2:00pm SST Saturday 11 January 2085
At the bottom of the stairs, at 22-O-Y, Zak found himself in what was called the Games Room. Yet they weren’t games in the sense that he was used to, but gambling machines. There were devices of various shapes and sizes, of which the most spectacular were tall crescent-shaped machines crammed with flashing lights and images.
An old man was playing one of the machines. He stood in the middle of the crescent, following a pulse of light on a route around the display. He repeatedly hit a glowing red button as the credit counter fell rapidly – “S900, S800, S700, …S100, S0”.
‘Bah!’ said the old man, who waved a SpendCard in front of the credit counter, which immediately ticked back up to S2000.
Zak felt no desire to play these machines. Besides, a notice declared that only persons aged twenty-one and over were allowed to play. But just as he was about to continue on, his curiosity was jabbed by a young boy’s voice on the other side.
‘No way! You robbed me.’
Zak walked round, to see a very scruffy kid playing another of the machines. The boy was somewhat shorter than Zak, but looked only a year or two younger. Still, far too young to be playing.
‘C’mon, gimme a cherry. Yes!’ he cried.
The sound of coins dropping could be heard. There were no coins, but the credit counter shot up to S3000.
‘Haha! Pretending that’s it, are you?’ said the boy, taunting the machine. ‘Come on, I know there’s more.’
Zak watched as the boy darted around the display, pressing buttons here and there, to the accompaniment of the machine’s light and sound show. He was impressed with the boy’s apparent expertise, but within a minute, the counter had dwindled to zero.
‘Aw no!’ wailed the boy, looking dejected. ‘That’s my payout you stupid machine. Don’t give it to the next idiot who comes along.’
He turned his head and saw Zak, then perked up.
‘Hey matey, got any Solars on you?’ he said excitedly.
‘Why?’ asked Zak with concern.
