Get caught by the police

(chapter originally by faith on writing.com)

What choice did they have, really? The only way to run in either direction was along the bridge for hundreds and hundreds of yards. The police would have ample time to realize what they were doing and would easily arrange by radio for their fellows to intercept the naked criminals well before any of them managed to get back to dry land. Hiding was out of the question, not with every car constantly honking and hooting and generally giving away their positions. They could try throwing themselves on the mercy of a driver and hide in the back of a car, but that had a whole new set of dangers and high probability of being spotted. The only option left was...well, jump off the bridge. And humiliations aside, none of them was feeling particularly suicidal at the moment.

So, heads hung low, the three contritely covered their bodies and waited for the inevitable. Hopefully the Kirijo Group could bail them out of this later. It would make the process of being handcuffed and marched into the station naked and exposed no less excruciating.

The cop car slowly pulled up next to them. Mitsuru remembered all too well her treatment last night, and her legs began to shake ever so slightly. To their surprise and relief, the man that stepped out of the vehicle was familiar to them.

"Well, this is unexpected." Officer Kurosawa said. Out of all the cops in the city, Kurosawa was seemingly the only one who had any inkling about the Dark Hour or the Shadows. He was a normal man, and thus had no way to directly investigate the phenomena or do anything about it. So instead he discreetly passed weapons and armor along to the SEES members and did his best to look the other way when their activities might otherwise have gotten the police involved.

"We can explain!" Yukari said, covering herself and fidgeting. "It was all-"

Her fellow SEES members swiftly grabbed her from either side and covered her mouth.

"Don't say a word. It will only make things worse!" Mitsuru ordered.

"Whatever it is, it must be pretty serious if its also affecting you people." Kurosawa said grimly.

"...'Also affecting us'?" Minako asked.

"You don't know? Guess you kids are kinda out of the loop." Kurosawa said. "Here, let's take a ride."

"Thank you. I-" Mitsuru gasped as Kurosawa cuffed one of her hands.

"Sorry, Mrs. Kirijo. You three are technically streaking, whatever the circumstances. Till we sort it out, gotta follow procedure. So, hands behind your back please." Kurosawa said.

The three endured what felt like an eternity as they were each handcuffed in turn, their bodies fully exposed to the traffic. Finally, they were allowed into the confined quarters of the vehicle. The insidious magic Temptation had inflicted on the girls was once more at work here. Every inch of their bodies felt so much more aware and sensitive to the touch, making even the cool breeze on their bare skin feel like a caress along an erogenous zone. The casual skin to skin contact they were making was building up a slow state of arousal. The three could not help but blush at how easily their bodies responded to even this small amount of stimulus. At this rate they would be nothing but a pile of embarrassed, horny nerves all day long. If Temptation had his way, this would be their default state of existence for the rest of their lives!

"So...I take it none of you know about Eden Syndrome yet?" Kurosawa asked.

The three stared at him, then shook their heads.

"I was afraid of that. Well, long story short...since about midnight last night, we've been seeing cases of a new kind of Apathy Syndrome. Last I heard, we've had 23 cases."

Apathy Syndrome was a strange 'disease' that was striking random citizens in the city. The person afflicted remained alive, but refused to respond to anything around them. While basic, automatic functions like breathing continued, their minds showed no ability to respond to even basic life threatening stimuli like imminent danger or a need to eat. Without constant care from volunteers or family members, an AS victim would allow themselves to starve to **** and remain in a stupor until they toppled over. Of course, the cause of the Syndrome was the Dark Hour- during that time Shadows would occasionally 'leak' out of certain victim's minds, apparently robbing them of all cognizant thought.

SEES was well aware of this. But none of them had ever heard of 'Eden Syndrome'.

"Yeah, so far the pattern has been for young ladies between 16 and 29 who've been suffering from Apathy Syndrome have suddenly started to regain their awareness. But almost immediately, their inclination is to remove their clothes and refuse to wear any afterwards. They are aware enough to be embarrassed by their situation, yet don't seem able to put anything on. On top of that, they have periodically broken out into a variety of...ahem, sexually explicit activities while exposed to crowds of varying sizes. They continue to appear ashamed by their behavior, and yet can't seem to stop themselves."

"I see." Mitsuru said, grimly looking at the others.

It seemed the situation was getting worse.