The First Customer, Lynette

The morning dew still clung to the gear-shaped sign of the blue-roofed cottage as Lumine crouched by the door, adjusting the anti-slip pads on the mechanical otters. The wind chime tinkled, but when she looked up, the doorway was empty—until a black feather drifted onto the counter. 

"Can I trade this?" 

Lumine turned and nearly bumped into the silent cat-eared girl. Lynette twirled a Meropide labor medal between her fingers, the gear ornaments on her skirt not even clinking. Her ears twitched as her gaze landed on a silver blind box on the top shelf. "That one." 

"We usually only accept Mora…" Before Lumine could finish, Lynette tossed the medal. It transformed into three mechanical butterflies mid-air, their iridescent wings refracting light before landing on the "Household Helper" blind box Lumine had prepared. 

As Lynette's gloved fingers brushed the box's lid, Lumine noticed the half-palm mechanical glove. With a soft *click*, three metal spheres shot out, tracing precise paths between the shelves. The leftmost one veered toward a display case, but as Lumine summoned a Geo construct to block it, the sphere halted mid-air, extending a brush to clean the浮雕 (relief) patterns. 

"More agile than the Fortress' cleaning bots." Lynette bent to observe the sphere polishing the floor, her cat ears faintly visible through her hair. 

Kazuha rushed downstairs with the risk assessment report just in time to see the most dangerous moment—a rogue sphere crashed into the storage room, activating cleaning mode on unorganized blind boxes. As Lumine's Anemo lifted the crates, Lynette removed an earring and tossed it. A tiny gear jammed into the sphere's joint, and the失控 (out-of-control) bot immediately turned to polish her boot. 

"Meropide riot modification tech?" Kazuha picked up the still-spinning gear earring. 

"Just a hobby." Lynette added bumpers to the sphere, the modified cleaner now using its tail brush to draw Fontaine's legal code patterns. 

Charlotte squeezed into the shop at that moment. The reporter's mechanical earrings sparked, but her camera was already aimed at the "Code Mopping" sphere. "Is this the latest legal education device?" 

"Just a household blind box." Lumine handed her a "Media Special" box. "Free trial." 

Upon opening, a mini camera drone took flight, automatically adding pink bow filters to Lynette's cat ears. As Charlotte fumbled to turn off the beauty mode, the spheres lined up to tap dance, spelling "Honest Taxpayers" before the bodycam. 

"Warden Wriothesley will love this!" Charlotte adjusted her focus. "Can I film the cleaning effects at Meropide?" 

Lynette suddenly covered her lens. "Modification fees extra." 

Three days later, sunlight slanted into the shop as Lumine tallied the first earnings. Lynette's labor medal cast a gear-shaped shadow on the counter, beside her modified sphere blueprints—each joint marked with Meropide patent numbers. 

"Did she dismantle the Fortress' security system?" Kazuha held up the blueprint, a stick-figure cat doodled beside the riot lock diagram. 

The otters suddenly turned toward the roof. Clorinde hung upside-down from the eaves, testing a new whetstone. Her sword gleam scattered willow catkins from the Dewlight Spring. As the last fluff landed, Lynette's modified sphere sucked it into a filter, spitting out a fluffy cleaning puff. 

"Should we develop a combat version?" Lumine tossed the puff to an otter as a pillow. 

"Let's finish the fire safety plan first." Kazuha pointed to the charred wallpaper—last week's smoke bomb incident still evident. 

At dusk, as golden light outlined the Palais Mermonia, Lynette returned with her modified spheres. Twelve metal orbs lined up behind her, tail brushes painting "7-Day Trial" in enamel colors. The lead sphere raised a mini white flag embroidered with Meropide's fang emblem. 

"The Warden's order." She handed over a gear-patterned contract. "Two hundred basic units, with added escape alarm functions." 

Lumine watched a sphere sketching Wriothesley's portrait and sighed. "They can even count prisoners' wrinkles now." 

Lynette's ears twitched as she suddenly lashed out with a chain, snaring Charlotte. The reporter's camera was filled with sphere blueprints. "Exclusive! Meropide's Secret Cleaning Corps!" 

"Trade for this." Lynette flicked an encrypted gear. "The Warden's lullaby recording." 

As Charlotte fled screaming, a fork clattered under a café awning across the street. Furina's cake plate hid a crumpled purchase order titled *Request for Advanced Cleaning Equipment at the Hydro Archon's Residence*. 

Moonlight soaked the blue-roofed cottage as Lumine installed the final limiters on the spheres. Lynette's blueprints suddenly glowed—Meropide's watermark revealed a wolf head emblem in the shadows. Kazuha held the paper to the light. "Is this Wriothesley's private workshop logo?" 

"Shh." Lumine pointed outside. Through the Palais Mermonia's top-floor curtain gap, Neuvillette observed the shop. His risk assessment report lay open to the "Mechanical Safety" chapter, a judge-hatted otter doodled in the margin. 

Lynette's figure vanished across the Dewlight Spring, her modified spheres cleaning Melusine patrol footprints. The cleverest sphere suddenly raised its brush, sketching a stick-figure cat on the cobblestones before the rising tide gently erased it.