Prompt Post Round 1
Prompts go here! This will be closed and a new post made at 3000 comments. Please link all fills to the Round 1 Fill Post.
This post is closed to new prompts! Post prompts at Round 2! Fills and comments can still be posted here.
This post is closed to new prompts! Post prompts at Round 2! Fills and comments can still be posted here.
The thing merely looked at him, and if it had eyebrows they would be furrowed, contemplating on what to do.
“Do you recall the humans birth name?”
“Chell. Chell. Her last name was redacted in the files, there was almost nothing on her except that her name is Chell.”
“A vague chance of meeting her if only with a first name.”
Wheatley felt the hopelessness sink back into him once again and his plates drooped as he sighed.
“A description would benefit us greatly. Perhaps my kin have seen her.”
His optic spun quickly as his mind raced, what if they had seen Chell? Oh if he had legs he would get on his knees and beg forgiveness, forgiveness for all that he has done, he was a horrible person and she deserved to be free and he deserved to be in space. But he had been given a second chance; he would not waste it. He would die trying to get to her.
The thing looked at him, as if to read his mind.
“There are many humans who can fit descriptions easily. Do not be too enthusiatstic.”
Wheatley again felt at a loss, but he was willing to try anything.
“Okay, um, how do I do this..” he said, more to himself than to the thing. Quickly going through his hardrive, he found some recordings of Chell as they walked along the catwalk, escaping from GLaDOS. “Okay so, she looks about to be in her mid-20's, and um, lightish-brownish skin, blackish-brownish hair with some gray streaks..and greyish eyes. Kinda of on the shortish side. Quiet, has a bit of brain damage...”
The thing chuckled quietly to itself as at looked at Wheatley.
“We shall search for this woman. As for now, I must get you back to where we reside..”
It placed his top handle in the arm protruding from its chest and began to walk uphill, away from the crater he had made. Silence followed as he continued climbing up the hill, towards a lone tree at the top, and Wheatley, not used to silence, decided to ask what he had wanted to know the entire time.
“So uh, not to be rude or anything but I've never seen anything like you before, even in space, but anyways, um, what exactly are you?”
The thing looked down at him before continuing upward.
“My species are called Xenotherium subservilia, but to most, we are known as Vortigaunts.”
“Vortigaunts.. ” Wheatley mumbled back to himself, taking in the new term for this strange lifeform. “Do you mind the term Vort at all?”
“Most call us that for ease.”
“I would think, Vort is much easier to say in a sentence, especially when you need help.” he replied awkwardly.
The Vortigaunt nodded in response as they neared the top, and Wheatley could only imagine how retarded he sounded to the Vort. He was an Intelligence Dampening Sphere, after all. Not as if he could help it.
“I apologize for forgetting proper etiquette, I did not introduce myself. I am Illya. As to what may I call you?”
Wheatley blinked a few times in surprise, not expecting him (he decided he would call the thing a him, he highly doubted it wouldn't be male) to actually have a name.
“I'm, uh, Wheatley. I'm really supposed to be called Intelligence Dampening Sphere, but my names Wheatley.”
Illya look down on him once more (really it freaked him out when he did) and grasped the trees trunk for leverage as he heaved himself off of the slope and onto flat ground once more, nearly dropping Wheatley in the process, who in turn let out a startled yelp.
“My sincere apoligies, I did not mean to startle you again.”
“Quite alright, quite alright, It just hurts everytime someone fails to catch me.” A pang of guilt hit him as he remembered what he had done at Chell when she confronted him.
“ENOUGH!” he screamed, rocking voilently back and forth as the facility shook, explosions and debris flying everywhere.”I told you not to put these cores on me! But you don't listen, do you?!” he snarled, watching as Chell avoided the bombs he threw at her. “Quiet, all the time, quietly, not listening to a word I say, judging me, silently, the WORST kind.”
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“All I wanted to do was to make everything better for ME. All you had to do was to solve a couple of hundred SIMPLE tests, for a few years, AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN LET ME HAVE THAT, COULD YOU?!” he cried out, a fresh burst of anger flowing through him. Such a selfish, horrible woman she was, trying to torture him.
Something dawned on him as he heard GLaDOS slam insults at him. She had saved GLaDOS from being pecked by birds and went through every single test with her attached to her prong, silently planning to take him down.
“You're in this together, aren't you?!” he accused, swinging back to meet her gaze as he readjusted the shields to block the bombs she was redirecting to him. “You've been playing me the whole time, haven't you? First, you make me think you're brain damaged, then you convince me you're SWORN enemies with your BEST FRIEND over here, then, then, when I reluctantly assumed the responsibility of running the place, you CONVENIENTLY decide to run off together! Just when I needed you the most!”
Her eyes flashed in disbelief as if to say “You lie.” It made him even angrier, she didn't have the right to accuse him!
“You didn't think you were the first, did you?!”
She nearly stopped in shock, looking at him with surprise, wanting to call bluff. It was exactly what he had expected.
“HAHAHA, nonono! FIFTH! No, I lied, SIXTH. Perhaps it's best to just leave it to your imagination, what happened to the other five.”
But she kept running, running just like she did when escaping from his grasp as he was about to kill her.
“We've had some times, haven't we? Like that time I jumped off my management rail, not sure if I'd DIE or not when I did,and all you had to do was catch me, AAAAANND you didn't, did you??”
Another change of expression, too quick for him to tell. But he knew she remembered.
“Oh, you remember that?! I remember that, I remember that ALLL the time! And we could have talked our way out of it! Except you forgot to tell me that you MURDERED HER. And that She needed you to live. So the only available vent for Her rage,would be, good, 'ol CRUSHABLE Wheatley.”
No response.
“Yeah, little DETAILS that I remember. EASY little tidbits you could have used to save me from getting crushed, if you cared.” he spat out venomously, almost sounding is if he was about to cry at the end. “Which you didn't, obviously. And still do not.”
She redirected one bomb through her portal on out the other to hit him in his side, and he shrieked in pain.
“AM I BEING TOO VAGUE?!” he bellowed, sending bombs out furiously. “I. DESPISE. YOU. I LOATHE YOU, YOU ARROGANT, SMUGLY, QUIET, AWFUL, JUMPSUITED MONSTER OF A WOMAN. You and your little potato friend. This place would be a TRUIMPH if it wasn't for you!”
Illya shook him from his flashback and Wheatley looked up at him, startled.
“You have been quiet for quite a while.”
“S-sorry, I was just thinking. Got a little carried away, I suppose.”
Illya only nodded and continued walking. Wheatley didn't notice, but it was dusk as of now, slowly turning into night. A few stars shone brilliantly in the sky, and he noticed there was no moon. He shuddered at the thought,glad the moon was not out, but he wondered how Space Core was doing. Probably saying hello to the sun again. And again.
“I did not know there was technology that could feel pain.” Illya said, breaking the silence.
“I wish there wasn't. The scientists who made us were sadists, putting pain responses into us. Totally unnecessary, if you ask me. I mean, why on Earth would people want to do that? They told me I would bloody die if I disengaged from my mangement rail, or turned on my flashlight, all of those things. I don't know even know why they bothered giving me all that stuff if I was going to die using it!”
“You say you are equipped with a flashlight, are you not?” Illya asked as they continued walking.
“Yes, yes I am. You know, I probably should have done this awhile ago. Here, let me turn it on..”
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Let me count the ways I love you forever aaaaaaaaaaaaah. This was the best thing ever to come back to after a loooong two days at work (I have to move a classroom for the fifth time this year guh). So far this is BRILLIANT and I am practically bouncing in my seat with joy and want for more. I'd say I was sorry for the huge fanfiction idea but I'M TOTALLY NOT because eeeeeee ♥. I love love Vorts and I love Illya and Wheatley and I love their confusion and I am so excited I just need to go draw art all over this forever because as this comment goes on I am getting less and less intelligible. Is there anything you would like me to draw for you in particular, oh John Freeman, Saver of Humens and this anon's week?
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Hmmm, you should draw John Freeman with Wheatley and a headcrab. Or you can draw Illya and Wheatley. Either will do, whatever you want!!
EEEEEEEEEEE I'm happy!!<3
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With a click his iris illuminated the area in front of them.
“The Wheatley has my gratitude, it is much easier to see the darkened path.”
“No, no no, you have my thanks. I thought for sure I was going to be rusting in that crater for centuries before I would give out. I really cannot tell you how happy I am that you saved me, I absolutely have to find Chell. It's dire.”
“When we rest I shall contact my kin. Then we may proceed. We shall try our best to find her.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.” He replied, his shutter closing in relief. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up, he could be on the other side of the world for that matter, but he felt it flood through his system anyways. That reminded him...
“Where are we, anyways?” he asked, looking up at Illya.
“We are located 23 miles from City 17.” Illya replied, trudging through the unkempt grass.
“Where in the bloody hell is City 17?” Wheatley said. Didn't humans name there cities? Like Seattle and Sacramento? He didn't know they gave them generic names like that. It did make things easier, though. At least he thought so, anyways.
“Each of Earth's major cities are turned into capitals for the Combine. What is left of City 17 is unknown by name; I did not reside here when it was not called City 17.”
“Ah.” He said, understanding but still a bit confused. “Wait a minute, what do you mean, “what is left of City 17?”
(To those who know the HL universe you can skip this, my other readers sometimes don't.)
““The Freeman has stopped Earths Administrator, Dr. Breen, from escaping to Xen. In the process he destroyed the dark fusion reactor.” “ Before Wheatley could ask, he went on. “ “The Citadel is where the Combine forces are kept as well as Dr. Breen. In laymens terms, one could say that it was a factory, shipping and receiving soldiers for battle against the Resistance.” “
Wheatley asked for the entire story instead of having it explained to him in bits and pieces.
““Black Mesa was delivered a sample of Xen's crystal from an unknown source, and Dr Breen, as of then, was the head of Black Mesa, willed them to test it in their Anti-Mass Spectrometer. The device works by scanning a sample with oscillating electromagnetic fields and beams of high-energy plasma, agitating the exotic matt-” “
“Look, I appreciate the explanation of what the Anti-Mass thingy does, but I really would just like the bare bones of the story.”
“You are right. When certain objects resonate too much, it can open dimensional rifts and portals. The crystal, highly unstable, esonated enough to tear a rift between Xen and Earth, allowing us to escape from the Combine.”
(now excuse me while I take a break from writing ALL day to play some HL2 then HL2:EP1.
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I just love poor little confused Wheatley. He tries so hard.
Take a break well earned!! ..If I had time, I would be replaying those so hard myself right now (and subsequently beating my head because EP:3 still doesn't exist). Thank you for being so awesome ♥.
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“Because you guys were enslaved by them, right?” He said, looking up at Illya for approval.
“You are not entirely correct. We have endured these chafing bonds for eons by Nihilanth, and when the Combine arrived at Xen, we fled to Earth for safety.”
“So Nihilanth enslaved you, not the Combine?”
“Correct.”
“Okay, go on.”
“The Freeman had put the crystal in the Anti-Mass Spectrometer and escaped from the chamber. The Eli Vance had sent The Freeman to the surface to get help, and The Freeman went through the entire facility, fighting many of us Xen creatures and military along the way.”
“Wait, hold on a minute, their military? I mean, I understand him attacking you guys, I mean no offense but you were trying to kill him and all, but why the military? Aren't they supposed to help the humans?”
“They were sent to cover up the mess, killing anyone that knew about the project and cleaning up the mess they had made.”
“Ah, okay, I suppose that makes a bit of sense. Wouldn't want the world to panic that an alien apocalypse is happening, right?”
“Alas,The small inter-dimensional rift causes Portal Storms to rage across Earth, bringing large amounts of Xen wildlife to the planet.” “
“...Okay let's just go back to this, um, Freeman guy. So he was going through the facility, correct?”
“Yes. Encountering a team of scientists, The Freeman was told he could fire a rocket into the portal to to close the it.” “
“I'm guessing it didn't work, did it, because I mean, you're certainly still here.”
“For one so ignorant, you seem to grasp concepts rather quickly. Yes, you are correct once again. The rocket launched a satellite though to be able to close the Portal, but Nihilanth, our leader, kept the portal open, and The Freeman portaled to Xen. While our own lay scattered at his feet, he severed the vortal cord that bound the Nihilanth to life, and to us.” “
“OOH! So he freed you guys when he killed the Nihilanth guy?” Wheatley said, livid with the fact he understood.
“The Freeman indeed freed us. His song we sing and shall sing for eternity. No matter the consequences of this struggle.”
“...Riiight. Okay so, even though he closed the big super Portal, the Xen monster thingys kept coming to Earth?”
“As I have mentioned before, smaller portals had opened on Earth due to the Super Portal. The Freeman only closed the Super Portal.” “
“Wait a minute, you said that he teleported into Xen, right? So if he killed Nihilanth, which he did, that closed the portal, didn't it?”
“Yes, The Freeman sealed off the gateway from Xen to Earth.”
“So if he closed the portal, how the bloody hell did he get back to Earth?”
Illya stopped walking and looked down at him. Curious as to why he stopped, he met his gaze. The two of them stared for what felt like minutes (which he knew was only seconds) before Illya spoke.
“It is not of my knowledge. Only the Freeman and Him know."
“Him?” Wheatley asked as they started moving again. (Wow they had traveled far, he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings.)
Illya either had not heard or was ignoring him; he wasn't sure. It was probably a touchy subject, he presumed.
“Okay, so the smaller portals are still open and those Xen thingy's are there. Then what?” he asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
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And, as promised, arts! I've no tablet, so all my arts are scribbles, but I hope they are enjoyed anyway.
JOHN FREEMAN, Wheatley, and a headcrab: http://i.imgur.com/fHWkq.png
Illya, his t-rex arm, and poor confused Wheatley: http://i.imgur.com/sQXND.png (I need to practice Vorts maaan)
Random medic Chell patching Alyx up with the worst Gordon I've ever done in the background: http://i.imgur.com/JGXXf.jpg (ugh I am still trying to get a handle on Chell I can't get my pencil to decide between p1 chell and p2 chell)
WRONG GAME Medic for anon up there: http://i.imgur.com/dsBer.png (I am tempted to do Wheatley as a Scout or sth now)
and that's all for nowwww
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The second picture sums up the entire 8-9 parts of the goddamn story i just wish it were that easy to explain!!! God this stuff is SO going on my hardrive. My hard drive is basically my life; it's got my most important files that I would die without on it, so this is TOTALLY going on number 1 skfjdfkgjdkrj oh god i love you i shall post as many parts as i can tonighhhhtttt because i love you and so does lamarr auuuuuuuughh!!
Oh my god I love gordon and how he's just sticking his butt out while petting the antlion xDD oh man that John Freeman one is my background now!I SHALL CHERISH THESE FOREVER!!!
and once they get to camp, you are going to see some ooooolld friends of yours.
NO WAIT FUCK. I JUST TOTALLY SCREWED UP MY STORYLINE DAMNIT.AUGH WHY DIDNT I THINK THAT THROUGH?!Ugh, I'll work my way around it. I'll tell you when you get re-introduced, lol....BUT YOU MADE MY LIFE COMPLETE
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Thank you for giving me such praise, haha! I love drawing, even if I'm still getting the hang of it, and love people enjoying it even more. I promise, more will come. C: I have an idea I just need to draw; Barney being a snarky doll at Wheatley and it passing right over his sweet, dumb head. What have you done to meeeee all I can draw is crossovers
and good luck! I know the pain of hitting an OH FUCK DID I WRITE THAT WRONG but I'm sure you'll figure it out ♥ /rereads all dese delicious parts
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“Earth governments set up protection centers across the planet as they tried to deal with us Xenians.”
“Didn't work out too well, did it?”
“It was a futile effort. The continuing portal storms and dimensional fluctuations attracted the attention of the Combine, who mount a full scale attack on Earth. In turn, what was formerly known as the United Nations declared war on the Combine.In a mere seven hours the Combine completely overwhelmed Earth's military forces and smashed all opposition, giving it the name of The Seven Hour's War.”
“Seven hours?! I though humans fought for years! Decades, even!”
“They were not prepared for such a massive force of overwhelming size.”
“Bloody hell..” Wheatley whispered, looking down at the ground. He wasn't sure he could even begin to grasp the concept of the size of the Combine. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to.
“The Wallace Breen negotiated a surrender at the expense of humanity's freedom, and is appointed as Earth administrator, but is simply a puppet for the true ruler-The Advisors. Shortly afterwards, the Eli Vance established the Resistance and recruited us Vortigaunts to join forces to over throw the Combine.”
“I'm guessing the Combine still havent been overthrown, am I right?”
“We have struck a mortal blow to the Combine not a day ago.”
“Really?” Wheatley asked incrediously. He wished he could have seen it, it must have been a tremendous achievement. “Okay, but before you tell me, fill me in until now.”
“For the next 20 years the Resistance grew, as well as Combine control over Earth. The Freeman came to City 17 little more than 12 days ago out of nowhere. Along with The Alyx Vance, The Barney Calhoun, and the Resistance, he managed to prevent The Dr. Breen from escaping to the Combine OverWorld and destroyed the Citadel in the process. The destruction of the City 17 Citadel has also caused the other Citadels across the planet to shut down. ”
“Soooooo...that's it? I'm all up-to-date with world events?”
“Not quite. The Alyx Vance and The Freeman were at the Citadel's base when it was to explode. In order to buy more time for themselves and more citizens to escape, they went into the Citadel's core to delay its inevitable meltdown, ultimately saving many lives. In the process, The Alyx Vance finds that the are working to open another superportal to call for reinforcements. They sacrfice the Citadel itself, using all of its energy, to send the transmission."
“Ooh, that's not good, not good at all. Please tell me they stop them.”
“Unfortunately, no. But The Alyx Vance and The Freeman have stolen a copy of the transmission packet containting the location of the Combine OverWorld and allows the creation of the superportal to be controlled from the other side.”
“So we can hunt them down and murder them all, right?” Wheatley said, looking at Illya expectantly.
“...Did I not say before the Combine span in many parralel universes? Earth alone could never managed to put an end to them.”
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“Earth's population has dwindled over the past two decades from Suppresion Fields, making repopulation impossible until now. We would not have enough forces or weapons to take them on ourselves. The Freeman had help; and if Earth were to destroy the Combine Empire, Earth would need help also. But you do prove a valuable point.”
Wheatley silently contemplated this as they continued walking through a forest (when had they gotten there?)
“So....that's it? What's going on now?”
“The Freeman and The Alyx Vance are proceeding to White Forest Base to close the Super Portal to stop the Combine from getting reinforcements. Since I have been away fetching you, I do not know much more.”
“How long did it take you to rescue me? I mean, I was out for 18 hours, who knows what's happened since!”
“The Citadel exploded not too long ago. You can see it from here.”
Illya released Wheatley from his third arm and firmly grasped him in his other two and turned around, lifting him above his head to see.
Silence filled the air as he stared at the-well, what used to be the Citadel. A monstrous blue spiral portal lit up the sky before him, he didn't even notice the bloody thing. Probably because he was facing in the wrong direction, but still.
“We are located far enough away that the initial blast cannot touch us, but will be close. Our camp has been taking the evacuated refugees from City 17 to White Forest. The Alyx Vance and The Freeman saved many lives with their bravery.”
“So where are they now?” Wheatley asked as Illya set him back in his claw and contiued forward.
“I have just attended to the Alyx Vance. She suffered mortal wounds, dying quickly, and The Freeman and my kin traveled to the ancient mine which held the Antlion extract to save her. I helped stablize The Alyx Vance as they stole the extract. In order to resurrect The Alyx Vance, The Freeman participated in our healing ritual wherein his life is "weaved" with hers in a pact.”
“Ooh, he must love her if he goes through all that. I mean, why else would he do all that? Other people would have just taken the information thingy and ran like hell. They seem like a good couple from what you've told me. Wait, so when he weaved his life with hers are they kinda married now? .”
Illya smirked and was silent for a few moments before speaking.
“In a sense, yes. It depends on how the individual looks upon it.”
Wheatley contemplated that for a few moments, letting his eyes wander around from the surrounding landscape before noticing a different shape from the trees around them.
“Oi, what's that over there?” he asked, moving his optic to the shape.
Illya looked to his right and made a sound of acknowledgement as he approached it. Studying it closer, he saw a crudely made sign with a spraypainted image on it in yellow, a circle with a weird symbol in the middle.
“Aaaah, The Resistance has been through here.”
“Really? Where are they? I don't see them.” Wheatley said, looking around.
“Their presence is marked with the Lambda symbol.”
“Is that what that thing is??” he asked, shining his flashlight onto the sign.
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“What's it mean?”
“There are many meanings behind the Lambda symbol, but in The Freeman's case it indicates the radioactivy decay constant in nuclear physics and radioactivity. This constant is very simply related to the half-life radioactive material.”
“Right. Half-Life. Got it.” he answered. He'd have to remember that for later. If he even needed it.
Illya proceeded forward and reached for the handle and pushed the door open, sounding with a loud creak in response. Wheatley shone his flashlight inside the little shack (he presumed), and there really wasn't too many thing in there. A window with a simple toolbench under it, a few boxes labelled “SUPPLIES” and then another window to their right.
“We shall stop here to rest.” Illya said as he set Wheatley down on the toolbench, right in the square of light so he could look out the window, the perfect view of the Super Portal.
He checked his internal clock to see how much time had passed. At that moment it was 10 AM, but it confused him. The sun was supposed to be out at this time, wasn't it? And if it was, why was it dark? (Besides the light from the Super Portal.)
“Illya,” he began, watching as the Vortigaunt sat down on the dirt floor. “Why is it so dark here if it's 10 AM? Isn't that when the suns out?”
“It was, not too long ago.The weather has been off and on lately, changing from cloudy to sunny to fog and mist. It may have something to do with the Super Portal or the smoke from City 17, depending on which way the wind is blowing.”
“Aah, that explains a lot.” He said, trailing off at the end, his focus now on the Super Portal.
Illya sat as still as a rock, and Wheatley wondered if he was okay. Maybe he was sleeping? He wasn't too sure. From the urgency in his voice, he had decided he was a pretty valuable piece of equipment. He hoped Illya didn't take long. He really wanted to see Chell.
Once again, he set his sleepmode on, and as he faded out into darkness, he heard Illya chanting to himself...
“Churr galing chur alla gung...”
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Something was moving.
He opened his eye slowly, his system trying to catch up as it started back from sleepmode, his hardware whirring in motion. He figured it was Illya, telling him it was time to go.
“Chur lung gong chella gurr..."
But it wasn't him. He was still chanting on the floor. He could hear little noises, tiny squeaks, in a repetitive call. But then something gave a high pitched, sharp shrieky squeal and landed on top of him, and all he could see was one long, spidery leg.
Looking up, all he saw was a massive hole with sharp, bloody teeth. He screamed.
“SOMETHINGS ON ME GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!”
Illya instantly jumped up from the floor and a weird, green electricity came from his claws before arcing towards the alien thing on top of him. With a loud crackle of lightning the thing flew back and smashed into the window,dead. Yellow liquid was everywhere, dripping from the limp alien.
“W-what was that thing?” he asked, having rolled on his side from the impact. Illya picked him up to face the thing, and Wheatley responded with a small “eugh.”
“That is a Headcrab, the weakest Xen creature left on Earth. It must have mistaken you for someones head.”
“What exactly does it do? Eat your brains? That'd be nasty.”
“The Headcrab takes control of the host's nervous system and causes physical alterations to the host's body. The host then rips open its own torso for feeding purposes. You will be unlucky enough to see some when we head out in a moment; I must finish conversing with my kin.”
“What? How can you do that if they're god knows where?” Wheatley asked incrediously. Wasn't he just talking to himself in some sort of weird language?
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“That's really cool. Kind of how like I can communicate to different people using radio frequencies?”
“Almost exactly. You are learning well in such a short time span. Now, please excuse me whilst I finish.”
Wheatley watched with an intense interest as Illya sat on the ground, stock still and silent. Really, it was amazing to see such a creature who could do so many strange things; firing lightning from its two claws, communicating telepathically, having a third arm, really, he couldn't wait to see what Illya could do next. Wheatley waited paitently until Illya was finished.
(I'll continue writing tomorrow, this is the end of chapter 3 on ff.net so i kinda need a small break for the night. I need to get started on a project for summer, I'm supposed to be drawing the storyboard and writing the script for a short film and I really need to get started but I refuse to do anything until I finish this because I don't like to keep people waiting;;)
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