#apertures-gem

@alpha-unit-k2-157 Caroline’s kitten heels clicked with each step as she strode down the hall towards commotion. The people who worked for her were panicking and rushing around with fervor, yet still gave Caroline space to maneuver through the crowd calmly. Everyone was making a fuss. She was not. Glancing down through a glass panel in the wall directly in the center of the group, she was greeted with a wall of grey smoke, red and orange light flickering from within. “M-Miss Caroline! The fire came out of nowhere! We think it may have been a spark on the north-eastern pane-“ “We can deal with that later. Get this fire put out. Was anyone inside?” “Uh….Yes. Two of the Alpha Units. K2-156 and K2-157. 156…didn’t make it.” “What about the other one?” Caroline turned to the man in the labcoat, narrowing her eyes and making him squirm in discomfort. “Survived, but its hands were pinned and badly burned. We’re actually thinking of testing our new mechanical body parts on it! We can give it some new hands that are over 10 times stronger than flesh ones.” Turning back into the burning chamber, which was being cleared out and the smoke was dispersing, Caroline looked it over. A simple chamber meant for co-op training with multiple levels. Various platforms covered the space and gave plenty of room for cooperative work. The exit door sat at the top. A blackened panel caught her attention as the start of the fire. “Get this chamber cleaned and repaired and make sure nothing like this happens again. I’m going to go check on 157. Make sure she’s okay.” With that, Caroline was off again, making her way down to where she was sure they brought K2-157 out at. The whole time she walked, she thought bitterly about how these units were treated. Cave oversaw the start of this project and him and plenty of the scientists saw these units as nothing more than tools. Yet Caroline never did. Cave was gone now and so she was the one who looked at these tests.

Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. Due to our computer systems being down, I will be leading all test subjects through the center to complete their assignments.

Please note that State and Federal regulations require us to warn you that serious injuries may occur. If you have any concerns or questions, please do feel free to talk to me at the end of the testing day. Any of the secretaries at the desks can lead you to me.

Ask for Caroline.

“Good afternoon to all Aperture employees and testing subjects! I would like to inform you that as of today, I will be willing to chat with any of you in my office as well as take appointments for longer periods to make sure accommodations are met here in Aperture Laboratories. Feel free to stop by my office at any time!”

[Asks are OPEN] [RPs are OPEN]

dragon: last thing that made you smile?“Fixing an equation for one of our tests that was getting people killed. I had to do something since our scientists in that department weren’t.”

werewolf: do you like the taste of alcohol?“Yes I do. I’m a fan of brandy and various wines.”

minotaur: who do you dislike the most right now?“That’s for me to know, and you to find out.”

banshee: name a definite dealbreaker in a relationship.“Betrayal of trust. Without trust, a relationship is nothing.”

6: Your opinion about your body and how comfortable you are with it“I’m fairly comfortable in my own skin, though the more I look at myself in the mirror, the more I’m starting to notice the bags under my eyes.”

38: Have you ever cheated on someone?“Nope. I think that’s just a horrible thing to do.”44: Are you good at hiding your feelings?“Yes I am. Enough to be classified as unhealthy.”

46: Do you think people say I love you too much?“I’ve never heard it enough to have any complains about the phrase.”

coffee: what’s your starbucks order, and who would you trust to order for you, if anyone?A latte with sugar on top. I’d say I would trust Cave, but he always forgets his own coffee, so I doubt he’d remember mine.

lightning: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done while drunk or high?I’ve never been high (except for maybe once when I was young), but I vaguely remember a drink hitting me harder than I had expected and I think I grabbed some experimental gel and threw it on someone. …I haven’t seen them since, now that I’m thinking about it.

Caroline had always been devoted to her job, even when sheloathed it with every fiber of her being.

“Yes sir, Mr. Johnson.”“Mr. Johnson, you have a 3 o’clock meeting.”“Sir, the governor will be arriving in approximately 15 minutes.”

Every day was different in their own ways, but also thesame. Different schedules, different people, different complaints, sameattitude. Every complaint she heard from a tired employee or an outraged technicianshe listened to with a smile. A gentle smile, but one that radiated her own fatigue.It was tiring having to bend to Cave Johnson’s will while practically runningthe facility on the sidelines.

Yet she wouldn’t give up her life in a heartbeat.

In the midst of the chaos and the clutter, there was still afacility that had a beating heart and a love for scientific progress. Tests oninventions that no one believed would have worked years prior, equations toimpossible ideas that suddenly seemed like they were in reach. It was a facilitythat Caroline worked night and day to help keep running and despiteoccasionally wishing she was up on the surface drinking wine, she remained inthe depths to keep things running.

“Caroline, do you have all the notes for today’s conference? I think we are going to blow them out of the park with our Portal gun.”“Yes sir, Mr. Johnson!”

Caroline was the exact opposite of Cave Johnson when he wasalive. He had always demanded attention and claimed his power with an irongrip. If Cave had wanted to control anything, he’d do it and he’dmake sure that no one dared to question his authority. Caroline responded towhat he needed and made sure that she was at his beck and call at any moment’s notice. She was his assistant. Thatwas her job.

Yet when Cave died, Caroline had to take up his role andstep into his shoes. It was a time in her life that she couldn’t keep being the one who followedorders. She became the one who gave them. At first, her orders were less ofcommands and more like suggestions. Uttered but not pushed onto the scientists.Only once the Control Group started complaining to Caroline about the lack ofmotivation and work ethic around the facility did she start getting over herown fears and become the authority Aperture needed.

She took control.

The temperament she took with the position was never harshor cold. It was balanced between being too gentle and being too overbearing.This had been Caves job, and she was wearing his shoes, but she wouldn’t follow his footsteps. She had toact less like the empathetic woman she was internally and become calm anddemanding of respect.

Despite the air she had to put around herself, whenever shepassed by her co-workers and the test subjects and Alpha Units, she wouldtreat them with respect despite her own standing. Cave would have brushed themoff as being pawns on a chess board, but she wanted to make sure every singleperson in Aperture was respected by her.

Cave would have chastised her for her kindness, but he wasn’t around.