He drank some more, and when she came back in he noticed her glass. She had filled it.
They ate in silence for a few moments. He told her the stew was delicious, and she said she was surprised, though she wasn't really.
"So, what made you choose Stanford?" he said.
"A course they had. It's called VTSS. Values, Technology,
Science, and Society."
"I've never heard of it."
"It's been around for awhile. Interesting mix."
"Sounds like it. What interests you about it most?"
"Well, how they all overlap. One affecting and impacting the other, and so on. You sure know all about that."
"Me?"
"Sure, you." She snorted. "Come on. You know, the way the computers you invented have changed our society, that they're founded on science and technology. How they've affected people's values." She glanced up from her plate. "I mean, really, you've democratized computing power among the masses, putting it in the hands of the people. Giving them a choice, an alternative to business as usual. No more Big Brother, brother." She resumed eating. "Anyway, that's what the course was about." She spoke with the easy, unaffected confidence one acquires with experience. Yet she was only twenty-one.