It was kissing Magda that made Sam destroy the universe.
She wasn"t to blame. Neither was he, really. They were both just collections of subatomic particles, sufficiently complex to propagate something they perceived internally as consciousness. Still, he did blame himself. Just not enough, when it came to it, to stop himself.
Going to the Christmas party had been a mistake. He should have stayed in the lab and worked on his sculpted magnetic fields. But Dr. Gupta, stern-faced supervisor, had persuaded him with an uncharacteristic largesse. The man had actually grinned. Have one night off at least, Sam. You"ve earned it.
Sam knew Magda was going and so he went.
He and Magda talked off and on throughout the evening, shouting over the rowdy hubbub inside the Geneva nightclub. They la
