Jack raced over to the small, quivering, impossibly thin girl. She couldn't have been much older than nine or ten, and was clad in her best. A small blue dress, outlined in lace, torn and dirty. Her ankle-socks were missing most of their lace, and one of her blue suede Mary-Janes was missing. Her blonde, curly hair was matted, tangled and greasy.
With the help of Caroline, Jack managed to pry the girl out of her curled-up form and trickle some water down her throat (they had found multiple water bottles and working taps. She coughed, took them all in with wide, green eyes, and then broke into heavy, uncontrollable sobs. Vaguely, Jack wondered if her mind had snapped.
Knowledge wrapped the child in her arms. "Sweetie… do you want to tell me your name?"
"E-E-E-" she attempted to speak, but each time was interrupted by a hiccup. "Eve," she finally managed.
"Okay, Eve," Jack said in his best "Parent Voice," "where did you come from?"
Someone handed her a slice of cake, which she stared at for a moment as though unable to believe it real, then made sure no one was going to take it from her, and promptly began to swallow it down. "It's better if you chew it," said Jack. She nodded and did her best to slow down.
Between bites, she told her story. "Daddy took me to work and then-" munch. "I was working on my potato battery and-" bite. "and then a lady said something like, 'in-ish-ee-ate-ing-' and then she used a real, real big word-" she polished off the last bite and was promptly given another slice.. She turned to Wheatley and said, "You were watching me,"
Wheatley turned red. "Er- yeah, I was, wasn't I?"
"So you're a scientist, right?"
"That's right," he said, drawing himself up importantly.
"So you know big words?"
"Well, yeah, I know some big words."
"The lady was gonna put in some n-neur-Nero-"
"Neurotoxin?"
"Yeah. What's that?"
"Well, it's a gas that makes your nerves and stuff go wonky. If you inhale too much of it, you can- and probably will- die."
"Oh. 'Cos daddy made me run out real, real fast and then he went to sleep and then I went to sleep and then I woke up here."
Suddenly, Jack had a thought. "Hey, Anger, go get your cube." She pointed at the material emancipation grid and growled. "I know, that's the point! Go get it."
She did, and in seconds, Jack and Caroline were pulling apart a man. Eve shrieked. "Daddy!"
The man coughed and groaned. "Evie? Is that you baby?"
"Yeah, Daddy, I'm here, I'm here, look!"
His eyes didn't move. Didn't focus. "Eve? Where are you darling?"
Wheatley hankered over the man and peered into his eyes. "Blind," he announced. "Forgot to keep 'em closed, the poor bastard."
"Brian? You're here too?"
"Yeah, Mike, it's me. Listen, mate, what is it?"
He had to think about it. "1981." He finally answered.
Wheatley looked up sadly at Eve. "Mike," he murmured, "it's 2013. 1981 was 32 years ago, mate."
Mike groaned, then jumped, as if remembering something. "Project Glados," he gasped, grabbing Wheatley's tie. "Brian, I was an idiot, I shouldn't have turned it on, Brian, I should've waited for the morality core, I wanted to see it, I was impatient, I was stupid, I- Caroline, I was so sorry, I was arrogant and egotistical and monstrous, and-"
"shh." Said Caroline softly "it's ok. You were acting under orders. You were a scientist. I'm not mad at you. No one is. Chell," she added, suddenly addressing her daughter, "get Mike and Eve to the hideout. He's in no condition to fight Glados."
"actually, you guys can help." Said Jack suddenly. "Listen, I have a plan. I need you guys to follow me." He took Mike and Eve each by the hand, and led them to a place he wished didn't exist. The Cryogenic Storage unit.
He tossed each cube through the material emancipation grid, and gave them their instructions. "I want each of you to press one button next to a pod," he indicated the red "wake-up-subject" button next to each stasis pod, "then tell them to do the same. You got that?"
All nine people nodded. Tiny Eve was the first to activate a tall, dark man. He blinked a few times, then looked in the pod next to him, which contained a woman whose straight red hair fell to her jaw. He growled, then pounded the button next to her, breaking it in the process. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she looked around her than got the hint.
Jack watched as his plan unfolded, all the while, thinking, this proves it. I'm not Cave. He'd never do this.
Then a nasty little voice in his head said, wouldn't he?
