Chapter 3 - Phone Thief

Tuesday morning, 6am, Sato's Mark3 phone alarm rang aloud. The young adult clumsily got out of bed and headed for the washroom. He had gotten almost close to no sleep for he kept thinking about what he should say all night. He knew that if people with university degrees applied, he would be at a disadvantage. He needed to play to his advantages, like how he was willing to do whatever work requested by his boss, no matter how tiring or ridiculous it can be. It was do or die.

The pay for this job is equivalent to any middle ranking position at a high ranking company. With this money, I would definitely be able to pay my school fees, thought Sato.

Swiftly, Sato brushed and washed himself up. He then headed to his mini kitchen to cook himself a nice fried egg for his slice of bread. A simple yet delicious meal was what Sato aimed for everyday. He needed to not only save money, but also keep his body healthy to keep studying. Just eating instant noodles will not cut it.

At around 7.30am, Sato changed up and left the house, getting on the nearby fast train towards the interview place. It was located at the Central Manpower base of Country Z, which was located in the center of the country. The military had built their base there as a central network to all of the other active units in the country. It provide better and more efficient transport of documents towards the Central Manpower Base.

The trip to central took about 30 mins which was already considered very fast if compared to back in the early 2000s that would have taken him an hour. The whole time Sato was researching on common interview questions and practicing on himself. He needed this extra bit of preparation to make himself more confident. He had almost forgotten to get off at his stop.

Alighting at the "Central Station", Sato followed the GPS towards the location. It showed that he required to walk around 30 minutes to get there. Since he was still early, Sato decided to walk to the base.

Central Station was -- as the name states-- the hub of Country Z. It was where not only the big corporations of the country run their business, but also the central shopping district. On one side would usually be where all the tourist and citizens come and shop for items, while the other is the area where business man and working individuals aggregate. Its quite impossible to mix up these two districts.

As Sato walked down the clean pavements of the business district, he noticed that all the people here were either on their phones calling people or madly running towards a certain direction. It really felt like time was truly money and they could not waste even a second of it. Pressured, he started walking faster and eventually turned right to reach a rather quiet pathway.

Along this path were less cramped up corporate buildings as it strayed away from the central road that he was previously on. He felt like he could finally breathe. As the youth was about to start walking again, the boy noticed a rather tall man standing near the road side in a brown down jacket and a button up blue shirt. The man was wearing glasses and talking over the phone. You could tell that the phone was one of the latest in the phone lines and he was extremely well to do. Moreover, the man was very handsome. His red glowing lips and symmetrical face gave off a rather eye opening vibe. He looked perfect even without looking at his eyes.

As the man was talking over the phone, a guy that wore a dark black hoodie was walking up towards his at a fast pace. Sato noticed this and continued to watch his actions. Eventually, things went array when the dark hooded guy rammed into the man and snatched the hand phone out of the man's hand. He then ran away towards Sato's direction at breakneck speed.

Without thinking Sato swiftly ran and started chasing him. He shouted, "Stop right there you thief!"

The young adult ran after him and winded around many different walk ways. He soon found himself quite winded but continued to pursue him. It was due to this type of people that others think that citizens that live in the suburbs were all thiefs. He hated that nickname.

Turning left with the thief, the hooded man had reached a dead end and turned around to look at Sato. He took out a pocket knife and pointed it at Sato. "Hey young man, ya better stop this chase. For if ya don't, I may just accidentally hurt ya!" The man shouted out intimidatingly.

"Hey man come on. This is not the right thing to do. Stealing will never get you anywhere in your life. Just hand the phone to me and I will not call the cops." Sato tried negotiating with him.

"Hahahaha. You think after I am done with you, you would still be able to call the cops? Dream on!" The hooded man ran up to him and thrusted his right armed arm towards Sato.

Instinctively, Sato side stepped leftwards and helded onto the man's knife arm. He tried to trip the man over, but he was quicker and had kneed him in the stomach. It left Sato winded as he clutched his stomach and leaned against the brick wall.

"I told ya not to mess with me! Now face the consequences!" The thief angrily sliced downwards at Sato.

Ah, this may be the end of my life. How pathetic. Sato sniggered inwardly as he recalled his whole life. He had never been able to achieve any of his dreams due to the multiple setbacks in his life. Now he was going to die just like this.

Sato closed his eyes and fainted. He had accepted his unfortunate fate. At this point, the young man did not realise that the man whose phone was stolen was standing around the area awaiting a moment to strike. The man in a down jacket grabbed onto the hood of the thief as he threw him backwards, away from Sato. As the thief hits the wall, he then delivered a round house kick onto his head, instantly knocking him out.

Dusting himself off he took the phone from the unconsious thief and turned himself towards Sato. He looked at the righteous young man infront of him and kneeled down. Placing two fingers under his nose, he checked to see that the boy was fine and carried him up with his strong arms.

At that time, several man dressed in black ran up towards the down jacket man and immediately bow down 90 degrees. "Sir! I deeply apologise for the mistake that we made! We should've been beside you at all times!"

"Its alright. Stand straight please." The man said a few words before carrying Sato and placing him inside his black rolls royce. They left towards a building in the central. The thief was immediately sent off to the police station without delay.