I recall the sound of the bottle popping. I know we started gathering in the room with a cart full of drinks, standing huddled up in the kitchenette. The kid curled up on the couch watching television. I remember I nearly had to order Millie to sit with the kid, she agreed, and I heard Goar pop the bottle of champagne. Everything after that moment is just flashes of insanity. Like watching a circus with strobe lights.

The next flash I remember is rolling dice in the casino on a long green table and headbutting Goar in celebration. Then I remember the thirst. I downed cold drinks with two fists and staggered to the roulette wheel. Red, red, red, 7, 23, red, red. It was a mantra to me, and I must have been stacking chips because I remember pushing stacks of coins out center on the Hold'em table.

I remember laughing as Thurnar peed on the blackjack table and his oldest son speared the dealer. Elrindel and Veagon ran through the room dressed as knights with the armorer chasing them. Shia danced on the stage with a line of women in short skirts and I scared Mia so bad she clung to the chandelier when I snuck up on her. I tried several times after that, but she could always hear me coming after that.

Thurnar's youngest Mido jabbered like a chipmunk with a few beers in him. The little dwarf had big fish kinds of tales. Me and Mia laughed as he told us the story of how he had beat down an ogre with his brother Dredge when they were younger. I remember an image in my mind of him angrily kicking an ogre in the shin and the big ugly beast looking down and realizing he was there.

I threw darts, slammed some drinks, threw vases for Goar to shoot out of the air, more drinks, and blew chunks. Two players, Disembowel and Unicorn Farts helped me rearrange the casino and toilet paper the hallway.

Several more players helped me beat up the bad robots. We made a pile of broken bots at the top of the stairs and took turns bowling them down skiing on overturned tables. Barren and Goar helped launch us and we scored by the number of cleanup bots that responded.

Flak was the one to discover the stim packs. He insisted that the stars really spy copters and advised wariness of birds as they were actually faery in disguise. We nodded and exchanged wary glances. The stim packs did give us a second wind though, and I have more memories of this period. I remember fear, anxiety and crawling skin as I looked up at the night sky from the rooftop. We were interrupted by overstressed caterers and security guards urging us to come back into the hotel and stop howling.

I remember dancing, a lot of dancing. I was so tired and hot, but I could almost taste the beat. It enveloped me with bass. I was swimming in the sound. I discovered I had a hidden talent for dancing. I realized I could break dance with four arms really well, but the furniture was just too close to the dance floor.

Tootsie was so drunk she could hardly stay in the air. She managed to not get on my nerves the whole night. I even recall laughing with her as we mocked the security detail dragging me back to my room.

Then my memories grow foggier. I remember Mia being upset with me about something and Shia shaking her head at me. I remember seeing Agatha kissing Varren.

I know I had a beautiful plan when I started the night. It all planned out well in my foresight. I think it all went wrong when the bottle popped though.

I woke up on the kitchenette floor, with dice and cards burning in a frying pan on the stove, drenched in hot sauce and mustard. The cabinets were smashed and the door leading out to the main hallway was hanging off the hinges.

I slipped in water as I tried to stand. The sink was running with my boots directly under the spigot.

"Shh," Millie blew on her pointer finger and patted the sleeping boy on the back. He slept sound in the pod. I stumbled into the bedroom with them to see Mia leaning back in the corner with her arms crossed.

I held my head with all four hands trying to stop the room from spinning and the footfalls of my own feet from splitting my skull.

"Seven hundred twenty-three thousand dollars, Barker!" Mia's voice shot through my cranium and rattled around.

"Is that how much I won," I meekly asked. "On which table."

"No, you big stupid Orc, that is how much we owe Hermes." Mia ground her teeth.

"Can't say stupid, that's a bad word." I made my way to the toilet. "I think I dropped a kidney somewhere." I rubbed my lower back with my lower arm.

"How are we ever going to pay that back?" Mia tapped her foot standing behind me as I peed.

"Relax, Hermes is cool. He's, my dude." I shrugged. I felt her glare on my back. “We are never coming back to this town anyway. I am taking you home remember?”

Tootsie flew over to the sink and stared at her red eyes in the mirror. “He can spawn in any town you know. He created the game he can load himself in just about anywhere. He is going to come for his money.” Tootsie did a mock grin in the mirror to inspect her teeth.

“What’s he going to do, kill me? Kill me twice?” I laughed and dropped the seat back down.

“Maybe.” Mia stamped, “Maybe kill all of us.”

“No,” Tootsie yawned, “I told you there are things worse than death.”

“What, torture? Oooh. He tortures me for the rest of my vacation. Whoop.” I mocked. “Two weeks. I can sit in the pit for a few more days. It won’t kill me really.”

“You’ve only been here a day.” Tootsie laughed, “you don’t get it. He controls reality for you. Concept of time.” She raised her brows. “He can torture you for lifetimes. That is just the beginning.”

I felt a knot forming in my stomach. “A day?” My mouth went dry.

Debt: $723,220