It's 8:00 AM.

The time is inescapable, leering at him from every direction: the menu on his computer, the lock screen of his phone, the baleful digital clock on the nightstand. His circadian rhythm, deprived of sunlight by the blackout curtains over the window, is tentatively informing him that it might be late in the evening. He ignores it, because he already keeps to a dozen different schedules in life and doesn't feel like adding any more.

They've won two regional fighting game tournaments in the past week, enough to make rent for the month and pay for utilities. Nothing that needs doing urgently, according to his calendar, which gives him a while to relax. He pulls up a flashcard app to go through the next batch of Jeopardy! study material; then, almost as an afterthought, opens an online casino on another monitor to play a few tables of poker at the same time. Sleep can wait.