At first...

The tunnels of the Boilerworks were humid and dark, only the heaters of the many boilers gave off any light. Vinri had no difficulty getting in. The door had been easy to force open. Now she was on her way to Ezza and a chance to get dressed.

It wasn't an easy route to navigate. She had to duck under or step over pipes crossing the tunnel, and several times she had to squeeze past a scorching-hot boiler without touching it. The heat was at least preferable to the cold of the streets. Vinri's goosebumps had faded, and she had even started to sweat. Her nipples were still stiff, though, but she tried to ignore it.

That wasn't easy. Her left nipple was uncovered by her apron, proudly pointing the way, while her right nipple was still covered but just as stiff. Her apron was made to withstand sparks with high voltastic energy and protect against drops of high-heat liquid mizzium. It wasn't made to be comfortable, and Vinri's right nipple took the brunt of it.

The rough, stiff leather of her apron rubbed against her nipple every time she turned her torso to squeeze past a pipe, and it was starting to chafe. So she paused when she reached a room with enough space for a maintenance shaft and lifted the apron an inch away from her breast to give her poor nipple some relief.

The way she saw it, she had two ways to address the problem besides enduring the chafing. She could untie the other strap of her apron. That way, the apron and her nipple wouldn't touch each other, but it would leave both her breasts exposed. Could she walk tits-out through these tunnels? Granted, she was alone in these tunnels, but she still had her dignity. Okay, some of her dignity.

The other way was to stop her nipples from being stiff. Of course that meant figuring out why they were stiff. It obviously wasn't the cold, Vinri pitied the maintenance goblins that had to work in this heat, wearing their stuffy coveralls. Maybe her job as a staticaster wasn't so bad after all.

As for another explanation. Anatomy wasn't her strongest suit, she wasn't some Simic vivisectionist. But besides cold, she could only think of one other reason why a nipple would stiffen, arousal.

But that would be ridiculous, she wasn't aroused. What would be arousing about running around half-naked, the chance of being seen, the mix of excitement and danger? That would be ridiculous. She wasn't getting horny at the thought of being caught naked, of the humiliation of someone seeing her breasts and pussy. No, not at all. Besides, what could she do about it?

Vinri was startled from her ruminations when she realised her hand was touching her pussy. Immediately, she pulled her hand away. It was no use, thinking about possible arousal. That was making it worse, if anything. So there was no other way to fix the nipple problem than plan A.

With a sigh, Vinri slipped the other apron strap off her shoulder, causing the upper part to flap down. The apron was still tightened across her waist, so the lower part stayed put. Only her breasts were exposed.

She stood unmoving in the maintenance room, taking in what she had just done. This was the first time that she had voluntarily taken off a piece of clothing in public. The rest of her state of undress was an accident. But when no one jumped out from behind a boiler to accuse her of stripping in public, she continued walking through the dark tunnels, trying to ignore the tingling sensation across her naked skin.

Maybe it was her lack of focus that got her into trouble, or maybe it was her enthusiasm at finally seeing the exit of the Boilerworks. But in her haste to squeeze past the last boiler, she accidentally struck a valve wheel on a water tank with her conductor rod, causing the wheel to start spinning.

Sparks jumped between the rod and the water tank. The boiler started rumbling, and steam erupted from the top. Vinri recognised an imminent explosion when she saw one. Maybe she could have run or jumped for cover around the corner, but she wasn't a coward. So she grabbed the wheel.

It took a lot of strength, but she managed to stop the wheel from spinning. She could still hear violent bubbling coming from the boiler, but there wasn't another release of steam. The problem was that she was now stuck. If she let go of the wheel, it would start spinning again. If she had her tools, she could have tightened it. But all she had was the apron around her waist, and that would have to do.

She let go of the wheel with one hand, straining to keep it from turning. She yanked the apron off her naked body, not bothering with the last knots. She almost dropped it in her haste to thread it through the wheel and secure it to a nearby pipe. Her heart sank as the wheel turned another inch, but the knot held. She had prevented another explosion. It had only cost her her last piece of clothing.

Vinri walked to the metal ladder at the end of the tunnel. This was her way out of the Boilerworks and into the Laboratory of Continuism. She was almost done with this adventure. She started climbing with the conductor rod tucked under her arm. But when she set her foot on the third rung of the ladder, she heard a concerning sound behind her, the strain of tearing cloth. Maybe her apron hadn't been the best material to use for fixing a boiler. She started climbing faster.

When she reached the hatch in the ceiling, she heard the apron tearing, followed by a violent release of steam. She pushed against the hatch, which, thankfully, wasn't locked. She climbed through and slammed it shut behind her. The thundering explosion blew it open again, but Vinri managed to jump out of the way.

Vinri took a deep breath. She had made it. She was alive, unharmed even. There were just the facts that she was naked, and anyone still in the laboratory would have heard the explosion. She sat up and started running for Ezza's lab.