I really like your opening line. It's simple but very effective. It draws me in and makes me instantly wonder why anyone would be so happy and content when losing their employment.

You've also done a great job with your characters. Lord Harrison comes across as a true industrialist and exploitive entrepreneur that's more concerned with turning a profit than protecting the well-being of those in his employ.

I also really enjoyed Ashe. I think she's a good foil to Harold. She's witty, resourceful, and grounded. Harold is an inventor with his head in the clouds. He also retains a naive charm and has fresh eyes to the real world. I think they'd be good for one another's development.

I also really enjoyed the automata doll that Hal has to wind up to walk with him. It adds some emotional levity to the scene and lets the reader understand that these automata are his family and the only things he has in the world. Which makes it all the more emotional when he says goodbye to some of them as he's forced to leave.

I think you told the reader about Hal's parents' deaths too soon and in a very matter-of-fact ho-hum type of way. It's done plainly almost as a toss-away like Here's Hal. His mom died. Dad, too. Anyway, he invents stuff. When it's done in that kind of manner it's devoid of emotion and detracts from the reader's ability to feel for Hal and connect to him. One way to fix this would be to slowly reveal Hal's orphanism over the span of the entire piece. Maybe he starts "slacking off" at work because it's the anniversary of his mother's death. Lord Harrison can notice he's not being productive and Hal can ask if he even remembers his mother's name. It'd reinforce Lord Harrison as a man concerned only with profit. And the father's death can be saved until the scene with the automata; he makes sure to take the one he made with his father because it hold sentimental value.

While your characters are great, some of their actions in this scene are at odds with what you've established so far. For instance, Tom coming to the rescue of Hal. What's Tom's motivation for stopping the attack? There has to be some kind of gain for his character other than the character just being good-natured. Especially knowing there will be repercussions. Another instance is when the Constable allows Hal to retrieve his belongings when he'd just been asked to escort him off businesses grounds. Why would the Constable not escort him to the alley as well? And thirdly, I think Ashe is perhaps a little too trusting of Hal right away, especially for an orphan that's wise enough to have made it so long on the streets. They'd be more hesitant and distant to attract attention. So, unless she's got some sinister plans, I'd make her more wary of Hal. At least at first.

The last thing I wanted to bring up was Hal losing his job in general. He seems unfazed by the event and even embraces it. If he didn't really "need" the job then why doesn't he just leave sooner and free himself of Lord Harrison? You could either show reason as to why Hal isn't immediately concerned about job loss or you can show him making attempts to keep his job by begging.