A/N: Hello Portal fandom! Okay, so, I've been Wheatley-crazy ever since... well, ever since I've first seen him. And I have this crazy idea for a story. So, before anyone else does something like this, I think I'll give it a shot! Because everyone seems to want human Wheatley stories. And honestly, I'm curious what would happened if he was human. Enjoy~

He had been human once. They all had. Every personality core had once been a scientist that worked at the god-forsaken laboratory of Aperture Science. Even that horrible, vile computer was once a woman. But whenever Cave Johnson became mad from the poisonous moon rocks that had entered his bloodstream, the woman who was known as Caroline had been forced to have her brain scanned and trapped inside a robot body. Just like him.

Her name was changed as well, and her memories of being the kind assistant to the founder of Aperture were ground out of her as the scientists began putting core after core onto her. She had gone insane. There were many cores that had failed to make her "perfect" as they said. There was the peace core, the conscience core, the testing core, even the suspicious core. Every personality trait that had ever been invented by man, they had made a core out of.

The scientists would observe every worker there. Jot down notes on what personality described them best, what thing they were most interested in, if they had signed the wagers for "personality examination and brain transfer" which most of them had. Even he had.

His real name was William. Blue eyes, copper-colored hair, and rectangular black glasses that always slid down his nose. He was always slightly nervous about working so far down in the facility, but wasn't to the point of paranoia like one of his co-workers named Doug. It just made him a bit fidgety.

He was the main biologist in the labs. Although Aperture's response to biology was to insert animal's DNA into humans to see what would happen. Most of the time, they became mutants. Others transformed into that animal. It wasn't all bad. He had never injected anything into anyone, however. William always had a strange fascination with birds. He loved observing them. When he was in the labs alone, he would sneak one of the baby hawks out of its cage and gently, ever so gently, put it into his box-like briefcase. Once he made it back up to the surface after working, he'd take it home, watch it grow, studying it as he did, and when it was old enough to fly, let it be free.

He could never stand to be trapped. He knew what that felt like.

Oh yes, he was there when that monster had first awakened. One sixteenth of a pico-second, everyone said. That's how long it took her to attempt murder on her creators. She was too smart, they said. She needed someone to make her... stupid.

And that's how he became involved.

"They really shouldn't put those cores on her like that," I said, fidgeting around with my glasses as I gently stroked a cardinal's small red head.

"What else can they do?" asked my assistant, Jerry. Smart fellow, he loved biology just as much as I loved being above ground.

"At least let them put some kind of peace core onto her. Nice core... kind core... non-murder-instinct core. Something, Jerry." I sighed.

"You know, I heard that Nancy volunteered today," he continued casually. I raised an eyebrow. "Said she wanted to try being the 'Sassy core.'"

"For god's sake... These people here are mad. Bonkers. Completely bonkers. I don't even know why I bother working here anymore, Jer." I shook my head, cupping the bird in my hands and setting it down into the cage.

"Because Cave pays us down here good money?"

"Oh, of course. I almost forgot." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "The pay is good, and so is being six miles underground. Thanks for reminding me."

"Just saying. You know, maybe you should volunteer as a core," he smirked, and I immediately shook my head, grabbing my clipboard and jotting down pointless notes about the red tint of the cardinal's feathers. "Jacob said that they're going to start picking people at random soon."

"And they actually think that will help?" I muttered. "I wouldn't volunteer if it was the last thing to do on Earth."

Turns out I didn't necessarily have a choice.

Another tiring and yet uneventful day of work. Tomorrow was Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, too. Bloody hell, why would anyone want to bring their daughter here? If I had children, I'd make sure they stayed well above the dirt and darkness. It's like working in a mine shaft, for goodness sakes.

I took off my glasses and rubbed the bridge of my nose as I walked into my home. Messy, sweet home, anyway, but home, nonetheless. Home suddenly seemed not-so-sweet anymore when I spotted the note on my table. That note changed my life.

Shuffling off my lab coat, I picked up the small piece of paper, nudging my glasses against my nose so I could focus better. What I read sent a ball of ice down into my stomach, and my heart into my throat.

Dear William,

You could certainly tell that this note had been sent to many other people, because the underlined spots were where the only different words were typed in. Other than that, I was sure that this same letter had been received by half of the Aperture staff. Well, probably one third. I read on.

We have been careful to study your work habits, personality traits, and you background and/or records. We have read all of these carefully and studied them thoroughly, and we are proud to say that you, William Merchant, have been selected to run for a core transfer for our most famous (and expensive) creation yet, the Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, or GLaDOS, for short.

I swallowed, almost too fearful to read what came next, but I had a hunch.

The personality core that we would like to make out of your character traits is a(n) Intelligence Dampening Sphere.

Intelligence... what? Now I was starting to feel more offended than scared. I was no moron! I was a biologist! A smart one, at that! There is no way I am going to let them put me into some ball. Who did they think they were? As if the writer of the letter knew that the reader was going into objective mode, it continued on.

Participation for this experiment is MANDATORY for anyone who receives this letter. Or you will be forced to paticipate. You all remember signing those wavers, I'm sure. No ifs, ands, or buts. However, to lighten the fact that we are going to literally strip your body of all of the characteristics we see fit, we will allow you to choose what color of an optic you would like, and what accent you would like to speak once you are in core-form.

Note: the accent really doesn't matter, most people either get whatever accent they had when they were human, or their's get destroyed in the transfer and they speak like robotic androids.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and we hope to see you on the fourth floor of Aperture, in the Personality Core and Human Characteristics Transfer Room at 8:00 A.M, tomorrow. (5-20-1974)

-Cave Johnson, CEO, founder

I stared in shock at the letter I had just read. Tomorrow I was going to have my personality cut out and inserted into a sphere. To say I was scared willy-nilly would be an understatement. I was on the verge of passing out. I set down the letter like it might detonate and plopped down into the nearest chair.

The experiment was mandatory. There was no backing out. I was going to be hooked onto the very machine that would try to murder every last one of us if she was awake. Which she would be, as soon as I was latched on.

Worst day ever, mate.

After that night, everything gets fuzzy.

I vaguely remember the bright, sterile white room where I would be operated on, and being put unconscious was a blur. Waking up however, was not.

I knew I wasn't human the moment I opened my eye. Only, it wasn't an eye anymore. It was an optic. A very blue one, at that. Like the bottoms of the ocean. Like my real eyes had been. There were humans, as well. All around, humans. Saying how the operation was a success and whatnot. I had been picked up and transported on a cart into GLaDOS' chamber, then. That was my first glimpse at her.

She was motionless of course, having not yet been activated. They were biding their time, waiting for everyone and their daughter to see. I knew this was a horrible idea. I knew it was. I just... had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. But they clipped me onto her anyway, like a round keychain to a backpack.

Now, imagine the sensation of hearing more than one voice in your own head. Two other voices, to be exact. One sputtered random curious thoughts, the other some daft cake recipe, which made me regret being put into this body. I could no longer eat. Not that I had the urge to. I couldn't sleep either, unless cores somehow rested themselves to re-charge or something. I would never be the same. I was stripped of all the human qualities I once had. And I missed them.

I realized the insanity that was going on in this woman-robot already, and she wasn't even awake yet. No wonder why she was evil. It's like having schizophrenia.

But then they turned her on.

I sensed it even before my mind did. In one twentieth of a pico-second, she was alive. And I felt like a parasite, clinging desperately to her.

I could hear her voice in my head, and I was sure all of the other cores could as well. She hadn't spoken out loud yet. Not to the humans.

I wasn't even referring to myself as one, now. Why bother? I wasn't one, and that was the truth. I was an artificial intelligence now. Artificial being the key word. Fake. Like plastic. I was jarred from my internal thoughts when she hissed in a robotic voice that sounded so real I pondered if she wasn't just another helpless person that had been shoved into a computer.

"What kind of ticks have they decided to cling to me, now? I'm curious."

I could hear the curiosity sphere talking, now. "Oh, who are you? You sound like a woman!"

The cake sphere said nothing but ingredients. "Three eggs... fish-shaped fish..."

And suddenly, I had the impulse to talk. Or telepathically speak, whatever we were doing. I was surprised to find that my voice sounded more human than any.

"H-hello! Hello there... GLaDOS. Is that right? Yes, GLaDOS. My name is..."

"I don't want to know your name." It was like a ghost, a whisper that would haunt my mind for eternity. "I want you off of me."

"I. Want. You. Dead."

That was directed to the humans, but I felt it was to me as well. A cold feeling drained through my robotic body, like ice. I looked to see the scientist's shocked expressions, their terror.

And before anyone knew what was happening, she released the neurotoxin.

A/N: So... Did you like it? Hate it? Yeah, I know at the end of the first game you destroy those cores, but he wasn't on her, then. :D

Next chapter will be soon!

By the way, did anyone catch the references to Portal 2? There's three in there, I think. :]