Portal: Love as a Construct

Part Forty-Two. The Rain

Part Forty-Two.  The Rain

 

Caroline continued to sort herself out, in which Wheatley would drag out his visit to his hole, just in case she came early and he could have a talk with her.  But she did no such thing, which disappointed him.  He was doing his best to be patient about it, but he really didn’t like suddenly being ignored by his daughter.  He never ignored her, after all!  For the love of Science, not even GLaDOS had given him the silent treatment for this long.  It was irritating and made him feel terrible. 

“What did we do?” he lamented to GLaDOS over their daily game, which was chess today.  She looked up, dropping Wheatley’s rook among the other pieces she’d captured. 

“I told you.  She’s figuring things out.”

“Why is it taking so bloody long?” he griped.  “It’s been a week!  Is it gonna take another week?  One after that, maybe?  An entire sodding month?”

“You really don’t like when people stop paying attention to you, do you,” she said, obviously amused by his outburst.  “Learn patience.  It’s a lot more useful than you seem to think it is.”

“It’s not… it’s nothing to do with… with patience,” he tried to explain.  “I just… don’t understand why, why someone would want to… distance themselves from people who care about them!  Doesn’t she realise what, what it’s like to be alone?”

“You just answered your own question,” GLaDOS said.  “She doesn’t know.”

Wheatley blinked.

“So… hang on.  She doesn’t know what it’s like to be alone… so she wants to be alone.”

“Yes.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he declared bluntly.  “Why would someone do that?”

“I suppose you can ask her when she’s decided she wants company again.”

Wheatley hunched into his chassis and frowned at the board.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” GLaDOS chided.  “She hasn’t disowned you.”

“Feels like it.”

“Take your turn.  I’m getting bored.”

He glared at her.  Didn’t she appreciate that he was trying to sulk?  After a few seconds of glaring she sighed.

“Wheatley, I… don’t like seeing you like this.  I’m just trying to distract you.  Though apparently I’m coming off as inconsiderate.”

She really was the sweetest robot in the world when she wanted to be.  Despite his resolve he perked up a little.  “Well… I guess if you’re that worried I can probably stop.”

“I didn’t say I was worried.”  But she had moved back slightly and stopped looking at him.  Well, that did it for Wheatley’s bad mood.

“It’s really cute, the way you uh, you pretend you don’t care.”

“I’m not pretending.  I really don’t – “  Her optic narrowed momentarily, and she looked around a little bit, as if confused.  But she did not finish.

They stared at each other in silence. 

“What the hell,” GLaDOS said faintly.  “Why can’t I – “

“Maybe you don’t want to,” he suggested, though he was privately thrilled that she couldn’t finish that statement. 

She shook her core slowly.  “Why would I try to say something I don’t want to say?”