Markovia

Jennifer groaned, blinking a few times blearily. Ugh, worst hangover ever. She lifted an arm, rubbing her eyes, unable to put a finger on why she felt so strange. Something was definitely off though.

She sat up, to see a woman standing by her... bedside?

She remembered, and immediately shrieked, drawing her dark legs up to her chest and hugging her arms around them, still so very naked.

She was in the pod, but it was lying horizontally, and was open, leaving her to wake up unrestrained. It looked like she was in another impromptu lab, though it was definitely cooler than she remembered, with another woman, white with short brown hair, looking concerned across at her.

"Wh-wh-what happened?" Jennifer said. She shivered.

"Ah, Jennifer Pierce," the woman said. "I'm Doctor Jace. Finally awake?"

Finally? Jennifer's eyes widened, glancing down at the glass box beneath her.

"H-how long was I... in there?" she said nervously.

"I don't know exactly," Jace said. "I don't know when they got you. I've been part of the team studying it for a couple of months now."

"Months?!" Jennifer squealed. "I've been naked in a glass box for months?!" she paused. "Wait, a team?!"

"Working out how to resuscitate you and all the others they caught in pods," Jace said. "You're the last to wake up. Though the one they spent the most time poring over. Figures, really."

Jennifer whimpered, nervously hugging her legs closer to her chest.

Being seen naked was bad enough. there was something uniquely humiliating about not being awake during it though, of every private inch of her body there for strangers to see while she was powerless to stop it, and she didn't know how many there were, she didn't know how long for, she could only imagine the most humiliating situations.

She looked around the lab nervously.

"Thinking of escape?" Jace said. "I wouldn't try it. Trust me. You're not in Freeland any more."

"Not in... what's happening?" Jen said.

"Have you heard of Markovia?" Jace said. At Jennifer's look, she sighed. "Small Eastern European country that wants to be in the lead when it comes to meta-human soldiers. You're a meta-human, they've got you here now."

"I'm not a soldier," Jennifer said, trembling still.

"That's why they want to train you," Jace said.

Ok. Training. That was... she could bide her time, try and find out some way to escape, or get a message back home. Her parents would be looking for her, she was sure.

Jennifer looked around again.

"So do I get a shower robe or..." she said.

"What?" Jace said. It took her a second, then she shook her head. "Markovians tend not to go in for waste. Knowing what your power is, they're working on plans for something that you could wear to withstand it, but it isn't a priority. It's a waste of money to them."

Jennifer's eyes widened.

"Please tell me I'm going to get something to wear," she said, her voice small.

So she'd been kidnapped, unwittingly put on display to total strangers for at least a couple of months, press-ganged into some Markovian meta-human army, and now was expected to train for them... still completely naked?! This had to be a nightmare.

"Not until they think you're worth the expense," Jace said. Her cold tone softened for a moment, and she sighed. "My advice? Get used to it. Resisting what they want just goes badly."

"Yeah, but they don't expect you to do whatever 'training' is butt-naked!" Jennifer protested.

And at that moment, the door to the lab opened. Jennifer squealed, trying even harder to hide behind her legs as yet someone else walked into the lab. By the look of it, one of the generals or whoever was in charge of this.

Then again, as part of her mind insisted on reminding her, he'd probably already seen her in the pod, already seen her naked.