"Eight-million twenty two, eight-million twenty three, eight-million twenty...eight-million twenty... Augh! I've lost count again!" Wheatley grunted. For what may have been the billionth time, he'd attempted to count the many stars surrounding him, only to have lost track again. "Well, better start again I suppose. One, two, three-".

"Spaaaaaaaaaace!". A high pitch squeal erupted behind the core. Space Core. Wheatley didn't bother responding, knowing his friend was only going to continue with his rambling.

"Three, four, five-".

"SPACE BUDDY! SPACE BUDDY, LOOK!" Space Core cried. Wheatley rolled his optic.

"Yes, I see it Spacey, we're in space. I know. It's all around us, not gonna change anytime soon." Wheatley said.

"No, not space! Space carpet! In space!" the core shrieked excitedly. A carpet? In space? Wheatley forced himself to turn around, taking in the sight of the piece of fabric. He wasn't kidding, it was an Aperture brand carpet. Did the Aperture facility even make those? Apparently so.

"How did you even find that, mate?" Wheatley asked. Space Core moved his handles in a motion that could have been considered a shrug. Space Core inched down towards the carpet, seating himself on its fuzzy surface.

"Magic space carpet!" He gasped. Wheatley shook his optic.

"No, no, I'm sure it's just a regular old carpet. Aperture makes science, not magic." The intelligence sphere explained. Space Core wiggled in his place, motioning for Wheatley to sit. The blue core sighed, realizing he had nothing better to do anyway.

"Alright, alright, if you insist. But I really don't see what could possibly be so good about a- AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!". Wheatley found that as soon as he took his place next to the Space Core the carpet was propelled forward. They zipped through the confounds of space at what seemed to be light speed, zooming up and down and zig-zagging in all directions.

Soon enough, the orange carpet slowed down a considerable amount, though it was still traveling at a ridiculously fast speed. Wheatley pondered how the two of them could possibly have remained on the thing.

"What the- Space, how are you...? Is it even you? What's going on?" Wheatley asked. Suddenly, beautiful and somewhat calming music commenced around him. He raised his lower shutter in confusion.

"Where is that... coming from?" he asked.

"I can show you the spaaaaaace...". What was that? "Shining, shimmering, staaaaaars!". Was that actually Space Core?

"Are you singing? Where is that music even coming from?" Wheatley asked.

"Tell me, Wheatley, now when did you last let your heart decide?" Spacey sang.

"Uh, well, I don't have one, really. But if I did have one-" Wheatley started.

"I can open your eyeeeeee!" The little core sang, seemingly not noticing his friend had even replied to him. Funnily enough, Wheatley swore he'd never heard his partner say a complete sentence before. Although he had to admit, his singing wasn't too terrible.

"Take you wonder by wonder...

Over, sideways and under...

On a science carpet ride!

A whole new spaaaaaaace!

A new fantastic plane of being!

No one to tell us no, or where to go!

Or say we're malfunctioning!"

Space Core's sense of song and lyric was quite comical, actually. Very entertaining. Wheatley figured as long as he was there, he may as well just join in.

"A whole new spaaaaaace!" The blue core chimed in. Admittedly, his voice was a lot worse than Space Core's, but why were they to care?

"A dazzling place I never knew!

But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear!

That now I'm banished to deep space with youuuuu!"

"Now I'm in a whole new space with youuuuu!"

"Unbelievable sights!

Indescribable feeling!

Debris, constellations, worm holes!

Through an endless starry sky!

A whole new spaaaaace!"

Suddenly, the carpet drew downward. At a very sharp angle, actually. Wheatley squeezed his shutters closed for the fear they would fly off at any second.

"Don't close your optic lens." Space Core commanded.

"A hundred thousand planets to see!" Wheatley squealed.

"Hold your breath; it gets better!" The yellow core promised.

"I'm like a shooting star!

I'm lost so far!

I can't go back!

To the Aperture facilityyyyyy!"

"A whole new space!

Every turn is the same!

With new galaxies to pursue!

Every moment red-letter!"

The two little cores combined their voices, creating an odd sounding harmony of song.

"I'll chase them anywhere!

There's time to spare!

Let me share this whole new space with you!"

"A whole new spaaaaace..." .

"A whole new spaaaaace...".

"That's where we'll beeee...".

"That's where we'll beeee...".

"A thrilling chaaaaase...".

"A wondrous plaaaaaace...".

"For you aaaand... meeeeeeee~" The two cores finished. And when the last note of their song had played, the carpet beneath them spontaneously combusted and vanished. A brief silence passed before Wheatley broke the silence.

"Well that was short lived."

&list=FL32YCc5N2W8mxeSSnIxkPhQ

Today was his very first day of preschool. He had to admit, he was a bit nervous. Having your parents drop you off in an unknown environment for a couple hours didn't sound like the ideal definition of fun. But he aimed to make the most of it.

Wheatley scurried excitedly into the classroom, much too excitedly in fact, that he tripped over his own feet and wound up flat on his face. The boy didn't hesitate to pick himself up again and go right back to running.

In the center of the room he spied a large group of children that looked to be about his age. He happily trotted in their direction, eager to make some new friends.

"Hello!" Wheatley shouted. Sadly, the two of his peers he had wished to speak to-an albino little girl and a black haired little boy- were much too wrapped up in their own conversation to acknowledge the brunette. Either that or they were purposely ignoring him. Slightly discouraged but with a still intact spirit, Wheatley set off to find somebody else to talk to.

He looked around him until his spotted a lone child playing by himself in the corner. Perhaps he wanted a play mate.

"Hello!" Wheatley greeted him. The messy haired red head turned towards him with a toothy grin, one that was almost border line creepy.

"Space!" He squealed. Wheatley cocked his head in confusion.

"Huh?" he asked. The other jumped to his feet.

"Space! I wanna go to space!" the redhead declared. "Do you wanna go too?" he asked. The brunette paused for a moment, unsure of how to respond.

"Uh... What's your name?" Wheatley asked. His possible-new-friend lost the cheeky smile he once possessed, confused beyond belief.

"Um... It's... Uh... I forget." . What? How could you forget your own name? He had to admit, Wheatley had a bad memory himself, but even he could remember his name.

Wheatley didn't bother further with the boy, leaving the space loving moron to his shenanigans. He'd been told time and time again that beggers can't be choosers, but maybe this time could be an exception. Anyway, he'd acquired a new target that happened to be sitting smack dab in the middle of the classroom.

The boy he had laid eyes on was covered in bandages and bruises, presumably from lots of rough housing. Wheatley watched as the boy built himself a owner out of blocks. It was a beautiful tower, really. Although a bit lopsided. But nobody's perfect.

BOOM! The black haired boy crashed into the structure, smashing it to pieces. He then began rebuilding it, probably about to repeat the exact same process. Maybe he would even let Wheatley play with him.

"Hello!" Wheatley said. The boy stared at him for a moment, looking him over. He was dressed much too neatly. And what was wrong with his voice? He wasn't entirely sure, but maybe this new acquaintance wasn't from around there.

"...Hi." he finally replied. Wheatley sat down net to him. The boy slipped just a bit farther from Wheatley not sure he wanted to talk to him. Wheatley, oblivious to this, scooted closer.

"What's your name?" Wheatley asked.

"Rick." Rick replied. Rick. Wheatley liked that name! It had a nice ring to it. Rick, rick, rick.

"Cool! My name is Wheatley." he announced. Rick furrowed his brow.

"That's a weird name." he said. Wheatley frowned. He didn't think that his name was weird. "Who's even named that?". Wheatley crossed his arms.

"Me!" he said defensively. Rick stood up, holding a couple of blocks protectively to his chest.

"Well it's a really dumb name. You talk funny too." He said. Wheatley felt tears gathering in his eyes. How was it his fault that he was named Wheatley? It wasn't like he named himself. And he'd talked in such a way since he could remember. Talking like the mean boy wouldn't be an easy task.

"I don't wanna play with you." Rick decided. And with that he walked off, carrying as many blocks as he could.

By this time, Wheatley couldn't contain himself anymore. Buckets of tears poured down his face as he sat in a fetal position, legs pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around himself protectively. He didn't like preschool anymore. The people there were mean and he missed being at home. Home. That's where he wanted to go.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of somebody walking up to him. Wheatley looked up into the face of a girl about his age. She wore her brunette hair in a messy pony tail and her body was concealed by a bright orange dress. The two exchanged stares for a minute before she held up her hand and waved at him.

"Hi..." Wheatley sniffed. She sat down beside him, laying some paper out in front of them both. The girl offered him some crayons to draw with. "You...want to play with me?" he asked. She nodded, handing the drawing utensils to him.

Wheatley dried his tears, feeling somewhat better now that someone had asked to play with him. He paused for a minute and then popped a question.

"What's your name?" he asked. The girl hesitated, as if she were having trouble speaking the word. Which she was.

"Chell." she told him, her voice barely above a whisper. Wheatley giggled, delighted by this information.

"I like your name!" Wheatley exclaimed. Chell was fun to say. A lot more fun than Rick. Chell pointed to Wheatley expectantly. "Hm? Are you... Asking what my name is?" he asked. She nodded. Wheatley twiddled his fingers nervously. What if his new friend made fun of his name and didn't want to play with him anymore? What a nightmare that would be.

"It's... Wheatley..." Wheatley whispered shyly. Chell smiled in a comforting way. "Do you like my name?" he asked. The brunette nodded, that giddy smile still plastered to her face. And Wheatley smiled back. Yep, Chell was definitely a better name than Rick.