I created an account. The welcome bonus felt like being given a lab sample. I looked for the most straightforward, mechanical-sounding game I could find. There was one called "Golden Gears." The icon was a stylized, Art Deco gear. Perfect. I loaded the
vavada game.
To my surprise, it was mechanical. The reels were interlocking golden gears. The symbols were tiny tools, sapphires, clock faces. The sound was a soft, rhythmic click-clack as the gears turned and locked. It was beautiful. It was a parody of my own work, but a stunning one. I set my bet to the minimum, the cost of a small screw. I clicked spin.
The gears turned. They stopped. A tiny win—three small screwdrivers. I did it again. For an hour, I observed. There was no logic. No amount of observation could predict the next combination. It was pure, elegant chance. And in its own way, it was calming. In my workshop, I fought chaos (dirt, breakage, entropy) to restore order. Here, I was not fighting it. I was observing it, letting it happen. It was a form of surrender I didn't know I needed.