A man who has lost everything

Ben Kipling has lost everything. His wife and kids left him. He got fired from his job. His house was being repossessed. He recently filed for bankruptcy, living on whatever small change he had left in his bank account. For years, he had held on and tried to be a good man, but the cards he was dealt were not in his favor. For years, he struggled, but he was always kicked right back down. He had been nice, playing by the rules and making a goodly impression. His reward was a slow and steady flush down the toilet until he was hardly anything more than a trickle of water. He had hit rock bottom, with his time spent on **** to spin away his worries until his body finally calls it quits.

One night, while he was out at his favorite dive bar, slumped over the counter with an empty bottle of Jacks, his hand suddenly felt something cold be pushed into his hand. Being **** to his limit, it took him a while to take notice. When he finally comes to to the sound of a heated argument between some barfly and her supposed boyfriend next to him, he found a strange piece of metal cupped inside his palm. Moments after he realized it was there, a wave of familiarity surged through his brain, giving him a jolt much likened to being struck by lightning. He struggled t steady himself, staring at the device with half conscious eyes. He knew what it was, as if awkwardly remembering some long lost memory from some distant time in the past. However, along with it, whatever it was the he could and could not remember at the same time, all the bad things he had been trying to forget came seeping back into his conscious thought. He clutched the device tight and ordered another round. Unlike those other times where he was refused another drink, the bartender seemed nice enough to pass him a whole new bottle.