-
The T.V. was tuned to the 6:00 AM
morning news. A news commentary on the crime rate on the subway buzzed in the
background as Lizbeth prepared breakfast. With the growth of the city and
increased use of the subway, the crime rate on the subway had grown as well.
There was talk of hiring more security staff for the subway. In the
kitchenette Lizbeth was spreading jam on toast, and swallowing a mouthful of
orange juice at the same time. She was in a hurry. She had several places she
wanted to go, before she started work. Lizbeth wasn’t paying attention to the
morning news. She shut the T.V. off, grabbed her sweater, and purse and left
the small apartment.
-
Lizbeth worked at a small cosmetics
company, primarily as a telemarketer; although she undertook other tasks
occasionally ‘as needed’. Typical for a small company. The cosmetics company
was in the business district of the town fairly far from the low rent
apartment where Lizbeth lived. She regularly took the subway to work.
-
Lizbeth was walking down the subway
walkway, her mind focused on her work, when suddenly her neck jerked
violently. Someone behind her had grabbed her necklace and broke it off. The
necklace was well made with fairly hefty links to it. It took a lot of force
to break off, and the chain left a red mark on Lizbeth's neck. Attached to the
necklace was a one-of-a-kind pendant, a back-to-back 'C' shape in appearance.
The pendant's shape had a personal significance to Lizbeth.
-
By the time Lizbeth realized what
happened, the assailant was a number of meters away and running fast. Lizbeth
yelled angrily: 'Hey give that back asshole. I need that to live.' It was true
that Lizbeth needed the pendant to live, but not to stay alive. Lizbeth
recollected a time when she learned the difference between simply being alive,
and living.
-
She took several steps to pursue the
guy, but then realized she'd never be able to catch him, and gave up. Her
attire wasn’t appropriate for a foot-race.
-
She mused to herself, with several
people listening nearby: 'I'll have to hire an investigator to find that.'
-
Lizbeth decided to take a cab to the
hospital to get her neck checked out.
-
After going to the hospital and police
station, Lizbeth finally arrived at work – three hours late. It was turning
out to be a bad day for her. Tomorrow wasn’t going to be fun either, she’d
have to talk to her father about how to get the device back.
-
Lizbeth had a keychain signaller for
the device in case she lost track of the device. Lizbeth’s device could be
made to beep loudly when Lizbeth pressed the button on her keychain. She’d
left her keychain button at home.