Gravemont City, LinTech Group Headquarters
At the front entrance of the towering LinTech Group building, a courier pulled up on a bike, retrieving a carefully wrapped package from his carrier box.
Moments later, he stepped into the elevator and rode to the top floor, the executive suite.
He arrived at the office door of Thomas Lin, the powerful chairman of LinTech Group.
A sharply dressed secretary glanced up from her desk as the courier approached.
"Can I help you, sir?" she asked.
The courier offered a polite smile. "Hi, I have a delivery for Mr. Lin. It's a package addressed directly to him."
The secretary didn't give it much thought.
"Mr. Lin isn't in at the moment. You can leave it with me, I'll sign for it."
"No problem," the courier said cheerfully. "Just please make sure Mr. Lin gets it. It's a very valuable item."
The mention of its value made the secretary take an extra glance at the package. She nodded in acknowledgment and set it beside her desk.
Without hesitation, the courier turned and exited the building. But he didn't leave the area.
A few blocks away, in a narrow alley, he pulled off his cap, peeled away fake eyebrows and a false beard, and removed a brown wig.
In less than a minute, the courier had vanished, replaced by someone else entirely.
It was Gabriel.
As a Puppet Master, a craftsman of sentient, soul-bound dolls, Gabriel had two distinct talents: masterful doll-making and flawless disguise.
To create a real doll, precision carving was only part of the process. Disguise, misdirection, and detail were equally critical to his craft.
For this particular mission, Gabriel took every precaution. He left no trace. Not even a delivery job could be outsourced. Everything had to be done by his own hand.
Now, all he had to do was wait, wait for Thomas Lin to take the bait.
Soon enough, a sleek silver-and-black Maybach glided down the road and pulled up to the LinTech building.
Two suited bodyguards emerged swiftly and opened the rear door.
A middle-aged man stepped out: square-jawed, impeccably dressed, exuding authority.
Thomas Lin, Chairman of LinTech Group.
Flanked by his guards, he entered the building and took the elevator to the top floor.
The secretary stood as he approached. "Mr. Lin, a package arrived for you while you were out."
"Oh?" Thomas raised an eyebrow. "From who?"
"I'm not sure," she replied, reaching for the large, meter-long parcel. "But the courier mentioned it was something valuable and should be handled with care."
Thomas Lin took the package, slightly puzzled. Back in his office, he carefully sliced the wrapping open with a knife.
Inside was a stunning wooden box, deep reddish-brown with a rich varnish, intricate pentagram engravings, and a traditional mortise-and-tenon structure, all handcrafted with exquisite precision.
His eyes lit up with interest.
The craftsmanship was undeniable.
The moment Thomas Lin laid eyes on the handcrafted wooden box, his heart skipped a beat, not from fear but admiration. As a passionate collector of fine crafts, he immediately recognized the craftsmanship.
There was no doubt, the box itself was a work of art. Which begged the question: What was inside?
Resting atop the lid was a bronze-embossed envelope, its surface thick and textured, exuding luxury. In elegant, cursive handwriting, a short message was inscribed:
"The perfect doll deserves to be part of your collection. Thank you, Mr. Lin, for your generous support of our company. Please accept this commemorative gift — we hope it brings you joy."
"Perfect doll?"
Thomas blinked, caught off guard by the phrase. He furrowed his brow, mentally reviewing his long list of business partners. To his knowledge, none of them operated in the toy or doll industry.
Then again, with a conglomerate as vast as LinTech, it was impossible to remember every deal and transaction in detail.
Perhaps one of the many companies he'd supported had sent this as a personal token of appreciation, aware of his passion for artistic craftsmanship.
And, truthfully, despite the thousands of luxury items in his collection like rare vases, jade carvings or European antiques, he didn't own a single doll.
Now intrigued, he carefully lifted the lid.
What he saw inside stopped him cold.
Nestled in rich, velvet-lined padding was a doll... but unlike anything he'd ever imagined.
It lay perfectly still, framed in the soft interior like a slumbering spirit. Her long black hair shimmered like strands of silk. Her eyes, a piercing ice blue, glimmered with an unsettling depth, almost cosmic in their gaze. Her skin, pale and smooth as polished suet jade, had a lifelike luster that defied logic.
For a moment, Thomas truly believed it was a living person.
With hesitant curiosity, he reached out and gently pinched the doll's cheek.
The sensation was shockingly lifelike.
His hand recoiled.
A chill crawled up his spine, it felt like touching actual human skin.
Heart racing, he leaned in for a closer inspection.
Upon closer scrutiny, he let out a breath of relief. No, it wasn't real. The fine lines, the texture it was all expertly crafted. Synthetic, yes, but rendered with painstaking perfection.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that the thing was watching him.
The detailing was unreal from the subtle hue in her cheeks to the delicate joints, the craftsmanship was beyond anything he'd seen.
Who on earth could create something like this? A single name didn't come to mind.
He lifted the doll gently and turned it toward the light, examining it from every angle. For someone who had never shown the slightest interest in dolls, Thomas Lin felt strangely drawn to this one.
Her starlit eyes, that's what he'd call them, seemed to follow him, intelligent and haunting.
At the exact moment Thomas opened the wooden box, far away, in the shadows of a modest workshop, Gabriel felt it.
A soft vibration in his chest. A thread tugging somewhere unseen.
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
He whispered to himself:
"Hooked."