Project: Socialize (Chapters 1-197)

17. Next Task

"See you tomorrow."

Loyd waved to Muria as she boarded her train. The door to the commute train closed and the train took off, taking her with it and towards her destination.

It was about a whole hour since we had finished eating, with the time being 7:00 PM, and we were able to avoid the terrible rush hour. The train station wasn't as crowded and life felt quite slow due to the sluggishness of everyone.

"You heading home?" Loyd looked over at me.

"No," I said, taking out my phone and checking what lines I would have to take to get to where Loriana was. "Got somewhere I have to go."

"Oh," Loyd nodded upon hearing my reason. "Well," he said, glancing over at the incoming train. "My train's here, do see ya."

I nodded in response as Loyd waved at me and boarded the commute train. With him gone, I then looked up from my phone and towards the monitor that hang from the ceiling that depicts the incoming trains and the rail map of Palisia. After seeing that the train that I wanted to board was arriving, I slipped my phone back into my pocket and walked over to the small line that formed at a marked position on the platform.

The sound of the train running on the tracks was almost as if a lullaby in this silent train car. Tired office workers sat there with their eyes closed in order to rest. Nearby, a woman dressed in a business suit stood, clinging to the hanging strap with a tired look on her face. She appeared to be disjointed from reality and almost seemed to be falling asleep. Standing by that woman was a suspicious looking man who stood awfully close to her despite the train car not being too crowded. Suspicious by his actions, I started slowly making my way over to them, careful to not be detected.

I saw that the man was inconspicuously reaching his hand into the woman's purse after unzipping it, and seeing that the woman was still unaware of what was occurring, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to help out.

With a tired sigh, I prepared myself for the act. I forced myself to put on a smile, and proceeded to approach the woman at a faster pace.

"Sis!" I said in a forced energetic voice. "You heading home from work? What're we eating tonight for dinner?"

The man appeared quite annoyed by my sudden emergence and quickly retrieved his hand from her purse. He then quickly walked off and lowered his head so that no one could catch a clear glimpse of it.

I kept my head up, looking past the woman and at the man who walked away. I had to make sure that he was truly gone before I end my act.

Seeing that the man had disappeared from our train car, I let out a relieved sigh and looked back down at the woman before me. She stood there in a protective stance and eyed me suspiciously.

"That man was trying to pickpocket your purse," I said, pointing at her unzipped purse.

"What?"

The woman looked down and at her purse which hang by her side. Sure enough, it was unzipped. She then began to frantically checking her purse to see whether or not her belongings were stolen or not.

"Thank you," she lowered her head and expressed her gratitude.

"It's nothing," I said, turning around, and walking back to where I stood earlier.

The rest of my journey to where Loriana was located at was quiet, with not future problems or issues. The train arrived in station and I exited the train and then the station.