Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used in this story, maybe the scientist. Caroline and Chell and Cave Johnson belong to Valve.
"Woah!" the little girl screamed as the chair spun faster and faster in a circle. She giggled and she dangled her legs from the edge. Her father came in and laughed.
"Enjoying yourself, I see." he said as he walked in with a pile of papers which he placed on his desk, next to the spinning child.
Her ponytail knocked over the pile of papers as she spun, making the man sigh and pick them up.
"Chell, you have to get that hair cut if you're going to make a mess of things." he said with a chuckle.
She shook her head as she stopped the chair, and she put her hand to her ponytail, pulling it slightly. "But I like it." she said in a whisper. "I know you do, I like it as well. It looks very nice on you." he said ruffling her hair.
The young Chell laughed quietly. She loved her father very much, even if they weren't blood related. She wasn't ashamed of being adopted, it seemed to be much better than being alone all her life. But there were times when she did feel lonely. It was mostly because her father was always at work and she had no siblings, or mother. She didn't mind staying home alone at times, but it did get very lonely. Chell was also very shy and quiet, making it hard to make friends at school. She had no one besides her father, no one at all.
Two more weeks. Two more. That was it. Two more weeks. To Caroline, it was going to feel like another lifetime, but it would go by quickly, and her life would end and start anew in that of a robot. Not that she would really know what it's like, her heart and soul would have fled the Earth, leaving her mind and consciousness inside a computer. Why did he say that that day? Why?
"Brain Mapping. Artificial Intelligence. We should have been working on it thirty years ago. I will say this, and I'm gonna say it on tape so everybody hears it a hundred times a day: If I die before you people can pour me into a computer, I want Caroline to run this place. Now she'll argue. She'll say she can?ft. She's modest like that.
But you make her. Hell, put her in my computer. I don't care."
Caroline's entire life changed that day. Cave had cared so much for Caroline, and he knew that if he died first, he could at least give Caroline- his assistant, his love, his wife- a chance at immortality and power. But she refused to do so, and when she stated that to him, she thought that was the end.
"And for my wife, Caroline, I ask you for one thing. Please..take over Aperture for me.
I know you are afraid, but this is a step forward for science. Think about the future of Aperture, think about what we'll achieve. Just think about it, but know I won't rest peacefully until you come up with an answer. I know you'll chose the right path. I miss you,
Cave Johnson." the lawyer finished reading off Cave's will and took off his glasses. He looked at the shocked Caroline, her eyes filled with tears, mouth gaping open. She never thought he would still ask her to do such a thing, especially beyond the grave.
"I-I cannot do it." she said in a whisper.
"Mrs. Johnson, I know this is hard for you-" the lawyer started to say before she erupted in tears.
"How could he be so selfish? Asking me to give my life up for sci-" she stopped when she suddenly remembered Cave saying she was married to science so many years ago. It took her a while to realize Cave was saying he was science, when they weren't even married yet. Even if Cave was dead,
she was still his wife. She was still married to science, to Cave Johnson. She looked at her ring and cried even more.
It wasn't long until Caroline walked back into Aperture to announce that she would take place in the GLaDOS project. She would live forever, to be married to science forever.
But now, 4 years later, after all those tests, she had begun to realize how much life pained her. And how much living forever would pain her even more. Not even seeing Cave or hearing his voice, it just made her feel so lonely, so empty. So empty that the tests filled with pain and confusion was like nothing. But the pain has become numb now, for she was two weeks away from becoming immortal.
"I'm doing this for you, sir." she said with a sigh.
Just as she said that, some marbles rolled into her room. Caroline looked over at the noise the marbles made and blinked her eyes.
"S-Sorry." said a hushed voice.
A little girl with her hair in a ponytail came into the room, and she looked at Caroline with surprise, she was crying.
"Are..are you okay?"
Part 1 of 4