Within a year there would be babies, and a few years later they would be talking. Chimal felt a sudden identification with those unborn children. He knew how they would look around at the world, wondering. He knew the eager questions that would be on their lips.
And this time there would be answers to those questions. The empty years of his childhood would never be repeated. The machines would answer their questions and so would he.
At that thought he smiled, peopling the empty room with the eager-eyed children of his mind. Yes, the children.
Patience, Chimal, in a few short years you will never be alone again.