chattersphere | Partial Wheatley Timeline

This timeline stops at a point in Portal 2 where I take Wheatley from in the following RP games:

farmbasket

There are quite a few spoilers in this time line, but less than in the complete one. Don't look at it unless you want some of Portal 2 spoiled for you.

Also, if I've messed anything up or if you have a comment on something, feel free to let me know!

References:

Portal 2
The Final Hours of Portal 2
Combine OverWiki
The Portal Wiki
Portal 2 textdump by oblivion from aoc at GameFAQs

--Before Portal and Lab Rat--

*GLaDOS is completed.

*GLaDOS keeps acting up, so the scientists stick cores on her to make her behave.

*At one point, Wheatley was invented as an Intelligence Dampening Sphere for GLaDOS, to generate an endless stream of terrible ideas. In GLaDOS' words: "The engineers tried everything to make me... behave. To slow me down. Once, they even attached an Intelligence Dampening Sphere on me. It clung to my brain like a tumor, generating an endless stream of terrible ideas. It was YOUR voice. Yes. You're the tumor. YES YOU ARE! YOU'RE THE MORON THEY BUILT TO MAKE ME AN IDIOT! You're not just a regular moron. You were DESIGNED to be a moron." "He's not just a regular moron. He's the product of the greatest minds of a generation working together with the express purpose of building the dumbest moron who ever lived. And you just put him in charge of the entire facility."
(GLaDOS COULD be lying, however, she doesn't seem to be and it makes sense, but she isn't always reliable.)

*Bring Your Daughter to Work Day occurred. Something bad happened and it didn't end well.

(It's unknown if Wheatley was actually active and/or on GLaDOS when it happened or if he was just told about it somehow.)

*At some time, Wheatley was removed from GLaDOS and either let roam the facility or he was put in storage with the other cores that were no longer being used.

--During Portal and Lab Rat--

(According to The Final Hours of Portal 2, Portal takes place around 2010.)

*It's currently unknown if Wheatley was active during the events of Portal and Lab Rat.

(For simplicity's sake, until it's proven otherwise, I'm just going to go with that he was deactivated some time before Portal and then was reactivated with the other cores at the end of Portal.)

--After Portal and Lab Rat--

*At some point after GLaDOS was defeated he was awoken with the other cores.

(It's unknown if he was active before then, but he is not present anywhere in Portal, so to keep it simple, I'm going with this until there's evidence otherwise.)

--Before and During Portal 2--

(In Wheatley's own words: "You know who ended up, do you know who ended up taking her down in the end? You're not going to believe this. A human. I know! I know, I wouldn't have believed it either. Apparently this human escaped and nobody's seen him since. Then there was a sort of long chunk of time where absolutely nothing happened and then there's us escaping now. So that's pretty much the whole story, you're up to speed. Don't touch anything.")

*Fifty days after Portal - Chell wakes up for the first time. It's unknown if Wheatley was overseeing the humans at that point.

(Likely he wasn't, but there's no real proof either way.)

*Aperture Laboratories and GLaDOS has been upgraded and changed at some point before Portal 2. It is assumed that the cores, nanobots, and other Aperture robots have done maintenance and upgrades.

(There is no official canon explanation for the graphical upgrade and other changes, but this makes some sense out of it.)

*At some point, Wheatley was told or found out that a human defeated GLaDOS. He was told or assumes that a man did it and then escaped from the facility.

*At some point in time Wheatley was told that if he disengaged himself from the Management Rail he would die.

*Most likely around or at the same point in time, he was told that if he ever used his flashlight he would die.

*Possibly around the same time, Wheatley had some sort of discussion of riding in the tubes and somebody told him that it wouldn't be fun.

*Probably at some point, he was ridiculed for being small.

(Unknown if this happened, however he's quite pleased to be huge and mentions that he's "Tiny little Wheatley".)

*According to lines not in the final game, at one point Wheatley was the assistant to the guy in charge of the neurotoxin release button. He accidentally touched the large button and was let go because of it.

(Because the lines are not present in the final game, it is unknown if this is canon or not.

The lines referring to this are: "Over there is where they used to keep the old neurotoxin release button. BIG responsibility, the guy in charge of the neurotoxin release button. And guess who he WAS? He wasn't me. But I was his assistant, and I did a lot of his admin. You know, in the end, yes, they let me go. It's all politics, to be honest. It's a big popularity contest, it's all about who you know, and whose back you're willing to scratch, who doesn't touch -- or, in my case, who did accidentally touch -- the neurotoxin button. But not entirely my fault! You shoulda seen the SIZE of that thing, it was huge! I should have gotten a raise for all the times I DIDN'T bump into it.")

*Wheatley tried to get a job in Manufacturing, but the foreman gave the job to an exact duplicate of himself. Wheatley was then assigned to the worst job - tending all the smelly humans.

(Likely the foreman was some sort of core. It also appears to be the turret manufacturing line, but Aperture could be making other things down there.)

*Wheatley is in charge of looking over the 10,000 humans in the Relaxation Vaults.

(It's unknown how long he's been there or if he's been in contact with anyone since he's been assigned to watch over the humans.)

*It is possible that at some time (likely while he was in charge of the humans) Wheatley had multiple escape attempts before he woke up Chell. He claims that there were five other humans that all died horrifically before getting the portal gun. He mentions that Chell is a good jumper, so the fact that the others might have not been could have contributed to their death.

(It is unknown whether or not Wheatley actually tried to escape with the other humans. The commentary says that it was an older story idea that they discussed, but wasn't put completely in. They left bits and pieces in, but nothing too big. However, it makes sense that Wheatley would say something like that to disturb Chell during the final battle.)

*At some point in time the reserve power that keeps the test subjects alive fails.

*Unknown but most likely large amount of time after Chell wakes up the first time, Chell is awoken a second time by Wheatley.

(Could be as short as 100 days after Portal (if the test subjects are woken up every 50 days (but due to the disrepair of the facility, among other things, this is quite unlikely)) to as long as hundreds of years after. The Final Hours of Portal 2 says they planned to set the game at least 50,000 years into the future at 52,000 AD or so.)

*Wheatley says that Aperture is about to explode and that him and Chell need to escape. (The announcer says to prepare for emergency evacuation, so he isn't lying. Also, the announcer later says that there are potentially apocalyptic significances.)

*Wheatley moves the Relaxation Vault and then speaks to Chell, saying that she might have brain damage.

*An alarm sounds with the announcer saying that there will be a reactor core meltdown and Wheatley maneuvers the Relaxation Vault clumsily but gets Chell safely to the testing area. He asks Chell to tell anyone that asks that everyone still looked alive. He manually overrides a wall by smashing the Relaxation Vault into it.

*The portal gun is required for leaving Aperture by the testing tracks, so Wheatley takes Chell to as close as he could get to it.

*Wheatley and Chell split up and he says he'll meet her up ahead. He wishes her good luck.

(There are no rails in the older section, so he probably has to find another way around.)

*Chell solves old test chambers 00 and 01 before meeting up again with Wheatley in chamber 02.

*Chell goes to look for the portal gun and falls through the floor, getting separated from Wheatley again. He says that he'll wait for her up ahead for one hour, then come back and attempt to find her body and bury it if she's dead.

*Chell gets around chambers 02 through 06 before meeting up with Wheatley again up in chamber 07.

*Once Chell gets to his side of the room, which is chamber 08, Wheatley disengages from his Management Rail, asking Chell to catch him in case he isn't dead. Chell doesn't catch him and he hits the ground with an "OW".

*Chell picks him up with the portal gun and a panel opens that has a control stick on it.

(Likely Wheatley was able to somehow open the panel wirelessly.)

*Chell plugs him in and he asks her to turn around. When she does so, he opens up the wall so that they can continue.

*Chell picks him up with the portal gun and Wheatley is excited that they don't have to follow a rail and can go wherever they want. However, he shortly realizes that the best path is to simply follow the rail.

(Chell cannot continue without Wheatley, likely he is able to open the door when they get near it.)

*They come across the "I'm different" turret and Wheatley tells Chell to not make eye contact and to keep moving.

*They get near GLaDOS' chamber and Wheatley tells Chell that they have to pass through it in order to escape. Wheatley doesn't want to go into GLaDOS' chamber, but she's off so it's safe. Wheatley tells Chell that a human took GLaDOS down and then escaped and nobody's seen him since.

*They travel across GLaDOS' chamber to a stairwell behind the incinerator. He tells Chell to jump, but then is a little hesitant about the distance to the ground. But, since Chell has the braces on her legs, he says go ahead and jump, but hold on tightly to the portal gun (and him). He yells when they jump and commends Chell for still holding onto him.

*Chell and Wheatley travel behind the scenes for a short bit until they find the main breaker room. They look for the switch labeled "ESCAPE POD" and Wheatley tells Chell to not touch anything else.

*They can't find it, so Wheatley tells Chell to plug him in and he'll turn the lights on. A stick appears for her to plug him in at.

(Likely Wheatley was able to activate it wirelessly.)

*Wheatley turns on the lights and shortly after, the base rotates. A moment later it starts rising. Wheatley tries to slow it but instead makes it go faster. All the switches are flipped in the process.

(It's unknown whether or not the base malfunctioned or Wheatley messed up when he was plugged in and messing around with things.)

*They are taken to GLaDOS' chamber where the power up is initiated. Wheatley attempts to hack the password with "AAAAAA" and "AAAAAC" but fails and GLaDOS turns on and addresses Chell, ignoring Wheatley for the most part, even though he says a few things to her and Chell.

*GLaDOS then uses two robot arms to pick up Chell and pull Wheatley off the control stick. He's terrified for a few moments, but the GLaDOS crushes him and tosses him off to the side.

*Chell is dropped down the incinerator and goes through old test chamber 19. She obtains the dual portal gun and starts testing once more.

*Shortly later, Wheatley is somehow reactivated. The only clues we have to this is what little he's able to tell Chell later: "Hey! Hey! It's me! I'm okay! You'll never believe what happened! There I was, just lying there, you thought I was done for, but -- A bloody bird! Right? Couldn't believe it either. And then the bird--"

(My best guess as to what happened is that a bird got in and was pecking at Wheatley's wires for some reason and a spark resulting from that somehow reactivated him (he can operate on as little as 1.1 volts) and he pulled himself together. He then somehow managed to get to a nearby docking station of some sort and got back on the rail system.)

*After GLaDOS crushes Wheatley and he comes back to life, his surface is much more dirty and dinged, his eye lens is cracked and doesn't seem to work quite like it did previously, and every now and then he'll twitch and send off some sparks (but he doesn't seem to notice that anything wrong, so it probably isn't painful, maybe it's nothing more than a robot shudder).

*Chell goes through new chamber 01 and early on in chamber 02, Wheatley peeks in briefly.

*Wheatley checks in on Chell several times during the other test chambers but doesn't speak to her until chamber 09.

(I've heard he shows up in the other test chambers, but I've only seen him in 02, 03, and 07.)

*In chamber 09, Wheatley hides in the ceiling and tries to explain to Chell how he is still alive. However, because of the Aerial Faith Plate, she cannot hear the full explanation. GLaDOS lowers the ceiling and Chell is unable to meet with Wheatley further.

*At test chamber 12, Wheatley drops bird eggs in the door mechanism to make it malfunction. While GLaDOS is taking care of that, Wheatley speaks to Chell from an observation room. A bird attacks him and he is temporarily distracted, but comes back and tells Chell that they'll break out of there very soon but he needs to figure out how. When GLaDOS turns her attention back to the room, he leaves in a panic telling Chell that she never saw him.

*Wheatley talked his way onto the nanobot crew rebuilding the elevator shaft after test chamber 18.

(It's unknown if he worked anywhere else prior to this shaft or if he planned on meeting Chell there from the start.)

*Chell doesn't see Wheatley again until after she completes test chamber 18. Wheatley talks to her as she travels on the elevator. It seems also as if he slowed the elevator down to give him more time to talk to Chell. He's working with the nanobots on this shaft. A nanobot, Jerry, seems to fuss at him and Wheatley tells him he's on a break. Wheatley says that they're close to being able to escape. Wheatley knocks off a steel beam and tells Chell to hang on for five more test chambers. Jerry fires Wheatley for knocking the steel beam off, and Wheatley protests that a nanobot of his size should be accommodated. He tells Jerry that he'll see him in court for hate crimes and then tells Chell again that he'll see her in five more chambers.

*Wheatley finds Chell again in the middle of test chamber 21. He turns off the lights and opens a panel in the wall. He's speaking in an odd accent, claiming that GLaDOS can't hear him. GLaDOS then says that she CAN hear him and he tells Chell to run, moving the panels so that she could do so. Once she's through, he opens another wall and activates a Hard Light Bridge for Chell to walk on. When she's safely on a catwalk, he deactivates the bridge and closes the wall behind them.

*He tells her that they're escaping and to keep running. His plan is to shut down the turret production and the neurotoxin generator and then confront GLaDOS.

*Wheatley guides Chell through the catwalks behind the scenes. GLaDOS opens up another room telling Chell that she should solve the last test. Instead, Chell uses the Hard Light Bridge to follow Wheatley.

*The two keep running through the back areas of Aperture. Wheatley and Chell are temporarily separated by a room that appears and has several turrets in it. Chell gets rid of the turrets and uses portals to escape the trap and reunite with Wheatley.

*Wheatley warns Chell of incoming turrets and guides her along the catwalks.

*They're split up temporarily when Chell has to take a lift.

(It's possible that Wheatley activated the elevator for her.)

*They meet up again and GLaDOS turns the lights off on them. He tells Chell he's going to do something dangerous and turns on his flashlight and they continue.

*Wheatley tells Chell about the room of screaming robots.

*They travel through the back areas, Wheatley lighting the way and giving advice.

*Wheatley tells Chell about trying to get a job in Manufacturing and then having to tend all the smelly humans. He catches himself and apologizes to Chell, but still babbles about it a little.

*They keep going and temporarily split up, as Chell needs to use the portal gun to continue following Wheatley.

*Wheatley helps Chell out of the room by lighting up a wall on the other side. Then from there, he lights up another wall so that they can keep going. Wheatley then babbles of how much he loves humans: the way they look and their folklore.

(Obviously trying to make up for the comment about them being smelly.)

*Wheatley then goes a back way around a room, telling Chell he'd see her at the bottom.

*Chell goes past the Turret Redemption Lines, turret testing section, and the turret template/response line.

*Wheatley and Chell meet back up near the turret control center. He explains that if they take away the master turret, it'll shut down the whole production line.

*Wheatley asks Chell to turn around so he can hack the door. He hacks it by smashing himself into the glass window.

*Chell removes the master turret, but the computer goes on a stored memory and keeps producing turrets. Wheatley tries to think of options and discuss them with Chell, wanting her to think of ideas too. One of his ideas is that he could pretend to GLaDOS that he's captured Chell and to give her over. He thinks that Chell would probably end up killed, but he could go on living. He asks Chell what her view is on that.