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It's a beautiful night for a bloodbath.
On that beautiful night, the pair danced, with their minds off their worries and feet on the ground, they danced. They danced their hearts out and troubles away. The stress of the company they had worked relentlessly on together, built from the ground up, seemed to fade into oblivion. Though the feeling of relief would disappear by morning, that didn't seem to matter.
Even as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, even as the room was left illuminated by only the stars and fireplace, they kept up the cavort. They knew only the smell of burning candles, pricey cologne and perfume, and the soft feeling of the expensive outfits they'd planned in secret specifically for this occasion. The shorter of the two sported a pair of thick black gloves and a long, flowy, white dress, paired with her signature red handkerchief around her neck. The taller one wore a brown suit and dress pants with a fancy black belt holding them up and polished dress shoes of the same color.
Well, darling, dance with me.
At the moment, Caroline and Cave sat in the present, the now , emptying glass after glass of wine and whiskey like there was no tomorrow.
No tomorrow where lawsuits and paperwork sat in the place of the Christmas decorations scattered about the office, their removal long overdue. No tomorrow where news stations broadcast the unmatchable feats of Aperture's biggest competitors. No tomorrow where inspectors would swarm the facility, handing out OSHA violations like candy on a Halloween night.
No tomorrow where she'd be stabbed in the back by the one she called her true love.
Feel the beat in your chest, let your feet do the rest.
If Caroline hadn't chosen to tidy up the office one day in October, if she hadn't opened a certain pull-out drawer in one of many dusty file cabinets, if she hadn't taken out its contents to organize only to discover a false bottom, if a small manila folder labeled "GLaDOS " didn't catch her eye, then maybe, this wouldn't have happened.
Credit where credit is due, Cave's plan wasn't horrible, stuffing a man's conscience into a computer was good science after all, and Caroline was married to science. It didn't disturb her the way it would disturb whoever's conscience was being uploaded. In fact, she couldn't care less about the pain or how many tries it took to get it right, she was just in it for the science . It was the very thing that bonded the pair together
But just as it had brought them together, it would also tear them apart.
And make this dance complete.
The issue wasn't that Cave wanted to be preserved digitally. It was that, when Cave died, she would be forced into his position. Caroline already knew she was going to be his successor, she knew well that she'd outlive him, but it couldn't happen like this . She tried to ignore it, but she couldn't stop herself from checking that false bottom every day, checking to see if the folder had moved, and spending her downtime snooping around Aperture to see if anyone knew about this GLaDOS project.
She didn't want this.
And when Caroline didn't want something, she wasn't going to get it. No matter the odds, no matter the cost, she wasn't going to let it slide.
It takes two to tango, it takes two to swing.
"Come," she had said, "let's share one last dance."
With his right hand around her waist and hers behind his head, they lay their minds to rest and allowed their hearts to guide their waltz. Any sweet nothings whispered over the occasional crackle of the fireplace went in one ear and out the other. For a moment it felt perfect. For a moment Caroline seemed to forget her anger, her rage, her fear . For a moment, she was happy to be with Cave. It was like living in the past, the past before she discovered the awful truth beneath the facade. The awful truth is concealed within a manila folder.
The manila folder that sealed her fate.
It takes two like you and me.
She hid her troubles behind that smile, that goddamn smile she had never stopped beaming. A smile that said "everything is okay" without a shadow of a doubt. The one she used countless times to conceal her fury, usually at the lowly workers downstairs, but in this case it was at Cave Johnson himself.
"Oh, Caroline, you're a gem. There's no one else I'd rather be with on a night like this. With you by my side, all your worries must be six feet under by now." Cave chuckled.
My dear monsieur.
She let out a low laugh. "Don't coddle me like that, you're too nice," she joked, "but I'm afraid I do have one worry that I cannot seem to ignore,"
They held each other by the fire in the same loving embrace they had started with. He gingerly brushed a stray brown hair from Caroline's perfectly framed face. In turn, her gloved hand never left the back of her lover's head.
"What is it, my dear?" he questioned, a hint of concern in his normally ecstatic face.
"I'm afraid this night will end sooner than you expected."
My femme fatale.
All she could remember was the look of confusion on his face, and though it only lasted a millisecond, the shot that rang out from the office engraved it in her mind forever.
Her legs gave out from under her, her body hitting the floor soon after his. Deep red stains plagued the furniture, along with the painting of the pair that hung on the wall behind them. The weapon was discarded next to the body, right where he stood just a meer seconds before. As mortified Aperture workers rushed into the office, Caroline kept up her act, letting out choked sobs and wails as a few lab boys guided her away from the scene.
She could see the headline already.
WEALTHY CEO KILLED IN FREAK GUN ACCIDENT WHILE CELEBRATING TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY WITH SECRETARY
All it took was a bit of playing coy, recovering pre-recorded voice messages to back up her claims that Mr. Johnson was always somewhat cocky, and he'd fly too close to the sun one day. Telling the authorities exaggerated half-truths that they couldn't deny. She was his, after all. She knew him better than anyone . It was her word against theirs, an axiom they had no choice but to go along with.
She'd take over the facility the way she wanted.
And who's to tell her otherwise?
Please make this dance complete.