry, luv, I can't fix them. They're... good and done for, they are." He bent down on one knee and gathered them into the crook of one arm. "Wish I could, though. I know you liked them."

He unlatched the box and dropped them inside, then grabbed the handle of the bucket and brought it over to her, but she didn't come down when he asked her to. "C'mon, GLaDOS. You're not gonna stay there all day, are you? C'mon. I've got something new to show you."

She shook her head and didn't move.

"C'mon. I just want to play with you. Come here, will you?"

That earned him a glance, but nothing more.

"Please? I don't want to play by myself."

Nothing.

"Well, can you come here, at least? So I can find out what's wrong?"

That convinced her to level herself, but she still wouldn't look at him. He took a deep breath, glad that there had been a bottle of cold medication in his bathroom cabinet. "Okay. First question: are you upset?"

Nod.

"About yesterday?"

Nod.

"About... what Greg said?"

Shake.

"About... uh... what I said?"

Shake.

"The... the toys? Are you sad they're broken?"

Nod.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he told her gently. "They were just toys, you know. Life goes on."

She shook her head and poked him a little, and he frowned. "What."

She tapped the box, then poked him again. She was upset about the broken toys, and something to do with him and the toys...

"D'you feel bad for breaking my toys?" he asked softly, and she nodded once, looking away again, and honestly she looked so terribly sad that he almost teared up himself. He stood up, walking around the bucket. "Hey. Hey. GLaDOS. Look at me, eh? Look at ol' Wheatley for a second."

She did, looking reluctant, and he laid a hand on the side of her core. "It's okay," he told her. "Don't worry about it. I don't mind. I understand. It's alright. I'm not upset."

She pulled herself up a little, nudging him almost shyly, and he laughed and gave her a hug, which she returned as best she could by pressing her optic assembly into his ribs. "It's alright," he repeated, stroking her a little. "I'm not upset."

When he pulled away and sat down, she looked at the bucket, placing her claw tentatively on the lid and looking at Wheatley uncertainly, and he nodded. She lifted it off and peered inside, pulling out one of the little blocks, and he reached over and tipped over the whole thing. She startled, looking rapidly from one tumbling block to another, but Wheatley frowned and asked, "Who cleaned up the cards?"