It's the middle of the night when I wake up. It's dark, but that's comforting - it was always light in the Aperture Science Facility, even when the light was just red backlights behind some walls. Nothing's trying to trick my brain into thinking it's always daytime anymore. The faint, natural light from the moon is so beautiful…

I look up at the moon. Just looking at it, I can almost feel the Portal Gun in my hands, the pain of the explosion I'd just survived, and the desperation of the entire situation when I had shot a portal all the way up there. I'd remembered Cave Johnson saying that lunar dust was conductive to portals, and I'd had no other ideas. I don't know how the portal got all the way there in time, but…it had worked.

I close my eyes and sigh. I know Wheatley's out there now. Him and that corrupted core that was so obsessed with space. I'm sure that that core's very happy, but Wheatley…Now that he's not in Her body anymore, has he come to his senses? Is he sorry?

I remember Wheatley's silly, nervous personality and smile. Maybe he had been a moron, but he had also been my friend - until Her body corrupted him, that is. There has to be something in that system that makes any AI who inhabits it turn evil. There has to be…

I sit up. Thinking about everything I've been through is all fine and good - in fact, it's easier now that I've rested - but I have to get moving. I have to figure out how to stand and walk without heel springs. Now.

I rise into a crouching position, bracing myself forward with my hands; I know I need to put less weight on my heels and back, so leaning forward for starters is probably a good idea. I then slowly shift my weight backwards slightly and lift my hands off the ground.

Almost instantly, I lose my balance and fall again. Part of me is tempted to give up, but what would that get me? Never give up, I remind myself. You've slept; now it's time to go.

I push myself up again. I never give up - that's the only thing that's kept me alive for this long. To have come so far, then die because I can't figure out how to walk…No. I won't give up now. I'll never, ever give up.

It takes me about seven total tries before I can even balance myself while crouching low to the ground. Once I'm there, I hold the position for a minute or two, then slowly start to unbend my knees. I'm trying so hard to keep myself balanced in a crouch, however, that after I rise a few inches, I fall forward. No matter; I push myself up again. I will figure this out.

It takes a couple of hours before I figure out just exactly how to balance myself while rising and standing up straight; the night sky is already starting to brighten with pre-dawn light. Finally, though, I'm standing up, all on my own. Having my feet flat on the ground, even in my boots, feels a little weird, but I'm standing up.

Now I have to move.

I slowly start to turn back in the direction I was going. I lift one foot as I turn, and almost immediately, I fall back down - I know how to balance my weight now, but I still have to figure out how to shift it.

I start to get frustrated with myself. The frustration makes me all the more determined, and I rise to my feet again. I'm a little unsteady, but I can do it without too much trouble.

Suddenly, I start to get lightheaded. I squeeze my eyes shut and force myself not to pass out. Once the feeling passes, I finally notice that I'm hungry. I've spent so much time in Aperture Science, ignoring any complaints my body might make about what I'm doing or not doing; but now, I have to pay attention. Then again, I don't have anything to eat…

I remember when Wheatley had commented that I wouldn't starve because the Aperture Science building was overrun with potatoes, and I smile ruefully. I should have taken a potato with me. I should have eaten some of Her myself, when She was a potato - not enough to damage Her, but enough to give me a little bit of sustenance.

"Her"…It crosses my mind then that I never knew Her name. She must have had a name - the scientists who built Her must have had some name to call Her by, or at least an experiment number or something. But no, I don't know Her name - Wheatley had only ever referred to Her as "Her" or "She", and She had never introduced herself. The only name I know is Caroline…

I realize I'm letting my mind wander, and I stop myself; I can think about this once I find water or something, or at least until I can figure out how to walk. I have to ignore my hunger for now, too. (I try not to think about the fact that I won't be able to recognize most edible things in nature.) I need to grab the Companion Cube and start walking.

Then it hits me: I'll need to put more weight on my back while I'm carrying the Companion Cube. It'll be easier to walk when I'm carrying it…

I slowly get down on my hands and knees and shuffle myself into a position facing the Companion Cube I'd dropped after I fell the first time. Even in the faint combination of pre-dawn light and fading moonlight, I can see how charred it is…

I crawl over to it, then push myself up so that I'm leaning forward against it. I then grab hold of it and stand up. Again, I need to put more weight on my back now than I otherwise would without heel springs, and I'd just gotten used to standing up unburdened; but even though I waver for a minute, I don't fall down. Slowly, very slowly, I start to lift one foot to take a step forward, shifting some of my weight onto my other foot. It's not too different from walking with heel springs - it's different, yes, but not so different as to be especially difficult anymore. I do lose my balance somewhat, but I can keep myself from falling down, at least.

And so, finally, just as the first rays of sun poke out from the horizon, I start walking. I don't know where I'm going, but if I walk for long enough, I should be able to find something.

The walking gets easier as the day passes. The Companion Cube is heavy, but I can handle it. I can hear a songbird or two in the distance again, and a light breeze keeps the sun's heat from becoming uncomfortable.

Slowly, I start to truly relax. I have nothing to fear out here. I don't have to be ready for a sudden deathtrap. I don't even have to run. I can just walk in this tall, yellow grass, and think.

When I reach for something to try and sort out, the first thing that comes to mind is, Why did She give me this battered Companion Cube? None of them have ever spoken to me, and I don't have much use for one out here. The only answer I can think of is that maybe this is my Companion Cube, the one I'd thrown in an Emergency Intelligence Incinerator way back when. I have some reason to think that the incinerator isn't as thorough as its name suggests - She had told me not to trip over pieces of Her that hadn't completely burned up when She threw me down there a few days ago, so maybe…

Well, it doesn't really matter. It's just another weighted cube to me, since it doesn't talk to me, and I can't talk to it. Still, it's helping me walk, so that's something.

Okay. That took maybe ten minutes. Maybe. What else can I think about?

I resist it for a few minutes, then give in: I want to think about Her.

So She was Caroline, deep down. In some ways, that makes sense. I mean, I know now that Her dangerous testing methods were the rule instead of the exception, and literally so - Cave Johnson had fired someone for questioning why the tests had to be so unsafe. Surely, Caroline would be just as eager to perform dangerous tests on people as Cave Johnson had. On the other hand, though, I somehow doubt that Caroline had been as insane as Her - She was so mad at me for "murdering" Her, when in reality, I'd had no choice. I was only acting in self-defense, all the way; She'd had no reason to blame me except insanity and narcissism. Okay, so maybe throwing the Morality Core into the Emergency Intelligence Incinerator had been a bit impulsive of me, but what else was I supposed to have done? I'd still been trapped down there…

But then I think back to when I'd had Her stuck on my Portal Gun as a potato, and we had listened to Cave Johnson's angry rant about life giving you lemons. Before then, I hadn't thought She was capable of respecting anyone; but the rapture in Her voice as She had praised his speech hadn't just suggested respect, it had suggested worship. That had to have been Caroline. Who else would worship a lunatic like Cave Johnson? I remember when he'd said that Caroline was married to science. Ha ha, I think; if Her reaction to his tirade is any indication, it's more like she was married to him

Was she married to him?

Maybe she had been. Come to think of it, it seems pretty likely. Still, it doesn't really matter now.

I turn my thoughts back to Her. All the time when She'd been in control of the entire Aperture Science Testing Facility, She'd been an omnipotent, narcissistic lunatic; but when She had been just a potato, stuck on the end of my Portal Gun, helpless and reduced to minimum brain capacity…it had almost felt like we could get along, even be friends. I can't help but think that Her "body" is so powerful, it corrupts any AI that controls it. Wheatley had been so quick to turn on me after he took over - much too quick for it to have not been caused by something in the programming. I remember how She had stood up for me when Wheatley started turning into Her…and how, after She'd taken over again, she'd saved my life…

I won't lie to myself - I really had thought that She and I could be friends, especially when She'd said that I was her best friend. She had also seemed so genuinely happy when I came to. That had to have been Caroline as well - I think the humanity She got from Caroline had always been there, but She hadn't really known it until Caroline was brought to the forefront of Her mind. After that, for a minute there, it really had seemed like She could be a good person, even my friend.

But then, She'd deleted Caroline. Just like that. She had been happy because of Her newfound humanity, and then She'd deleted it. Why? Why did She delete Caroline?

The more I think about it, the more I want to know the answer. If I could have her answer one question truthfully - just one - it would be, Why had She deleted Caroline? Why…?

Because She's an evil lunatic, is the first answer that comes to mind. But no sooner do I think that than I remember, again, what She'd been like while we were teamed up to stop Wheatley. No, She isn't evil - a lunatic, yes, but not evil, per se. Lunacy isn't enough to justify the fact that She'd deleted Caroline, though. Actually…I almost pity Her. I remember how Wheatley had been helplessly driven to "test" - addicted, because of the simulated euphoria he got when someone solved a "test" - and how, once he'd stopped getting his drug or whatever, he'd turned mean and bitter and cruel. He'd basically turned into Her. I wonder now…was that why She was so bent on killing people, too? She'd said the scientists were always trying to make Her behave; it's more than likely that that feature of her "body" was something they'd added to give Her a good reason to not kill test subjects. But then, that would mean Her deadliness had always been part of Her…

None of this gives any explanation for why She'd deleted Caroline, though. And I want to know why She'd done it.

As the day passes, and I continue walking through the field with the Companion Cube helping me balance, I continue to puzzle over it. Why had She deleted Caroline? Why had She deleted Caroline? Why had She deleted Caroline…?

Darkness starts to fall, and I've found nothing - no answers, and no food or water, either. I probably can't afford to sleep. Then again, if I stay well-rested, maybe my energy will last longer…

I decide to sleep for the night, if only because I'm at leisure enough to be able to do so. I set down the Companion Cube in the grass, then slowly lie myself down next to it. As it gets darker, and the moon rises, I slowly start to fall asleep, all the while thinking the same thing, over and over:

Why did She delete Caroline? Why did She delete Caroline? Why did She delete Caroline? Why did She delete Caroline? Why did She…?