Beyond the Afterlife

CHAPTER 8

"WHAT the hell is this? How does this thing even work?"

Lyra heard a soft exclamation. She was inside a cafeteria across from HCMC, in a corner that wasn't too popular with customers, a bit dimly lit. She was reviewing some medical findings she'd been obsessively studying, so she even brought them out during her break.

"Those humans! Why do they love making useless things?" she heard the voice complaining about something again.

When she looked toward the source of the soft grumbling, she saw a man with a hooded jacket, hunched over what seemed to be a brand-new smartphone. The packaging and accessories were scattered across the table. He was fiddling with the phone, turning it over, shaking it as if expecting something to fall out.

"Damn this f*****g thing!"

Without warning, he slammed the poor smartphone onto the table. Then, he discreetly put on a mask over his mouth and left without bothering to take his things. Lyra frowned. The man was bundled up as if he was freezing. Sure, it was cold in the cafeteria, but wasn't he overdoing it? He even wore gloves. What did he think—was he in Korea? She could barely see his face, and when he turned and left, she lost sight of him completely.

Curious, she approached the things he left on the table. It really looked brand new; the crumpled receipt was still there. Who in their right mind would just leave a smartphone worth almost fifty thousand bucks?

She gathered everything and dashed towards the café's exit. Just as the man was stepping out, she grabbed his arm. He seemed startled, and with lightning reflexes, he yanked his arm free from her grip with such force that she almost stumbled.

"Hey, mister, I was just trying to return your things," she said, confused. The man suddenly lowered his head, making it even harder for her to see his face under the hood and mask.

She could also hear him faintly groaning. She thought the man might have some alien ancestry—his height wasn't typical. He was so tall she had to crane her neck to look up at him. But since he was speaking Tagalog, maybe he was a half-breed.

"You just left them. This stuff isn’t cheap, it’s a waste. If you can’t get it to work, you can always return it to the store," she said, holding out the gadget.

She pressed the power button once, and the phone immediately powered on. The welcome tone played, and to her surprise, the man in front of her suddenly flinched. He quickly recovered, showing no other visible reaction.

"See? It’s working fine. Didn’t you check it before leaving the store?"

She tried to glimpse his face, but she still couldn't see it. It seemed impossible that he was a thief. When she discreetly examined his outfit, she immediately noticed the designer labels. From his hoodie, jeans, to his sneakers, everything he wore was expensive. He looked so well-off, yet strangely, this guy didn’t know how to use a smartphone.

Seriously?

"I was in a hurry."

He suddenly snatched the smartphone and the box from her hands. She was stunned, especially when he walked away without a backward glance.

"That rude brute!" she muttered angrily, glaring at the shameless man. "He didn’t even say thank you. I helped him power up his phone. Tss!"

Annoyed, she went back inside the cafeteria and returned to her seat. But then she noticed the SIM card on the man's table earlier. It was already open, and the microSIM was missing—he must have already inserted it into his phone. If he knew how to insert a SIM, why couldn’t he power it on?

She was about to walk past the table when she caught sight of the SIM card packaging and immediately memorized the SIM card number. Her mind was that sharp—once she saw or heard a number, it was etched in her memory.

"Geez! Why do I even care about that rude guy..." She headed back to her table when she suddenly froze. The tone of the man's voice kept replaying in her head. It sounded so familiar. She was sure she had heard it before. Then, like a switch, the realization dawned on her.

"That was him!"

She quickly ran outside the cafeteria again, but the man was no longer in the direction he had been walking earlier. Where did he go? Where did he turn? Where was this guy from, and why did she keep running into him wherever she went?

And the biggest question of all... Who was he?

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