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Caroline stared at the gigantic metal apparatus that was her present and future. It was a gargantuan machine, tons and tons of metal, glass, and coolant tubes. The thing was limp now, it wasn’t alive yet. But it would be. It would be soon. The central chamber (it was a meaningless name, but the scientists wouldn’t let her change the damn thing) was colossal and intimidatingly clean.
She didn’t feel like she belonged there, she thought vacantly. Her cigarette hung limply from her fingers, filling the room with plumes of shadowy smoke. She felt a pang of something when she realizes, not sadness but something next to it. Something adjacent, something too close for comfort.
Caroline didn’t like it.
She was resigned to her fate already; maybe she’s gotten too old to care. Cave’s dying wish would be carried out with or without her consent, he’d made sure of that. And Caroline refuses to give the scientists the satisfaction of seeing her scared.
She’s seen the plans, the table (looked like a goddamn torture device), the pain killers and sedatives, the glee in their expressions when they tell her it won’t be too long now. She doesn’t think they hate her. She almost wishes they did it’d be easier to be upset about it, if she still felt enough to be upset. They’re in it for the science, she hopes so at least.
The thing stares back at her, empty yellow eye devoid of light. She wonders what it’ll be like. When she’s looking down. When she’s in control. Once she’s poured into the metal monstrosity above her, she’ll have more power than she’s ever had in her life. She’ll have more power then she could have even dreamed of having. It’ll be real power, real control. She won’t just be a stupid secretary, or the figurehead of a company that died the day cave did.
She’ll have the entire facility at her fingertips. The scientists won’t be able to control her, not when she’s GLaDOS. She almost smiles.
She takes a long drag from her cigarette, exhales smoke directly upward. Into her future eye, blurring the image for a second.
“um, excuse me Ms. Caroline?” A squeaky voice asks from beside her.
She turns her head but not her body to look at the person. It’s a young scientist, scrawny and evidently not used to having her around yet. He looks like he thinks she’s about to burst into tears. She’s not, she hasn’t cried in a long time.
She thinks he’s waiting for a response. Well, he’s not getting one.
“I’m sorry Ma’am, but there’s no smoking allowed in here.”
“Why?” Caroline takes another drag, it’s immature but she’s earned the right to be.
“My colleagues told me It-It could cause… complications, with the machine.”
Bullshit, they just want her gone. She makes them uncomfortable. She’s too close to the operation and much too calm. They hate that, they’d much prefer her running or hiding. They’d probably enjoy hunting her down.
“Yes, sir.” She says mechanically.
She drops the cigarette onto the pristine white floors and stomps. She grinds the bottom of her low heel into the floor leaving a smear of dark ash across the tile. She hopes it stains.
“Ma’am, can you please leave. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you- “
She shushes him with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I came here for a reason. When’s the procedure happening?”
“I-I don’t know… soon?” His voice cracks a bit, he’s too young for this.
“Tell your colleagues ‘soon’ doesn’t cut it, I need it to happen as soon as possible… please.” The please is an afterthought, but she’s still Caroline after all so politeness is a must. “Have a good day.”
She strides out of the room without looking back.
*
Two days later Caroline doesn’t exist anymore. But GLaDOS does.