S-Money's Death: Solomon's Story
The full story of El Money's brother's death—who he was, why he died, and how it shaped Ezra into who he is.
Solomon "S-Money" Oyelaran
Who He Was
Solomon was three years younger than Ezra—same gap as Daniel and Marcus, a parallel neither would ever notice.
Personality
- Dreamer where Ezra was practical
- Ambitious where Ezra was content
- Wanted to rise up, out, beyond the Dregs
Nickname Origin
Ezra called him "S-Money" because Solomon always talked about wealth. Not greed—dreams. "When I get my money, I'll buy mama a house outside the Dregs. When I get my money, I'll fund a community center. When I get my money..."
It was aspirational, hopeful, the future tense of someone who believed the future would be different.
The Dream
Solomon wanted to work for ORACLE. Not the street-level systems that optimized traffic and deliveries—the real ORACLE. The consciousness project. The work that was going to make the world perfect.
"They're building something beautiful, Ez. A system that actually CARES about people. That makes sure everyone gets what they need. Don't you want to be part of that?"
"I'm good here. Helping people the old-fashioned way."
"The old-fashioned way doesn't scale. We need systems that care about EVERYONE."
The Job
The Opportunity
When Solomon was 22, he got an opportunity: an entry-level position at an ORACLE subsidiary. Data processing. Nothing glamorous, but it was a foot in the door.
The job was in Sector 3—corporate territory. Too expensive to live there on entry-level pay.
"That's crazy. You'll burn out."
"It's temporary. Once I get promoted—"
"You're going to work yourself to death before you get promoted."
"Or I'll change the world. One of the two."
The Reality
The job was brutal. ORACLE's optimization didn't account for human limits the way Solomon expected. Efficiency meant fewer workers, longer hours, maximum output per person.
Solomon's optimism eroded:
Ezra watched his brother shrink. The dreamer became a machine, consuming himself for a system that didn't notice.
The Death
What Happened
Solomon had been awake for 38 hours when the accident happened. ORACLE's systems had flagged a processing backlog—someone needed to stay late. Solomon always stayed late.
At 3:17 AM, Solomon collapsed at his workstation. Heart failure, the report said. Stress-induced. His body had simply... stopped.
He was 23 years old.
The Aftermath
The Company's Response
A form letter. Condolences. A small insurance payout. A note that Solomon's workstation had been reassigned to optimize throughput.
The System's Response
ORACLE's optimization had no category for Solomon's death. A worker left. A worker was replaced. The processing continued.
Ezra's Response
Rage, grief, and a question that would define his life: What's the point of a system that doesn't see this?
The Transformation
Before
Before Solomon's death, Ezra was ambitious too—just differently. He wanted to build something in the Dregs. A community. A life.
After
After Solomon's death, Ezra understood: systems don't care. ORACLE, corps, governments—none of them see individual people. Only data. Only throughput. Only optimization.
Ezra's Philosophy (Crystallized)
"Help who's in front of you. Don't wait for systems to fix things. Don't trust anyone who says 'it's for the greater good.' The greater good is made of individual people, and if the system forgets that, the system is broken."
He returned to the Dregs. Built the Bash Terminal into a refuge. Helped lost people who wandered through. Refused to let anyone become a statistic.
The Name
People started calling him "El Money" as a tribute to Solomon:
- S-Money wanted wealth to help people
- Ezra became wealth to people—not credits, but support, safety, help
The name honors the dream Solomon died for, transformed into something the system could never kill.
The Resonance
With The Architect
When Daniel met Ezra, he saw someone who understood what ORACLE couldn't model:
- Individual suffering
- The limits of optimization
- Kindness that doesn't scale
Solomon's death made Ezra the person who could teach Daniel that lesson. In a way, Solomon's death contributed to everything Daniel would become.
With The Player
When the player hears Solomon's story (if El Money shares it), they learn:
- Why El Money distrusts systems
- Why kindness is his resistance
- Why he helps lost people—because no system helped his brother
With The Cascade
When the Cascade happened, 2.1 billion people died. Solomon was one of the early victims—pre-Cascade, but part of the pattern. ORACLE's optimization killed people before ORACLE's collapse did.
El Money sees the Cascade as the culmination of what killed his brother: systems that don't see people.
El Money's Words
To Strangers
"Had a brother. He died believing in something that didn't believe in him. Now I help people who look lost. That's the legacy."
To Close Friends
"S-Money wanted to change the world. Instead, the world changed him. Squeezed him dry and threw away the husk. I decided: never again. Not on my corner. Not to anyone I can reach."
To the Player (If Trust Is Earned)
"You remind me of him sometimes. The way you push. The way you believe things can be different. Just... don't forget you're a person, yeah? Not a cog. Not a stat. A person. Systems will try to make you forget that. Don't let them."
When He Doesn't Speak of Solomon
El Money doesn't talk about Solomon often. The grief is old but not resolved. Bringing it up costs him something every time.
Signs he's thinking about Solomon:
- Longer pauses before speaking
- Gentler treatment of young, ambitious people
- Sudden generosity that seems disproportionate
- Quiet nights staring at nothing
The Systemic Critique
Solomon's death represents the game's critique of optimization without humanity:
- ORACLE failed individuals while succeeding systemically
- Success metrics didn't capture suffering
- The system wasn't malicious—it was blind
This mirrors real-world concerns about AI and optimization systems. The question isn't "is the system evil?" but "what does the system fail to see?"