Not sure what made me take so long to start reading this, but when I finally gave it a chance I couldn’t stop myself from reading the entire thing in one sitting. Took me all day, but it was time well spent. I also LOVED the Rick & Wheatley bromance!

Fuuudge. Especially the recall

Okay, this seems REALLY HECKIN' LATE for a review, but just going off the third chapter, the part where Cave was yelling over the intercom about Doug embezzling funds made me burst into laughter. Heckin' hilarious and helped my mood (cuz I'm supposed to clean my room despite it already being cleaner than both of my siblings' rooms)

I'm not even sure there's a word for how great this was other than "aauuuuaaaAAAAGGGHHHHH"

I literally signed up for a FFN account just so I could comment on this personally instead of anonymously. First fic I've commented on in eight years.

Oh! One thing I forgot to mention: this is probably just me, but I'm not sure I get what the end means. I mean, I understand that Core!Wheatley is being salvaged and it takes a week to happen, which is how long Human!Wheatley spent in the this-universe Aperture before escaping - but where/what is this Arctic location? Is BOREALIS like a reference to Half-Life or something else in the Valve universe I'm not familiar with? What was the Incident referring to, is that like the Combine invasion or something within Aperture? Who's the man with the crowbar?
Apologies for all the questions. I mean, I get that the whole does-Wheatley-live-or-die-after-apologizing-to-Chell thing is meant to be unresolved to us readers, but is the very last scene also meant to be that way? Or are there several things I'm missing?

Wow. Just...WOW. I wish I'd had the time to review every chapter as I'd read it, because WOW everything was so jam-packed! This was a really cool take on the whole Wheatley Redemption Arc thing, and I love all the clever/insightful subtleties you squeezed in by the last chapter. GLaDOS killed a Wheatley and Wheatley killed a GLaDOS/Caroline, the little piece of green glass from Rick's optic, the whole "she's just a computer" epiphany, the rocket turret callback, the Oracle Turret reference in the beginning part, the friggin Doctor Who references (Wheatley and 11 are true kindred spirits XD), the idea of solving tests WITHOUT A PORTAL GUN OMG, Wheatley learning to let go of his AI friends and allow them to rest in peace, the 'walking over my grave' bit from Chapter 2 because WOW that totally worked so well in coming full circle...aaaaaaaah I could go on but I think that about covers it. Fabulous job, all around! Brava!

(Also one other thing: all your A/Ns beating yourself up because you can't write certain types of scenes very well? I'm here to let you know that you're kidding yourself. Look, I've read poorly-executed fanfics, and this is *not* one of them. You're FAR better at painting a picture with your writing than you give yourself credit for. And don't let anyone - not even your own subconscious - tell you differently!)

god, I do wonder how this wonderful crop of wheat is still single, because I'd gladly marry him at this point

And hereby I dub your Wheatley WheatofGrace (because aside from being well, good ol' Wheaters he reminded me another British person I happened to know :D)

Wow. This is actually good. Exceed Expectation. Don't get me wrong, Blue Sky might wins the best writing, novel-like description and all, but this is my favorite takes on Wheatley. This is the runner up, the Aperture Science to 'Blue Sky's Black Mesa, but who cares - I love Aperture Science more. Hats off for the plot twist.

Oh dang, is this Portal or Half-life? With a cliffhanger like that I'm leaning towards the latter.

This story was Amazing. I cannot put into words how great it was, but i loved reading every word of it.

Just.

I have no words.

None.

Absolutely none.

I think that your fabulous writing has completely rendered me speechless

Hold on.

Give me a second.

*breathes*

Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man! This was INCREDIBLE!

The characters, the alternate universes, the interactions, etc. etc. etc.! Oh my gosh, this is right up there with Blue Sky-better even! Man, this entire story was beautiful. The pacing was perfect, the plot twists were so subtle that they took me by surprise, and Wheatley-

Oh my gosh, Wheatley!

HE

WAS

AMAZING.

Seriously, best Human!Wheatley ever. You retained the mannerisms that he had in canon, but you developed him to the point where I didn't see him as the complete same as Core!Wheatley, but as an entirely different person with his own ambitions, loss, and identity.

You know what, that's what I loved most about this story. Sure, there were different versions of the characters in here, but you were really detailed and careful in how you described the characters. You didn't make paper cutouts out of the same mold, you made them vastly different, but so eerily similar. How do I explain this? You made Human!Wheatley sympathetic by referring to his human life, showing that he's suffering because of what GLaDOS is putting him through, etc. However, in doing so, you also made the audience sympathetic towards Core!Wheatley. You made him so complex and with so many layers.

Wheatley is an idiot, but he's thinking so much faster than most people. He's brash and doesn't think things through, but his plans work in the end! He can be sensitive, jerky, and selfish, but he learns from his mistake. He becomes sympathetic towards Chell, Rick, Craig, and maybe Caroline/GLaDOS and oh my gosh, his growth as a character just hit me.

I think the best part of the story is that we don't get to see much of Chell. I love Chell just like any other Portal fan, but most stories always have him interacting with her. It was nice to see that his story wasn't mainly betrayal and using Chell to achieve his own ends. He was his own character and you just made him so likable.

(Fun fact: loved that everybody keeps poking fun of his lack of luck with girls, his height, the fact that he's a BLOODY TECHNICIAN AND YOU SENT ROBOTS AFTER ME, HA!, and generally...everything. Including the smolder in chapter 4).

Overall, this was highly enjoyable, everyone was in character, the humor and the gore was placed/written beautifully, and and and and...

What else can I say?

This was great and I happily petition for a sequel because guess what? Chell and Wheatley finally meet in the end!

PS That Epilogue, now I understand the summary. What Core!Wheatley really wanted at the end was to apologize and you know what you did at the end? You had Wheatley finally apologize. Holy cow, I'm having a moment because I can clearly tell that everything (details, characterization, plot twists, idea) were all premeditated. That takes serious skill and I happily encourage you to pursue greater projects in the Portal fandom in the future.

Adieu.

I read this fic on Ao3
I did not realize it was also here
Instant fave cause I have to read it again!

Oh...! Now I want to know what happens between Wheatley and Chell! Can you write another story? Please? About Wheatley and Chell, even if it's a one-shot?

This was an amazing fic work & was a joy to read (I've finished it, but this was my favorite chapter so I'm commenting here! XD).

I had almost forgotten how fun it could be to see Wheatley interacting with people who aren't Chell, and you really brought some life into Rick & Fact Core, and even a wonderful glimpse into a 'Would Be' other universe. Wonderful blend of AU & Canon, and everyone felt spot on character wise.

Wonderful character development for Wheatley, and great use of his strengths (GLADOS just not being able to wrap her head around the fact he knows things like computers was great, case in point), and Wheatley vs Glados was a great final showdown, both Computer Wise and Caroline wise. Especially that cool down moment where they have a lovely exposition chat - that built up to a great moment.

And of course, that final "I am not a moron" is probably the most bad ass I've ever seen Wheatley, and him pulling her head down to eye level was the icing on the cake.

Fantastic job. Really enjoyed it. Thank you so much for sharing!