“Yes,” Evrim said. “I am a species. Or the seed of one. But I am not good enough. Not yet. I am a failed attempt. Someday, I will be ready. Once we have the information we need from the octopuses, once we understand what they have to tell us—once we can mesh their view of this world with ours—I can improve upon this faulty model Arnkatla built, and make something truly worth existing on this perfect planet. Something capable of living with all life here, and not feeding this constant cycle of destruction. But in the meantime, I have much to learn. All of us do.”

“And you will keep your promise to me—about the octopuses. None of them go on the dissecting table. We protect them. No killing.”

“It is not only a promise to you, Ha. It is a promise to myself. As I said—I am all of Arnkatla. But I am also more than her. I am my own being.”

“Good. Then let’s get back to work.”

Epilogue

I will be accused of many things by those who criticize this book. I will be accused especially of having tainted the sciences of neurology and biology with my own intuitions. I will be accused of having created from nothing a vast, speculative archaeology of a possible future, in which we discover that while we are the only species Homo there may be, in fact, another sapiens.

I do not apologize. I want to help my readers imagine how we might speak across an almost unbridgeable gap of differences, and end forever the loneliness of our species—and our own loneliness.

—Dr. Ha Nguyen, How Oceans Think

Epilogue

THE RAFT WAS DIFFICULT TO MANAGE with the single oar, but with a struggle Eiko had kept it moving toward one of the islands. It had taken hours, pushing the boat against the current. By the time he paddled into the little bay, the sun was up.

He brought the raft in to shore. Climbing out, he stumbled and nearly collapsed. It took the last of his strength to pull the boat, weighted down with Son’s body, up onto the beach. He staggered onto the dry sand and sank to his knees.

Eiko stayed a moment like that before rolling over onto his back. The morning air was cool. He had glimpsed a building through the trees of the thick forest beyond the beach. Once he gathered his strength, he would go there. Whoever was here, he would throw himself at their feet. He would put himself at their mercy. He would make them understand who he was, what he had gone through to get here.

He closed his eyes. Alive. I am alive, and free of the Sea Wolf.