Erin's Folly

The two guards wheeled Erin away, heading to the side room they'd come from a few minutes earlier. Ruth stayed behind to make sure the machine finished its cleaning process.

In the side room, the two guards wheeled Erin down a narrow passageway at the back of the room, only just wide enough to squeeze the gurney through, slowly making their way to a secluded entrance that led to a clearing.

They wheeled her over to the back of a van and unlocked it, lowering a ramp from the rear doors so they could load her onboard and secure the gurney with clamps mounted on the floor.

Ruth, meanwhile, headed up the staircase to the factory floor, looking around for the rubber floor piece. She grabbed it and lifted the hatch to the base enough to slide the piece in place, slotting it into a cut out on the hatch.

She took a deep breath before attempting to lift the door, balancing it precariously as she slowly descended the stairs, lowering the hatch gently above her and sliding it down into place as it should have been originally.

With the hatch secure, she headed back into the basement and waited for the machine to finish its cleaning procedure. One of the guards returned a few moments later.

"The journalist is secure. We're ready to go." Said Mr Pike.

Ruth nodded, watching the machine finish up, flushing its tubes through with water before it finally powered down.

"Excellent. We're all done here. Let's get going. The Mistress will be pleased to see her now that's she's converted." She said, heading towards the side room and back to the van through the narrow passageway.

Once outside, Ruth jumped in the back with Erin to watch over her on their journey back to the US. Mr Pike jumped in the driver's seat and drove them away, taking Erin off to her new life as an obedient servant of Lady Vanni.