This was absurd, of course. She hadn't really done science since high school.

"So he just...offered you a job?"

"I'm telling you, Mimi, that's exactly what happened." Caroline nodded but did not look away from the table she was cleaning. They had to get this place spotless before they could close up for the night and go home. That was enough motivation for them. However, if Cave's proposition was genuine instead of a mere act of pity, she may never have to do this again.

"I know, and I'm happy for you, I really am," Mimi sighed. "But...usually when things sound too good to be true, they are."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Caroline."

This upset Caroline. Why couldn't her friend simply support her for once? Finally, something wonderful was happening to her and Mimi had to scare her away from it.

"I'm only going to be his assistant. It's not rocket science. But maybe someday we will go to the moon, and I'll get to have a small part in that. Let me have this, can't you?"

"So you're going to accept the offer?"

Suddenly, she knew that whatever came to be as a result of working for Aperture Science, at least Caroline would help move humanity forward in some tiny way. There was something more fulfilling about that than waitressing. It was worth the risk.

The next time Aperture's CEO came into the diner, she quit her job and never looked back.

)O(

"I'm glad you decided to give science a chance, Caroline," Cave Johnson said as she stepped out of the limo. "I think you're going to feel right at home here."

"This really wasn't necessary, sir." Caroline gestured to the luxurious car that had been parked outside her apartment building this morning, waiting for her.

"We spare no expense for our valued employees. Besides, the facility's a bit tricky to find on your own. Science requires complete concentration and the city tends to distract people." All she could do was nod in agreement. "Now, let me give you the grand tour!"

Caroline followed her new boss and listened attentively as he explained that her duties here would consist of more than just making coffee and answering phones. The elevator moved perpetually downward.

"But sir, I don't know anything about science..."

"That's all right, Caroline, neither do I, really." Cave put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm a businessman, and you're a lady with a practical mind. That's why I hired you. The lab boys invent whatever I come up with, and you're gonna help me."

A chance to prove that her thoughts were worth something? That didn't sound too bad.

"Yes, sir."

The elevator finally rested on solid earth and its doors opened, revealing a warm room with comfortable-looking chairs. There were awards and such framed on the walls, including a newspaper from the day Cave Johnson purchased the salt mine and began construction of this very facility. It had been front page news.

"This is just our waiting area. You won't have much reason to come here," he said, then she noticed this gleam in his eye. "Would you like to see where the science happens?"

"Yes, sir!" Caroline smiled excitedly, for it was impossible not to be excited when Cave Johnson talked about science. He laughed while leading her into another room, but this one was vast and brightly lit with so much life to it. Her eyes couldn't take everything in all at once no matter how hard she tried. The previous night's lack of sleep didn't help.

All around her was a whirl of activity. People clad in white lab coats and orange jumpsuits mingled on their respective paths, aided by colored lines painted on the floor that they all seemed to be familiar with. High above her, countless clear tubes crisscrossed each other in a sort of tangled transportation system for various apparatus, although she couldn't quite see it clearly. But whatever it was, it traveled at remarkably high speeds. And above that, the faintest traces of real sunlight attempted to pour in. That's when she realized just how far beneath the ground they actually were.

"This, Caroline, is the heart of Aperture!" Cave announced proudly. Then those tubes must be its arteries, she thought. "Soon I'll show you where our engineers work, and where we test all our products before releasing them to the public. Safety is important. Oh, that reminds me, the bean counters said they have some form or contract for you to sign...It's probably not important..."

Caroline tried to listen attentively, but she was too overwhelmed by everything here in the heart of Aperture.

She had stepped into the future.