With the last remnants of the barbecue, Elias felt a measure of his energy return. The immediate gnawing hunger was satisfied, allowing his focus to sharpen. Next: a phone. He needed a lifeline, a way to access information, and a tool to navigate this unfamiliar yet eerily familiar world. The market was sprawling, a labyrinth of stalls and shouting vendors. He moved with purpose, eyes darting, searching for a sign advertising electronics.
He found a small stall tucked between a fabric vendor and a noisy mechanic's shop. A glass display case, slightly dusty, held an assortment of basic handsets. An elderly man with thick-rimmed spectacles sat behind the counter, absorbed in a game on his own phone. Elias felt the familiar, faint pull of pollution emanating from the man – a low hum of boredom, perhaps a touch of mild irritation at the slow pace of business.
"Good evening," Elias greeted, "Do you have a simple phone? Just for calls and data."
The man looked up, his expression unreadable. "Simple? Yes. Cheapest is this one." He gestured to a small, blocky phone. "Just a few thousand Lumens. Good battery."
Elias examined it. It was basic, probably outdated even by his old world's standards, but it would serve. "I'll take it. And a SIM card, please." The transaction was quick, impersonal. Just another customer, just another sale. Yet, for Elias, each such interaction was a small victory, a reaffirmation that he could still function in this fragile semblance of normalcy.
With the phone in hand, and a fresh SIM card inserted, Elias retreated from the densest part of the market, finding a relatively quiet bench under a lone, struggling tree. He powered on the device. The familiar chime, the glowing screen. He had access. Maps, news feeds, even the faint, lingering possibility of searching for "Eldritch incidents" disguised as mundane phenomena. The irony wasn't lost on him: fighting cosmic horrors would require knowing the bus schedule and the local news. He had a weapon on his palm, but his greatest advantage still lay in the knowledge of the game.