The young woman, knowing the potential fate of the drifter, leads Norton to an escape route, which is through a gate attached to a small cemetery plot accessible from the mansion. However, she discloses to him that she cannot accompany him through the gate because all her years will catch up with her, and she will die. Thus, the drifter chooses to remain with her in spite of the warnings. As she realizes he will be trapped among them for eternity, she departs through the gate herself and, having eschewed her protection from the passage of time, withers and turns to dust. The observing alien has found the factors missing in its equation: love and self-sacrifice. Releasing Norton, who has discovered in himself hope, it proceeds to deconstruct the house and destroy its tenants. The mansion returns momentarily to its true appearance, that of a rock shaped like an enormous brain, and then disappears.