They come upon an abandoned home from the Unmentionable Times. They enter it and wonder at the sights they behold — at the bright colors, the mirrors, the clothes, and the books. Equality 7-2521 declares that the home will be theirs. He finds that the books are written in the language that he speaks, and he reads them.
In his reading, he discovers the word "I." When he grasps its meaning, he cries tears of deliverance, realizing that this is the holy word that humans have had taken away from them. His reading teaches him that persons are individuals, not splintered fragments of the group; they have a right to pursue their happiness, and should not sacrifice themselves for others; that they require freedom to do this, and must not be enslaved by the group. When he understands this, he takes for himself a name he finds in his reading — Prometheus — the bringer of fire. The Golden One takes the name of Gaea — the goddess who was the mother of the earth. Gaea is pregnant with his child, who will be the first-born of a new society of free humans.
Equality 7-2521 learns that his light is powered by electricity, and that the men of the Unmentionable Times had mastered it. He will learn what they knew and use the knowledge to create prosperity. He will build electric wires around his house to protect it and will steal back into the city to free his friend, International 4-8818, and any others who flock to the banner of liberty. The society he founds will make scientific and technological advances because the human mind will not be shackled; it will be free to think, to ask questions, and to explore. He believes that, in time, the world will hear of this free and prosperous society, and that the best individuals from around the globe will flood the roads leading to his city. They will live together in respect of each individual's right to live his or her own life.
