That was what they thought. 

But I knew the truth. I knew it as I watched Zima stand at the edge of the pool and surrender himself to the blue. He'd told me exactly how it would happen: the slow, methodical shutting down of higher-brain functions. It hardly mattered that it was all irreversible: there wouldn't be enough of him left to regret what he had lost. 

But something would remain: a little kernel of being; enough of a mind to recognize its own existence. Enough of a mind to appreciate its surroundings, and to extract some trickle of pleasure and contentment from the execution of a task, no matter how purposeless. He wouldn't ever need to leave the pool. The solar patches would provide him with all the energy he needed. He would never age, never grow ill. Other machines would take care of his island, protecting the pool and its silent slow swimmer from the ravages of weather and time. 

Centuries would pass. 

Thousands of years, and then millions. 

Beyond that, it was anyone's guess. But the one thing I knew was that Zima would never tire of his task. There was no capacity left in his mind for boredom. He had become pure experience. If he experienced any kind of joy in the swimming of the pool, it was the near-mindless euphoria of a pollinating insect. That was enough for him. It had been enough for him in that pool in California, and it was enough for him now, a thousand years later, in the same pool but on another world, around another sun, in a distant part of the same Galaxy. 

As for me... 

这就是他们想的。  

只有我知道真相。当齐玛站在游泳池的边缘，周围被羁绊了他一生的蓝色包围着的时候，只有我知道真相。他已经告诉我了接下来要发生的事情：他大脑中的高级功能将被慢慢地、有条不紊地关闭。关键是整个过程是不可逆转的：根本没给自己留下后悔的余地。但是他大脑中的一小部分还是会继续：一个只能识别自身存在的微小内核。这个内核只够他认知周围的环境、执行特定的任务，哪怕这个任务毫无意义。他永远都不需要离开游泳池了。太阳能电板给他提供了足够的能量。他不会变老，也不会生病。其他的机器人会照看他的小岛，保护这个游泳池，确保这个沉默而缓慢的游泳者不会受到天气和时间的破坏。

这一切会持续几个世纪、

几千年，然后是几百万年。

几百万年以后会变成什么样子？谁都说不准。但有一件事我可以确定，齐玛永远不会厌倦他的任务。在他的心中已经没有了厌倦的概念。他已经变成了纯粹经验 。

如果他在游泳池里游泳的时候体会到了某种快乐，那只能是一种几乎没有思维的快乐，就像是蜜蜂或者蝴蝶的快乐。但是对他来说，这样的快乐已经足够。对于当初在加利福利亚那个游泳池里的他来说已经足够了，对于一千年后在同一个游泳池里的他来说也已经足够了。只不过这个游泳池已经搬到了银河系中另外一个遥远的世界，这个世界绕着另外一个太阳转动。　

对我来说也足够了……