Anne finished cleaning and tried to to shiver and remember what it was she had just cleaned. For Alice, she reminded herself. She looked up at the man when he spoke again. Anne was rather afraid of whatever sacrilege they were going to perform on that body, but she was eager to show that she was the right person for the job. "I can handle it, ser," she said. For five shillings she could.

Gus looked at her with a kind smile and nodded. "Good, good. Most kids these days aren't made of stronger stuff." He patted her shoulder and lifted a bottle, opening it before attaching a rubber hose attached to the body to a sort of small hand pump. "You will operate this slowly. It puts this liquid into the body." He swished the liquid around for her to see before pouring it into a part of the device and closing it to limit the fumes. "Ready? It's like this." He showed her by slowly turning the wheel and pointed at the bubbles appearing in the jar as the liquid was going through the machine. "Just at this speed, if it rush it, there could be damage.'

Anne was glad that the body was covered, so that she couldn't actually see what she was doing to it. But as the man spoke about pumping fluids into it, it became more and more difficult to not think about the corpse under the sheet. Her hands trembled at little, but she took the device, and slowly started turning the wheel, looking only at the pump, and not at the body on the table. She wondered if she should ask questions to learn faster, but she didn't trust herself to speak right now.

Gus watched for a moment and he reached out to adjust tubes to help keep the flow steady and even. "Wonderful job. Just slow and steady, like that. You can't rush something if you wish to do it well." He chuckled softly as if there wasn't a dead body right there beside them. "Alright, slow down a little. I need to readjust the tubes." After patiently waiting for it to stop, he suddenly started to move the body parts to help the chemical flow through and if Anne looked she would see the pale body blotted with morbid discolorations. "Everything is so cold and stiff, it won't be very even.." He then pulled out some tubes and put them into other other limbs. "We finish that batch and let the body sit a little. This shall be an open coffin so we want our friend here to look as presentable as possible."

Anne couldn't have turned the wheel faster even if he had asked her to. The thought that she was pumping chemical fluid into a dead body was enough to make her sick. She gladly slowed down when he asked her to. In fact, she stopped altogether. For a second she looked up, and caught sight of a blotted limp. Then she quickly looked down. The image was still before her mind's eye and mixed with the memory of Tom's deformed body when he had washed ashore at last. Anne noticed she was trembling, and when Gus spoke again, she merely nodded, her eyes straight on the device in her hands.

Gus seemed immune to the horrors before him, but he took note of Anne's state. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "It can be too much at once. Would you like to take a break? You get paid for your time no matter how much you work as long as you try." He didn't want to scare or traumatize his help too much at once. "Why don't we go get some air for a little. So many chemicals in here.. " The older man wanted to lead her outside for fresh air and to recharge.

Anne was starting to feel quite nauseous. But she did not want to show it. She was determined to show the man that she was the right person for the job, even though she herself started to doubt whether that was true now. Yet when he suggested catching soe some fresh air, she finally gave in. She nodded. "Sorry," she muttered quietly. "I'm sure I'll get used to it soon enough.

"Do not apologize. It is hard to take in the beginning. You do not need to push yourself since you are still learning. Better to adjust." He smiled and stared ahead at the street. "You have not yet fainted or lost your breakfast, you are doing just fine."

Anne nodded quietly, still flustered and looking down at the ground. She stood in the hallway, hidden just behind the doorway, rather than outside. If someone saw her and recognized her, she would be in a lot of trouble.

Gus looked back at her, "Don't want to stand outside in the sunlight? I do hope you're not afraid of your friends seeing you. Be proud of what you do, not many can do such a thing. I think it really opens up your mind to what life is all about."