23 Death by Chocolate

Chapter 23 DEATH BY CHOCOLATE Coke and Pep's first reaction was to make a run for it. They should have made a run for it. But there was something that stopped them. The figure looked just like Dr. Warsaw, but something was slightly different. It was hard to put a finger on it. "Are you.. Dr. Warsaw's clone?" Pep asked, trembling. "In a way, yes," the man said in a voice that sounded vaguely like the voice on a car navigation system. He took a step forward. "I could be his twin. I look more like Dr. Warsaw than you two look alike. I'm a perfect clone, you might say. But I'm not a clone in the biological sense of the word. You see, I'm a robot." It took a moment for that to sink in.

巧克力可乐致人死亡佩普的第一反应是逃跑。 他们本应该逃跑的。 但有什么东西阻止了他们。 这个身影看起来就像Dr。 华沙，但有些地方有点不同。 很难用手指指出来。 “你. .华沙博士的克隆体？”佩普颤抖着问道。 “在某种程度上，是的，”那人说，他的声音听起来有点像汽车导航系统的声音。 他向前走了一步。“我可能是他的双胞胎。 比起你们俩，我更像华沙医生。 你可能会说，我是一个完美的克隆人。 但我不是生物学意义上的克隆人。 你看，我是个机器人。”过了一会儿我才明白过来。

"You gotta be kidding me," Coke said. "Under my metal surface is a set of very complicated, sophisticated electronics," the robot said. "Twelve miles of wiring. Thousands of microprocessors. I possess all the information Dr. Warsaw does, and much more. And I know everything there is to know about you." "It's a trick," Coke said. "You're no robot." "Go ahead, Coke, touch me. I won't bite." Coke stepped forward and reached out to touch the robot's hand. It was hard, not fleshy. It felt metallic. Coke made a mental note not to punch the robot. It would only break his own hand. "Cold, isn't it?" the robot said. "You're bluffing," Pep said. "You don't know about us. When is our birthday?" "June twenty-fifth," the robot replied instantly. "Your home is in Point Reyes Station, California. You attend West Marin Middle School. Or you did, until it burned down under mysterious circumstances on the last day of

“你在开玩笑吧，”科克说。 “在我的金属表面下是一套非常复杂、精密的电子设备，”机器人说。 “12英里的电线。成千上万的微处理器。 我掌握了所有的信息。 华沙有，而且更多。 我知道关于你的一切。” “这是个骗局，”可口可乐说。 “你不是机器人。”“来吧，可乐，摸摸我。 我不会咬人的。”可口可乐走上前，伸出手去摸机器人的手。 它是硬的，不是肉的。感觉像金属一样。 可口可乐在心里记着不要打机器人。 那只会弄断他自己的手。 “很冷，不是吗？”机器人说。 “你在虚张声势，”佩普说。 “你不了解我们。我们的生日是什么时候？”“6月25日。”机器人立刻回答。 “你的家在加州的雷耶斯角站。 你上的是西马林中学。 或者你曾经有过，直到它在最后一天神秘地被烧毁

school. And you each have a small birthmark on your right foot." Pep gasped. Coke peered into the robot's eyes. There was no way to tell it wasn't a human. "You called me on the phone in our hotel room the other night," Coke said, "and you delivered that cipher through our car radio, didn't you?" "Guilty as charged." "What do the ciphers mean?" Pep asked. "Llano Estacado, a piece of the Blarney Stone, Hub City. What ties them together?" "I'm just the messenger," replied the robot, "and you ask too many questions." "Well, maybe you can answer this one," Coke said. "What are you doing here?" The robot wheeled around on its heel slowly, gesturing in an almost human but slightly jerky fashion. "Factories are special places," it said. "They're filled with robots, much like me. In fact, I was

学校。你们每个人的右脚上都有一个小小的胎记。” Pep气喘吁吁地说。可乐凝视着机器人的眼睛。 没办法分辨出那是不是人。 “那天晚上，你在酒店房间里给我打电话，”科克说，“你通过我们车上的收音机传递了那个密码，对吗？”“罪名成立。” “这些密码是什么意思？”Pep问道。 “Llano Estacado，枢纽城巧言石的一部分。 是什么把他们联系在一起的？”“我只是个信使，”机器人回答说，“你问的问题太多了。” “嗯，也许你可以回答这个问题，”可口可乐说。 “你在这儿干什么？”机器人慢慢地用脚后跟转着圈，用一种近乎人类的方式做着手势，但动作有些不稳定。 “工厂是特殊的地方，”它说。 “他们都是机器人，就像我一样。 事实上，我是

built right here. And you will die here." "Ha!" Coke said. "You could never catch us. What prevents us from running away from you right now?" "This does," the robot said. At that instant, its hands telescoped out from its arms, like two antennas. "Run, Pep!" Coke shouted, but it was too late. Each robot hand wrapped around a twin's neck in a tight grip, leaving no doubt that the grip could be tightened further, crushing their necks. Coke tried unsuccessfully to reach for the cell phone in his back pocket. Pep let out a shriek. "Scream all you want," the robot said as it dragged them across the floor. "Besides you two, there's only one other human in the building." At that, another figure stepped out from the shadows. "Mrs. Higgins!" Pep shouted when she saw her. "That's right," Mrs. Higgins said, taking a few

就建在这里。你会死在这里。” “哈!”可口可乐表示。“你永远抓不到我们。 是什么阻止我们现在从你身边跑开呢？”“是的，”机器人说。 就在这时，它的两只手从胳膊里伸出来，像两根天线。 “跑,Pep !”可口可乐喊道，但是已经太晚了。 每只机器人的手都紧紧地抓住双胞胎的脖子，毫无疑问，这只手可能会进一步收紧，挤压他们的脖子。 可口可乐试图伸手去拿他后口袋里的手机，但没有成功。 佩普发出一声尖叫。“想叫就叫吧，”机器人一边拖着他们在地板上走一边说。 “除了你们俩，这栋楼里就剩下一个人了。” 这时，另一个人影从阴影中走了出来。 “希金斯太太!”佩普看到她时喊道。 “没错，”希金斯太太说着，拿了几片

steps closer. "I'm with him now. And we're in love." "What?!" Pep said. "You told us you were in love with Dr. Warsaw." "I was," Mrs. Higgins replied. "But Herman never returned my love. I'm not sure he's capable of loving anyone. And if I can't have him, I can have the next best thing. Isn't that right, honey?" "That's right, dear," the robot said, and then it leaned over to kiss Mrs. Higgins. "That's just sick!" Coke said. "You just kissed a robot." "Who are you to judge our love?" Mrs. Higgins asked. "Soon you'll be dead, anyway." "Sad but true," the robot said. "Dad! Mom! Help!" Coke choked. "Ha-ha!" Mrs. Higgins cackled. "I love to watch you work, darling. You're even more cold-hearted than Herman was." "Yes, Dr. Warsaw is distressed that he no longer possesses the ruthlessness necessary to kill

近的步骤。“我现在和他在一起。 我们相爱了。”“什么? !”Pep说。 “你告诉过我们，你爱上了约翰博士。 华沙。”“是的，”希金斯太太回答。 但赫尔曼从未回报我的爱。 我不确定他是否有能力爱任何人。 如果我不能拥有他，我可以拥有次好的东西。 是不是，亲爱的？”“没错，亲爱的，”机器人说，然后倾身去吻希金斯太太。 “这太恶心了！”可口可乐表示。 “你刚刚吻了一个机器人。” “你凭什么评判我们的爱情？”希金斯太太问。 “反正你很快就要死了。” “很伤心，但这是真的，”机器人说。 “爸爸!妈妈!救命!”可口可乐窒息。 “哈哈!”希金斯太太咯咯地笑起来。 “我喜欢看你工作，亲爱的。 你比赫尔曼还冷血。” “是的，华沙医生很苦恼，因为他不再拥有杀人所必需的冷酷

you personally," said the robot. "Fortunately, he spent years designing me—an almost perfect copy of himself, minus the burden of a conscience or feelings of remorse. The good doctor affectionately calls me... Doominator." Doominator stopped in front of a room-sized machine consisting of an endless series of wheels, gears, belts, lights, compartments, and switches. There was a one-word sign in front of it—SNICKERS. "You're insane!" Pep shouted. "Insane?" Doominator said. "The definition, according to my built-in dictionary, is 'of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a person who is mentally deranged.' No, I do not believe that I can be insane, as I am not—technically—a person." With that, Doominator lifted Coke and Pep up by their necks and threw them roughly into two large metal boxes that were attached to a conveyor belt. Bars slammed down over the twins to prevent them from escaping.

你个人。”机器人说。 幸运的是，他花了数年时间来设计我——一个几乎完美的他自己的复制品，没有良心的负担或悔恨的感觉。 好医生亲切地叫我…… Doominator。”“末日终结者”停在一个房间大小的机器前，这个机器由一系列无穷无尽的轮子、齿轮、皮带、灯、隔间和开关组成。 前面有一个单字的牌子——士力架。 “你疯了!”Pep喊道。 “疯了?”Doominator说。 根据我的内置词典，这个定义是“精神错乱的人的、与之相关的或具有其特征的”。不，我不相信我疯了，因为严格来说，我不是一个人。” 说着，“末日终结者”抓住可乐和佩普的脖子，把它们粗暴地扔进两个连着传送带的大金属盒子里。 铁栏猛地把双胞胎盖住，以防他们逃跑。