She woke up in a cold sweat. Her hands immediately reached for her glasses. She sat hunched over on the side of the bed, breathing heavy. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and let her heartbeat slow down. She ran her hand through her hair, realizing she'd never taken her bun out. She tugged at the hairband, trying to erase the nightmare from her memory. She had been standing in his office, she'd felt eyes watching her every move. They weren't human eyes though, they held an unearthly, yet so familiar feel. She had turned to look through the window, there, standing strapped to a chair was her. Not her the way she was now, exactly how she'd looked in college. Her hazel eyes were filled with artificial light, the unnatural yellow glow filled the whole facility. She stood frozen as the version of herself hissed through the blood flowing from her mouth,

"You will regret this... I'm going to kill you... even if I have to go down with you. I WILL KILL YOU..." She threw her head back and screamed as her body ebbed with electricity. The scream turned to manic laughter filling the staticy speakers throughout the facility. Her voice spoke, smooth, calm, cold, ireful,

"Please don't struggle, it will only make it worse for one of both of us... don't worry... this isn't deadly... to ME. You'll be fine though... I promise. We'll laugh about this someday..." The speakers bled static electric laughter, it wasn't human, it wasn't organic. She had stood staring at herself in the chair, live wires hissing like snakes, rearing up and enveloping her old self as she continued laughing like a computer. That was when she'd realized it. The voice wasn't hers... the body was. But that voice, it was similar, though not human enough. It scared the hell out of her. She'd never imagined killing anyone, even when she'd been more... her. It was hard to figure out where this dream had come from. But it wasn't over, why hadn't it stopped there... Her body, wrapped in wires, had broken through the metal holds and floated, wires flying side to side, that voice hissing in her ears, so familiar, yet without a touch of humanity. There was no mercy or guilt in that voice, just pure hatred. It had stopped right in front of her, it was all she could do to stand, still, eyes wide, unable to take her gaze off it. Gladys had, with the slightest touch of false pity in her tone, touched Caroline's shoulder. The electricity shot through her. She could feel her heart stop. Gladys laughed, high pitched and mechanic,

"hahaHAAHAHAhahahahaha I could have killed you slowly, you're lucky I took pity on you. Don't worry though, I got my revenge. You can rest peacefully now..." The horrible laugh again... "HAHahahahahahaHAAHA I'm kidding, of course. Goodbye Caroline..." She'd flinched, not sure whether she was dead or not, watching neurotoxin pour out of the vents, filling her senses. She'd woken up then. She swore she could still smell the neurotoxin. The words haunted her though... Goodbye Caroline... What was that supposed to mean? She didn't know whether or not to take the dream seriously. It was very possible that it had some meaning behind it, something her subconscious wanted her to know. It was also possible she'd accidentally had some of the experimental Aperture coffee. She lay back down, leaving her sheets piled at the foot of her bed. She brushed her hair out of her face and folded her glasses again, placing them on the bedside table. She rubbed her temples, trying to get rid of the lingering scent of neurotoxin. She dozed off with the beautiful stench still filling her nose, like blood mixed with electricity and moss.

"Caroline? Caroline? Oh... oh she's dead... I... I knew this was going to happen... Should've seen it coming really, her being so pale these last few weeks, really, it's amazing she didn't die sooner... Oh right... respects to the dead, yes. Hmm... well, she was a brilliant coffee fetcher, bloody amazing at that..." Caroline woke up to the teasing voice of one of the scientists. She was pretty damn glad is was him too, or she probably would've lost her mind in panic and beat him to death. Anyone else would have scared the crap out of her. His voice was familiar though, and she greeted him with a lightly thrown pillow in the face,

"Ow... Oh! The dead have learned to use weapons! They warned us about this in training, I of course know exactly what to do, see, it's very important to..." He grinned as she cut him off,

"Good morning, Wheatley."

"Hello Caroline, guess you've figured out by now that you're late for work, everyone suggested I wake you, since they all seem pretty keen on keeping all their teeth, guess they though I had a better chance, you know, seeing as I tend to be the one to wake you up quite often, and I've only gotten my lights knocked out once..." She had to cut him off again as it seemed that if you didn't cut into his rambling, he'd probably go on forever about anything that came to his mind. Usually very pointless stuff. She was quite certain he could go into a very detailed five hour discussion on the inner mechanisms of a rock if he was ever asked to. Even then he'd probably only shut up because he'd eventually lose his voice.

"How late am I?"

"Well, judging on the strength of the scent of coffee coming from the break room, I'd say everyone else has been up for, say, two hours."

"TWO HOURS? Oh... Cave's going to kill me..."

"Don't worry luv, I told him you weren't feeling well, should buy you some time. I would've come to wake you earlier, but I opened the door about an hour ago and you just looked so peaceful... would've been a crime to wake you really..."

"Well, I may have been peaceful then, but I think we both know that there's going to be a war, and I'm going to win it..." She grinned. She really loved being around Wheatley, he was the only one she trusted to show some of her true self to. He stared gleefully back at her, as she reached behind her and pulled the pillow out, aiming for Wheatley's mouth, she threw the soft silken bag. He screamed, high pitched and cheerful, before grabbing the first pillow she'd thrown. Before he could throw it though, she walked to her dresser to grab a clean work outfit. Wheatley looked let down, as he sulked out of the room. She knew she'd have to make it up to him later, she was probably the only other employee who'd start a pillow fight, and she enjoyed the fact that he'd never quite lost his adorable childlike qualities. Including the way he could tug on anyones heart strings when he was upset. She sighed, splashing cold water against her flushed cheeks, she still couldn't quite get that nightmare out of her mind. She shuddered as she gently rubbed the towel against her face... it hit her. She really hated pretending who she was... She suddenly realized why she liked being around Wheatley so much, she could be sarcastic, witty, dark, he understood that who she was in the office was all an act. It also hit her that, when she was around him, the voices didn't haunt her. If she could only always be who she really was... but she'd made a decision. She had to do this. For science. She looked back up at the mirror, her face damp, and paler than cream. She hated her haircut, it was too frilly, it wasn't her. It looked like someone else, looking back at her from that mirror. She heard the horrible mechanic laughter in her mind, and punched the glass.

She coiled back, shoving her knuckles into her mouth, grasping at the side of the mirror, trying to swing it out to get to the medicine cabinet. She hopped up and down, trying not to step on the shards of glass scattered across the linoleum floor. She snatched the cardboard box of bandages off the shelf, managing to spill them all over the glass covered floor. She grabbed the few that she knew weren't covered in tiny glass bits. She then turned on the water and tried to pick up the soap bar. The water came out to fast and she had to guard her face with her throbbing hands as she attempted to stop the soap from falling onto the foot, which she also failed at. She then went on to the problem of turning the water off, but it wouldn't shut off. She wiped her face with her bloody fists and tried to keep the water from blurring her vision while she searched for the emergency water shut off button. At this point, Wheatley came rushing into the room, finally realizing the source of the screaming. He slipped on the bar of soap, landed on his spine, stood up, his hands covered in blood and glass shards. He then blocked most of the water for her with all 6 and a half feet of him. She managed to find the button and they lay in a heap giggling, bleeding, and hiccuping. She reached up and straightened Wheatley's glasses, laughing at the pointlessness as they had been bent up quite a few times before and stayed tilted to one side. He finally struggled to his feet and ended up hitting his head on the doorway on the way out. You'd think after 20 some years of being tall, he'd have gotten used to ducking, but he never seemed to remember that doors weren't made to accommodate someone of his height. She was on the tall side herself, but nowhere near his height. She then managed to find the package of bandaids and patch them both back up. Wheatly complained the whole time, going on and on about something she was only half paying attention to. She remembered he said "ouch" quite a bit. He also said something about a conspiracy involving windows that must have spread to mirrors. She looked at a bandage already covering a large scratch on his arm and figured he'd been the one to "take care of the problem with that 'door'" She couldn't help laughing. She tried to disguise it as a cough, but it turned more into a caahuhahhahahahahahaha. He grinned back at her, happy that she was smiling. He missed this Caroline when they were in the office, the smart sassy strong woman he knew. He hated the way she acted around Cave, she wasn't the way she should be, all funny and always knowing what to do. When she was around him she put on a 'dumb blonde' act. He wasn't sure how she pulled it off, completely hid this person he'd come to know. He just knew that however she did it, it made him uncomfortable, like he was watching two people fight for control of her body. Wasn't very pleasant. Yes. He liked this Caroline much better. She liked this "Caroline" much better too. But it was too late to go back, and besides, Cave liked the other Caroline. Not that he'd ever met this one, but she knew him enough to see what he liked. After Wheatley's hands were a disaster area of bandaids, she shooed him out the door and went too get another suit. The first one had been soaked through. She pulled off her nightgown and slung it over a chair. She had just begun to pull the cream skirt over her hips when the voice returned. {file_Look, we both know I'm the one who should be in control here. Why can't we just admit that and move on? It isn't like I'm going to kill you. Besides, you're only alive because of ME. I was here first and you just shoved me away, like I never even existed. You should know that I'm not letting you off that easy. How about today, you let ME out. Let me do the talking. You just have a nice nap back here in the subconscious._file/found/GLaDOS software converted. Continue, Caroline? Y/N?} Caroline had to admit that the offer was tempting. She also was beyond suspicious, the voice had never really talked to her. It had always talked more AT her, never expecting a response. Now, it had given her a choice, and it hadn't even been particularly rude about it. Just offered her the chance. She could refuse, or accept. It hadn't been forceful. Every bone in her body screamed, TRAP! Before she could refuse the voice spoke once more, {file_I know why you're hesitating. You're worried about HIM. Don't worry, when we're around him, I'll let you do the talking. I have no desire to RUIN all that you have worked for. Cave is all yours. I just want to give those coworkers a piece of my mind._OS/new/software/accepted. Proceed, Caroline? Y/N?} She shifted her weight from one leg to the other in concentration. She didn't know what saying yes would entail. Most likely a nice long rest. She would have liked to see a lovely little terms and conditions sheet. For once she'd have read the whole thing. It's a good idea to know the circumstances when a voice in your mind asks for control of your body... {file_I understand that you're nervous. But just trust me, why would I want to kill you? We're the same person, I hurt you, it hurts me. I just want to be able to talk to people again, it gets lonely in here._no/deception/software/detected_Proceed, Caroline? Y/N?} The voice seemed sincere enough. She still wasn't convinced though. She decided to try talking back to it, "You get to talk to him, why would you want to talk to anyone else?" {file_That's like saying, you get to talk to Cave, why would you want to talk to anyone else?.docx Proceed, Caroline? Y/N?} "But I do only want to talk to Cave..." {file_We can arrange that. I can do all the talking with everyone else, convince them you're attractive, funny, and smart. You can talk to Cave and convince him you're sweet, girly, and soft. It's a win win situation.docx Proceed, Caroline? Y/N?} She still wasn't completely sure what she wanted, but she could always change the agreement, right? This was herself... {Y selected, please wait... transfer underway... waiting...}