Luxerion, City of Light: should be easy to steal a robe

“Luxerion,” Lightning said after a moment. “With all the priests and heretics there, it shouldn’t be hard to get something I can wear. Send me there.”

“Right!” Hope said, turning back to his desk. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Lightning still faltered, crouched behind the side of the desk. It just felt wrong to move out of her cover. Damn it, but she had to, Hope had said as much.

“Be quick,” Lightning said.

And, swallowing, she sprinted the short distance to the teleporter, quickly turning to face Hope so that all he could see was her arms trying to cover her front.

She fidgeted on the spot, any semblance of discipline forgotten while she waited to be warped away. She flushed; it wasn’t as though warping away was a break though, instead of being exposed to hope she’d be bared to the whole city.

Light surrounded her-

And then she was in Luxerion. Despite its moniker of the City of Light, it was perpetually grey, colourless even in the middle of the day.

She got her bearings quickly; Hope could only teleport her to a few locations. She hadn’t particularly tried to keep up with the technobabble, her training as a soldier making her more focused on what she had to do than why.

There were only a couple of places in each part of the world where she could land. Unfortunately, in Luxerion, both were monorail stations; as the sole way of getting around the ruined world, no matter the hour they were bustling with people.

She’d picked Luxerion because of how common religious attire was, both of the official Order of Salvation, and the heretics. The heretics particularly made their home in the Warren, easily accessible from midnight to 6am, and she’d returned to the Ark at the moment of 6am.

If she was lucky she could duck inside; she had little sympathy for the heretics, after they’d started trying to kill the Savior. Find one, knock them out, finally be able to cover herself…

Cheeks crimson, hearing the murmurs of the station’s occupants suddenly realise she was there, Lighting turned and ran. The entrance to the Warren was still in the station, just down-

“Wait, let me in!” Lightning shouted.

She saw the gate starting to close. Damn it, she hated to raise her voice, hated to draw more attention to herself, but she couldn’t let them shut her out-

She reached the gate just as it slammed into the ground, running into it with both hands outstretched. She grabbed at the bars on it, staring.

No, damn it, no, she’d been a moment too late.

It took her a moment to remember her current state; everyone in the station had a perfectly clear view of her ass. Quickly, Lightning span around, flashing her tits and cunt for a second before she drew her arms in to cover herself.

Red-faced, she looked out-

And felt a sudden surge of energy. Wait, what? She knew that feeling-

But she could think about that later. No time, not while she was out here exposed like this.

“Hope,” Lightning whispered urgently. “Take me back to the Ark. Now.”

Despite the urgency in her tone, she was trembling from embarrassment, far too many people drawn by her shout. She hated being so unnerved.

“Hope!” Lightning hissed.

“Uh, no can do,” Hope said slowly.

“What?!”

“Something’s not working,” Hope said. “It might be connected to whatever stuck you in that garb. I’m working on it.”

Damn, damn, damn. Lightning quickly surveyed the station, then ran, cheeks hot as she had to brush shoulders with the crowd.

She couldn’t go running out of the station; out there was just the main plaza, constantly filled with people. And in here wasn’t much better, but she could get a temporary hiding place if she…

Lightning took a running jump just as a train came in, landing on the far side of it and breathing a sigh of relief as it drew between her and the station. It would only hang around for a few minutes, but she hoped she could get a plan of action ready by then.

Squirming still, Lightning turned over, still covering herself.

“Hope?” she said. “How long do you think it’ll take to solve any of this?!”

“Too soon to say,” Hope said.

Of course it was. She rolled her eyes, trying to replace embarrassment with irritation. It didn’t work.

“Next question,” Lightning said. “When I was out there, I felt…”

She hesitated. She knew the feeling; each time she saved a soul, something of that energy rubbed off on her, strengthened her. It was part of Bhunivelze’s incentive. It felt exactly like that. Only…

“Like you’d saved a soul?” Hope said, guessing. “It makes sense, I suppose.”

“It what?!” Lightning said.

“You remember how it works, right?” Hope said.

“Of course,” Lightning said.

It was little more than making them willing to move on, solving some unresolved problem or worry. Anything from solving an ancient mystery, to finding a friend or trinket.

“Well, you’re in the Order’s city,” Hope said. “On top of that, with the state of the world as it is, it wouldn’t surprise me if most of the people there haven’t seen a naked woman in centuries. If they wanted badly enough to see one again, it might have…”

“You’re kidding me,” Lightning said flatly, feeling herself start to blush again.

“It’s good news, if you think about it,” Hope said. “You can still complete your mission, still save people-”

“If I let a bunch of horny men see me naked,” Lightning said. “Was that what you were going to say?”

She tried to sound angry; instead, she was flushing furiously, thoroughly humiliated by the thought.

“Well it’s true!” Hope said defensively. “There’s only days left until the end, Lightning, we can’t afford to waste time.”

Lightning’s retort was interrupted by the sound of the train’s engines whirring to life again. Lightning stiffened, shifting her posture; it was about to move again, and in doing so expose her once more to the eyes of the station.