When Han got home, sleep eluded him. The condo felt unbearable. If Mars ever saw it in this state, he cringed at the thought. He began filling boxes for sale and bags for trash, driven by sudden urgency. As he finally crawled into bed, the casino app chirped. He nearly ignored it, but muscle memory won out. One pull, nothing. Second and third, nothing. On the fourth, the wheels spun, each landing on jackpot. His breathing stopped as the last locked.

  Lights and sounds exploded in celebration as his balance climbed. Tears streamed from his unblinking eyes. When it ended, the screen read $26,857.37.

  Heart pounding, he scrambled to transfer the funds to his bank, fingers trembling so badly he mistyped the password twice. “Transaction complete.” He stared, half-expecting it to vanish. It didn’t. Within minutes his debts were gone. He wept openly, chain-smoked on the balcony, then returned inside possessed. By dawn, garbage bags, donation piles, and sale boxes lined the walls. The kitchen gleamed for the first time in years.

  Exhausted, he collapsed and dreamed not of money, but of Mars.

  When he woke, the money remained. Online sales notifications piled up, and panic set in. He had to reach the pawn shop before closing, mail packages, and buy groceries. By the time he returned home it was dark, but Mars’s texts washed away the fatigue.

  The next day brought more cleaning and playful messages. This wasn’t just another day; it felt like a new life, the one he’d always imagined. Things were finally turning around. Before he knew it, he fell asleep on the couch, only to be jolted awake by his alarm. Time for work.

  A couple of days later, her message arrived: “Dinner tomorrow, 7 p.m. My place.” He could hardly wait.

  She never mentioned the ravioli was handmade; he never revealed the wine’s cost or the casino win. They simply agreed it was a wonderful meal.

  On the couch afterward, Mars chose the Overlord movie from the list Han sent. The wine vanished steadily until the bottle was empty. By the credits, her blouse was slightly undone, and neither paid attention to the screen. When her bra became undone, she gently stopped him. “You should go,” she murmured. “You have work in the morning.”

  He knew another late arrival could cost him his job. Reluctantly, he stood. They walked to the door together.

  After he tied on his shoes, she pulled him close and kissed him again. “I’ll see you again soon,” she said while she slipped her bra into his pocket.

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  Emotions and words tangled in his throat. “I’ll see you again soon,” he echoed, stealing a last kiss before stepping into the cold corridor. The door closed behind him. What the fuck just happened?

  The next day was a blur, until her lunch-break text: “Dinner Friday at your place, what time?”

  “6 p.m.,” he replied. She sent a thumbs-up, and his heart soared.

  He planned everything: a romantic beach dinner, anime on the couch, more wine, no work the next morning. After another intense cleaning session, he was finally able to close the door to the spare bedroom. “Hope she doesn’t look in there,” he laughed to himself.

  With time left and money to spare, he sat for a quick casino session. He lost nearly three hundred dollars and was about to quit when a sudden win recovered it all, plus an extra week’s pay. Late as it was, sleep wouldn’t come. He stepped onto the balcony for a cigarette, staring at the night sky and smiling uncontrollably.

  “I’m not dead yet!” he shouted.

  Fiery streaks suddenly crossed the sky, a meteor shower. A perfect end to an unbelievable week. He made a wish on a shooting star, then realized one was falling straight toward him. It dipped at the last moment and struck the shoreline of his favorite beach. He knew he had to go.

  “Will my luck never end?!” Han shouted aloud as he rushed to his car to investigate.

  The drive to the beach was short, but his mind raced ahead. He pictured Mars picking up a newspaper to see his face splashed across it. What if the meteorite was priceless? He could retire, quit his job tomorrow. Sleep tugged at him. He knew he should rest since tomorrow was date night. He wanted to be well rested, but couldn't help himself.

  On the beach, with the tide pulling back, he hoped to find at least a rock or two. After more than an hour of fruitless searching, he was ready to give up. Then his foot came down on something sharp buried in the sand. Panic flared. He thought he’d stepped on a sea urchin, but when he pulled his foot free, he found a jagged piece of metal with a strange green hue and faint markings.

  A strange pull drew him deeper. Limping from the pain, he waded into the salt water, which stung his open wound. Knee-deep, he spotted the next piece. Certain he’d stumbled onto something extraordinary, he kept searching. Over the next hour, each new fragment seemed to connect magnetically to the others. The more he found, the easier the next became. Small pieces even floated to the surface when he drew near. Every connection sparked a brief green flash, and he wondered fleetingly about radiation risks. The growing object began to resemble an alien artifact.

  Without noticing how far he’d gone, he found himself neck-deep when the final piece leaped from the water and snapped into place. He scanned for any missing fragments. None appeared. Satisfied, he turned toward shore, eager to get home and sleep. Tomorrow would be huge. He was going to be famous.

  As he waded back, the object in his hand began to glow a deep green. The aura expanded rapidly, enveloping him completely. Panic gripped his soul as space itself seemed to collapse around him. Flashes of Mars flooded his vision, the scent of her hair, the warmth of her body, the taste of her lips. Visions of what might have been scrolled past like a broken reel.

  He screamed, “I didn’t leave you!” as the walls of space and time folded inward. Then, in a blinding green flash, he was gone.