It was a rainy afternoon.

He was driving his car, heading to another one of his wife’s chores.

“Go to ma. She has cooked dolmades(Greek Stuffed Vine/ Grape Leaves). And don’t forget to go to the Super Market on your way home. We need cheese and ham for toasted sandwiches,” she told him on the phone.

As always, he went with no objections.

It had just started raining. A stupid, light, tedious rain which barely made the street wet and slippery.

“Where is my mind” by Pixies was playing on the radio. The song was a perfect description of his mood at that time. He couldn’t have asked for something more suitable.

There was some traffic on the sideway of Doukisis Plakentias subway station. He saw a girl from afar. She was wearing a t-shirt, shorts and sandals and was walking in the rain. She was a usual girl, seventeen year-old tops. He usually paid no attention to such girls. He was extremely picky and certainly not the type who would tease or hit on a girl on the street, especially at her age. He had literally never done that before.

This time was different, however. Something urged him and without second thoughts, he turned right. Once he reached the part of the street where the girl was, he stopped. He rolled down the window and said:

“Can I give you a ride?”

The girl opened the door and got in without even looking at him or saying anything.

He checked her out of the corner of his eye. She had dark red hair, shapely legs and voluminous breasts for her age. Her hair and t-shirt were wet.

He started the car. The traffic light was fifty meters ahead.

“Turn right at the traffic light,” she said.

He said nothing and turned right. The girl was looking straight in front of her. She spoke again after a while.

“Turn right.”

After five or six blocks they saw a park to the left and a school to the right.

They were both desolate due to the time and the rain.

When they reached the park, she asked him to stop.

He did and she turned to look at him for the first time.

Her face was attractive but she had nothing out of the ordinary. What was impressive though, was her eyes. They were a very strange shade of green and blue. But the strangest thing about them was that they were different. The right pupil was bluer and the left greener. They also had a strange depth. Just like looking into a tunnel.

She looked him in the eyes again. He felt uncomfortable but couldn’t take his eyes off her. He felt mesmerized.

Without saying anything, she touched his right temple with the tip of her left finger and his left temple with the tip of her right finger. The feeling was unprecedented. A strange heat overwhelmed him. He felt a flow of energy penetrating his mind then the rest of his body. He felt each and every cell of his body filling with energy.

The whole procedure didn’t last long. Fifty to sixty seconds tops. Afterwards, the girl removed her hands from his head. She kept looking at him though, as if she wanted to make sure that whatever happened was successful.

The color of her pupils had now changed. They had assumed a shade of light red.

“Follow the instructions and you’ll have nothing to worry about anymore,” she told him, then opened the door, got out of the car and walked away.

He remained there for a few minutes, trying to explain what had just happened. He loved anything that had to do with the paranormal and science fiction. He had seen and read almost everything. Reading though had nothing to do with having a similar experience yourself.

In his mind and body, there was no trace of what he had felt before. He was completely certain though that he had experienced it and not simply imagined it. He recalled similar incidents he had read, trying to think of a clear explanation.

He concluded that what he had felt was a form of bioenergy.

So far, so good. But why him? Under which criteria and for what purpose? And what did the girl mean when she said: “Follow the instructions and you’ll have nothing to worry about anymore?” What instructions was he supposed to follow?

Unable to find a solid explanation at least for now, he decided to continue his way to his wife’s chores.

He went to his mother in law who in turn forced him to bring a “gift” to her sister (it must ran in the family). On his way home, he went to the supermarket like a “good, obedient boy”. He called his wife from the supermarket who had forgotten something as usual and then returned home.

His thirteen-year-old daughter announced her new plans. She decided to skip the PanHellenic exams and attend a Hairdresser’s School which needed neither exams nor good grades. “Jesus, she has only taken two exams for the first time and she is already trying to avoid the PanHellenic exams, even if they take place in six years.” As always, he encouraged her that he will be there for her and support her decisions as long as they are realistic, knowing that she will change her mind and plans, many times by then.

His wife, always disputatious, never satisfied with anything and sometimes showing traces of malice, raised objections as usual.

He paid no attention and went to his study. It was precious as it allowed him his personal space and usually, peace and quiet. Using work as an excuse was enough to distance himself and keep the balance between two “teenagers”. A literal one and a figurative one, even worse than the first.

He worked on tying some loose ends and temporarily forgot the whole incident.

The afternoon passed, giving way to the evening and its usual routine. Constant stress and reminding his daughter to take a shower before going to bed. Tidying up the bedroom (he was always the one who made the beds and arranging the pillows), locking up the doors and windows at night and finally his wife going to sleep.

He always stayed in his study to watch some of his favorite shows or a movie until he felt drowsy. If he wasn’t sleepy enough, he couldn’t sleep well.

He did the same that night. He wanted to watch some Supernatural episodes from the 10th season.

But this was not an ordinary night.

Just before he opened the episode file, a message appeared in his mind. Instructions came out of nowhere, prompting him to visit certain sites on the Internet.

One of them was a popular bank in Slovenia. He was familiar with that bank as a colleague used it to compensate him for certain tasks he performed on the Internet.

He was typing automatically without even thinking.

The bank URL, username, password, PIN, certification number, confirmation number. He suddenly realized that his IP had changed. He was now using a private, virtual IP in Switzerland. The bank notified him that they had accepted his credentials and he was now able to carry out transactions up to 150,000 Euros each. His account balance was 3,000,000 Euros and the account was in his name. What the hell?

He started typing again and this time he wired 150,000 Euros to a bank account of an English bank in Seychelles. This went on. He sent seven remittances in total in different banks. For every transaction, he saved the receipt on his computer in a PDF form. When he was done, he logged off. He had transferred 1,050,000 Euros but he had no idea where. It suddenly dawned on him that the bank’s website was in Slovenian. Of course he didn’t speak Slovenian but this hadn’t been a problem at all.

He relaxed for a while but this didn’t last long. A new burst of information bombarded his brain again.

This time, he found himself visiting a bank in Turks & Caicos Islands. These islands belonged to British offshore territory and he knew about them from a movie he had seen recently. They had played a part in the money trafficking the British Commonwealth (Queen included) was trying to hide. In most banks there, you could open a bank account online by just declaring your credentials without needing to present any proof. To conduct transactions, you needed the bank account number, password, the eight-digit PIN and a specific application you downloaded after creating your account. This application produced a different code every minute. This was similar to Google Authenticator, only this one was bound to your personal account.

He gave the credentials that the instructions showed him in his mind. The system confirmed and granted him access. The account was anonymous, just like those in certain Swiss banks. His account balance was almost 10,000,000 US dollars.

The instructions in his mind urged him to wire 5,500,000 US dollars to a Real Estate company in order to buy a mansion at Providenciales, the best of the Turks & Caicos islands. The mansion was located at Long Bay Beach, in the Eastern part of the island. It was one of the top ten beaches in the world. It belonged to a famous compound of luxury residences, apartments and hotel suites. There were six mansions in total and this was one of them. It was an 800 square meter building in a 1,800 square meter land property. It had six bedrooms on two floors and a private swimming pool. The compound also had three restaurants, swimming pools, health spa as well as stores, a tennis court and an event hall. In the wider area, there were also thirty-eight suites divided in two buildings. He transferred the money under the name Max Headroom. The system confirmed the transaction. After realizing he had access to a new e-mail account, he received the transaction confirmation from the Real Estate company. He now owned the mansion. The next day, he would receive instructions and the contract in digital form.

Later, in that same e-mail account, he received a notification. In two days, a special courier would present him with his new British passport under the name Max Headroom as well as an International Driver’s License under the same name. Immediately after, the confirmations of the transactions he had made from the Slovenian bank to seven others reached his inbox. All the accounts were under the name Max Headroom and all the banks informed him that they would send him the corresponding debit card in two days.

It was Monday, a few minutes to midnight. He would theoretically receive everything by Wednesday.

Now the crucial question. Why him and what would he do with all this?

He already had 7,500,000 US dollars in several bank accounts as well as a luxurious mansion in Turks & Caicos. Why? What for? And why Max Headroom?

As if someone had read his thoughts, new instructions appeared in his mind. He shouldn’t do anything until he received the documents. He shouldn’t speak about this to anyone, either. Absolutely no one, especially his family. He should continue acting as if nothing had happened.

Once he received the documents, he would also receive further instructions.

He was to continue his usual daily routine for now. Well, easier said than done. His mind was hyped up. He had so many questions. He should comply however and try to relax and get some sleep.

He watched two episodes of his favorite show but to no avail. He finally decided to go to bed.

He lay there but couldn’t sleep no matter how hard he tried. The main question in his mind was why all this had happened to him.

Try as he might, he couldn’t possibly come up with an explanation, even an irrational one. Exhausted as he was, he fell asleep at dawn.