The Janitor Who became a God

Rain fell like broken glass on the rusted rooftops of the slums. The air reeked of sewage, oil, and regret. Potholes filled with dirty water reflected a fractured skyline, one side glittering with skyscrapers and flying transports, the other a graveyard of dreams.

Fred Ashford pulled the collar of his patched jacket tighter around his neck and tightened his grip on the grocery bag, the weight of a few potatoes and rice dragging his arm down like guilt. Every coin had been bartered with sweat and bruises.

He reached their building,if it could be called that. A three-story deathtrap of concrete and mold, walls papered with graffiti, warnings, and faded "Missing" posters. Kids played with scrap metal nearby, too skinny, too quiet.

He climbed the cracked steps, careful to avoid the third one that caved inward. Apartment 3B smelled of damp clothes and antiseptic. Inside, his little sister Emily sat curled up on their mattress, hugging a tattered teddy bear. Their mother lay on the couch-turned-bed, eyes sunken, cheeks pale. “You’re back,” Emily said softly, running to hug him. She looked thinner than yesterday.

Fred forced a smile. “And I brought treasure.” He wiggled the bag like it held gold.

They ate in silence, their mother barely managing to sip her soup. Fred washed the dishes, his knuckles raw from the icy water, and then tucked Emily into bed. She didn’t ask about school. She didn’t ask about the debt. She didn’t need to.

“Fred,” she whispered, eyes wide in the dark. “Mr. Raze’s men came by again.”

His heart stopped.m“What did they say?”

“They asked about Mama. And… me.”

Fred sat there in silence, rage and fear mixing in his stomach like acid. Don Raze. That name was a curse in the slums. Once, to afford their mother’s treatment, they had taken money from his loan sharks, enough to last a week. The price was lifelong submission, And now they wanted Emily. Like so many other girls. “I won’t let them take you,” Fred said. “Ever.”

She clung to his arm, finally drifting off. Midnight, Quantum Core Research Lab, It was a miracle, or maybe a cruel joke, that Fred had gotten the janitor job at Quantum Core, the city’s most advanced research facility. He knew nothing about science, but the AI had selected him as a non-risk laborer. Low clearance. Night shifts. Paid weekly. No questions.

The labs were cold, sterile places filled with machines that hummed like sleeping dragons. Fred worked alone, pushing his mop across tiles that probably cost more than his entire neighborhood. His uniform was two sizes too big, Tonight was supposed to be like any other, quiet, dull, routine. Until he heard it. A metallic click. A sliding door.

It wasn’t one he usually had access to. But it was open. Curiosity won over caution, Inside was a dome-shaped chamber, pulsing with blue light. A cylindrical device floated in the air, surrounded by transparent tubes and rotating glyphs of light. The air was thick with humming static.

On a monitor nearby:

Fred didn’t understand any of it. But the thing was… beautiful. Like something out of a sci-fi movie. The rotating symbols called to him, he stepped closer. Just a peek. He reached out. His fingers brushed the glass.

The machine pulsed. Blue lightning arced into him. Pain lanced through his chest like a blade. He screamed, but there was no sound. No time. Just light. Fire. Pressure in his skull like it would split. He collapsed. Somewhere Else, Fred floated in a void. Voices whispered around him. “Subject profile… compatible.”

“Primordial Code initializing…”

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe, then “System installed.”

“Welcome, Fred Ashford.”

Reality, he woke up gasping on the lab floor. Sweat drenched his shirt. Every bone in his body felt... wrong. No, not wrong. Different. Stronger. Sharper.

System Integration: 3%... 9%... 22%... Blue text floated in his vision like a game HUD. His hands trembled. He stumbled to a mirror in the hall and saw a stranger staring back. His eyes glowed faintly. His skin looked clearer. Muscles he’d never had now pressed against the fabric. What the hell was happening?

 New System Detected,  Primordial Evolution Online, You are now a Host. Initiating Tutorial Quest, Fred doesn’t realize that his activation of the system has been detected,not just by Quantum Core’s internal security, but by something far more ancient watching from beyond the veil of reality