Sam surrendered to a coughing fit as Ashley made her exit. It was becoming difficult to see, now that the expanding capsaicin foam had had enough time to work its magic. The fumes which resulted from the chemical reaction on contact with air had not been a great priority for Sam, who had admittedly designed the chemical for maximum debilitating effect; in fact, she had considered the secondary effect of airborne respiratory irritants an unintended benefit until now. But she had not fought in close quarters with any target which lasted this long before, nor had she remained in any combat area for long enough to witness the effects this burning miasma would have; Sam's mind would have invariably been focused on retreat. Certainly, she had never been in the position of having to defend others. Now, with blurred vision and watery eyes which refused to stay open, the only thing she could see in the gloom were the two remaining sensor eyes prowling ever closer to Nora's doorway.

One of the drones rocked violently to the side, a severed drone leg bouncing off its metal skin with a hollow clang. It knocked into its partner, forcing both drones to regain balance, after which both relocated their tracking systems to follow the trajectory of the leg back to its source. Sam's footfalls were the only sounds then, hammering the floorboards of the mezzanine, propelling her at the highest speed she could achieve. She readied another leg and swung as she entered melee range.

Both drones leapt in unison, their legs uncoiling with enough force to leave inches-deep depressions in the hardwood flooring. One dug into the wall while the other rebounded off the ceiling and landed in a defensive posture. Sam tossed a split-second glance over her shoulder as she continued for the laundry room. As she expected, her assault had prioritized her as a higher threat than Nora.

[i]"Great. Now I have your attention."[/i]

Sam went into a baseball slide near the staircase and, grabbing the banister with her free hand, used her momentum to fling herself around the corner. She stumbled coming out of the slide, but managed to slip into the laundry room and slam the door behind her. The drones, wary of their new target, advanced slowly, running their sensors over the frame and hardware which held it shut.

"Now what, genius?" Sam demanded of the image in the mirror. She threw open cabinets, drawers, anything which might contain useful components for a quick and dirty solution to her...problem. She found laundry detergent, cleaning chemicals, an old toolbox she felt certain would have been used for maintaining the washing equipment... Finally, her hand curled around an older model flashlight. She recognized the general design, having used something very similar back on Earth. With just a few more items, it would serve well enough.

She dropped her gloves on the tile floor and fumbled with the catch on her multi-tool belt sheath. The tool resembled a Swiss Army knife, but built into a pair of sturdy, stainless steel pliers, which she employed to make quick work of the material holding the power source of one of her gloves in place. Once the battery pack had been removed, she set to work emptying the flashlight of its internals. Outside, she could hear the drones working on the door. They were probing it; testing it, to determine if there was any risk in simply breaching it, as they had done to Nora's door.

Sam stabbed the power pack with the needle-sharp drone leg and jammed it into the flashlight's empty casing. She took a deep breath and came away from the door, just as one of the drones thrust one of its legs through it. They punched two more holes before Sam made it to the wash sink, where she set to work filling a small plastic bag with water. She spun the bag and curled the opening around itself, to prevent premature release of the liquid, then used the pliers to bend the end of the battery contact spring on the flashlight's tailcap. She screwed it tightly shut and whirled to face the door, just as it came off its hinges.

"Come and get me, fuckers..." she growled, holding the flashlight in front of her. She hadn't realized she was backing up until she bumped into the Clothing Materializer. Its door whizzed open and yet another idea came to her. This thing wasn't made of wood. It might just hold up a little better against the drones...especially if they were damaged.

She waited as they advanced, still trembling from the adrenaline, anticipating a grisly death. The drones flanked her before preparing to strike. It seemed they had learned from their earlier failure, brought on by Sam's divide-and-conquer approach. They crouched and Sam felt every muscle in her legs tense up. 

When they finally leapt, Sam kicked off of the base of the Clothing Materializer into a low, sprawling slide. She slammed the tailcap of the flashlight against the floor, the impact causing the bag of water inside to burst. She could feel the lithium reacting with the water instantly; a strange fizzing vibration in the casing of the flashlight. She threw the flashlight into the chamber with them and scrambled to her feet just as they turned to face her. Without a second to spare, Sam brought her palm down on the 'door close' button, sealing her enemies inside.

Just moments after the muffled 'boom', the Lodge's fire suppression system finally kicked on, though Sam could not determine whether it had been from the mist, Ashley's lightning, or from her improvised explosive device. Whatever the cause, she visibly relaxed when she picked up the sight and sound of electric arcing from the edges of the materializer's door frame. At first, she said nothing; she simply sighed. Then, gradually sinking to her knees, arms limp and fingers brushing the floor, she just laughed.