When the memories were just flashes, the A.I. couldn't quite explain the emotions that ran with them. She tried translating them through her "Aperture Science Emotion Reading Enrichment Scale," but only got a string of adjectives followed by an eerily shrill scream that nearly fried the scale the first few times it ran through.
Now, out of pure curiosity, GLaDOS began watching Caroline's memories like a movie. So far, they weren't very intriguing. Caroline's earliest memories consisted of mundane human child activities, if you called conducting case studies on your friends, and classifying them into different cooperation types, mundane. The girl was smart, driven, and loved science.
Really, though, wasn't GLaDOS just the same?
She ran the next memory, feeling a supposed sense of warmth come over her. Caroline seemed to be excited about this one.
The first thing that popped up was the image of a blank sheet of paper. It seemed to be a sign-in sheet of some sort, but the name of the company was blurred.
Caroline looked to her thermos, where her reflection could be seen. She appeared quite young, and her dark hair was up in a tight bun. Her complection was reddened from the heat; it was an excruciatingly hot day out.
She took a long sip from her thermos, and looked around. The room she was in looked big enough to only house about five people, but that was more than they would ever need. The place was a small research facility that ran mostly on donations, and was sure to close down soon.
"I'm only going to miss this place when I go back into debt." Thought Caroline.
She had tried very hard to get a job as a researcher, but the only position they were willing to give her was a receptionist job that barely payed her bills. She wasn't sure why they even needed a receptionist since no one ever ventured into the place.
Then, almost as if she was to be proven wrong, a man strode through the front doors. He stood tall, and with an air of complete confidence around him. A cigar hung out of his mouth, and he bit on it a few times as if in thought.
Caroline instantly straightened herself up, grabbing a nearby pen and the sign-in pad.
"Can I help you?" She asked almost too excitedly.
The man looked over at her and gave her a half smile, biting down harder on the cigar. He eventually took it out to shake it out a few times, a thick cloud of smoke emanated from his mouth.
He walked closer toward the doors leading further inside the building, and pointed to them with his tobacco.
"Don't think the lab boys will mind if I just took a quick peek inside." It was spoken as more of a statement than a question.
Caroline shook her head in compliance anyway, and watched him walk into the next room.
She sighed, and began fanning herself again. That was her excitement for the day, and it only lasted about a minute.
Discouraged, she began writing various formula's and theories on the pad to keep her mind occupied. Only five more long hours before she could go home, if she wasn't glued to the desk chair from the heat first.
About ten minutes went by before the man reappeared, slamming the doors behind him. He looked a tad agitated, but still strong and assured. Caroline tried to speak up as he made for the exit, but couldn't think of anything to say. Her mouth was unusually dry.
Just then, as if he'd suddenly remembered she was there, he turned around and gave her a full smile.
She stared at him, wide-eyed. For some reason, her heart started pounding in her head, and a warm, anxious feeling overtook her.
Somehow, she must have known he was going to say the words that would change her life forever.
"How would you like to work for Aperture Science?"
A/N: First off, thank you so much to everyone that's been liking the story so far! Please, keep up the reviews! They give me some brilliant ideas. I've been thinking about Chell being Caroline's daughter thing a bit more, and actually sat down last night to make a hypothetical time line that would make enough sense, and support it. To be blunt, story is going to change more than I initially thought, but that's all the more fun!