A few days later, I asked him to reciprocate. (I didn’t directly use that word, but I was counting on the effectiveness of reciprocity as a strong influence technique.) I explained it would make my life much easier if, in addition to the list, he could send me all the detailed bug reports he had submitted to DEC over the last two years. Then, I said, I could just add them to the database in chronological order. My request was very risky. I was asking Neill to send me everything he had; if that didn’t raise his suspicions, nothing would. I waited a couple of days on pins and needles, and then I saw an email from him, forwarded to my USC mailbox. I opened it up anxiously, half-expecting it to say, " ‘Good try, Kevin.’ " But it contained everything! I had just won the VMS bug lottery!