I’ve been watching what humans do when they need water.

They do not go to the floor. They go to a place in the wall. They press or turn something, and water comes out. They catch it in a container. They do not drink from where it comes.

Sometimes they take the water away and change it first. They make it hot. They hold it in both hands and wait before they drink. Sometimes they add things to it. The water is not clear anymore. It smells different after that.

They drink it slowly.

Sometimes they carry the water with them in a closed container. They keep it nearby even when they are not drinking. They take it out, open it, take a small amount, then close it again.

I have seen humans make a drink and leave it sitting beside them for a long time before they touch it again. Sometimes the drink becomes cold and they still keep it nearby. Sometimes they make another one while the first is still there.

We drink when we need to. The water is there. It is always the same. You go to it. You drink. You are done.

But the humans do not drink right away. They carry the water with them even after it changes.

I think humans are not only trying to stop being thirsty. They are trying to keep the water the way they want it for as long as possible.

June (quietly): “What if it stops being the right kind?”

Walter: “Then they make another one.”