Demi-Human Replacement

Ryan woke up and immediately sent his girlfriend, Becca, a morning text to avoid getting bitched at, and luckily, as usual it was ignored; with his savings always taking a hit whenever she'd order him to go out somewhere pricey to show off to her friends. It was also lucky that his phone was charged off of a power bank he prepared at work; seeing as his landlord was still too lazy to find the root cause of why the power had been going out routinely.

Preparing to go to work in pure darkness was a learned talent at this point, but that still didn't stop Ryan from tripping on a box outside of his apartment. Of course, with his luck now switching to the usual direction, his ginger Karen of a neighbor happened to be leaving as well. Kelly then went on about how much of a mess Ryan was and encouraged him to give up and move in with his parents if he couldn't become an adult.

This rant didn't improve when he opened the box, finding a wizard outfit and corresponding amulet. He checked the sender's name, and flipped through his list of friends from college that were seemingly half-nerds; with this one begging to fill a sudden opening for a LARP battle between red and blue mages. He never had that hobby, so he ditched the robe and held onto the jewelry; because against all odds, the gold looked real.

The other half of his social circles from college seemed to be bitches; three of which were still in touch. Looking through his texts despite, never receiving anything positive; he got hit by a few stray dick-pics from Monica bragging about the night's hookup, Chelsea somehow turning it into insults to Ryan, and Rachel starting bets for the next time the four of them went out drinking.

The neighbor did not respond in the gentlest way when glancing over at the dick pics, but Ryan merely apologized and rushed off to work.

Immediately at work, his short brunette co-worker, Thea, handed off her paperwork for him to do; insisting he comb through her many errors while she rested. His taller blonde co-worker, Britney, seemed justifiably disgusted; yet had it all focused on Ryan as a drain where gaps in their work flow gathered and scoffed at his assistance to the dregs of the company.

When he was doing one and a half times his work, an error broke through on his side; triggering the boss to call him up to her office. The mature glasses-wearing woman had black bob-styled hair, and her desk's name plate read Miranda. She was focused squarely on professionalism and how Ryan should be the most dedicated and serve more diligently as an employee belonging to her department. The emphasis on ownership and expecting even more **** loyalty was incredibly unnerving, causing him to subconsciously grab the amulet within his pocket and think 'Miranda is such a fucking ...."