After I got the checklist, I went to the dome observation room.

There was my personal observation cabinet that I had used for seven years.

I pushed open the heavy soundproof door.

Cold air from the climate control system hit me as I stepped inside.

But I froze in place.

Someone was sitting at my control console—the one with the best observation angle.

It was Lily.

She was wearing a white dress.

Earbuds in her ears, she swayed gently to the music.

The screen in front of her showed the orbital parameters of the newly discovered asteroid.

On the desk were trajectory charts personally annotated by Adrian.

Hearing the door, she turned around.

When she saw me, she quickly took off her earbuds and gave an innocent smile.

"Clara, you're here. Adrian said I could sit here tonight to experience the moment the asteroid was discovered. You don't mind, right?"

I looked at her, and her spotless white dress.

In this station where wind and sand raged year-round, filled with grease and dust everywhere.

She looked out of place in her cleanliness.

"Non-project personnel are not allowed to access raw data."

I walked up to the control console.

My voice was completely flat.

"Please leave."

Lily bit her lip, her eyes turning red.

"Clara, I was just looking… It was Adrian who told me to come. He said they needed footage for the press conference."

Rapid footsteps came from outside the door.

Adrian strode in.

He pulled Lily behind him.

His brows were tightly locked together.

"Clara, what are you doing now? She's just looking. It won't affect the orbital results. Don't use research regulations as an excuse to target her."

I watched him shielding Lily.

It felt almost ridiculous.

"Rules are rules. If data leaks, who takes responsibility?"

Adrian looked at me coldly.

"I will. I'm the project lead. I allowed her to sit here. If you don't like it, close your eyes."

I nodded.

I didn't look at them again.

I walked straight to my observation cabinet in the corner, opened it, and started taking things out.

A thermos, sandproof goggles, and a few half-used red and blue pencils.

And at the bottom, a meteorite slice pendant.

That winter, the station lost power, and the backup generator took forever to fix.

We wrapped ourselves in the same military coat, guarding the telescope in sub-zero temperatures.

Adrian took a meteorite slice from his pocket, saying it was just a leftover fragment from field sampling.

He threaded it with a red cord and put it around my neck.

"Clara, others wear diamonds. You wear a fragment of a star."

I remembered those words for many years.

Now it just felt ridiculous.

He named the star after someone else, yet expected me to be grateful for a fragment for the rest of my life.

I held the pendant in my hand.

The red cord had darkened from sweat.

I didn't hesitate.

I walked to the recycling bin by the door, and let go.

The metallic impact rang sharply in the quiet observation room.

The pendant hit the bottom of the bin.

Adrian's gaze snapped toward me.

He saw what I had thrown away.

His pupils tightened.

His face darkened.

"Clara, what are you doing?"

He strode over, staring fixedly at the bin.

He had polished it himself.

He had always thought I would keep it forever.

I dusted off my hands.

"Cleaning out trash."

Adrian's breathing grew heavier.

He looked like he wanted to explode, but forced it down.

He said through gritted teeth.

"Clara, you're throwing it away so easily now. Don't come back asking me for it later."

I put the last handwritten observation log into the box.

Behind me, Lily softly asked Adrian if he could watch meteors with her tonight.

Adrian didn't respond, only staring at the meteorite pendant in the bin.

I didn't look back.

I used to follow his gaze to look at the stars.

Now, I only wanted to give my own night sky back to myself.