Thermuthis and her brother Richard were sharing a bath after a particularly long hike

They were both exhausted

It had been the hottest summers for over eighty years and there were worries of a drought

They shared the bath to be economical with the water that was available

Richard looked at his sister who was relaxing with her eyes closed

How many trains did we see today?

About five why do you ask?

Do you find train travel sensual and erotic?

Not really

Even when you are on a long journey

It is not the first thing that springs to mind

Why do you ask?

When I was in London I saw a movie by Wong Kar-Wai

That’s nice what was it called?

2046

Have you seen it?

No

What was it about?

Lost love and time travel in a nutshell I suppose

Any good

Yes it was rather like two hours of chic existentialism

But I enjoyed it

Is existentialism chic?

I suppose so

At times in his life Sartre was considered chic so I would think that existentialism could be considered quite chic

Only quite chic

The doorbell to Richard’s rented holiday apartment rang quite loudly

Fuck that’s early

What’s early?

The fucking pizza I said to deliver it at eight

It is eight

Well grab your gown and pay for it

And close the door as I do want the Domino man to see me here in the bath

I look and feel like shit

And I only share shit with my brother

Within five minutes Richard returned to the bathroom with two quarters of pizza and a can of soft drink

Here have this we can finish the rest when we are dressed

And do not drop it down you as you normally do

For a while neither Thermuthis or Richard spoke

I gave the chap one of my beers as he looked exhausted

Who?

The Domino man he looked so hot

The poor fuck will probably crash his motorbike now

Really Richard you do not think

And some of your topping has fallen into the bath

You are such a slut Thermuthis

Thermuthis laughed and fished the cheese topping out of the bath water and ate it slowly

You were saying about trains

There were a number of scenes in the movie which were set on board a very futuristic train

It was explained that there was a vast railway network all around the world

It appears that the trains traveled through time

Was the train full as I would imagine it to be quite exciting travelling through time

No there is just one passenger a young Japanese chap

The only other beings if you can call them that were a number of quite attractive androids

Go on

Well the Japanese chap falls for one of these androids during the journey and they become very close especially as they pass through the cold zone

Do they fuck?

No

I am not sure if the androids were programmed to fuck

So what happens?

Well it poses the question

Can androids feel love?

If they were programmed to experience love

I would expect that they could experience the emotion

Just as if they were programmed to fuck

It is a difficult question

Rather like why do I always drop food down myself?

That is easily answered

Is it?

You are just careless Thermuthis

It is a basic question

Why am I careless and why are you such a prick

Let’s get back to the android

The Japanese passenger waits for the android to replicate his emotion but she does not

She just perches in the vestibule and watches the endless tunnels flash by

I told you she was not programmed to show emotion

That is where you are wrong

Why?

The android can feel love but she loves another

But knows that she will not see him for a very long time

It sounds like a sad movie

To some extent it is

So because of this you think long train journeys are erotic

No I have thought it for many years

Some people might think that a brother and sister sharing a bath is erotic

It is natural

Yes to us but to other people it may seem erotic

There was not enough water for two baths to share was quite sensible

Erotic

No

I am naked

I know

Some might think that is erotic

I agree that your body is quite erotic

But not to me

I am your brother

I see you naked quite frequently

Do you like what you see?

You are my sister

Was he fat?

Who?

The Domino man

Yes

Yuk

If I invited the Domino man to share the bath with you then perhaps I would see it as erotic

Not by me you know

So train travel can be considered erotic?

In a sense and that is what the movie tries to explain

That any long distance train travel can be sensed as erotic

In your head Ricky I cannot say that my knickers were that wet when we travelled to Penzance last month

They were totally unstained if I remember

Unlike your tee shirt

But you are missing the point

It is a feeling that one has as they experience endless journeys

One is in transit

You have a destination but that is an abstract

Your journey is the only reality

You will not start the same journey again

You might repeat it but you will never start the same journey again

Well I am getting out of the bath

If you get off on that then run some more hot

Oh that is wicked of me

If you get off on that then lie in this decaying bath and get a horn

I will heat up the pizza again

It is still hot

I placed in the oven on a low gas

You are so fucking smart Ricky

No just practical

Well we have another long day tomorrow and I am going to eat drink and then turn in quite soon

What time is it?

Thermuthis looked at her mobile

Guess

Half eight

No later

Nine

No a little less

I give up

Well if you must know it is exactly 2046