Huh? I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the light, which I realized was a bright spotlight shining on me. As I continued to get my bearings, I saw I was trapped in a human-sized birdcage that was placed on the center of a stage. I could see an audience of masked people staring at me. Who are they and what is going to happen to me I wondered. "And now for the last item up for bid, our grand finale! A young, healthy Japanese woman!"

"These people are going to bid for me?!" I panicked.

"Keep her as your slave, keep her as a toy...Do whatever you want with her...It's truly up to you! ...And now we'll start the bidding." "Oh my god! I could become someone's slave or toy! This is human trafficking! Are the police notified?"

"500,000 from #5! 1 million from #30!" The price rises steadily as members of the anonymous audience bid on me.

This was just an ordinary day… How did I end up here, being auctioned off?

"Good morning!" "Hi, Jade! Today's the big day are you excited?" "Yeah.." I admit. However, I am in charge of tending to regular guest rooms so today won't be much different. Sakiko works on the casino floor, so today is going to be a whirlwind for her. "Yep, I can't wait! All those famous actresses/actors, musicians, politicians, everyone who has power or insane wealth is coming here! Those gorgeous women that come in limos… Remember that one woman last year, the one with the ten thousand dollar necklace on?" Sakiko babbled on as we leave the locker room.

In the hotel lobby, we are greeted with hoards of reporters and paparazzi. At the entrance to the hotel, limos are lined up with the most elite and wealthy celebrities inside. "Look! She's the actress from last week's hit movie! She's even more gorgeous in person!" While we both envied and simultaneously admired the opulent lifestyle of those invited to the IVC, Sakiko was much more in awe of them than I. However, I too could get transfixed by them. "Omg, that's the one they call 'The King'!" A tall man walks towards the hotel surrounded by women, all of which are famous. As I stare, another hoard of women comes running towards him screaming. Somehow, I too get pushed in with them and subsequently pushed into "The King" himself! I fall backwards, but he grabs in a hug, saving me. The rest of the women angry and jealous start screaming at me. "Get out of the way," his cold voice scares me and I freeze. He pulls away and I fall on my butt. He glares at me, brushes off, and continues his path. Sakiko rushes up to me bombarding me with questions. "I'm sorry, it was such a crazy coincidence. It happened so fast." As I brush myself off and get up, I am admonished by a voice I am none too happy to hear. "What were you thinking, embarrassing yourself? And in front of such important guests, too?!" Her "minions" Rina and Kana echo her disappointment. I start apologizing not meaning any of it, and head off but Erika forces more work on me before I can walk away. I sigh and head to the basement to work.

On my way to the elevator, I am stopped by an argument between a man and a woman. She seems distraught, and throws a mask at him. She storms off and he simply picks up the mask. When he looks back up our eyes meet. "You just saw the whole thing, didn't you?" asked the mysterious man. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I was just going to get on the elevator." "Aw, it's okay. Now don't run away, I'll explain everything when we get there" "Sir! Excuse me…" As I stammer I am dragged into the elevator with him. "Thank god I found another date. I just couldn't go to the party without a beautiful woman on my arm." "You mean the IVC?" "Of course! Just look at me, isn't it obvious?" I do look at him and notice his flashy and obviously expensive suit. "Sorry, but I can't go to the party with you. I work here. And what about the other woman…" I trail off as he grabs my chin. "What are you talking about? The reason she left was so I could meet you. You're just my type. Its go." The man drags me out into the ballroom before I can utter a word.

I stare at the room which I soon realize is the IVC. Every person is either obnoxiously rich or famous. As I take it all in, I notice that the mysterious man who brought me has left. "Hey, do you have any champagne?" I turn around and see that the voice is none others than Ota Kisaki's! I stammer out something about fetching him some champagne and he chuckles. "You work here? You look like Alice when she stumbled onto the Mad Hatter's party." "Huh?" "Oh, nothing. Look there's some champagne there. I hope you get home safely Alice." He grins and walks away. What was that about Alice and the Mad Hatter. I guess its just an artist's thing to be creative like that. I leave when a greasy, fat man starts hitting on me and grabs me by the waist. As he does so, a voice says," This party just got really trashy." He glances at me and scowls and I realize its "The King", the same guy I ran into earlier. "You again. You're in my way. Move." the sleazeball and I both move and he passes. The fat man lets go of me and runs off apologizing to "The King". "Mr. Ichinomiya, sir I'm sorry!" "Ichinomiya?" That's the group that owns this hotel! As he walks away I see a white glove on the floor. I think he dropped it and I chase after him to return it. He escapes through a door and I follow him through. I step into a long hallway and he's already disappeared. Where is he? I hear faint voices from the farthest room which is slightly opened. I peek in the crack and see briefcases with guns and money laid out on a table as men in black discuss something. As I continue to watch, someone grabs my arm and pushes me against a wall. "What are you doing here?" He looks at me so sharply I tremble and can't answer. "You've got five seconds to disappear and forget everything you just saw." I nod and run away as fast as I can.

I reach the basement storage room, which is what I intended to do before I witnessed the argument between the man and woman. I grab a bow with gift bags and turn around right into someone else. I drop the box as I trip backwards. Two men peer into a crate they too have dropped. "Oh no! The statue of Venus is broken!" "What! I am so so sorry!" I suddenly realize that this sounds and looks familiar and remember I saw it on TV that it was stolen from a museum a few days ago."This was going to be auctioned off! How will you pay for this?!" I continue to apologize, but they say that an apology isn't enough and that I still owe them. All of a sudden they grab me…

I am being auctioned instead of the Venus statue that I broke. I look out at the person who just raised the bid to 5 million and even with a mask I know it the fat perv who hit on me earlier. I shudder. As no one else bids I lose all hope. That creep will own me and I'll have to do whatever he wants. I fall down in despair. I become more and more frantic as I realize in just a matter of a few seconds. I could be sold and cut off from the world forever as they had their way with me. I let a single tear drip down my cheek as I reminisced about all my closest friends and family that I might leave behind... As I do so the auction hall becomes alive and I hear, "#100 with a bid of 20 million!" A bell sounds and I am sold. After my cage is dragged off-stage, I climb out and two masked men come up to me and lead me off...