Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Water: Bane of Books! Enemy of Electronics! Honestly, Why Do We Even Keep Water Around? Harper tossed and turned all night long. She couldn't stop thinking about the damaged library. As she usually did when she learned about a big problem, she wished desperately that she could fix it.

第二章水：书的祸害！电子产品的敌人！老实说，我们为什么要保留水呢？ 哈珀整夜辗转反侧。 她一直在想被毁的图书馆。 像往常一样，当她得知一个大问题时，她绝望地希望自己能解决它。

Harper was an amateur scientist. And she believed that science, good science, was all about solving problems. But it was too late to prevent the damage to the library. Was it also too late to save their Minecraft campaign? As she lay awake, she reminded herself that Minecraft itself wasn't going away. She and her friends would always be able to play their favorite game. They could generate a new world from scratch and work together to gather the materials they'd lost. They could craft all their favorite gear, weapons, items, potions, and so on. It was fun to occasionally start over from the beginning.

哈珀是个业余科学家。 她相信科学，好的科学，就是解决问题。 但为时已晚，无法阻止对图书馆的破坏。 现在拯救他们的《我的世界》活动是否也太晚了？ 当她醒着躺在床上时，她提醒自己，《我的世界》本身不会消失。 她和她的朋友们总是可以玩他们最喜欢的游戏。 他们可以从零开始创造一个新世界，共同努力收集他们失去的材料。 他们可以制作所有自己喜欢的装备、武器、道具、药剂等等。 偶尔从头开始是很有趣的。

But the version of the game she'd shared with Morgan, Jodi, and the others was special. And not just because of the experimental VR goggles that had transported them into the game. What had really made their game unique was the Evoker King. As an evolving, self-aware artificial intelligence, the Evoker King was truly one of a kind. She thought of him as a friend. And because he was made of programming, he was stuck in that world. He was part of that world. If that world was destroyed, her friend would be destroyed with it. How was Harper supposed to get any sleep with thoughts like that on her mind? The next day, Harper could tell she wasn't the only one who'd had trouble sleeping. Jodi had bags under her eyes, and Theo yawned as he greeted her in front of the school. But Morgan looked as awake and intense as Harper had ever seen him. "There must be something we can do," he said. "Harper, Theo, do you two have any ideas?"

但她与摩根、乔迪和其他人分享的游戏版本很特别。 这不仅仅是因为实验性的VR眼镜将他们带入了游戏中。 真正让他们的游戏与众不同的是Evoker King。 作为一个不断进化的，有自我意识的人工智能，Evoker King真的是独一无二的。 她把他当作朋友。 因为他是由编程组成的，所以他被困在了那个世界里。 他是那个世界的一部分。 如果那个世界毁灭了，她的朋友也会随之毁灭。 哈珀满脑子都是这样的想法怎么睡得着？ 第二天，哈珀发现她不是唯一一个失眠的人。 乔迪有眼袋，西奥在学校门口招呼她时打了个哈欠。 但摩根看起来是哈珀从未见过的清醒而紧张的样子。 “我们一定能做点什么，”他说。 哈珀，西奥，你们俩有什么主意吗

They were all gathered in Woodsword's gym before the first bell. Usually, they would meet on the front lawn, beneath their favorite tree. But the storm was still raging. The wind rattled the doors, as if trying to find its way inside. "Hey!" said Po. "Why are you asking Harper and Theo for ideas? We're all equally smart on this team." "You're right, Po," said Morgan. "I'm sorry. Did you have an idea?" Po grinned. He waggled his fingers as if casting a magic spell. "Time travel," he said.

他们在第一声铃响之前就聚集在了木剑的体育馆。 通常，他们会在前面的草坪上，在他们最喜欢的树下见面。 但风暴仍在肆虐。 风吹得门格格作响，好像想要找到进去的路。 “嘿！”阿宝说。“你为什么要问哈珀和西奥的想法？” 这个团队里的每个人都一样聪明。” “你说得对，阿宝。”摩根说。 “我很抱歉。你有什么主意吗？”阿宝咧嘴一笑。 他摇动着手指，好像在施魔法。 “时间旅行，”他说。

Morgan sighed, and Jodi patted Po on the head. "We'll work on it," she promised. "There's not much we can do without the VR goggles," Theo said, and he yawned again. "The specific instance of Minecraft that we've been playing…or visiting…is keyed to those devices. The world itself is hosted on a library computer, but without the goggles, we have no way of accessing it." Harper nodded in agreement with Theo. She saw the desperate hope in Morgan's eyes. He wasn't ready to give up on the Evoker King. She admired that about him. But she couldn't think of a single encouraging thing to say. And she saw the hope in Morgan's eyes start to fade away. "I can see you're all upset about the library," said a voice. "I am, too." Harper turned, and at first, she thought she was seeing a ghost. A tall figure loomed before them, dressed all in black, its face obscured by a shadowy veil. But there was no disguising the frizzy red curls that belonged to their homeroom teacher. "Ms. Minerva!" said Harper. "Are you going to a funeral?"

摩根叹了口气，乔迪拍了拍阿宝的头。 “我们会努力的，”她保证道。 “没有VR眼镜，我们做不了什么，”西奥说，他又打了个哈欠。 “我们一直在玩或访问的《我的世界》的特定实例与这些设备息息相关。 世界本身托管在图书馆的电脑上，但没有护目镜，我们无法访问它。” 哈珀点头表示同意西奥的观点。 她看到摩根眼中绝望的希望。 他还没准备好放弃闪回之王。 她欣赏他的这一点。 但她想不出一句鼓励的话来。 她看到摩根眼中的希望开始消失。 “我看得出来，你们都在为图书馆的事烦恼。”一个声音说。 “我也是。”哈珀转过身来，起初，她以为自己看见了鬼。 一个高大的身影出现在他们面前，一身黑衣，脸被一层朦胧的面纱遮住了。 但是他们的班主任老师那一头卷曲的红色卷发是掩饰不了的。 “密涅瓦小姐！” “你要去参加葬礼吗？”

"In a manner of speaking," said the teacher. "I'm mourning the destruction of the library. It's a terrible loss for our community, isn't it? All those poor, defenseless books, lost to the ravages of nature. It's almost Shakespearean!" "Oh, Minerva, must you be so dramatic?" said another voice—one that Harper recognized instantly. Her favorite teacher, Doc Culpepper, approached them with a skip in her step. "You know what I always say: every setback is an

“从某种意义上说，”老师说。 “我为图书馆的毁灭而哀悼。 这对我们的社区来说是一个巨大的损失，不是吗？ 那些可怜的，毫无防备的书，在大自然的蹂躏中消失了。 简直就是莎士比亚的作品！”“哦，米勒娃，你非得这么夸张吗？”另一个声音说，哈帕立刻认出了这个声音。 她最喜欢的老师卡尔佩珀博士迈着轻快的步伐走近他们。 “你知道我常说的话：每一次挫折都是一次