Personality Intellegence Networking Emulator

It’s been a long time...

Carolines eyes seemed to shift away when she realized her own outburst, yet none of her words were brushed off or said to be just that- words. It was obvious she meant what she was saying. Every word was true and from the heart.

In the days and weeks that passed, K2 made sure that she had never been as normal as she was now.  From the moment she woke up to the moment she came home at night, she was everything Aperture had made her to be. She walked with shoulders squared and eyes at full attention. She kept her face covered with her bandana, her appearance and menacing as she could possibly make it.  For every training chamber she entered, she gave it ten times more effort than it needed. She worked herself to the bone, because that was normal. That was the appearance of an ALPHA unit who had been scared straight by the scar on her face, that was what GLaDOS wanted to see. And so K2 gave it to her. But at night?  Every night K2 wondered if Pine would be able to visit. Sometimes, she’d get her hopes up for nothing, and merely spend the evening licking her wounds from the day and sleeping alone.  But on the lucky days, she was met by an android- occasionally blind- sneaking in to her room.  And her heart soared. It didn’t really matter what they did, even if they just lay on the bed together and talked, or if K2 got a good chuckle out of trying to make sure Pine didn’t trip over her own feet. No matter what they were doing, it was something. It wasn’t fighting, or training, or working herself until she couldn’t move. It was soft, and gentle, and K2 felt happy. She wasn’t sure if she had felt that before she met Pine, but now she knew she couldn’t get enough. Of course, that wasn’t to say that she only wanted to spend their evenings together sitting around idle. It was good to relax, but K2 was deadset on making sure that they did more with each other than simply lazily talking about nothing or sleeping.  And so that was how she ended up where she was right now, standing in the middle of her room,  with furniture pushed to the wall, facing Pine, with one question on her lips. “Train with me?”

There was a small sigh and Caroline shook her head. “…The facility has always had its…blind spots. We knew this when we built it. While maintenance claws can repair larger parts and nanobots and rebuild things far too dangerous for humans, there are just some things none of us trusted to leave in the hands of robots. The places where you’re sent are likely spots that GLaDOS cannot reach to repair.”

K2 smiled at that, letting out a small hum in response, having already closed her eyes again, and given another- albeit a much gentler- squeeze to the android in her arms, as the lights to her room shut off, and left them both in near complete darkness, save only for the small slivers of light that managed to sneak underneath the tiny crack under the door to the unnaturally lit hallway outside. She knew she’d feel the effects of tonight tomorrow morning- she hadn’t gotten a good look at her clock in a little while, but she reckoned she’d need to be awake in about five hours, six if she was lucky- she wouldn’t have traded this evening for all the sleep in the world.  Even if she was getting less sleep overall, K2 knew she’d be sleeping well in that time period. Her and Pine had shared a bed before, but not quite like this. K2 had never quite had the experience of a warm body in her arms, a consistent presence, someone to hold.  She was asleep in minutes, already drifting off into a pleasant sleep, filled with vague dreams of stars, and brilliant green fields.

Caroline watched with a gentle smile, seeming entertained by K2s reaction and excitement at the idea of doing something other than the ‘chores’ given by GLaDOS. At least it looked like it gave her some hope. That was rather nice to see. A flicker against the harsh solemn attitude K2 had since the beginning.

K2 stifled a yawn, not wanting it to seem as if she were disinterested in the conversation, but also becoming more and more aware just how tired she was. It had been a long day. She had definitely had worse days, and considering she only walked away from today with a bruise- one that she was thankful Pine’s body pressure wasn’t accidentally brushing up against- but it was exhausting nonetheless. A slight blush rose to her cheeks at Pine’s words, followed by a smile that seemed to be a mixture of affection and amusement.  “I’d say the same but… I don’t think it’d mean as much, coming from me.  My world’s quite small.” In comparison, Pine truly was a large part of her world. She was part of Aperture, after all, and Aperture was K2′s existence. It was her past, her present, her future. Her purpose, her reason for being, and eventually, her downfall.  The fact that the first person she had ever felt… like this towards was so closely tied with Aperture?  It was the closest thing K2 had seen that she’d call fate. A few moments passed, the ALPHA unit letting out a pleased hum in response to Pine’s agreement to her idea.  While K2 found it impossible, it was nice to pretend.  But with Pine having already closed her eyes, and K2 finding herself closer and closer to just falling asleep mid conversation, she spoke up, her voice soft, and slightly distant.   “You… are connected to the facility, right?  Is there any chance of you…” Her sentence was broken up by a yawn before she continued, “…Being able to automatically turn the lights off in here? I don’t want to get up.”

Caroline certainly had her reasons for denying to share the sweet treat given to K2, but ‘I already ate’ was the best excuse and the one that required the least amount of explaining. A mental note was made, but she remained nonchalant on the outside. “Besides, there’s plenty more cans where that came from. We can share some the next time!”

K2 wouldn’t have complained if she had. With every passing moment, K2 felt her body relaxing just a little bit more.  The weight of Pine against her body combined with the heat of their bodies together quickly became a comfort. Like a blanket, ten times warmer and thicker than the thin ones K2 was used to.  She closed her eyes for a moment, and if not for Pine’s voice, she knew she would’ve fallen asleep right there.  She was…peaceful. “I never would’ve expected to feel this way, I never would’ve even thought to long for something like this, but… you’re right. I never want to go back to what it was like, living a life alone. Not when I’ve experienced… this.” Her hand moved absentmindedly against Pine’s back, tracing gentle patterns that existed solely in her subconscious.  As Pine continued, a small, thoughtful chuckle left her lips, causing a rumble in her chest.  It was the pleasant sort, dreamy, entertained, but… fantastical.  She listened to her partner speak, and she imagined it, taking joy in the thought but seeing it as akin to seeing fairies and dragons.  Impossible. “I think… I think I’d like that. I’d… love it, in fact.”  157 smiled warmly, closing her eyes, as if to better help herself to picture it, based on what Pine had shown her. “We could sit… somewhere where it’s grassy and lush, and I could point out all those constellations you told me about. And I’d forget their names, and you could tease me about it”

And it was good to note that K2 would have done the same if she had been able to. She had still fought valiantly in the time she was awake, trying her best to shut down GLaDOS and save those around her. Caroline wished that K2 could find her own self-worth, but it was sadly not a surprise that K2 wasn’t very confident at the moment. Years of sleep and returning to decay did its number.