It was clearly a pre-arranged signal, as, exactly at this moment, another employee appeared on the stage, pushing a trolley. On its top shelf sat a doll, with its legs dangling over the edge.


    Immediately, the crowd broke out in excitement.


    Severin, however, could only stare.


    Initially, he suspected that maybe he had misheard or misunderstood the auctioneer.


    But clearly he didn’t. It truly was a doll.


    At this distance it was hard to see every detail and Severin was no expert on this matter, but at least to him the Isabell looked very much like a Victorian porcelain doll. Roughly fifty centimeters in size, with blonde curly hair, wearing a lovely dress.


    “


    ““Right.” Severin clearly had some doubts, and it was noticeable in his voice. But thinking about it more carefully, he found Mylana was right; again. After all, it wasn’t solely out of spite that Mylana interrupted him whenever Perc wanted to tell them about the actual items of today’s auctions.


    “Right,” he repeated, this time more sincerely, and stuck to quietly observing from above.


    Soon, the initial excitement in the audience below had similarly died down.


    While the visibility from the balcony was poor, especially when the object of interest was so small, the sound, Mr. Reigh’s voice in particular, was very clear.


    “This is without a doubt the pinnacle of Silven-style of doll-making.


    But please, see for yourselves. My words alone could never do justice to a masterpiece such as this.” Reigh gestured towards his assistant, and continued.


    “This Isabell in particular comes with several of the most popular modules already pre-installed. Such as the time-proven Mk6 Household module, a custom-made sewing and knitting-,”


    While the auctioneer kept educating the audience about the most noteworthy aspects of this first item of the evening, his assistant didn’t remain idle, either. Following Reigh’s previous gesture, the woman leaned over the motionless doll.


    From up high Severin couldn’t see what exactly she was doing, and initially he didn’t especially care. That was until soon after the woman was done with whatever it was she had been doing.


    At this point, the assistant straightened before raking back several steps to give the audience an unobstructed view of the doll.


    Which suddenly sprang to life.


    Without forewarning and with a swift movement that escaped Severin’s eyes, the seated doll swung her entire body up into the air. And landed in a standing position on the top shelf of the trolley.


    The small human-like figure then slightly lifted her dress and curtsied towards the audience.


    But the surprises didn’t end there.


    This time, she didn’t stop for any grand gestures. She directly turned around and reached for an item laying on the bottom shelf of the trolley; a doll-sized broom.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.Under different circumstances, this would have been the most boring and mundane demonstration imaginable. But at this moment, to Severin, this was the most incredible thing ever. Observing the small artificial human work demanded his full attention; Reigh’s talk about the modules implanted into the doll’s core- that was the component which enabled the doll to this kind of task-were only of secondary interest to him.


    And so, after a minute or so, she was instructed to a different task.


    At this point, he was tempted to leave for the main hall to get a clear view of things.


    The broom had been one thing. But now he couldn’t make out anything. All he could see was that some colorful thing way laying on the doll’s lap and that she was rhythmically moving her tiny hands in front of her chest.


    “


    ‘Someone should tell this White Hall about my transmission crystals,’ Severin complained to himself, fully convinced those items of his would make for a far better viewing experience for the VIPs in their private booths. But he also concluded that someone wouldn’t be him. If everything panned out as planned, this wouldn’t only be Severin’s first and last time in the White Hall, but helping them might actually end up hurting his own business; just this thought drastically improved his mood immediately.


    Like the other doll that was suddenly carried onto the stage.


    ‘But the closer he looked, the more he declined that notion. This one wasn’t comparable to the Isabell, at all. Not only was it easily thrice its size, and completely undressed, it also lacked all of the other’s detail; that much Severin could distinguish even at this distance.


    ‘That’s how plain that thing is. It looks more like a regular mannequin. But then why bring it onto the stage? Do they intend her to create a full set of clothes, after all?’


    “That said, let us focus our attention on a far rarer subtype of modules altogether.


    It took Severin a moment to understand the doll hat never let go of her two needles.


    “What the fuck!?” Came his delayed reaction, but his own shout was drowned out by a series of cries.


    ““I want her! Daddy, please! Please, get her for me!”


    “Amazing!”


    “Moooom, I will be good, I swear. Just-”


    “What the fuck?” he repeated.


    Only that this time a voice unexpectedly answered.


    ““???”