He sat on the couch, his feet resting on the table in front of him. He stared at the whiteboard on the wall. The formulas and drawings danced, the numbers and letters losing more of their meaning the longer he looked. He adjusted his gaze, staring outside, the sun still as bright and the sky just as blue as on the first day.

The first day, Chris thought. He looked down towards the camera.

"You know... I've been so preoccupied with learning everything... doing everything. I'm on a break now... the robot I engineered and finished a month ago is doing the calculations for me." Chris closed his eyes, his fingers rubbing over his eyelids.

"Don't you think it's weird that even though time isn't progressing, I'm still getting tired? Which is... odd, you'd think, considering I'm not aging either. On the other hand, it feels more like... fatigue? It's not that my body's tired. I probably feel better than I ever have, physically speaking. It's more the feeling of taking a long drag of a cigarette, and your mind clouds for a moment. The longer I stay up, the more information I absorb... the thicker that cloud gets. Like my brain's overheating and I need to let it cool off..." He pulled his legs from the table and straightened his back.

"The amount of information I've stored up in here..." he tapped on the side of his head, "is just... immense. Numbers, theories, assumptions, models. Math. Robotics. Space travel. Space itself. Chemistry. Nuclear particles and their working in this galaxy. I wouldn't call myself a know-it-all, don't get me wrong... Without the books and the internet I would've forgotten half of the information by now and probably incorrectly memorized the other half. It's just so... vast. Every time I have to split up my projects to make sure everything's done correctly. I can't just hop from creating a wormhole machine to developing the spacecraft needed to carry it into space. And when every task's done a weight is lifted from my shoulders and I can just feel the knowledge slipping back into the crevices of my mind, in the assumption that I might ever need it again."

Chris paused. A melancholic smile rested on his face. "If I look back, I'm not really sure how I managed to do it all. I was never really a go-getter, you know? I just postponed for a day. I could always get back to it later. Only since I met Sarah..."

He swallowed. "Yeah, so when I met her... she was the one always trying to motivate me to be my best. Not for her, but for me. Because it'd make me happy. And that would make her happy. I can remember her smile as she laughed at my jokes or when I clumsily messed up something..." Chris's eyes drifted off into the distance.

"Since those first months I've never been back. You know, home. Just the thought... just the idea of availability would probably drive me insane. Her just... standing there, and yet being so far away. I don't think I could put myself to leave once I show up. So I've made myself the promise that I wouldn't until this is all over."

He sighed. "Honestly, I think you might have been my savior, buddy. I needed someone to talk to. It helps organize my thoughts. For instance, before I came here I was thinking about that gravity curve and then..."

He squinted his eyes. "Uhh... oh yeah, so I was going to record this, but before that I was supposed to... what was it again? Oh yeah, I had to grab that book that was around here somewhere..." He rummaged through the stacks of books and fifteen minutes later a loud "There we go!" echoed through the room.

"You know", he started again, as he sat down back on the couch, "I've developed some pretty advanced AIs as of late. I could've made a machine or a robot or something to talk with. You know, conversation?" He pursed his lips. "I could've done it... but on the other hand, I don't think it would help me. Not only would it remind me of what I've lost and what I've missed, but deeper down... it misses the emotional connection. That's probably the thing I miss the most. All the knowledge in the world, large containers of materials and steel and aluminum stacked everywhere. And the thing to help me endure this is the only thing unavailable to me. Human warmth."