A/N: Hi everyone. Sorry for the slow update, but life's been pretty busy here.
-Starryskys102- Thank you for your review. I think we all smile a little when space core is in our presence.
Amora walked into Aperture excitedly just as she had for the past two months. She waved at the secretary who looked decidedly less grumpy than she did the day before. Amora went back to her office and looked at her schedule. She read through the list of tasks to do today.
It appeared that one of the local news stations heard about the interview that Neil had with the newspaper and had wanted to set up an interview with Cave Johnson and Neil to discuss implications of this project. Amora left her office to look for Cave Johnson.
She walked to his office and knocked on his door. "Who is it?" the CEO called from the other side of the door.
"It's Amora," she called out to the man in the office.
"Go ahead and come in," Cave called out and Amora walked into the room. "What can I do for you?" Cave asked the woman as she walked in.
"Channel five news wanted to meet with you and Neil before he takes off Friday," Amora said, "They might also want to speak with Andre about that 'green' plastic that he's working on."
"My schedule is open Wednesday afternoon. You can sign me up then," Cave said jolly. Amora thanked him for his time and went to search for Neil.
She found him in the robotics lab with his head in a helmet. "Neil," she called out to him and the astronaut turned to her with a grin.
"Hi, Amora. Do you like my space helmet?" he asked as he pulled off said helmet and began to clean it.
"Yes, I love it," Amora said amused at his excitement. "Will you be available to talk to some news reporters Wednesday afternoon around two?" she asked.
"What do they want to talk about?" he asked his blue eyes wide.
"Just about your trip," Amora answered. Neil calmed down and his mouth spread to a wide smile.
"I can talk about it all day," Neil said putting on his helmet again. He pulled the gold visor down and back up again to test it. "Can you believe I'm going to be in space at the end of the week?"
Amora chuckled, "It sounds like it's going to be amazing. Make sure to take lots of pictures." Neil nodded enthusiastic. "Oh, I have a present for you, but you have to wait for your going away party," Amora said as a reminder to herself to wrap the gift. It was just a simple book of star maps, but she hoped he would like it.
"You shouldn't have. That's so kind of you. Is it something I can use in space?" Neil asked excited.
Amora stopped to think about the question, "I think so. I don't know what can't you use in space?"
"Well, You can't.." Neil was interrupted with a loud bang and what sounded like gunfire from a lab across the hall. The future astronaut left his sentence hanging to inspect what had happened. Amora followed him before he turned to face her, "You probably should go back to your desk. You know, to be safe."
Amora wasn't normally a curious person and she trusted that Neil knew what he was talking about. Amora nodded and took the elevator down to her office. She didn't even think twice about the accident in the lab. She wouldn't have to worry about it unless there was bad press, but a small accident like that would be solved quickly.
She called the news station to tell the reporters that Neil and Cave would be able to speak with them. She looked up at the clock which read 11:30. She decided that now would be a good time to fill her water bottle at the water cooler.
She fiddled with the top of the water bottle as she walked to the cooler. She practice her smile before the cooler came into view. Her smile fell slightly when she realize that Wheatley wasn't getting a drink from the cooler like he normally did at this time. Not that she was keeping track of his movements or that she even cared that much. No, instead of Wheatley, Amora noticed a young girl standing by the cooler.
Amora walked up to the girl. "Hi," she called out as softly as she could trying not to scare the girl. "Are you looking for you father?" Amora asked a little unsure on how to talk with the child.
The girl's dark eyes seemed much older than her age which was a little unsettling. "You can wait in my office if you like. Everyone goes by my office at least once.. they really like the jar of candy I have in there. Do you like candy?" The girl gave Amora a look of distrust. "You're father told you not to strangers, didn't he?" Amora said realizing her mistake. "You can trust me though. I work with your father."
"Hello Amora, how's your day going?" Wheatley asked as he walked to the water cooler. "It's amazing that we always run into each other by the water cooler. It's almost like someone planned it." He crushed his used cup and tossed into the trash can.
Amora chuckled uncomfortably. "Wheatley, do you know this little girl?" She asked partially to get an answer, but mostly to change the subject. Wheatley looked at the young child.
"Oh, Hi. The name's Wheatley. So don't panic, but we're here to help you. Of course if you are scared that's okay too because that is a normal response for a child to have when two strange adults are trying to convince you to come with them," Wheatley rambled.
Amora smacked his arm before he made the girl more frightened. The girl silently chuckled at the two's actions. "Amora, what was that for? I was just trying to tell her that we're not scary and we won't try to kidnap her." Wheatley complained rubbing his arm. " Did you tell her about the candy in your office? All children love candy," Wheatley started to ramble.
The little girl walked up to the pair and tried to get their attention. Wheatley looked down to see the girl, "So you do want to go to Amora's office?" The girl nodded enthusiastically. Amora led the way to her office. She took her seat and Wheatley and the young girl sat on the pair of chairs on the other side.
Amora pushed the jar of candy on her desk to the girl. The woman then continued to look through her desk to find blank paper and pencils. Before long the three of them were drawing and having a good time. Though the girl never spoke, Wheatley and Amora were able to fill the office in conversation.
"See, Dr. Rattmann, I told you she would be fine," Caroline's voice said as she opened the door.
"Chell, I was so worried about you," Dr. Rattmann said as he too entered the room. Chell got up from her chair to give the man a hug. He looked up at the two Aperture employees. "Thank you for watching her." Both told him that it was no problem. Dr. Rattmann took Chell away and Caroline followed after. Wheatley left telling Amora that he had to return to work.
….
Amora left the office on time and hurried to the bus stop. The bus ride was uneventful as usual and Amora got back to her apartment just in time to eat dinner before her favorite television program started. She sat there entranced in trying to figure out the murderer on the show when a breaking news report interrupted. "Seriously?" she shouted at the television, "Give me my show back."She dramatically threw herself on the couch and missing the introduction to the report. The news station showed a reporter in front of a burning apartment complex. Amora sat up to listen. The reporter said that there was an explosion and that was what started the blaze.
A knock came from her door. Amora tore her gaze from the television for a moment to get the door. She opened the door quickly while still trying to keep an eye on the report. Wheatley stood in the hall holding a small box of items. His white lab coat was charred and burnt on the edges. "Wheatley, are you alright?" she asked concerned. She allowed him to come into her apartment.
"Yes, as well as the situation allows," Wheatley said sitting on one of Amora's new chairs. He looked to the television. "Oh, I guess you heard about it already."
Amora looked back at the television. "You lived there?" she asked trying to connect the dots.
"Yes, and you see. Remember when I said last week that I wanted to take one of the projects I was working on home? I ignored your advice and took it anyways. And it was going well, very well. I nearly finished in fact. But uh.. today when I went to get some last minute materials, things got a little explosive." Amora stood in shock.
"Have you talked to the arson experts? They'll be wanting to know what started the blaze." Amora rubbed her temples at a suddenly appearing headache. "Wheatley, this is going to be horrible. I better start working on a way to regain Aperture's good name." Wheatley looked upset at her rant which made her feel guilty for being so upset. Amora decided to try to calm down. "Hey, at least you're safe. And you told me as soon as you did."
"That wasn't the only reason I came over here. Remember when you said that that I could come over any time?"
Amora felt her jaw drop. "What?!"She shouted in disbelief.
"I mean. I could find somewhere else to stay for the night, but.."
Amora held up her hand to stop him."You can stay until you get back on your feet but no longer. You can pull the bed out of the couch to sleep on." The woman walked away shaking her head. "Good night Wheatley," she said trying not to sound as angry as she felt.