Chapter 1 - Awakening

Dripping. That was the first sound that made itself known as the young woman slowly came to, her consciousness swimming hazily about as whatever drug she was dosed with finally began the process of wearing off. The second noise was her own pulse, more specifically the thumping noise that seemed to pound at her eardrums and about her temples. It felt like she had a nightmare of a hangover. What happened last night anyway? 
 
The memory was not quite there, everything still slowly coming back together, but not quite just yet. What was clear, however, was that Marisse was not in her bedroom. The rhythmic dripping coming from the distance was more than enough to signal that. Sitting up she found that she was sleeping on a nice, if not somewhat low end full sized bed, the bed spread ornate and rather dated in its look. Glancing around it seemed the motif held throughout. White washed walls with busy looking portraits and quaint landscape pieces hung throughout only further dated the room, not to mention the turquoise drapes dangling from the polished bronze rods above the single window on the room.
 
A hotel room. It had to be a hotel room. But why? 
 
Aside from the wall furnishings and the bed besides the window, which seemed to be leaking slightly about the frame the more she looked at it, rain gently pouring outside, there was only a futon couch and what looked to be an office desk with a rather fancy laptop on it. The overhead lamp beside it had been left on, leaving it in a spotlight of sorts, as if asking to be used in spite of it obviously not being her own. But just as she started for it, a loud knock came from the door. 
 
“Jiāofù!” A voice from the other end said. Before she could respond she heard whomever was on the other side of the door drop something, followed by heavy footsteps that trailed off into the silence after a moment. It seemed the more Marisse came to, the more confusing the situation became. 
 
Marisse wasn’t dry - she drank a little every now and then, but never to excess. Never to the point of blacking out, which was the first conclusion her mind jumped to. If she’d done that, maybe gotten a tattoo or something, and somehow ended up in a hotel, that’d be fine with her - it was easily escaped, and any mistakes she’d made were easily forgiven or forgotten. Except the tattoo, she figured. 
 
She looked down for a moment to try and see any fresh bandages marking any new… Additions to herself, but found only the same smooth, largely unblemished flesh she was used to seeing… And only that. She was completely nude. Her cheeks flushed red at this discovery, not because she was particularly embarrassed, nobody was looking, but because she hoped she didn’t strip in front of anybody before getting into this room. Or after, for that matter.
 
Somehow, she doubted this was the case. Her mouth was dry and in it was an odd, chemical taste, like that of anaesthetic… Had she been knocked out? Her dry lips smacked as she stared back up at the unfamiliar ceiling, fear tangible within her, twisting her empty stomach into a knot while she just sat still on the bed. It wasn’t just that the room was unfamiliar that scared her - it was something else. Like she didn’t belong there. 
 
Her slim legs swung over the edge of the bed and tentatively made landfall on the floor, as if wary that something painful was awaiting them down there. She rose slowly, one hand supporting herself on the bed and the other held against her head, weaving through her soft, blonde locks. Unstyled as her hair was, it simply hung down to her chin. Headrush blinded and dizzied her, stalling her for just a second before she shoved herself off from the bed, heel-toeing like a drunk as she reoriented herself, walking in a quick circle. 
 
Shaking her head to clear the last few cobwebs from it, rubbing her eyes to clear them too, she moved over to the window, peering out to see if she can make out any familiar scenery. 
 
The fear of being drugged made her heart flutter. She was so careful about such things. Could it have been a roofie? No, she would have held her drink the entire time, right? For a moment Marisse became convinced she had been raped but...the room didn’t smell like she had any sex in it. If anything the place had the very faint smell of mildew, like an underlying cheapness that seemed to be a consistent theme for this place so far. 
 
Looking out of the window she felt her stomach drop. The view was not only completely unfamiliar, but completely foreign too. Outside a thick fog had rolled in with the rain, but what she did see was alarming. Billboards, neon signs, and cramped building structures hindered what view she did see. The buildings outside jutted high and were packed tightly together, interwoven with iron fire escapes, clothing, telephone, and cable lines running to and fro, as well as the occasional plastic bag caught on one thing or another. The closest building had to be only 10 feet from the window, obscuring half of the view down what looked to be a road, or was it an alley? On the various signs she could make out, the characters looked like they were in Chinese or Japanese, or some Asian language, she really did not know. 
 
Keep calm, maybe this was just the heart of Chinatown. 
 
Part of Marisse knew it was not Chinatown. Looking around she did not see a suitcase either. Was she just dropped off here with just the clothes on her back? If so where were even those? The slightly stained carpeted floor was largely barren. How was she supposed to leave? There was no phone in the room either. However, by the front door was an old fashioned intercom with two grimy, off white buttons to push, but she had no idea which did what. Besides, what would she even say, and if anyone came up how would she-
 
The door!
 
Someone had said something at the door and dropped something from the sounds of it, maybe it was her clothes! But, glancing down at her nude form...She would have to be quick. Stepping towards the door the floor beneath her creaked loudly and somewhat alarmingly, as if it was not made for heavy traffic, or light traffic in this case. The door had a cheap deadbolt but that was about it. Sliding that off to the side she creaked the door open enough to see that no one was standing by, but did see there was a plastic bag at the foot of the door. Grabbing it she brought it back in. 
 
Inside the bag were several paper cartons of what smelled to be Chinese food, at least she thought it was. There was a pack of cigarettes, some bottles of pills, what looked to be vodka, a few bottles of water, and what looked to be a computer headset. She closed the door and turned back towards the room and made her way to the desk, her stomach gurgling ominously at the smell of that food.
 
It seemed that the walls were somewhat thin. Marisse could hear the muffled murmuring of hushed voices on either side of the small room. In a way, it was unsettling, almost as if she was being watched. While she was in this room alone, with such thin walls it was not like she really had total privacy at least.
 
With only a bed, a desk, a window, and a bathroom, it was not like there was much to do while she ate. But as she laid everything out on the desk she noticed there was a small handwritten note in the bag. Unfolding it, it read:
 
"Dear Marisse,
 
Welcome to your new home for the time being. We apologize for any inconvenience that you might experience over the coming days during your transition to your new life working for JadeTech Services.We feel that, in time, you will come to love your new allotment we have generously given to you at no small expense. The rules are simple. You will work six days a week from here in your home using the computer provided. Follow the directions on the computer accordingly and you should be fine. 
 
You may not leave this building for any reason whatsoever. Attempting to leave the premises, inform the authorities or Embassy of your whereabouts or reveal your situation in any way, shape, or form to any individual in person, online, or other type of communication will be met with swift consequences to ensure that these violations are not repeated.
 
We are a kind cooperation Marisse, if you do as you are told, you will live a happy life here. If you do not, we will work with you until you do.
 
Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter,
 
The signature was in those Chinese characters again. There was actually a whole additional page, but it too was written in what likely was Chinese. 
 
Inconvenience? Inconvenience? She’d been taken from her home, her country, shipped all the way to the ass-end of Asia, given some sort of weird job, and worst of all… They were making her eat take-out! Each mouthful of food she took was labored, though she tried to make it as mercifully quick as possible - she abhorred fast food. Like drinking, it wasn’t that she never indulged from time to time, but she always liked to maintain a healthy lifestyle and diet - enough to have earned her a half-decent tone of athleticism. Only in relative emergencies, like when she was taking a road trip or when she’d given blood, did she even consider going to a place that sold such… Greasy, processed mockeries of food. Slurping a noodle out of the box, she grimaces. It did taste good, but she knew better.
 
Though she knew she had plenty of ongoing mysteries that were due to be solved, the first problem she wanted to take care of was her stomach. The ‘care package’ she brought in had a few boxes in it, and being used to a spartan diet, she only needed to eat one. Of course, all it came with were chopsticks. Seeing as she never really had any desire to go to Asia, or any stateside restaurant where using them was an absolute necessity, she never quite picked up how to use them. Using her quite limited skills, she simply used them to lift bunches of coiled-up noodles a mere inch out of the box before slurping them up, the noisome and messy process splattering her mouth with sauce… Sauce she was delighted to dab up with the supplied napkins rather than lap off of herself. It was an embarrassment to have to resort to eating this, but the only other option seemed to be to starve. 
 
As she ate, her mind wandered to her predicament - since she’d awoken, it was like she’d been staring at a puzzle with only its sides completed. She was in a room she never remembered entering, and that’s all she knew. Pieces had begun to fall into her lap one by one, a torrent starting as soon as she dared look out the window. It was clear now that she had been kidnapped, though not by a lecherous bozo at some dive bar like she’d suspected. “Guess I graduated from roofies to chloroform.” she muttered bitterly, grimacing. Judging by the letters that looked like malformed pieces of Chex Mix outside her window, she’d been spirited away to some country in Asia. For all she knew, it could’ve been anywhere northwest of India. She didn’t have a good eye for the different symbols the local… Well, relatively local languages used, nor a good ear for the sound of them, so where she was in particular was anyone’s guess. 
 
It wasn’t just that she’d been kidnapped, she’d been forcefully drafted into some sort of… Agency. JadeTech. Maybe she was in China? They were big on Jade, right…? She didn’t know. What she did know is that she wanted nothing to do with this ‘JadeTech’. For all she knew, they were some sort of kidnapping organization, because that’s all she’d seen from them so far. Either that, or they just had harsh methods of recruitment. Marisse didn’t know what was worse - the fact of the former possibility, or the implications of the latter.
 
By the time she’d had her fill, the box was nearly empty, and she wasn’t about to dive into those last few noodles that were resting at the bottom. Pushing it aside on the desk, she picks up the letter again, reading over the second paragraph of the letter - the warning. They didn’t want her to run? Of course they didn’t. They expected her to, and threatening her would be the obvious deterrent. With a sneer, she slapped the paper back on the desk and stood up, grabbing one of the bottles of water. Another blush spread across her cheeks when she’d looked down to herself, her body so… Exposed, and with what she intended to to, to so many other people… She shut her eyes for a moment, looking up when she opened them again. She wouldn’t go to the police… They’d come to her. Seeing a screaming, naked woman run out into the open oughta turn some heads, right? Taking a quick drink of the water before setting it down, she moves to the door, preparing herself to run.
 
Perhaps it was the haze of sleep that still slightly marred her sobriety, but her actions bled into a single blur as soon as she’d begun her great escape - open door, run down hallway, begin screaming. She didn’t waste even an attosecond looking at anything along the hallway - all she needed to look at was the other end, whichever one held her escape route.
 
The first thing that seemed to work in her favor, or perhaps send alarms off had she known better, was that the door was still unlocked. There was no guard outside either. It was just a room, in a hallway, in a building in some land she did not recognize. She could do this, just one foot in front of the other and away she’d go. As she went bolting down the hallway, feeling the breeze against her nipples and exposed vagina, not something she was used to at that, she saw the stairway at the end of the hall was also unguarded. Her feet thudded against the floor loudly, but no one came. If anything every door in that place was dead silent now.
 
Flying towards the stairs she was greeted with the number 6. 6th floor? It had to be. She ran down the stairs, jumping the last two or three per flight as she tried to get out before anyone would notice. It was too good to be true...no, she was lucking out! She had called their bluff and they had folded. By the time she approached the first floor she had to stop from accidentally going too far, as it looked like there were multiple floors further below, each looking grimier than the last. No thanks. 
 
The first floor was also just a hallway,but this one had a T intersection that lead to a front door. A grin broke across her face as she opened her mouth to start screaming for help. Marisse could taste that chemical aftertaste underneath whatever sauce was in that food. It would not be surprising if the vodka and water  had similar properties as well. Maybe it was just really cheap? It had all settled heavily in her stomach and made her feel bloated from the saltiness of the cheap cuisine. But she could not let something so trivial stop her now, not yet. As she neared the door however, she heard a faint hissing noise.
 
Glancing up her eyes widened as she saw thick pinkish gas roll out from vents in the ceiling, quickly rolling over the room. She could still make it, she just had to hold...hold...just hold…
 
And then darkness.