The Emperor's New Clothes

I blink as a stray snowflake falls into my eye. The first thing I realize is that I am kneeling by the side of an elevated mag rail track with my arms outstretched. Isn't this rather dangerous? Did I lose time again? I quickly look about, checking for any approaching shuttles that would turn me into paste. Nothing. Good. I'm perfectly safe, if thoroughly embarrassed.

The second thing I realize is that I am completely nude. Butt naked. The only thing I have on now are my shoes. Wonderful.

"Please tell me this is not what I am thinking it is." I ask The Voice.

"What are you thinking, Transmigrator?" The Voice replies, "I have many talents, but mind reading is not one of them."

"Gallant took over the body again didn't he?" I sigh as I pick myself up and dust off my knees, "I sort of blacked out while Chance was kicking my ass."

"All indications point to yes. You were totally unresponsive until just now." The Voice confirms, "From what I can tell, Mr Gallant assumed control after you had succumbed to the strain of your injuries. He then engaged in a running battle with Prince Enma that concluded where you are standing right now."

"OK. Cool." I confirm as I peer over the elevated track. Damn, the track is abreast with several skyscrapers, office buildings from the look of it. I must at least be at the height of at least the thirtieth floor.

"Why am I naked by the way?" I query as I begin walking down the side of the track, admiring the bird's eye view of The City my vantage point gives me.

"Prince Enma managed to set your clothes on fire, forcing Mr Gallant to discard them." The Voice clarifies, "There is a maintenance ladder that will take you back to street level just ahead of you."

"Beats having my arm broken again." I remark as my feet stride forward, while my eyes keep a lookout for the ladder The Voice had referred to.

"Transmigrator, do you remember anything of the time when Mr Gallant took over?" The Voice suddenly queries, "Anything at all?"

"What? No." I grumble, idly scratching my dry skin. This never ending winter is really wracking havoc with my skincare. Need to get a bottle of moisturizer on my way back to the Hobo Mobile Base. Dry weather is really the worst.

But then I don't have my wallet. Or my shirt. Or my pants. Dammit. I lazily gaze at an adjacent office complex and see the figure of a young office lady disbelievingly staring out of the window at me. I give her the V for victory sign and she takes a photo of me with her mobile. I am already famous in The City as the flying trouserless man, what's the harm of another viral photo?

"Oh." The Voice flatly remarks, "Never mind then." Now that response gets my attention immediately.

"What do you mean 'never mind'?" I bark in surprise, "Did something happen that I should know about?"

"Nothing that directly concerns you now Transmigrator." The Voice says, "Be at ease and concern yourself more with the possibility of being arrested for indecent exposure. Public nudity is an offence in The City you know."

I stop in front of the maintenance ladder which is mounted by the side of one of the elevated track's supporting pillars and cautiously begin my descent back to the street. Good thing this ladder has a safety cage attached. Falling to my death after an accidental slip would be a hell of a way to bow out after everything that has happened.

"That's a really lousy deflection." I shoot back as I clamber down the ladder, "What. Happened."

"Before you regained control, Mr Gallant was addressing me directly." The Voice sighs, an odd mixture of tiredness and pleasure, "It was a surprise, that is all. It has been a long time since the natives treated me with anything close to respect."

I recall the kneeling posture the body was in just as I began to wake up. A niggling thought enters my mind.

"Was Gallant praying to you?" I query. That would certainly explain the kneeling.

"Yes." The Voice responds simply without further elaboration. An awkward silence settles between us with the only sound the scraping of my feet against the ladder.

"And?" I prompt impatiently, "What was the prayer about?"

"What else?" The Voice easily dismisses, "The same thing everybody prays for. Boons, favors and the like."

Huh. I suppose that makes sense if Gallant did manage to fight off Chance. And not just once, but twice. The law of equivalent exchange would oblige The Voice to repay its debt to Gallant.

"What was Gallant's prayer about anyway?" I press while taking a quick glance down. Making good progress, won't be long before I am back at street level.

"To live under my sky as someone relevant to the world." The Voice elaborates indifferently.

"Huh? I don't get it." I grumble while furrowing my brows.

"Pay it no mind." The Voice rasps, "Mr Gallant possesses a number of strange turns of phrase."

I shake my head and slide down the remainder of the ladder. Well, whatever, Gallant is free to ask for whatever he wants. We have bigger problems to worry about right now anyway. As my feet hit the pavement, the SUV pulls up beside me, right on time. I quickly open the door and scramble inside before too many people notice the naked man walking around and call the police on me.

As I lie down on the sleeping bag at the back of the SUV and shut my eyes in exhaustion, I hear The Voice continue the conversation.

"Something strange happened at the hospital." it remarks, "All of a sudden, the entire hospital was erased from my sight. It was as if the building and its surroundings did not exist. Despite my knowledge to the contrary, all my senses confirmed that there was nothing where the hospital should be."

"Yeah. Red thread had cut the whole place off from the rest of the world." I comment with my eyes shut, "Was that why our connection was severed? I couldn't use the core either."

"Most likely. You had disappeared from my sight along with the hospital." The Voice rumbles, "You only reappeared when you managed to make it back to the main road."

I think back to the events at the hospital. "Did you lose track of the SUV as well?" I quiz.

The Voice considers my question for a moment before replying, "No. I could still sense the SUV, but could not control it. It was as if the vehicle was trapped in an empty void I could not reach."

Yeah. That confirms it. The servant couldn't actually penetrate the SUV with its powers so he decided to cut it off from its surroundings.

"The red thread didn't get into the SUV." I inform, "The Incarnate had wrapped the thread around the car, turning it into a giant mummy instead. Could you prepare something similar for me before the next battle?"

"What do you mean?" The Voice rumbles, completely puzzled.

"Some kind of protective gear." I explain, "You know, something that can insulate the artificial core from the servant's powers. That way I won't get shut down the next time I throw down in front of the servant."

"Mm. I will see what I can do." The Voice considers, "However, the problem of being cut off by the servant from the world at large still remains. The artificial core's performance may be compromised in such a situation."

"It better than nothing." I murmur back as I slowly begin to drift to sleep under the gentle rocking of the SUV's suspension.

The Voice concedes, "Fair enough. Though I would recommend you seek an alternative way of overcoming the servant that does not require direct confrontation."

"I already have an idea." I yawn while getting comfortable, "When I'm recovered, I will tell you all about it."

"Oh?" The Voice rasps, "Now you have piqued my curiosity."

"Its nothing much." I mumble, "Just taking a page from Fate's playbook."

"We're going to kill with a borrowed knife."