I came out of my room to find two bags on the floor of the central room, leaning against the side of the lift column... I'm guessing they belonged to Selvian and Bianca but they weren't suitcases, just two very big heavy duty plastic bags that had a few odds and ends inside. Indeed they were Selvian's and Bianca's as they approached these two bags for collection. There was no one else up yet, meaning that Selvian and Bianca had gotten up to get an early run and beat the rush hour traffic, using every hour of the day they had to catch Ruth. I wished them both good luck while Cortex just stood there with his arms folded over. "Do you have anything to say?", I asked Cortex. "No, not really. Just go and get that Ruth good, don't kill her though, we want her back... Alive!". They had then gotten the signal from me to leave, as Cortex and I watched them mount into the vehicle and drive off towards the rising sun.

"So what were you saying we do again?", asked Selvian. "Park as close as we can to Woolworths and then just run there. The earlier we can get there, the more time we can have to try and get Ruth to listen to us", answered Bianca. Selvian and Bianca had reached the grounds of Fountain Gate by mid-lunctime, in just under five hours. "Wait... Where are we sleeping after this? We can't go back today or we'll be driving over night", randomly commented Selviana. "In the tents you furry numbskull. We'll set them up on the other side of the soccer club, under the trees where nobody will easily see us". But for now the tents remained in the car while the two of them made their way up the escalator and over to Woolworths.

"Now remember what she said, act like official officers to start with", hinted Bianca, "Now there's Ruth at the far counter, go and get her". So Bianca stood in the front entrance while Selvian approached Ruth. "Oh hey", said Ruth. "Hello Ruth, my name is Selvian. Do you have a minute to talk?". Ruth nodded her head, "Yeah, I just finished my shift now". Selvian then insisted to Ruth that they find a room so they talk in private about this matter. "We can use the manager's office", suggested Ruth, who now had a slight look of concern on her face. Just as Ruth was about to shut the door of the office, Selvian loudly called out to Bianca to come and join them. "Hello", said Bianca while then giving a menacing look to Ruth which made Ruth even more concerned. "Uhm, what's going on?", thought Ruth. "I'll tell you what's going on", growled Bianca in a low tone. "No, Bianca calm down! Not yet... Maybe I'd better start", urged Selvian.

Ruth didn't say anything after Selvian and rather remained quiet, gesturing him to keep speaking. "Well as difficult as it is to start you on this, you have really upset our mistress", said Selvian. "And that's why you're here? I don't remember upsetting anyone and if I have, I'm sorry", thought Ruth. Both Selvian and Bianca nodded and then slowly shook their heads while then folding their arms over and slouching in their chairs. "Hmm, okay then, maybe we should show you this". Selvian switched on his phone and flicked over to the oldest photo he had of him and myself. "Wait... Is that Karla as a kid?", said Ruth. They both nodded a second time and then Ruth gave a heavy sounding sigh, hitting her head once on the desk afterwards. "Look, I can't speak to her anymore and neither do I want to at the moment" and that's when Bianca got started. "You don't want to speak to her?! You don't even know what she's going through at the moment. For the last two weeks, she's been having non-stop nightmares and just two days ago, she almost fell down the stairs because she woke up paralyzed from you in her nightmares! Then for the rest of the day, all she could do was sit in the library and read so she wouldn't risk injuring herself!". At that moment in time, Ruth's eyes were almost out of her sockets.

Then Ruth asked Bianca, "How did she get to the library? She would've had to leave the house for that". Then Selvian answered her, "Ah no, she actually doesn't live in a house. She has this entire building herself called The Fortress or alternatively, Karla's Fortress. That's where we're from, we're just two in her guard division of many tens. But for each new fortress she moves into, a foundation is nominated and for this current fortress, the foundation is you. By you treating her the way you currently are, her foundations are being destroyed and eventually, if you do not return, they will destroy her too and push her age of rule to an unexpected end, leaving nowhere for us to go. Ruth, please understand that as you are her foundation, she is ours. So one break in the chain ruins the whole thing". Ruth had developed a somewhat lazy look on her face. "But I don't want to be her foundation!" and Bianca retorted, "So you're saying that you don't want to be there for her?". Ruth shook her head, "No, that's not right. She just needs to stop relying on others and learn how to cope on her own".

That's when Selvian lost his patience. "Why you little! I'll pound you for this! Her time will be up before we know it! I'll be homeless! You disrespectful...", Bianca interrupted him, "Selvian, stop!". Bianca had noticed that what Selvian had just said had gotten Ruth to be now badly shaking in her chair, or should we say, in her boots... Ruth was left speechless. Bianca had attempted to calm Ruth down. "Look Ruth, we're sorry we barged in on you like this but we needed to tell you eventually, before it was too late... So you could still do something about it. You're on your own for now but if you don't change soon, she could be sending some of her strongest forces to find you, if not even someone from what she calls the celestial dreamscape. Please think about it Ruth... She needs you, we need you!". Ruth was very quiet this whole time and mostly let Selvian and Bianca do all the talking. But then Ruth said, "I know but I just can't, not now. Tell her she needs to find a way to carry on by herself because I'm busy". At this point, everyone in the room was sighing and was trying to emphasize their own point that the opposing party was not getting. Then Bianca thought she had the last word, "Ruth, you're still not getting it! She's been carrying on by herself for ages. If you do not come back, she'll be destroyed! We're going now, you're on your own from here... But don't blame us if something happens to you. Only come and seek us in the area if you decide you want to come back to her".

"Guys, I do get it. She wants me to be her friend again but I don't want that. Stay in Cranbourne as long as you like but I'm not going to change my mind. Now thank you for your time, I need to get home". Ruth then escorted Selvian and Bianca back into the main part of the store, saying goodbye but also wishing them good luck for any future endeavours without Ruth. "Well she sure was stubborn", said Selvian just as they were outside Woolworths and now far away from Ruth, "Now I know why the mistress suffers from such a heavy damage... If Ruth would just see where she's coming from and build her back up again! It's not just the mistress... The whole fortress needs its foundation!". Bianca then had her opinion, "Yeah, it's going to be hard to get Ruth to listen to us. We should just go and set up camp and wait for Ruth to come to us. I mean, surely Karla will have a way to reach her eventually, with all the heavy research she's been doing with her new set of guards".