Gray light glinted off the chipped enamel eye of one doll as the vendor subtly rotated it, his hands moving with practiced precision among dozens of identical figures. Despite nearly indistinguishable features and uniform price tags, each received the same careful adjustment—a meticulous arrangement that seemed to disregard individual qualities. This insistence on equal value highlighted a system where worth wasn’t determined by what was present but by parameters imposed from without. Holding one felt surprisingly heavy; its smoothness contrasted with the unsettling sense of being measured against an unseen scale.
