[@Letter Bee]

Inside the Gear Works workshop, Seth finally finished his project for one of his clients and let out a satisfying sigh as he got up from the stool he is sitting on and walked towards the front door. As he leaves the back room, he quickly grabs a ruby red rag and begins to clean his hands of oil, grease, sweat, and blood. He stops and looks at the small cut on his knuckle. He hadn’t noticed it till now, but that’s not unusual for his line of work. Sometimes he’ll go the whole day without noticing the blood trickle down his hands from a knick or cut he had received from working on a client’s knick-knack or item they brought to him to fix up or repair. 

Seth placed the rag on the counter and stared into the empty lobby of the workshop. It had been a slow week since the announcement of the auction. However, he knew this would happen. It usually always happened when an auction is announced. Business is slow because all the so-called Nobles save their coins for the auction. Even though business dwindles during this time, he still makes enough coin on the none-auction days to keep the business afloat.  The front lobby was a large room with wooden floors. Hanging from the walls and ceiling were the many projects he did on his down time, while others sat on shelves around the room and in the large front windows of the shop. He left them in the front lobby as a sort of portfolio for any new clients that would wander into his shop. Many of the objects had small price tags on them should anyone wish to purchase them. 

However, one object on the wall had no price tag, a large metal clock behind the counter in the shape of a heart. The clock face showed the inner workings of the gears and cogs that were painted red as well as the outer frame. With every hour the clock chimed and let out a lovely tone that lasted thirty seconds. The song was a hymn his mother always sung to him before bed when he was a child. He had found a music box with the same hymn and took it apart so he could incorporate it with the clock. It was a birthday gift for his mother and she hung it in the lobby for all to see. So many people wanted to buy the clock, but he always told them it wasn't for sale. 

“Welp, guess I should see the city instead of being cooped up in here,” Seth said to no one in particular. However, he would usually talk to himself on occasion since he still felt like his parents were there with him, watching over him.  Seth walked around the counter and headed for the door. 

Once outside, he shielded his eyes from the bright sun before they adjusted to the light and he began walking down the road towards where the auction was happening. He found it funny those so-called Nobles, think of themselves as high class. even though they would bicker and fight over living creatures during these auctions. He felt sorry for those who were being sold and couldn’t understand how people could sell others of their own kind. He just shook his head and took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. He let it hang from his lips before he breathed out a puff of white smoke.  

He rounded the corner and spotted the large crowd of so-called Nobles. He called them that cause no right minded Nobel. Hell, no right minded person would sell off a human being. He couldn’t call them Nobles because he didn’t see them as such. He just saw them as nothing more than savages. The only people that were considered Nobles in his mind were the right minded people who didn’t sell off or buy people. He let out another sigh and another puff of white smoke appeared from his mouth. He looked around and found a cart. He walked over to it and quickly climbed to the roof to get a better look.  Once on the roof, he simply sat down with his legs dangling over the edge and watched the so-called Nobles bicker and argue of their own kind. 

“It’s only a matter of time before a resistance is formed to stop these auctions,” Seth said to himself.  If he really wanted to: he could stop this auction, but then he’d be arrested and lose the shop his parents worked so hard to get. Also, he'd probably end up in one of the auctions himself. He lifted his right hand and looked at the Roulette-Watch around his wrist. [i]I wonder how many of these so-called Nobles would kill to get something like this[/i]? Seth thought before he shook his head and added, “Not in a million years.”