Flormart's sporting goods section was located toward the back of the store, past the automotive supplies and household items that occupied the front areas.
The fishing equipment display was more extensive than she had anticipated, with entire aisles dedicated to rods, reels, tackle, and accessories organized by fishing type and skill level.
She spent thirty minutes examining rod specifications and reel capabilities, taking notes about the differences between equipment designed for different fishing environments and skill levels.
The saltwater gear was noticeably more expensive than freshwater equipment, which confirmed Captain Morrison's information about the specialized materials required for marine environments.
Tabby had a thought then suddenly frowned.
She pressed her hand into the ineffective pocket of her jeans and produced a black leather wallet with a flourish. She hesitated, then soon wearily pried the two sides of the wallet open with quietly trembling fingers.
Curses.
Tabby stared at the interior of her wallet with growing dismay. Three crumpled dollar bills and a collection of loose change that might add up to another dollar constituted the entirety of her physical currency reserves.
The sight of her meager cash holdings sent an uncomfortable chill through her chest, and she realized that her enthusiasm for examining expensive fishing equipment had been entirely premature.
I should have considered my financial limitations before conducting equipment research.
She quickly retrieved her phone from her back pocket and opened the green-themed banking application that Veridian Bank had installed on all customer devices. The loading screen displayed the bank's distinctive leaf logo for several seconds before revealing her account balance in digital numerals: $127.43.
The tension that had been building in her shoulders and neck immediately dissipated, though she did not allow herself the luxury of visible relief in the middle of a public store.
One hundred and twenty-seven dollars was not substantial wealth, but it represented sufficient resources to begin her fishing project, particularly if she approached equipment purchases strategically and focused on essential items rather than premium gear.
It seems that I'll have to supplement my budget through part-time employment.
"..."
She returned her phone to her pocket and glanced at her watch, suddenly aware that her extended research session had consumed more time than she had allocated for this expedition.
Nearly forty minutes had passed since she decided to investigate the sportfishing charter service, and if she intended to complete that portion of her reconnaissance mission, she would need to depart Flormart immediately to avoid traveling home during the peak afternoon heat.
The walk to Grand Central Station required fifteen minutes of brisk movement through increasingly warm streets.
Monarque's train & subway system was an extensive network that connected to virtually every city and town due to it being a major city, and Grand Central served as the primary hub for travelers heading to the harbor district and surrounding areas. The station's reputation for reliability and comfort came with correspondingly higher ticket prices, but the time savings and climate-controlled environment justified the additional expense.
Tabby approached the automated ticket machine and selected her destination from the digital menu, watching with mild frustration as the payment processing screen deducted $4.75 from her bank account balance.
Public transportation costs were an unavoidable reality of urban living, but each expenditure reminded her that her financial resources were finite and would need to be managed carefully to support her fishing project objectives.
I will need to resume part-time employment sooner than anticipated. The combination of transportation costs, equipment expenses, and charter fees exceeds my current budget capacity.
Unfortunate.
She had worked intermittent shifts at a local coffee shop during her first year of high school, primarily to fund her energy drink consumption and occasional clothing purchases. The work had been tedious and required more social interaction than she preferred, but the hourly wages had provided financial independence that she had appreciated until her academic workload intensified and she decided to prioritize her studies over employment.
The train that arrived at her platform was one of the newer models that featured comfortable seating and adequate air conditioning, though the passenger compartment was crowded with midday travelers heading to various destinations throughout the metropolitan area.
Tabby found an available seat near a window and settled in for the hour long journey to the sportfishing charter service location.
Tabby had always possessed a tendency toward obsessive focus when something captured her interest. During middle school, she had spent three months learning everything available about urban beekeeping after reading a magazine article about declining bee populations, though she had never actually attempted to maintain a hive.
The previous summer, she had devoted considerable time and energy to mastering origami techniques after discovering that the precision required for complex folding patterns appealed to her systematic approach to problem-solving.
Most of her intense interests eventually faded when she had absorbed the available information or when practical limitations made further pursuit impractical.
The fishing project felt different, however, because it involved real-world application rather than purely theoretical knowledge, and the social components introduced variables that could not be controlled through independent study alone.
She had never been particularly skilled at reading social cues or understanding the unspoken rules that seemed to govern most interactions.
Conversations often felt like coding problems where she could identify individual elements but struggled to understand how they combined to create meaningful communication. The result was that most people viewed her as distant or uninterested in social connection, when in reality she simply lacked the intuitive understanding that others seemed to possess naturally.
And the result of that was her growing up with little connections, leading to her not really being all too interested in them. She was doing well with the limited amount she had now, wasn't she?
The only two 'close' connections she currently maintained, other than family, were Jayden and Caine, both of whom she had known since elementary school through circumstances that had more to do with proximity and shared academic interests than any natural social affinity.
Jayden possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of video game mechanics and programming languages, while Caine had developed expertise in automotive repair through necessity when his family's financial situation made professional maintenance services prohibitively expensive. Both relationships had endured primarily because they required minimal emotional investment and centered around practical information exchange rather than the complex social dynamics that characterized most teenage friendships.
Tabby's mom, Helen, had spent years encouraging her to participate in group activities and social events that she hoped would help her daughter develop more natural social connections.
Most of these attempts had been unsuccessful, not because Tabby was unwilling to engage with others, but because the social dynamics of typical teenage gatherings operated according to rules that she found difficult to decipher and impossible to predict.
The train's gentle swaying motion combined with the steady background noise of the engine and air conditioning system created a surprisingly peaceful environment for reflection.
Tabby found herself staring out the window at the passing suburban landscape, observing the transition from residential neighborhoods to commercial districts as they approached the harbor region.
Her family had always been understanding of her social peculiarities, though she suspected that her mother's professional background as a therapist contributed to their patience with her unconventional approach to interpersonal relationships.
Danny, despite being several years younger, seemed to accept her directness and lack of emotional expression as normal aspects of her personality rather than deficiencies that needed correction.
Her father's current absence in Russia visiting extended family had been planned for months, though the timing coincided unfortunately with her newfound interest in fishing. He had mentioned during previous conversations that he had participated in recreational fishing during his college years, but his knowledge was likely geographically specific to different fishing environments.
The train began to decelerate as they approached Coldwater Station, and Tabby gathered herself while reviewing her mental list of objectives for this portion of her reconnaissance mission.
Coldwater was significantly more crowded than she had expected based on her limited knowledge of the area.
The station platform was busy with tourists and locals conducting afternoon business, and the streets beyond the station entrance were filled with pedestrians moving between shops, restaurants, and the various maritime attractions that drew visitors to the harbor community.
She extracted her phone and activated the GPS navigation app to locate the specific address of the charter service, though she planned to explore some of the surrounding area as well to identify any additional resources that might be relevant to her fishing project.
The walk toward the harbor district took her past several establishments that caught her attention briefly, including a marine supply store that displayed fishing equipment in its front window and a small restaurant advertising "fresh daily catches" on a hand-painted sign.
Though one location wasn't entirely focused on the objective at hand, she didn't mind noting it as a future destination. Still, she maintained her focus on reaching the primary objective.
She was passing by a particularly busy movie theater with large promotional posters advertising current films when she experienced a sudden sensation of reduced weight.
It was subtle but noticeable enough to cause her to pause mid-stride.
The feeling was not dramatic, but it was distinct enough that her body registered the change immediately.
Something has been removed from my person.
Tabby turned around deliberately and found herself facing a petite blonde girl who had clearly not anticipated being detected in her theft attempt.
The girl's nervous smile and defensive posture confirmed Tabby's assessment of the situation, and the presence of Tabby's black leather wallet in the girl's hand eliminated any remaining uncertainty about what had occurred.
From what she could tell, the pickpocket was likely younger than herself due to her shorter and thinner stature, with long unkempt blonde hair and aggressively dark circles under her lime-colored eyes.
Her clothing appeared worn and ill-fitting, and her overall appearance indicated someone who had been living in challenging circumstances for an extended period.
This individual is likely experiencing financial hardship or homelessness, which would explain the resort to theft as a survival strategy.
However, that doesn't mean I will let go of a wallet that contains my limited cash reserves and identification.
They stood motionless for several seconds, both assessing the unexpected situation that had developed.
The blonde girl appeared caught between the desire to flee and the recognition that her theft had been discovered before she could complete her escape. Her nervous expression shifted between guilty embarrassment and defensive hostility as she processed the fact that Tabby was studying her with calm analytical attention rather than displaying the angry outrage that most victims would exhibit.
Tabby found herself alternating her gaze between her phone's screen, which still displayed the navigation directions to the charter service, and the girl who held her wallet.
The surrounding foot traffic continued moving past them, but several pedestrians had begun to notice the unusual tableau of two teenage girls staring at each other in apparent confrontation.
Tabby realized that prolonged inaction would likely attract unwanted attention from well-meaning adults or potentially law enforcement, either of which would complicate her schedule and interfere with her planned activities.
After concluding her assessment of the situation and the various options available for addressing it, Tabby spoke with her characteristic directness.
"...Can you not?"