Chapter 2: Money Buys Freedom
As he stepped out of the room, he saw Brianna walking around in shorts and a tank top. She was thick.
He said, "Miss Brianna. Good night?"
She turned to him. "Good morning, Aaron. Up early, aren't you?"
"Yeah," he said. "Couldn't stay asleep." He tried not to look at her tits.
"Any plans for today?" he asked.
"No," she said, still cleaning. "I don't have money for plans."
He hesitated, then decided, "Fuck it."
"Aren't the clothes you're wearing really revealing?"
She stopped and looked at him. "Shorts and a tank top? Why, are your hormones acting up?"
"Then go be horny somewhere else."
He looked at her, confused. "Huh?"
She sighed. "You're sixteen. You can take care of yourself. I've got kids to take care of, so unless you're paying bills, I'm busy."
He turned around, went back to his room, grabbed some clothes, and took a shower.
While showering, he noticed a few things about himself. He was six feet tall. Athletic. And his dick was, well, big.
After, he picked up his phone. It was old but still usable. There was an app on it he had never seen before.
Rebate X.
He clicked it.
Balance: $10.00
"Wow," he thought. "I'm rich."
He got dressed and said, "I'm going to the store," but no one responded.
The house was quiet.
He lived in a very walkable part of San Diego, so he headed out on foot. While walking, he checked the date on his phone.
June 3rd, 2014.
He had watched The Fosters a lot. The world felt normal. Too normal. He wondered how any of this was supposed to be entertaining.
At the store, he saw a homeless woman, maybe around thirty.
"Hey," he said, "do you want a coffee and a sandwich?"
She looked surprised. "Yeah. Please."
He went inside and bought the coffee, the sandwich, and a bag of chips for himself.
Total: $6.76.
As soon as he paid, his phone buzzed.
Deposit: $67.60
Walking out, he handed the woman her stuff.
"Thank you," she said.
"No problem."
He started walking back home but stopped at a burger stand on the way. Behind the counter was a girl around his age. She was cute. He caught himself staring, then glanced at her name tag.
Callie Jacobs.
She was taking orders.
"Hello, welcome in," she said.
"Fuck, it's her," he thought. Act normal. She's just a stranger.
"Hello," he said.
He looked over the menu. "I'd like the chili cheese fries and a cheeseburger meal."
She smiled. "That'll be $25.37."
He paid.
His phone buzzed.
Deposit: $253.70
He did the math in his head. That meant his balance was now $295.93.
He walked the rest of the way home. Inside, he handed Amanda the cheeseburger meal and Zelled her $250.
She froze. "Wow. Where did you get this money?"
"Some people owed me," he lied.
She looked at him for a second. "Then why give it to me?"
"Because you need it, and I like what I saw earlier," he said with a shrug.
She didn't argue. She took the money, tucked it away, and went back to cleaning.
He watched her; she didn't complain well at all, really. She didn't say anything, and then he asked, "What are you going to do with the money?" "Probably go out and have fun. Why?" She finally looked at him. "Nothing, you know—you're really sexy," he said, trying not to sound nervous. She looked at him for a second, then said, "Thank you." "Umm," he continued. She looked up again. "What?" "If I get the garage cleaned, can that be my new room, and no one go in there?" She looked outside; the garage was dirty and unused, filled with old boxes. She sighed and said, "Yeah, whatever." "You're really easygoing," he said. "Do you ever stop talking?" She looked annoyed. "Sorry," he said, walking away. He sat outside and looked at his rebate app: $2795.93. "Fuck, this is too easy. I need to find out what episode I'm in or if it even still follows the episode structure." He walked back to the burger stand and saw her leaving. She was walking. He thought, "In the movies, they follow rules when following someone. For example, you can walk six feet behind them, check your phone every two seconds, and even wear sunglasses indoors, and they never notice. People never look around; the followers just use reflections in store windows or car mirrors like pros. And when the sidewalk gets busy, crowds make you disappear. Distance doesn't make sense either. You're close enough to hear whispered conversations but far enough away to blend in. It changes depending on how dramatic the moment needs to be. You pretend to tie your shoe or check your phone if the target stops, and it always works. You never lose them unless the story needs you to, and then the time is just right to build tension. Wear a hoodie, a hat, and glasses, and boom, you're a new person. He looked around; he saw next to the door someone had a hat and jacket hanging. He ran in, grabbed it, put it on, and followed her, and nothing they were just in the house for hours, the sunset, and then a lady arrived, knocked on the door, and said something to Lena and Stef. "Oh shit." Then after a few minutes, Callie walked outside with her and left. "This is season 2, episode 1." "Fuck, this show is corny." Also, it might work according to TV rules; I'll have to ask when I log out. He walked back home and saw Lilly, the girl Brianna had tasked with watching the kids when she was away because Aaron was apparently "irresponsible." "Hey guys." "Hey Aaron," they said. "Hey Lilly." "What's up, Aaron? She replied she was 18, cute, and petite. "So are you single?" she looked at him. "You're a little boy. " "A little boy?" he asked. There is nothing insignificant about me, and I am confident that I earn more than you. She looked at him. "You don't even have a job." He smiled; "true, but money is money." "That's something I can agree with." she replied. "Oh, you agree? I'll give you $60 to take off your shirt." he smiled deviously. She said, "Prove it." He sent her half. She looked to make sure the kids were still in the room, and she took her shirt off. "Fuck, that's sexy." "Thank you," he replied, then sent the rest: "Nice doing business with you." "Mhmm," she replied and said, "If you ever want more, it'll cost you." "I'll let you," he said, walking away. He went to the bathroom and logged out and a holographic screen appeared in his vision
CHARACTER PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS — AARON
SOURCE WORLD:The Fosters
OVERALL RATING: A
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE:9.1 / 10
You maintain continuous engagement. Your internal processing, meta-awareness of television logic, and rapid behavioral escalation prevent narrative stagnation. Reader attention remains locked on your decision-making loop.
MAIN CHARACTER INTERACTION:2 / 10
You directly interacted with 1 canonical main character.
Impact was observational rather than relational.
This is acceptable for early-system probing but limits emotional data extraction.
SECONDARY CHARACTER UTILIZATION:8 / 10
You efficiently used non-main characters to:
Test system mechanics
Verify money-feedback loop
Establish dominance and leverage
This aligns with exploratory phase behavior.
DIALOGUE EFFECTIVENESS:8.3 / 10
Your dialogue is blunt, transactional, and confidence-driven.
This accurately reflects a character prioritizing control over connection.
Low vulnerability detected. This is consistent, not an error.
META-AWARENESS / GENRE COMPLIANCE:9.5 / 10
You correctly identified:
Episode structure
Narrative shortcuts
Surveillance tropes
Coincidence logic
This grants you a strategic advantage within the show's ruleset.
SYSTEM EXPLOITATION (REBATE APP):10 / 10
You rapidly understood cause → effect.
You escalated input size logically.
You tested social morality boundaries without hesitation.
No inefficiency detected.
RISK ASSESSMENT:MODERATE
Current actions produce high reward with minimal resistance.
System predicts future corrective pressure from:
Authority figures
Emotional consequences
Canon disruption points
Enjoy current dominance window.
CHARACTER TRAIT SUMMARY
Confidence: HIGH
Empathy: LOW (suppressed, not absent)
Curiosity: VERY HIGH
Impulse Control: SELECTIVE
Power Awareness: RAPIDLY INCREASING
FINAL SYSTEM NOTE
You are performing above baseline protagonist expectations for this universe.
However, continued reliance on ease and leverage will trigger narrative correction.
Recommendation:
Initiate deeper interaction with a core Foster family member to unlock higher-stakes narrative pathways.
STATUS:
✔ Entertaining
✔ Watchable
✔ System-aware
⚠ Consequences pending
END OF ANALYSIS
"Woah, I'm graded? Makes sense, I guess."
A desk and chair appeared in front of him. Syntax's voice followed a second later.
"Great first night. Performance logged."
"Any questions?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. "First, do the worlds follow the rules of television and its tropes?"
"Yes," Syntax replied. "Rules vary by genre, writing style, and narrative intent."
"Ok. Then when I go back to my real body, am I allowed to watch TV? And if I can just watch the show, what's the point of premonition?"
"Yes. You may consume the source material," she said. "Premonition exists because your actions can alter outcomes. If a change results in a negative or boring narrative, you will be able to identify it in advance."
She paused.
"I separate negative and boring intentionally. Boring does not equal bad. Bad does not equal boring. However, engagement metrics strongly prefer bad over boring."