She felt like creaming at someone. She always did, she wasn't sure why. An ever-surging anger that pulsed through her psyche. It was like a buzz in the back of her head that just wanted an escape. She very rarely gave in, so when someone ever gave her the opportunity to do so, it was like a Christmas present.
"YOU DID WHAT?"
She waited only a moment for him to respond. He of course didn't. She had never ever yelled in front of him before.
"I MEAN REALLY? WITH ALL THAT'S HAPPENING? BLACK MESA, THE GOVERNMENT, INVESTIGATORS EVERYDAY NOSING AROUND. MY GOSH, MR. JOHNSON, IT'S LIKE YOU'RE TANKING US ON PURPOSE."
This accusation brought him out of his shock and carried that familiar rosy patchiness to his face.
"THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO PREVENT!"
"OH YEAH? AND HOW DOES PUTTING US 70 MILLION MORE IN DEBT HELP OUR SITUATION? YOU SAW THE REPORTS, THOSE ROCKS ARE WORTHLESS!"
"THAT'S BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH THEM! Caroline, just imagine it, you and I, discovering all of their hidden properties. Imagine the science Caroline."
In a split second his countenance had gone from raging to that nearly psychotic excited he got whenever they made a breakthrough.
Caroline settled down; now she was just tired. She still didn't think he was right, but she could never bring him down when he got to that high. He was just so full of light. He saw this future where everything would be just like their glory days again. According to him they had never ended. Caroline, however, could feel a sickly ache in the caverns of her chest. It was all going to end. Aperture, the science, everything. Even Cave, with his asbestosis worsening, unless 'his boys' figured something out soon all of that light would fade. It was collapsing, like the literal walls of the facility.
"Oh Caroline." He rounded his desk to where she was leaning on it. Mr. Johnson placed his hands on her shoulders. "Just wait," he was now sliding her brunette hair behind her ear. "the boys tell me they are days away from a breakthrough; the ability to upload consciousness into an operating system. We're still doing science."
She finally locked his eyes; she was now distracted by that annoying urge to kiss him. Even if she died with the science, it would've been all worth it.