Chapter 1: System Acquired

He couldn't contain his excitement as the final hour of his shift ticked away. This was going to be Roman's first weekend off in months. He was going to catch up on some much-needed sleep. All these extra hours were kicking his ass. The hours were long but Roman truly loves his job. He loves the residents. His supervisor Stephen is the only thing about the job that Roman doesn't like.

Stephen is truly useless. He sits in his office all day watching tv. He leaves all the heavy lifting to the other employees. There was one time Henrietta Newman needed assistance getting into their apartment. She called the maintenance number. Stephen was busy sleeping, and he missed the call. Henrietta was locked out of her apartment until Roman came up to the 25th floor for another service call.

A call for him came out over the radio during the last 30 minutes of his shift.

"Roman can you come see me in office?" Stephen called.

"Copy" Roman replied

What is Stephen calling him for? Roman thought to himself. If it was for him to stay over to cover someone for the night shift, the answer is an automatic no. He ran into Morgan Fielder on the elevator. Morgan and her husband owned the penthouse on the 40th floor. He spoke as he normally would. Morgan nodded. Something felt off but Roman couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Roman entered the office to find Logan Fielder sitting with Stephen. Stephen gestured for Roman to have a seat.

"Roman, Mr. Fielder has brought it my attention that some items were missing from his penthouse. You were the last one on the maintenance crew to do any work in the penthouse correct?"

Roman couldn't believe what he was hearing. Stephen was accusing him of stealing. Roman is no thief. The accusations were bullshit.

"Okay so what are you saying? You think I stole it?" Roman questioned trying to contain his rage.

This man that has never had to work in his life is accusing him of stealing. This only confirmed what all the other employees said about Stephen. All it took was a resident accusing an employee of something and Stephen would give them the boot. He has never once gone to bat for anyone. He has never conducted any investigation into the claims. Roman was convinced that Stephen has grape jelly where his spine should be.

The meeting made Morgan's behavior in the elevator make sense. She knew this was going to happen. She knew her husband was planning to get him fired. That would explain her efforts to avoid eye contact, and why she only nodded when he spoke to her. Roman thought it was strange but chalked it up to maybe she wasn't feeling social.

Morgan hesitated before opening her car door. She clutched her keys tightly, thinking about how she just let Roman walk into a set up. Why didn't she just tell Roman? She was alone with him in the elevator. All she had to do was open her mouth. She should have warned him. Roman was a good man. He would help her with the groceries while Logan went straight to the apartment without taking a single bag. Roman came to her aid when she had a flat tire.

Roman's leg began shaking. His rage was building. Truthfully Roman wants to stand up, grab the chair he is sitting in, and smash it across Stephen's head. How dare this lazy sack of Jello sit here and accuse me of stealing. Roman thought to himself.

"Roman turn in your radio, badge, and company shirt please. You terminated effective immediately."

"Now…Now Mr.Marshall there no need for that. If Roman apologizes and returns the item, he stole I'll forgive this incident." Logan chimed in with a mischievous grin on his face.

Roman's legs began shaking furiously.

"Mr.Fielder, that's very gracious of you, but we can't have thief on the staff. It's bad for business."

This was a clear set up. Stephen wanted Roman gone from his first day as supervisor. He couldn't walk over Roman like he did other employees. Roman would voice his opinion and call Stephen on his bullshit. When Ms.Newman got locked out Roman called Stephen out in the morning meeting the next day.

Logan thought Roman was going after his wife. He saw how Morgan and Roman interacted with each other. They had a playful relationship. Morgan and Roman had a lot in common. Morgan didn't come from money unlike Logan. Morgan grew up hard and she had to work for every dollar. She worked 3 jobs just to put herself through college.

He clutched the chair arms tightly. His legs shaking with rage. There is no way he is going to apologize for something he didn't do. Roman couldn't return something he didn't take. The grin on Logan's face sent Roman into a rage. Roman grabbed the radio from his belt and he threw it across the desk. He removed his company shirt, slamming it on Stephen's desk.

"I'll have security escort you off the premises." Stephen said, feeling victorious.

"Fuck you butterball!" Roman shouted knocking the picture of Stephen and his wife off the desk.

 Logan didn't say a word. He just sat there with the same goofy grin on his face.

"Security to the management office"

A tall muscular man entered the office. His hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Jonas please escort Mr.King to his car"

Stephen couldn't help but take one final dig at Roman. He knew Roman's car had been stolen. Roman had called off the day it happened and brought in a copy of the police report. Roman's rage was at a boiling point, he lunged at Stephen.

Jonas placed his hand on Roman's back. Jonas is one of the people that Roman considers a friend. Feeling Jonas' hand on his back Roman calmed down.

"Come man this job isn't worth your freedom." Jonas said.

"You right Jo my bad." Roman responded, turning to leave the office.

As the men walked, they spoke about the situation. Jonas felt it in his bones that Roman was set up. Stephen knew that Roman would be too prideful to confess to something he didn't do. Logan knew Roman could never produce an item he never stole.

The rain started to come down hard. His clothes are soaked, each step squishing loudly in his shoes. The bus is running late.

"Fuck!" Roman shouted

A silver Jeep pulls up to the bus stop. The person in the Jeep rows down the window. Much to Roman's surprise, Morgan is the driver. She offers him a ride. The sight of Morgan reignited his rage. How dare she let him walk into a set up and then offer him a ride like nothing happened.

"Fuck off you shady bitch!" Roman yelled.

"Roman I'm sorry. I had nothing to do with it. It was all my husband's idea and that manager that smells like wet dog and fried onions."

"You are just as guilty. You know I didn't steal shit from your home. You knew that they were setting me up. You could have told me when I saw you in the elevator. Instead, you stood there staring at the ground. You let me walk into that room looking like a dumb ass. I lost my job because of a lie your husband told."

Morgan sped off clutching the steering wheel tightly. She understood Roman's anger. She knew it was justified. She just couldn't help feeling like she lost a friend.

The bus finally arrived. Roman lifted his phone to show the bus driver he had purchased a pass on the app. The bus driver gave Roman a quick nod. The bus wasn't terribly crowded. Roman made his way to the back of the bus.

He leaned against the window. Roman fought back tears watching the rain hit the window. Three years he worked at that job and now he must start all over. Three years of his life gone just like that.

He shut his eyes for just a second. Before he knew he had fallen asleep.

"Next stop Rose and Mansfield." The automated voice on the bus said.

His eyes shot open.

Ding

"Stop requested!" the voice said.

Roman almost missed his stop. He had to walk a couple of blocks to get home. Thankfully the rain had stopped. His clothes were still soaked.

The sun was getting low. Roman had to input a code to enter his apartment building. The metal buttons made a distinct crunching sound.

"Uncle Roman!" two small boys shouted as they ran down the hall.

"Stop those twins!" someone shouted.

The twins ran to Roman. They clung onto his leg as their mother came out of the apartment.

"Hey Roman." Isabella said brushing her hair out of her face.

If Roman had to choose one word to describe Isabella it would be gorgeous. She is curvy, her skin light brown and flawless. Her chest and ass would grab any man's attention. The thing that draws Roman to her is her intelligence.

"Hey Izzy. I got your little runways right here." Roman said with a smile.

Leo and Teddy ran out when Isbella turned her focus to the stove.

It's hard being a single mom of twins. Despite the hardships the twins are taking care of. Roman has seen a side of Isabella that most people haven't. He's seen the vulnerable side. They have had many park therapy sessions where they just vent to one another.

"Izzy I need a therapy session tomorrow." Roman said.

She didn't say anything, but Isbella could tell Roman was on the verge of tears.

Roman gave Teddy and Leo a hug. Then he hugged Isabella.

"Alright Izzy I'll catch you tomorrow." Roman said before walking down the hall to his apartment.

He let out a long sigh of relief as he finally entered his home. His keys made a ding sound when they landed in the dish next to the door. His boots were the next thing to go. Roman was so happy to finally be able to take off his socks. The feeling of wet socks on his feet truly makes him angry.

Roman got a tee shirt and sweatpants from his dresser. Before he can change, he needs to shower.

For 20 minutes he stood under the water letting the stress of the day wash away. He shampooed and conditioned his hair. Washed his body using bodywash that Isabella had recommended. It smelled like honey. He stepped out of the shower turning off the water. Roman retrieved his deodorant from the bathroom cabinet.

Freshly showered Roman sat on the couch. Nothing on any of the streaming apps interested him. He went to Netflix finding a documentary about animals. Something to serve as background noise so he could sleep.

He slept for about 2 hours. When he woke up there it was.

A small purple screen. That reads:

[Wealth System Activated]

[User Profile]

Name: Roman King

Age: 22

Account Balance: $30,500

[Stats]

Intelligence 5

Strength 5

Stamina 5

Leadership 5

[Skills]

None

This can't be real. Roman thought to himself. He had $500 dollars in his account at most. Grabbing his phone logging into his banking app. Roman's jaw almost hit the floor. There it was $30,500. Just when Roman was about to question where the money came from, his granny's voice played back in his head.

"Never question the universe. What is meant to happen will happen." Big Mama would say.