She barely avoided detection

Valerie crouched as low as she could, afraid to even breathe. The supervisor was dangerously close, and he was blocking her lone route of escape. He shone his flashlight in front of him. She held as still as possible as the beam traveled in her direction, stopping inches away from her hiding place.

Every second felt like an hour, until finally, the light withdrew. She looked up, and saw the silhouette of the supervisor retreat as he moved to search a different location. Valerie waited until the light completely disappeared before exhaling in relief. It had been a close call, but she had managed to find the key in spite of all the obstacles in her way. The end of the mission was in sight - all she needed to do now was to bring the key to the server room.

She rose up from her crouched position. She took a step forward, and felt something pull at her lab coat. She didn't pay it much attention and took another step, only to be pulled back with some ****. She looked back in annoyance to see what it was.

What she saw made her eyes go wide in horror.

One of the harmless machines she had nestled against was a paper shredder. The machine had swallowed one of the ends of her coat, and was now beginning to whir into action. She could see one end of the garment turning into thin shreds of fabric already.

"No no no", she whispered as she tried to pull the garment out. The coat was the last thing guarding her modesty. If she lost it, she would be as good as naked, deep in hostile territory. She had to save it, somehow.

She began to pull at it with ****, but the machine didn't stop. If anything, it began to pull her in with greater **** as she heard the grinding sound increase in intensity.

"Who's there?", she heard the supervisor call out in the distance.

"Valerie, what are you doing?" Iris spoke in her ear. "He's headed back your way. Get the hell out of there now!"

Valerie cursed, but she knew Iris was right. Wistfully, she let go of the coat, shrugging it off her shoulders. She looked back one last time, and saw the machine swallow the last piece of clothing covering her body, before running away. Her heels, stockings and garter belt were all that remained on her body.

With Iris's directions, she was able to avoid the supervisor and find the maintenance exit. She exited the archive, praying to not encounter anyone on her way to the server room.