Equality 7-2521 has not written for many days; he feels no desire to speak, as he does not need words to remember what has happened to him.

On his second day in the forest, Equality 7-2521 hears footsteps behind him. He hides in the bushes and waits as the steps come closer. Soon he sees a white tunic among the trees and runs to the Golden One. The couple stand looking at one another, but neither of them speaks.  

The Golden One’s hands fists are clenched at her side and her body sways; Equality 7-2521 does not dare to get too close to her. Finally, in a trembling voice, Equality 7-2521 asks the Golden One how she got here. She only whispers that she has found him; there is great pride in her voice when she tells him she followed him.

The entire City knows Equality 7-2521 went to the Uncharted Forest; on the day she heard of it, the Golden One ran away from the House of Peasants. She discovered his path through the forest by following the branches broken by his body. Her tunic is torn and her arms have been cut by branches, but she does not notice her weariness or her fear.

The Golden One vows to follow Equality 7-2521 wherever he goes. If he faces danger, she will face it with him—even if the end is death. Equality 7-2521 is damned, and the Golden One wants to share his damnation.

Her voice is low, full of both bitterness and triumph. She tells Equality 7-2521 that his eyes are like flames; the other men’s eyes have neither hope nor fire. He is determined, but they are soft and weak; he holds his head high with pride but they cower in fear. Equality 7-2521 walks while his brothers crawl, and she wishes to be damned with him rather than blessed with all the others. Equality 7-2521 may do as he wishes, but she kneels before him and asks him not to send her away.

When Equality 7-2521 reaches for her, he is struck with a kind of madness and he kisses her. Her arms close around him and they stand thus for a long time. Equality 7-2521 is frightened that he has lived twenty-one years without ever knowing such joy is possible.

He tells the Golden One that there is no danger in solitude. They have no need for others, and they must forget all they once knew and rejoice only in being together with this bond of joy between them. The world ahead of them is strange and unknown, but it is their own. They walk through the forest together. That night Equality 7-2521 discovers that holding a woman’s body is neither ugly nor shameful; in fact, it is the “one ecstasy granted to the race of men.”

They walk for many days, and each day is a blessing that also puts a distance between them and the City. Equality 7-2521 has crafted many bows and arrows, so they have plenty of food. They sleep in clearings surrounded by a circle of fires; the forest creatures watch from beyond the flames. One day when they have gone far enough, they will build a house, but there is no hurry.

Although they do not understand this new life, it is clear and simple. The Golden One is beautiful to watch, but questions come to him as they walk in silence:

If that which they have found is the corruption of solitude, then what can men wish for except for corruption? If this is the great evil of being alone, then what is good and what is evil?

They have been taught since birth that everything that comes from the many is good, and everything that comes from one is evil. Although Equality 7-2521 has broken the law, he has never doubted it—until now. Here, in the forest, he is learning to doubt. Men are taught that their worth is found only in “useful toil for the good of all their brothers.” When he lived that way, all Equality 7-2521 felt was weariness.

Man is taught that the only joy is sharing with his brothers; Equality 7-2521’s joy is found in the power created by his wires and in the Golden One. Neither of those joys is shared; they come only from within him. These are the things that make him think that there is some “frightful error” in men’s thinking, although he does not know what the error is.

Today the Golden One tells Equality 7-2521 that she loves him, and the couple knows their lives have been touched with a miracle. Love is not a strong enough word for what they feel.