3 The Evil Archie Clone

Chapter 3 THE EVIL ARCHIE CLONE Of course, Coke and Pep knew all about Dr. Herman Warsaw. He was the lunatic who had chased them halfway across the United States, lured them to The House on the Rock, and tried to kill them there. Instead, it was Dr. Warsaw who met his end tumbling out of The Infinity Room to the rocks below. But none of that mattered right now, because the twins were trapped in a ten-foot-tall wire cage that was hanging a few feet over a pool filled with boiling oil. See? I told you Coke and Pep would be lowered into boiling oil. But you didn't believe me. Maybe you'll trust me from now on. The gears turned slowly, and the cage dropped a few more inches.

当然，可口可乐和佩普知道阿奇博士的一切。 赫尔曼华沙。他就是那个追了他们半个美国，把他们引诱到岩石上的房子，想在那里杀了他们的疯子。 相反，是华沙博士从“无限房间”里摔到下面的岩石上，最后死了。 但现在这些都不重要了，因为这对双胞胎被困在一个十英尺高的铁丝笼子里，笼子悬挂在一个满是沸腾的油的游泳池的几英尺高的地方。 看到了吗?我跟你说过可乐和Pep会变成滚烫的油。 但你不相信我。 也许从现在开始你会相信我。 齿轮慢慢地转动着，笼子又下降了几英寸。

"Help! Help!" Pep screamed as she shook the cage violently. "Let us out!" "Save your breath," Archie Clone said. "This truck is totally soundproof. A heavy metal band could do a concert in here and the people standing outside wouldn't hear a peep." "Are you going to drive us somewhere and kill us?" Pep asked desperately. "No, of course not," Archie Clone replied. "I'm going to kill you right here. Or to be more specific, I'm going to fry you right here. Hey, you kids aren't French by any chance, are you? That would be ironic!" The cage dropped a few more inches. Pep shrieked and began to climb up the sides. Coke desperately looked around for a way out. The bottom of the cage was about a foot above the boiling oil. "Dr. Warsaw is dead!" Coke shouted at Archie Clone. "We were there! We saw it happen! You don't need to kill us anymore!" "It doesn't matter to me if Dr. Warsaw is dead or

“救命!救命!”佩普尖叫着使劲摇晃笼子。 “放我们出去！”“省省吧。”阿奇·克隆说。 “这辆卡车是完全隔音的。 重金属乐队可以在这里开演唱会，站在外面的人一点也听不到。” “你要把我们带到某个地方然后杀了我们吗？”佩普绝望地问。 “不，当然不是。”阿奇·克隆回答。 “我要在这里杀了你。 或者更具体地说，我现在就把你炒了。 你们这些孩子不会碰巧是法国人吧？ 那就太讽刺了！”笼子又下降了几英寸。 佩普尖叫一声，开始往墙边爬。 可口可乐绝望地四处寻找出路。 笼子的底部离沸腾的油大约一英尺高。 “华沙医生死了！”可口可乐对阿奇·克隆喊道。 “我们在那儿！”我们亲眼所见！你不需要再杀我们了！”“对我来说，我不介意。 华沙已死

alive," Archie Clone said, still smiling. "Then why are you doing this?" Pep yelled. "We never did anything to you. We never even met you before today." "True, you didn't," Archie Clone said, "but the three of us have something in common." "What?" Coke asked. "TGF," Archie Clone said. "You know what that stands for, don't you?" The Genius Files. "You're one of us?" Pep shouted. The cage dropped a few more inches, and she climbed higher. The top of the cage prevented her from climbing all the way out. "That's right," Archie Clone said calmly, "and soon I'll be the only one of us." As part of The Genius Files program (which you would know if you had read The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable), Dr. Warsaw had selected a small group of the brightest children in America. One of these kids might be sitting next to you right now as you read this book. These "gifted and

阿奇克隆说，仍然微笑着。 “那你为什么要这么做？”Pep喊道。 “我们从来没有对你做过什么。 今天之前我们甚至都没见过你。” “没错，你没有，”克隆阿奇说，“但我们三个有一些共同点。” “什么?”可口可乐问道。“TGF，”阿奇·克隆说。 “你知道那代表什么，对吧？”天才档案。 “你是我们中的一员？”Pep喊道。 笼子又下降了几英寸，她爬得更高了。 笼子的顶部阻止了她一路爬出去。 “没错，”克隆阿奇平静地说，“很快我们就只剩下我一个人了。” 作为“天才档案”计划的一部分（如果你读过《天才档案：不可阻挡的任务》，你就会知道这个计划）。 华沙选择了一小群美国最聪明的孩子。 当你读这本书的时候，这些孩子中的一个可能就坐在你旁边。 这些“有天赋的

talented" kids were identified using standardized testing in schools all over the country. Coke and Pep were singled out. They hadn't met any of the other kids in the program… until now. The cage dropped a few more inches, so the bottom of it was now below the level of the boiling oil. Pep screamed. Coke followed his sister's lead, climbing up the wire to avoid the bubbling oil. "So your plan is to kill all the Genius Files kids?" Coke asked. "That's right." "Why?" Coke asked. "What could that possibly accomplish?" "Stop talking with him!" Pep screamed at her brother. "Find a way to get us out of here!" "Oh hush, Pep," said Archie Clone. "There's no way out. I'm sure they told you when you joined The Genius Files that you would get a million dollars when you turn twenty-one years old, right?" "Yeah, so?" said Coke. "What they didn't tell you is that it's not a million dollars for each of us. It's a million dollars

全国各地的学校都通过标准化测试来确定“天才”孩子。 可口可乐和Pep被单独挑出来。 直到现在，他们还没有见过这个项目里的其他孩子。 笼子又下降了几英寸，所以它的底部现在低于沸腾的油的水平面。 Pep尖叫。科克跟着妹妹的脚步，顺着电线往上爬，以避开冒着泡泡的油。 “所以你的计划是杀死《天才档案》里所有的孩子？”可口可乐问道。 “没错。”“为什么?”可口可乐问道。 “那能有什么用呢？”“别跟他说话了！”佩普对着她哥哥尖叫。 “想办法把我们弄出去！”“哦，嘘，佩普。”克隆阿奇说。 “没有出路。我敢肯定，当你加入《天才档案》时，他们告诉你，当你满21岁时，你会得到一百万美元，对吗？”“是啊，那又怎样？” “他们没有告诉你的是，对我们每个人来说，这不是100万美元。 是一百万美元

for all of us. We'll split it evenly. So let's say there are a thousand kids who are members of The Genius Files. Do you know what a million dollars divided by a thousand works out to?" Pep moved the decimal point in her head. "A thousand dollars," she said. "That's right," Archie Clone said. "You are pretty smart! Now, I don't know about you two, but I'm not going to put my life on the line for a lousy thousand bucks when I turn twenty-one." "So the more Genius Files kids who die before they reach twenty-one, the more money each survivor gets," Coke reasoned. "Hey, you're catchin' on, big guy!" said Archie Clone. "And if I happen to be the only survivor, well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens." "You get all the money!" Pep shouted. "You're evil!" "He's also insane," Coke added. "Insane?" Archie Clone said, laughing. "Your mother drove halfway across the country to visit a

为了我们所有人。我们均分。 假设有一千个孩子是天才档案的成员。 你知道一百万除以一千等于多少吗？”佩普移动了她脑袋里的小数点。 “一千美元，”她说。 “没错。”克隆阿奇说。 “你真聪明！”现在，我不知道你们俩怎么想，但我不会在我21岁的时候为了区区一千块钱而拿自己的生命冒险。” “因此，在21岁之前死亡的‘天才档案’孩子越多，每个幸存者得到的钱就越多，”科克解释道。 “嘿，你赶上来了，大个子！”阿奇·克隆说。 “如果我碰巧是唯一的幸存者，那么，不需要天才也能知道会发生什么。” “钱都给你！”Pep喊道。 “你是邪恶的!”“他也疯了，”科克补充道。 “疯了?”阿奇·克隆笑着说。 “你妈妈开车穿过半个国家去拜访一个

mustard museum. And I'm the crazy one?" "How did you know about that?" Pep demanded. "Oh, I know all about you two," Archie Clone said, smiling. "I do my homework, like a good boy." "How many other Genius Files kids are still alive?" Coke asked. "How many have you killed?" "That's none of your concern," Archie Clone said. The cage lowered a few more inches and Pep screamed again. The twins pressed themselves tightly against the top. "Do something, Coke!" Pep shouted. "What do you want me to do?" he yelled back at her. "Why don't you figure something out for a change?" "I didn't want to come inside this stupid truck in the first place!" she said angrily. "I knew this was going to be trouble. You told me to relax and have fun!" "I did not!" "I wish you two would stop bickering," Archie Clone said. "It's giving me a headache. Just think of

芥末博物馆。我是疯的那个？”“你是怎么知道的？”Pep要求。 “哦，你们俩的事我都知道，”克隆阿奇微笑着说。 “我做作业，像个好孩子一样。” “还有多少天才档案的孩子还活着？”可口可乐问道。 “你杀了多少人？”“这不关你的事。”阿奇·克隆说。 笼子又低了几英寸，佩普又尖叫起来。 那对双胞胎紧紧地靠在上面。 “做点什么吧，可乐！”Pep喊道。 “你想让我做什么？”他朝她吼道。 “你为什么不改变一下呢？”“我一开始就不想进这辆破卡车！”她生气地说。 “我知道会有麻烦。 你告诉我要放松，玩得开心！”“我没有！”“我希望你们两个不要再争吵了。”阿奇克隆说。 “这让我头疼。 想想看