Does the Torch of Civilization Still Burn Bright?

Stuck alone and forgotten in the deep parts of the Vault - Hao Ren could not imagine what it was like to be in the old man's position, but he could glean some details of the latter's life over the past nine centuries from the things he saw inside this tiny room. He had once followed through his job through strict discipline and steely determination, because he was one of the brightest on the ark; he had once given up caring about everything, wasting time and supplies provided for him in this tiny room, because he was only human; he had then left the insincere self-discipline and meaningless squandering behind, and used the last few decades of his life to record everything he knew and all the history of his people, because he was the last "parent" of his civilization.