Roland was born on an algae farm in the Petit Bois BioFood Platform off the coast of Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico. He grew up in New Orleans. His parents weren't rich but provided him with basic education and med care.
His father was retired from BioFood and started a Wetware rental store, but his retail career didn't last long. The Dee-Twelve chemicals used in the algae processors on Petit Bois killed him; worse than the oil-lung one gets at PetroFoods. The Company didn't even pay his med benefits and even called it a pre-existing condition.
Roland took over his business but could not afford payment for replacement heart and liver for his mother, even with his father's insurance. When he was left alone, he sold the store and bought a ticket to Gateway, hoping for full medical and a life away from an unjust lethal world.
He was 25 on his first mission as a Prospector in which he found the Artifact. He thought that the discovery would grant him riches, but he was wrong. He decided to explore and first he found the computer room and then a domed room with the dream couch where he found Bridgitte.
Roland thought that Bridgitte was a French knock-out, and was disappointed that she would take the royalties, being there before him, but she only explained that they were both trapped there. Panicked, Roland attempted to run back to his ship and punch out but the Artifact kept it there. Bridgitte then told him about the spider robot and the various zoos.
The bummed around for a month until they decided to go to the front part by the left side, which was filled with poison gas. Bridgitte flipped out and ran screaming into the central corridor, only to be killed by the spider. Roland tried to stop it but suffered the same, and his personality was uploaded to the computer.