Flaw in My Code (Portal 2)[REWRITE IN PROGRESS]

[Chapter 14: Living]

"Caroline, was it?" Callista reached a hand over to help her up. She nodded and stood. "You know where I'm at now, so you can stop by anytime. I could use some more visitors."

"I... Thank you." Caroline said, trying to make her monotonous voice sound genuine. "Good luck on your way to the city... And be careful out there. There are some wacky people..."

Caroline heeded Callista's warning, gathered her things, and went on her way. As she walked closer to the city, she thought about her dream, and about Callista and her kindness.

"She was nice, wouldn't you say? I hope all of the humans are like that. I know they won't be, because they're humans, but it's worth hoping." She spoke to Corbin as he followed her in the sky. She was really talking to herself, but it made her feel better to think that he was listening.

After another long while of walking--and stopping every once and awhile to scribble down some notes-- Caroline and her crow had made it to the edge of the city.

Caroline wasn't sure what she would find in the city, but something was suspicious about it, in that it looked... absolutely normal.

Nothing seemed off about it, visually. It looked like a city. That was what scared her. "So there are humans here... Living average lives. That's odd..."

Caroline stepped up from the grass that she had been travelling on, onto solid concrete. There were a few bodies travelling ahead, and people walking to and fro, just minding their own business.

Families, couples, ordinary people; just living. Had they been there this whole time? How long had they been thriving here? How many more cities were there, full of people, just like this one?

Her thoughts were put on hold as a slender man dashed past her, holding a paper bag in his hands. He was muttering frantically to himself as he rounded the corner. After him, chased a pair of shopkeepers, yelling and waving their hands.

Caroline found herself smirking as she watched the presumed theif run. "Now, that's living..." She said, only half-ironically.

She began to chase after them, just dying to know what would happen next. She dashed past people who gave her odd looks, as if they knew she was an outsider. She probably didn't look to be the healthiest addition to the quaint town.

Corbin flew ahead to get a bird's eye view of the running man. He wore a long white coat that flapped behind him in the wind, and he looked quite bedraggled. Caroline watched as the two men finally cornered the man and snatched at the bag. Still, he kept it out of reach.

"Corbin," Caroline whispered. "Go get it." He crowed and dove down to grip the paper bag in his claws, hooking on and lifting it out of the man's grasp. The three men yelled and waved, trying to grab it, but to no avail. It was in the air, and the bird wasn't going to give it up anytime soon.

Caroline snickered to herself and ducked out, into an alleyway. She expected that Corbin would find her and bring her the bag, and after a little while, he did just that. She wiggled her fingers, as he landed and dropped it in front of her, ready for the spoils.

With the way the shopkeepers chased the crook, surely there must have been something of great value in the bag. However, when she opened it up, she was shocked to see that it was nothing more than a few loaves of bread and a tub of hazelnut spread.

"Seriously? Why would someone steal this?" Corbin tilted his head and pecked at one of the loaves, grabbing a crumb and gobbling it down. Caroline picked one of the loaves apart and tossed the pieces out for her crow, smiling. "I guess it'll make for a good meal."

Corbin ate peacefully for a moment as Caroline watched over him, until a loud voice made him flutter away, frightened. Caroline snapped her head in the direction of the voice, over at the end of the alley.

"HEY!"

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Hey folks, sorry it's been a minute

I had to cut this one a little short, because I lost motivation right
Around there and I didn't wanna put out a long, crappy chapter.

Also, sorry I didn't do a Valentines day special of any sort.

My mental health took a real nosedive in the past week for none reason, so I haven't really been inspired or motivated to do anything really.

I will try my best to get more chapters out, just in general, but it'll definitely take some brain-coaxing to even come up with anything.

All that aside, I hope you're enjoying it so far! Constructive criticism is always welcome, so if there's something you didn't like, let me know! (In a respectful way)

Thanks for reading!