Saigid is practically on the edge of the track. One step either way and he's on the other side. Close enough that one wrong move and that's it. The light directly over head is clinical; it sees through everything; his blonde hair, his hawk nose and those dead eyes that look past you rather than at you. Life moves around him normally.
Someone is laughing.
Someone is talking on the phone, arguing, waving.
Someone is walking quickly, almost running.
The noise at the station is alive and well, everything around him is sounding and moving. But Saigid isn't there. He's simply standing, slightly hunched over. He holds his phone in his hand, staring at it as if he's not waiting for a train. As if he's waiting for something entirely different.
As if this matters more than anything else.
At that moment, the train approaches and rumbles.
The wind from it pushes against him. For a second, his balance shifts forward—just slightly—then settles again.
Saigid holds onto the handrail in the car with one hand, the other holding his phone, the screen white and cold. He quickly scrolls through the feed. It stops.
It says:
"Aizorod — pre-order now."
His finger hovers over it for a moment. Then he taps.
Loading. The image spins.
No. No, not now.
There's a signal. Four bars. Why isn't it working then?
I press it again. And again. The circle spins. Spins. Error.
Oh my God, what's going on.
I was two seconds away. Two fucking seconds. The screen froze at the exact moment when… when it's all over. When all that's left is reliability.
There's a connection, but no internet. How is that possible? How is this even possible?
I reboot. I wait. Nothing.
I don't have the strength for this anymore. I can't handle it anymore. And now this.
…
Saigid frowns. He looks — there's a connection, a full signal. He taps again, and again.
On the screen: "Connection error."
He breathes heavily through his nose.
"Seriously?.."
He taps "refresh," again, and again.
The circle spins longer than it should.
Too long.
Suddenly the screen freezes.
A man nearby makes an irritated sound:
"Your network is bad too?"
Saigid doesn't answer, he just stares at the screen. The connection seems to be working, but there's no internet. He's almost putting his phone away.
At that moment, the train jerks.
Saigid quickly looks up.
For the first time in all this time, he tears his eyes away from the screen.
Suddenly the train jerks sharply.
Too sharply.
People stumble. Someone swears.
Saigid looks up and for a split second, the lights go out.
When they come back on, something feels… wrong.
Not broken.
Wrong.
Someone screams.
The lights flicker
and then
a message appears in front of everyone.
Not on the screen.
In the air.
[Survive until tomorrow]
[Reward: 1,000,000 coins]