SC 557 was a special year. Over Christmas, among other, more family oriented activities, Petra began to plan her company's next stage of growth. The plan was to open training to the public. The five auctioneers, after five more months of successful selling, were ready for a change and progress.
The opening was to be done on epiphany, January the sixth 557 SC. That did not ruin Christmas, Petra saw to that, but it did make for an exciting new year.
The room was fuller than Petra's imagination allowed her to hope. It was the last day bidding would be closed, and the first day of training. "Hello everybody and welcome to the Laymil Leprechaun." Everybody in the small crowd looked up at Petra. "Thank you for joining me today. To understand you applicants, I would like to ask: how many of you know what an auction is? Please raise your hands." A few hands slowly rose. "The rest of you will see tomorrow. Alright, let's begin." With that, Petra turned on a holographic display. "I'm Petra Ral, owner of this place, and I will be a part of your training team. This venue has run successfully for over a years and we are looking to expand by hiring some of you as auctioneers." Petra paused briefly to let everybody catch up. "I'll just throw the key facts onto the display. Firstly, this is an actual training program and there is a contract. I will send you those tomorrow. The stipulations are that you will train to your best, attending as close to daily as possible, to become an auctioneer. Upon successful completion, you will join us and run auctions with us, mandatorily for two years."
A few left as the words "attendance minimum," "contract," and "two years' work here" appeared on the holographic display, hovering above the crowd in a neat table of bullet points. "That is the basic deal. Tomorrow, you will see real auctions here and at the end, sign the contract if it's your cup of tea." The crowd looked as bored and disillusioned as she expected. "That's all for today's introduction, if you want, feel free to ask any questions."
"What's the pay like?" A voice called from the back.
"You will get a small share in the company." It was expected and therefore accepted. "Share in the company," joined the cogent points floating above the meeting.
"And what's the growth like?" A different voice called.
"We're continuously growing, as you can see at our site." The company's worth was portrayed through a few obvious links.
"How long is the training?" A new voice questioned.
"Three months minimum." The fact got added along with the company's worth, joining the growing mass of words.
"Is there a minimum age?" A higher voice asked, suggesting the youth of the asker.
"No."
There were a few sighs of relief. It was the problem with being fifteen and trying to get a job. Eren had wanted work for a long time: he was passionate about earning for his family and a utopia he regularly dreamt of, and did not want to waste time learning while others were earning. With his passion, he dragged friends along, each being swayed either through a mutual hatred for high school or Eren's fiery passion.
The problem was, in high school, education was unnecessary: companies generally preferred experience over knowledge and high school merely wasted time. After that, college also wasted time for an ever-reducing percent. Those truly suffered as employers wondered what had stopped the applicant from working and saw it as a sign of some flaw in that person.
Worsening the situation was the difficult numbers game: as the population on Seam itself grew to over ten trillion, the system faced the challenging problem of giving everybody a job. The economy did not grow as fast as the population thanks to rampant immigration and the highest birth rate among colonized planets. This led to competition as many wanted and few could have. Eren wanted to be among the few.
"You never told me the woman would be so good looking." Jean told Eren as they left the auction house.
"Go fuck Marco." Eren grunted.
"You know I will."
"Then stay focussed on him, why wander?"
"More the merrier."
"Maybe make that your job."
"I'd be more expensive than you."
"Not for all customers." Armin interjected, gesturing towards a smouldering Mikasa.
"I got us a maglev." Sasha called out. "And lunch!" She added in a more enthusiastic tone.
The group sat in, fitting into the entire car, testing the train's maximum capacity. Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Marco, Sasha, Connie, Reiner, Berthold, Annie, Ymir and Christa formed the contents of the car. The dozen year elevens, as they were termed within the system, were all ready to ditch studies for some genuine pay.
Eren, Mikasa and Armin were the foundation of the group. The trio were friends since kindergarten, Mikasa being Eren's overweening adoptive sister and Armin being the erudite weakling they both protected. They followed Eren, Armin knowing he would be ready for any future and Mikasa magnetically drawn to the histrionic teen. Everybody was certain that Eren and Mikasa would be a couple, but Armin knew he was not third wheeling, but subtly tying the two closer together.
Sasha and Connie joined the group soon after; suffering difficult studies, they knew that their prospects would be low in the competitive system. Thus, they chose to pursue a simpler career and followed Eren in their search for success. The pair was also reputed for its propinquity, but more open to a romantic relationship.
Jean and Marco, seen as the group's Gemini brothers, were next to join, propelled by Eren's repeated jabbing of Jean's pride. The two were on uncertain terms, their brotherhood evident, but their homosexuality unknown.
Ymir and Christa joined soon after, also pulled by some gauntlet thrown at Ymir. They were on similar terms as Jean and Marco, but with more evident affection.
Annie, Berthold and Reiner joined afterwards, on unknown terms, just an arbitrary addition to the group. Though the trio kept to itself, Annie was noted to be closest to Armin.
The dodecagonal network represented by the group held in balances of hatred, care, mutual interest and friendship. Some saw love in the mix, but circumstances were dubious.
Petra, Levi, Erd, Auro and Gunther received this summary the next morning, though in a less concise and organized manner. Each of the twelve were varyingly vocal about their theories, clouding the network further.
"Well the five of us are simpler: we're all friends and I'm engaged to him." Petra said, pointing to Levi. "For future reference, if, Heaven forbid, you need it, don't be so informal and don't talk about others too much at the start."
"Sorry." Eren mumbled.
"So you all are fifteen?" The group nodded. "We will need parent permission for you to work here and your pay will be smaller than that an eighteen year old would receive. It's not me, it's the law."
"That's annoying." Jean grumbled.
"So, first, we promised an auction. Erd, you have the floor."
Erd opened bidding as Levi and Petra guided the teenagers to a secluded booth in the upper floors. The crowd was small, but enough bids were made to demonstrate the basics of auctioning.
"We have most of your parental approvals, thank you for getting them to send it." Petra began. "This is what much of your training would consist of: viewing and practice."
"For two months?" Armin asked, wondering whatever could be so difficult.
"It is difficult to auction in front of a big crowd, so we want you to know the basics and methodology before you embarrass yourselves in front of an audience."
Everybody nodded in understanding as Levi took to the front of the small gathering. "To auction is to sell. Everybody down there is known as a bidder. They are the people you are selling to. They will raise their hand at which point you call on them. You call by description and as hard as it may be, be nice, please."
"Fine lady in the green." Erd conveniently called.
"As Erd marvellously did. They will declare their bid, as the woman just did. Erd will repeat it. Then, call for other bids. Calls go back and forth and then:"
"Going once, going twice, sold." A gabble sounded.
"And with exactly that line, you sell the item. Then comes the next, introduce it."
"A fine painting of a verdant landscape. Bidding opens at £5,000." Erd announced.
"Say the price and begin." Levi shuffled, proud of his summary and happy that his presentation was timely. "Those are the basics. Sometimes, you'll see Erd suggest a number. Never raise it too much."
"Alright, first things first, we'll let you watch the auctions. Take notes. At lunch, we'll come and tell you more."
With that, Levi and Petra left. "That will bore them." Levi mumbled as they walked down the corridors.
"It will get better as time passes."
"God, is that it?" Jean said, sounding as bored as humanly possible.
"You can make it fun by betting on how much the item will sell for." Marco said, soothing Jean's bored frustration.
"I call 7,500." Armin said as Erd presented a sculpture. The bidding opened at £4,000.
"I'll say 8k." Connie said.
"I second." Sasha quickly added.
In a minute, the gabble descended on £7,000. "I was closest." Armin bragged.
"I call 0 on the next one." Jean said, pretending to have transcended everything, the room, the training and the practice of auctioning.
"I'll say 5,000." Marco said.
"10,000." Annie bet coldly.
By a miracle, Annie won. The auction went on as the dozen took their opportunity to learn more about the quirky, old process.
The hours passed as they saw the baton passed about between Erd and Gunther. The process continued, barely broken in the short pause. The teens continued their merry betting, learning how the process went. By the end, most of them could predict what Gunther would say, why and what the reaction to his speech would be.
The door opened, startling the few who managed to stay fully focussed on the events on the auction floor. "Alright, that's that for now." Petra said.
"So boring." Jean moaned. Few glared at him, but Petra expected this of fifteen year olds – she would have been the same, though better at hiding it.
"Sorry." Eren apologized on Jean's behalf.
"It's fine. It's lunch time!" Petra declared, reminding some of the teens of their hunger. With that she led the group down to a cafeteria nearby.
Petra granted them freedom by eating a little further away from them. The meal was brief, efficient, and for some of the teens, large. The twelve talked quietly among themselves, reminding Petra of her school days. Only four years ago, she reminded herself; in four years, they would leave their homes, cross the invisible line into adulthood. She hoped they would see success as she did.
They walked back to the auction house. "So, how did you find that?" Petra asked the group. Most nodded, neutral or bored in their facial expression. "It gets better, I promise. Tomorrow, we'll let you try to run a mini-auction. Come here at the same time."
"See you." Jean said for most of the group as they turned to leave.
Eren sent a quick "wait, I want to talk" to the group as he turned to Petra. Petra looked over him expectantly, thankful that her hallucinations couldn't mess up facial recognition programs. Armin and Mikasa reached Eren, flanking him, as he began: "Ms. Ral, I just wanted to ask you something. It's kind of personal."
"Just call me Petra. What is it?" Petra said, glancing over the two friends.
"I was wondering how you got so successful so quickly. You're 19, right?" All doubts on personal information, the 'guesses' of one's name or age, were mere formalities: the web told all absolutely truthfully.
"Yeah. I was extremely lucky. I got a job as Levi's secretary and with that, I saved up just enough to buy and run this place. There was a lot done on credit or a percentage of the first auction. Luckily, it all worked out, otherwise I would be bankrupt and in deeper loans than the ocean."
"Is it all luck?"
"And a tad of savoir-faire."
"What exactly?"
"You should understand this about the world: it may look like numbers and facts matter, but everybody is human; you should learn to use those relationships, especially if you're good with people."
"Christ, Ral, you're also smart, ok?" Levi said, intruding into the conversation.
"Debatable."
"No, that's another important thing: you have to be creative; smart in that sense, adaptable and ready to learn. People will see that in you as well and that will also help your relationships." Petra was blushing slightly.
"Is that it?" Armin asked.
"It's that the shit everybody spouts?" Levi replied.
"Maybe that's why they spout it – because it's right." Armin threw back.
"If it's enough for you guys. Neither of us have seen enough of the world to really comment."
"You've seen more than us." Eren defended.
"We'll never know enough, we can only guess."
"Of course, some guesses are better than others." Petra quickly added.
"Thanks." Eren said. "I guess it helped."
"I hope it managed to." Petra said.
It did not help Eren. All it did was cast his motives into doubt. He had always wanted to improve the world by becoming rich and re-allocating his funds. His working impression was that work experience, of any sort, could be used to help him get rich. Levi and Petra's stories cast doubt upon this: the universe felt too uncertain. It was not a place of absolute wrong and right, not a place of transparent cause and effect. The real universe, he was coming to see, was one of chaos, one with no discernible logic, no evident pattern to predict everything. According to themselves, Petra just got lucky and Levi was smart – lucky in his circumstances and birth.
The next day, Eren decided to follow his own path, ready for failure if that monster every reared its head. This time, the dozen were greeted by Erd and Auro. "Today, unlike Petra, we'll try not to bore you." Erd began.
"But you might bore us." Auro added, trying to assert his superiority.
"Unlikely, you all look like a lively bunch." Erd said. "Follow me." Erd led the crowd off the stage. They followed him through the lockers and to a smaller stage they set up at the back, not far from the rooms. "Here you will lead a few mock auctions, seeing as you're a decent group, this should not be too boring."
Auro walked onto the stage. "I'll open it, you all get to bid with fake money." Erd jumped up and pulled out a Styrofoam cup. "Alright. Let's open bidding. I'm Auro Bossard and I'll be your auctioneer for the start. Our first item is a lovely usable Styrofoam cup." There were a few smirks in the crowd. "We'll open bidding at a pound. Anybody willing to raise it? One pound. Can I hear a two? Two from the gentleman in the back." That unfortunately had to be Erd. "Anybody for more? Maybe a three on the floor." Young lady in the back. "Any more offers?" Reiner raised his hand. "Man right here in the front."
"5 pounds." Reiner called, half joking.
"5. Anymore? Nothing? Going once, going twice, sold to the man up in the front."
In a few minutes, Auro sold another cup in a similar way. Then came a plate, then some cutlery. Erd discreetly wandered the crowd, collecting the sold items and trying to get a voluntary next auctioneer.
It took three knives and the threat of random selection before Christa gained the courage to stand and sell in front of the audience. She stood at the makeshift staircase to the makeshift stage. "Next auctioneer up is Christa Lenz. She is new, and we are here to learn, not criticize. So, Christa, the floor is yours." The blonde nervously walked up, thankful that she could see over the podium.
"I'll open with our first item: we have a utilitarian plastic knife. Let's open at 2 pounds." Auro tried to hide his frown: her speech could have been faster and the opening was too high. "2 pounds, anybody?" Ymir raised her hand, supporting her nervous friend. "Lady in the back. Anybody raising it? Do I hear a 3? Going once. Going twice. Sold to the lady in the back." Ymir sniggered, boosting Christa's confidence as she presented the bowl that came next.
A few items later another volunteer was ready: Armin. "Next auctioneer up is Armin Arlert, let's hope he's better than me."
"Alright before we get Armin up, anybody notice anything wrong?" Erd said. "Let's be nice."
"She was a little slow." Annie slurred.
"Yes. That comes with practice, which is why you'll find yourself here more often. Anything else?"
"The £2 she started the knife at was a bit high, but she remedied that." Mikasa pointed out.
"Yes. Well done on that. As you all see, it only takes practice until you're perfect and you can do this in front of a huge, harsher crowd." Erd said. "Nice hand off, by the way." He added as Christa returned next to Ymir's side.
Armin began, slowly, slurring some of his nervous words and looking about a little much in his self-doubt.
Soon enough, all of the twelve tried their hand at running the auction. After that, few noticed that lunch time had arrived. "How was that, folks?"
"Fun." A few said as others nodded.
"Well, tomorrow we'll do the same. Meet at the stage so that you don't get lost in the lockers." Erd said.
"Feel free to see more of how it's really done after lunch as well: just come to the main floor." Auro added cockily as the group turned to leave.
Eren ceased to doubt himself: auctioneering seemed to be a fine job and he could not complain about lacking time either way.
The next two years were set in stone either way.
(104th squad's in! I hope you like the ideas here. No flaming the subtle shipping please. There will be more of all the hinted ships.
I wish Erwin and Hange could be in on this... They might join.
I, unfortunately, cannot promise future publication dates because I have no idea what, specifically, will happen next. (But I can promise more chapters.)
Have fun!)