Ten days after the far side of mathematics launched its counterattack, Bruno Costanzo and Alison Tierney make contact with the alien being responsible, which they call Sam.
His calculations landed directly in the far side, so Bruno has to convince Sam that no attack took place and later bugs Campbell's computer to avoid a future incident.
She argues: "Then I knew that my feeling of disjointedness wasn't because I was stupid, but because the stories' conceit really was completely without basis in any real-world science or genre convention.
"[7] Rich Horton, writing on the SF Site, claims the short story concerns "not so much the idea, though that remains fascinatingly loopy, but the sad political reality that Egan derives from the underlying state of affairs.
"[8] Salik Shah claims in the Reactor Magazine, that the short story (together with its prequel "Luminous") "would make an exciting premise for radio or film adaptation.