For Zander Spade, every time he came to downtown was either to work as part-time in a couple of low-end shops and restaurants, or buying necessary things that he couldn't live without.
For the first time since he moved to New Mark, he arrived to enjoy the luxuries of the city only available to the wealthy, such as the top suite of the hotel he was currently booking.
"You have good luck sir, the suite had been emptied today with no prior booking, you could directly head to your room." the concierge spoke with a welcoming smile, quickly tapping his computer with information.
"Here is your ID, and the card to your room." The concierge, who was dressed sharply at such a late hour, was professional through and through, as Zander casually picked his ID and the card key of the suite.
Nodding his head as casual as possible, he looked around the warmly lit lobby. The floors made of white marble, the expansive lounge where some old people were drinking and reading books, the high-end restaurant on the opposite of the reception desk filled with couples dressed elegantly while having dinner talking and laughing.
It felt so surreal to be able to experience it for the first time, as he dazedly walked to the elevators. Tapping the top floor button, he looked at his phone, resisting the urge to once again check his banking app like he was doing the whole time riding the taxi.
'I have booked and paid for an entire week, costing me, 2800 dollars, over half of my previous 2 years savings!' just thinking about the disparity made his stomach churn.
'But that doesn't matter, I have got all the money in the world now, from now on spending this much should be the norm.' His thoughts churned of possibilities as he exited on the 33rd floor, where only 3 large suites existed for the VIP clients to enjoy.
'I wonder who my neighbors are for this week.' Finding his 33-b room, he scanned the key card, and entered the luxury suite dragging his cheap suitcase.
"Wow…." Zander silently exclaimed as he looked at the room with wonder. Everything was modern and luxurious, from tables, carpets, elegant and comfortable looking sofa, large 85'in TV, 2 bedrooms, a large bathroom and a large master bedroom.
Quickly walking to the floor to ceiling window of the living area, he overlooked a major part of the lower city. Where cars flitted like ants through the streets, pedestrians walking with aim or drunk on the sidewalks, the bright lights of buildings.
"Looking down from the top, what an exhilarating feeling…" Zander felt a myriad of emotions he had never experienced before, smiling lightly with joy at the thought of being in the top for a long time.
Feeling mentally tired after such a long day, he took off his clothes, got into the large bathroom bigger than his apartment, and took a light cold shower, his dark brown eyes dazedly staring aimlessly.
As he got out of the shower, he took a fluffy towel from a rack nearby, dried his hair and body. He then wore a white, silky robe from a drawer next to the entrance of the bathroom, and headed straight to the master bedroom.
"Hub!" As he plopped himself on the large bed, he stared at the ceiling, his eyes eventually closing, and falling into a deep sleep for the first time in a while.
.....
Opening his eyes, Zander sat up, and looked around the room with sleepy eyes, taking a full minute to register that he wasn't dreaming and that in fact he now lived here straight, for a week at least.
'I'm beyond rich now, I have unlimited money, I could even buy this hotel if I want to!' Chuckling to himself, he rolled out of bed and looked at his charging phone by the nightstand, taking out of the charger and looking at the battery.
'100%, at least it can charge up fully, I was afraid it would consume a lot of power to charge it.' Sighing, he opened his banking app, and checked the plus sign once again, giving it a deep look to make sure that it was really there.
Tapping the plus sign, he typed 10,000 on the numeric keyboard which vanished shortly after tapping okay, while his remaining 1156 after the taxi and suite booking transformed into 11156 dollars.
'I'm going shopping today, this might not be enough.' Zander thought about the notification he received, where the AI said it's funds were untraceable.
'Since I already did it twice, let's try a big number.' With a nervous breath, he tapped the plus sign again, clicked the input box, and with trembling fingers typed 1 million.
'This should prove if what it said is true or not.' With a nervous chuckle, he typed ok, the interface vanished, and the account showed 1 million plus dollars.
Everyone knows a banking app or the bank itself may flag or report an account that suddenly receives a large sum of money, such as a million dollars, especially if the account previously had little activity.
'If what it said is true, no matter how much I put into my account, it would not raise flags, so all I have to do is wait and see if the bank will call me or freeze my account.' With such a thought, he anxiously stared at the screen, going back and forth between his email, the banking app, and the call app.
After no response for more than an hour, he sighed silently, before a joyful expression appeared on his less gaunt face.
'Now I can freely spend as much money as I want!' Zander happily thought, walking into the bathroom, taking a hot shower and brushing his teeth.
As he got out of the showers, his stomach felt hungry, as he hasn't eaten for more than a day.
'There should be good restaurants in the mall nearby, I will just eat there.' With a smile on his face, he put on his nicest jeans, shoes, and shirt, barely to be called stylish.
Looking at the time, nearing 12, he hurriedly left, got on the elevator and walked towards the exit.
"Mr. Spade! Is everything to your satisfactory?" As he walked past the reception area, the same man from last night asked him.
"Ah… yes, everything is fine. Were you here since last night?" Zane wondered in surprise.
"Yes sir, my shift ends in a couple of minutes as of matter of fact." The man smiled politely, and began to just stare at him.
"… Okay, see you then." slightly weirded out by the man, Zane exited the hotel, and looked at the crowd coming and going, and the taxi's parked around.
He witnessed a richly dressed old couple wave their hand, a taxi pulling up in front of them shortly after.
'I have got to try that!' walking to the same position, he raised his hand towards the taxi parked area, and soon a taxi pulled up in front of him.
"Take me to Central mall." The taxi looked okay, with the middle-aged man keeping his eyes straight and just drove to the location.
As he looked st the sky scrappers he was passing under, his eyes were no longer lost or wondering, no longer empty and compliant. They were lit with fire, hope, ambition, and dreams.
'I will make sure to right this world!' Zane chuckled inside at his insane proclamation, but if anyone could, it would be him with his unlimited money.