but now , sitting on a seat with his feet on a floor that was bolted to a steel underbelly that was strapped to wheels that locked onto rails and hurtled through time and distance as if time and distance were n't nothing at all , he loved his life and he loved lila and he loved their child and he knew , as he always had , that he loved speed , because things that possessed it could not be tethered , and so , they could n't be sold .