They set out for Casino City early the next day, not wanting to linger on the thoughts of the previous night. They could already see the monolithic city an hour into their walk and were enveloped by its shadow within minutes. It looked like a solid black block of concrete at the bottom with spires of gold rising from it. As soon as they reached it, they were stopped by a duo of buff men dressed sharply in tuxedos and wearing pitch black shades. The mundane wall stretched behind them into the sky and to the distance left and right.

"ID?" the one to the left grunted.

"Uh, we don't have that," said Lemonhope.

"Follow me," grunted the other one.

They were led to a small box with a large machine next to it outside the city walls. The box was open on the one side and was painted completely white. The machine next to it looked like a hunched over beast. Metal rods that had multiple joints, sprouted from a large console lined with buttons, switches, and knobs, and bowed over the top of the machine. The sharp tips of the rods were hovering over a large sheet of white plastic. The sheet stretched off to the side and lead into a small slit in the wall of the city while being supported by a few tables. A camera was mounted to the side of the machine that had a flat tube leading from its bottom into the forest of metal limbs.

"Stand in the box," the guard instructed Lemonhope. As soon as Lemonhope was stood in the box and turned to face the guard there was a flash of light. After being blinded for a few seconds and rubbing his eyes, Lemonhope saw the guard was busy at the machine pressing buttons and twisting nobs. Frasier was fidgeting at the side looking at the two. "When were you born?" asked the guard.

Lemonhope hesitated for a second. "18 years ago?" he said with a wavering voice.

The guard didn't seem to question it and worked away at the console asking Lemonhope questions such as what his name was, where he was born and what gender he was.

Once all the questions were asked, the guard pressed one last button and the machine came to life. The arms moved back and forth, creating a blur of mechanical limbs and producing the sound of sharp metal moving against itself. After a few seconds of this the machine stopped and the plastic sheet was pushed further out of the city wall. As the sheet emerged, crumbs of the plastic fell into a bin next to the machine which Lemonhope only noticed now as a small card came out of it.

The guard snapped it off with ease and gave it to Lemonhope. The card had a terrible picture of Lemonhope and all the details that he told the guard. "Next," grunted the guard in Frasier's general direction. After the same process and a photo just as terrible as Lemonhope's, Frasier also had an ID card.

They were both escorted back to the entrance where they showed the other guard their cards and were finally allowed to come in. The monolithic wall swallowed them, and the inner gate swung open to reveal the city to them. Even though it was in the middle of the day, the streets seemed to be lit by the neon lights of the city. Buildings branded with the words 'Casino', 'Go Big' and 'Money' scraped the sky and had constant streams of people coming in and out of them. Signs were everywhere directing you to the nearest spot to spend your money and the occasional bathroom.

It was nearly blinding to look at certain parts of the city, and when you looked away you saw words encouraging you to gamble when you blinked. All this was a little overwhelming for the duo and they were surprised when someone tried to grab their attention. It was a short and frail man who was dressed in the same tuxedo and shades as the guards outside. He beckoned them to come closer to the booth he was sitting in. The booth had metal bars and a thick layer of glass lining its open side. There was a small tray under the window which slid out when Frasier and Lemonhope approached the booth. "Please insert in the amount of money which you wish to convert to Gallucci-coins," squawked the man.

Lemonhope looked towards Frasier who pulled out a pile of leaves with writing on them. "Are these good here?" asked Frasier, being a little uncertain never having bought something outside of his own town before.
"Any currency is valid here as long as comes from a recognised city," croaked the man his reply.
With that conformation, Frasier enthusiastically put his money in the container. It slid closed and the tray poked out at the inside of the booth. As the man behind the counter began to convert the money to Gallucci-coins, Lemonhope questioned his friend, "So what money am I going to gamble with?"
"We're going to gamble together!" replied his friend with a smile.

The tray slid back out and was loaded with small plastic coins which had the same face plastered all over them and different numbers along the sides. When Frasier saw this, it looked like he started bouncing without even leaving the floor. His bopping became faster with each scoop of the coins into Lemonhope's bag and he seemed to be about to launch when he asked his friend a simple question. "Where are we going to spend this first?"

This question seemed easy at first, but as Lemonhope's eyes passed over several buildings which looked exactly the same and were all situated next to each other, he found the question to be as complex as the equation to Life, The Universe and Everything. At last he made a choice when Frasier began poking him. He settled on a casino which had the sign 'Fun Gambling for Money'. He didn't know if it was any different to the casino right next to it, 'A Funny Gamble for Money', but didn't care at this stage as he feared what would happen if Frasier kept rapid-fire poking his arm. "Let's go to this one," was all he had to utter in order to make Frasier stop.

After making their way across the crowded plaza and avoiding a few hopeless souls, they entered a casino for the first time of their lives. It was a beautiful sight to any who were addicted to gambling and would make anyone looking at it become addicted to gambling themselves. To the right were a near infinite amount of slot machines, each adorned with a layer of gold with the levers having big diamonds for knobs. Nearly all of the machines were taken, but if you looked for a spot you would find one immediately. They all boasted big jackpots and it was a near constant whirr of wheels if you got close.

To the opposite side were a more diverse selection of games, ranging from packed tables of blackjack to tables filled with people wearing pitch black shades playing poker. Lemonhope looked to Frasier with a smirk on his face. "Time to make some money," was all he had to say and they both dashed towards the nearest table. It was a game of solitaire and the last player just left as he lost most of his money. Frasier and Lemonhope were luckily familiar with solitaire, with it being one of the few casino games played casually outside of the casinos. The table had the words 'Opening bet is 20 G-Coins' printed on them and they both took out 20 Gallucci-Coins each to put on the table. The tabled was manned by a plain looking woman in the same clothes as the rest of the staff and had a serious expression on her face. "Only one player at a time at this table," she said with an accent you would associate with a cowboy.

Lemonhope felt a little glum when he was told this as he didn't want to leave the solitaire table. Frasier saw this and quickly went in to comfort his friend. "Don't worry, I'll find a different table to play at. There are loads of games to play here!" said Frasier.
Lemonhope perked up at this and nodded his head. "Ok, thanks. Take the bag with you as well; I don't think I'll be losing any money," he said with a smirk and a wink.
Frasier gave a little hop and dashed off into the casino on his own.

Lemonhope turned back to the dealer and saw that she already begun dealing out his cards. Her movements were a blur as her practiced hands moved seamlessly across the table placing each card with pinpoint precision and without falter. When she was done Lemonhope felt a little dizzy, and he continued to feel dizzy as he played, forgetting how hard the game could be. Just as he would make a move the dealer told him that he couldn't, and then he would be lost as what to do next. He had a vague notion that time was flying by as he played, but he payed no attention to any of the stares he would get or impatient people waiting for him to finish and then walking off to another table. His head was in his hands as he tried to think where the final piece could be which would let him take the game by storm, but always felt that it was just out of reach. Close enough to get, but never truly there.

In that moment he had a revelation. He knew exactly how to win and would be able to do so in three moves. He declared his first move and was met with an apathetic, "Sorry, you have run out of moves," from the dealer. He sank in his seat and stared off into some faraway distance. Did he really suck this much at solitaire? Or was the game really that hard? However, his deep depression was quickly washed away with the presence of Frasier. At first, he noticed that Frasier was in his usual high spirits, but then saw that the bag full of coins nearly doubled in size. Frasier had a stupid grin plastered across his face and held the bag up high for his friend to see.

"Look at what I got!" sang Frasier who started waiving the bag back and forth.
"Woa, how did you get so much?" asked Lemonhope, absolutely astonished.
Frasier leaned in close and looked around quickly. "I used every trick in the book that my grandad taught me," whispered Frasier.
"You cheated!" gasped Lemonhope.
"Not so loud!" Frasier scream-whispered. "Or they'll hear…"
"You cheated?" Lemonhope repeated, but this time in a whisper as well.
"I guess you could call it that, but casino's already cheat you out of your money. So why not even the playing field? Besides, it's loads of cash and we'll be set for a long time after this."
"But it's wrong!" protested Lemonhope in a somewhat hopeless tone.
"What are we gonna do, give it back to them and say sorry?" Frasier mocked.
"Yes?" said Lemonhope hopefully.
Frasier slapped his forehead and slowly dragged his hand down his face. "No, you dum-dum," said Frasier. "We get out of here before anybody notices!"

Lemonhope was at a loss for words. He never stole before, except when he did, and that was for his own survival. Could he consider this journey his own survival as well? Could he really stoop so low as to cheat at a game of chance in order to get some easy money? He was low on money. He had none of it, in fact. A harp wont always get you a bed, and where would you sleep then? In a dark ditch in the middle of a desert, that's where. He knew as much from his experiences that no money could be hard and pure adventure didn't always work out. He looked at Frasier with a stern look in his eye. "Ok, we'll do this once, but never again. Do you understand me?" he said as he wagged and pointed his finger at Frasier.
"Alright," said Frasier sheepishly and kicked at the carpet.
"Let's get out of here then," said Lemonhope, causing Frasier to get back all of his joy.

The two walked back out into the plaza and began to navigate towards the exit but were having a hard time doing so. Little did they notice that two suited men with pitch black shades were following them not too close behind…