‘You can have a go. Its only a hundred a pop,’ said the boy.
‘How can I?’ said Zak. ‘You have to be an adult to play that. It won’t accept my card.’
‘Yeah. I found this card,’ said the boy, holding it up. ‘It must belong to an adult, but it’s run out of credit.’
Zak decided not to ask what would happen when its owner tracked down where it had been used. He frowned.
‘I don’t fancy a go anyway,’ he said.
‘Well, could you lend me 500?’ said the boy. ‘This machine’s about to have a really big payout, I’m sure of it. I’ll give you 5000 Solars out of the winnings.’
Zak was taken aback, rattled by the amounts involved. 500 Solars was almost half a week’s pocket money. To give it to a scrawny kid he’d just met was ridiculous. But, the boy obviously knew his way round the machine, and he stood to gain considerably if the boy was right. He didn’t like to say no.
‘Okay then,’ said Zak. He took out his SpendCard, and held it near the one in the boy’s hand. Printed on the card was a set of buttons, containing numbers and transaction operations. He typed “TR.500”, to transfer 500 Solars.
‘Nice one matey,’ said the boy.
The boy returned to the machine and waved the card in front of it. The credit counter flashed “S500”. In what seemed like just ten seconds of flashing lights and beeps, it ticked back down to 0, and that was it.
Zak’s jaw dropped. The boy threw his arms up in the air.
‘Aw no! What’s going on?’ wailed the boy, swinging a half-hearted kick at the machine, but deliberately missing.
He turned to Zak again.
‘Can I borrow another 500? It’s holding out,’ he said.
Zak, stung by the loss of 500 Solars so quickly, wasn’t in the mood to be generous a second time.
‘No! I don’t reckon it’s going to pay out at all,’ he said angrily.
‘It is!’ protested the boy. ‘I’ve been watching it all day. I know how it works.’
