"So then, I let her go. It's as simple as that." Caroline- Was it Caroline or GLaDOS?- was in Cave's arms as they sat on the bed. "I assume she's still with the moro- Dr. Wheatley." She tried to stay content, but her returning maternal instinct yearned for information on her daughter.

Cave stroked her arm. "What's she like?" He asked.

After some consideration, Caroline- Yes, this was definitely Caroline- spoke quietly. "She's... Quiet, to say the least. Determined, tenacity level is almost abnormal. And very, very forgiving..." She looked downward toward the floor. "In short," He eyes moved back to his face. "She's just like you." Cave smiled and kissed her, his hands moving down her body. "Don't get your hopes up. This body isn't anatomically correct in that sense. And if it was, I can assure you that it would be very uncomfortable for you."

Of course, that hadn't been his main intention. He just wanted to assure himself that this was real. That Caroline was with him, sharing this moment. "You've been through a lot." She nodded, but remained silent. Once again, guilt ate away at him. She'd been killed three times; Once when she'd been transferred, again by their daughter, and most recently the last time she was in her old body. Cave had died once. But his was peaceful, with feelings of love around him. What had she felt? Anger? Distress? Fear? Probably all of those things.

There hadn't been a lot of people completely on his side about his decision to do that to her. He could only imagine the ones who were had been the first to fall to the AI's wrath. He thought back to the life he used to know. What would have become of him had he simply discarded his dreams, if Aperture had never existed? There would have been so many lives spared, employees and test subjects alike. But in the long run, he was glad he did. It had brought him love. It had brought him Caroline.

He stood suddenly, pulling her up with him. He held her hands in his and smiled. "Run away with me."

"What?"

"Run away with me." He repeated, pulling her just a bit closer. "Just like in those old romance novels you used to read. We can go see the world, live the American Dream! And we can find her, Caroline! We can find our daughter! Our Chell! We can finally be the good parents we missed out on being! And..." He smiled as he gathered the courage to ask. "Marry me, Caroline. Marry me and make me the happiest man on the whole damn planet."

She simply stared at him in awe for what seemed like years. "I..." She couldn't bring herself to say it. All she could do was shake her head and gently pull herself away from his touch.

Cave could feel his heart shattering. "W- why...?" She began toward the exit. "Just tell me why, Caroline, I-"

"Don't call me that!" She stopped and turned her head. "You want to know why? Oh, I'll tell you why!" She inhaled and walked over to him, her mood becoming calmer. "Look at my 'eyes'." Her golden optics locked on his blue-grey irises. "Feel my 'skin'." She took his hand and placed it on the metal of her face. "Listen to my voice." There was a slight computerized modulation, as if to prove her point. "I am a machine." She must have seen the broken expression on his face. "What? Isn't this what you wanted? 'You can make this place great again!' Well, I did, didn't I? This facility literally would not be able to function without me." Again she began to walk away. She gave him a look he couldn't quite identify. Part amused, part regretful. "Why would you want to marry me anyway? I'm a murderer. I've killed people."

"So have I." Cave was just managing to hold himself together. "But none of that matters anymore! That was the past! We can start over! We can-"

"'We can' what? Run off to a world neither of us has seen in decades, find a woman who has no idea who we are to her?" Her eyes shot daggers. "Well, let me tell you something. Things have changed since the last time you were outside. And as for Chell, she wants nothing to do with me!" Cave quietly asked why. "Why would she? I killed her adoptive father. I put her into stasis against her will. I tested her- the most difficult tests I had. And when she survived that, I tried to kill her. I tried to kill her so many times..."

Cave watched as her expression softened. It was as if she had split personalities. One the sweet, caring woman he'd left behind, the other the malicious robot he'd insisted on building. He carefully- ever so carefully- went to place a hand on her arm.

GLaDOS, for Caroline was no where to be found, pulled herself away. "Do not touch me." She warned. "She's fighting me for control. I keep trying to delete her, but she keeps coming back. Like a virus." She just about spit out the last word before turning back to Cave. "Now you listen to me. Caroline has never stopped loving you. And no matter how much I try to push her away, no matter how many protocols I enable or disable, she is still here. But even though she's in me, even though she gave me the very gift of life, I am not her. And I am the dominant one here!" Cave could only watch as she stormed out.

As she went to her chamber, a voice filled her head, caused her to whisper. It was not quite singing, but closer to speaking poetically. It was the most human she'd sounded in decades.

"My soul won over by the black goddess...

Me from my long blackout, from any aid...

Sadness won over my soul...

Sadness at last known...

I give only the soul born the right to win..."

GLaDOS grimaced, her re-digitalized voice still quiet. "Shut. Up." But Caroline wasn't quite done yet. The last line both completed the lyric, and still managed to get her point across.

"You yourself live because of the black wing of my charity..."