2 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Halfway across town, Dr. Yanina Zinchenko, the world-famous librarian, was walking briskly through the cavernous building that was only days away from its gala grand opening. Alexandriaville's new public library had been under construction for five years. All work had been done with the utmost secrecy under the tightest possible security. One crew did the exterior renovations on what had once been the small Ohio city's most magnificent building, the Gold Leaf Bank. Other crews—carpenters,

第二章在城市的另一边， 世界著名图书管理员亚尼娜·津琴科(Yanina Zinchenko)正轻快地穿过这座洞穴般的建筑，这里距离盛大开幕只有几天时间了。 亚历山德里维尔的新公共图书馆已经修建了五年。 所有的工作都是在最严密的安全措施下进行的。 一个工作人员对曾经是俄亥俄州小城市最宏伟的建筑——金叶银行(Gold Leaf Bank)进行了外部装修。 其他crews-carpenters,

masons, electricians, and plumbers—worked on the interior. No single construction crew stayed on the job longer than six weeks. No crew knew what any of the other crews had done (or would be doing). And when all those crews were finished, several super-secret covert crews (highly paid workers who would deny ever having been near the library, Alexandriaville, or the state of Ohio) stealthily applied the final touches. Dr. Zinchenko had supervised the construction project for her employer—a very eccentric (some would say loony) billionaire. Only she knew all the marvels and wonders the incredible new library would hold (and hide) within its walls. Dr. Zinchenko was a tall woman with blazingred hair. She wore an expensive, custom-tailored business suit, jazzy high-heeled shoes, a Bluetooth earpiece, and glasses with thick red frames. Heels clicking on the marble floor, fingers tapping on the glass of her very advanced tablet computer, Dr. Zinchenko strode past the control center's red door, under an arch, and into the

石匠、电工和水管工在室内工作。 没有一个施工队在工地上工作超过六周。 没有船员知道其他船员做了什么(或将要做什么)。 当所有这些工作人员都完成后，几个超级秘密的秘密工作人员(高薪工人，他们会否认曾经靠近图书馆、亚历山大维尔或俄亥俄州)秘密地进行最后的修饰。 津琴科博士为她的雇主——一个非常古怪(有人会说疯了)的亿万富翁——监督了这个建筑项目。 只有她知道这座令人难以置信的新图书馆将在其墙壁内容纳(并隐藏)所有的奇迹和奇观。 津琴科医生身材高挑，头发红得耀眼。 她穿着一套昂贵的定制西装，脚上蹬着爵士风格的高跟鞋，戴着蓝牙耳机，戴着一副红色厚框眼镜。 高跟鞋在大理石地板上咔嗒作响，手指敲打着她那台非常先进的平板电脑的玻璃。 津琴科大步走过控制中心的红门，在拱门下，走进了

breathtakingly large circular reading room beneath the library's three-story-tall rotunda. The bank building, which provided the shell for the new library, had been built in 1931. With towering Corinthian columns, an arched entryway, lots of fancy trim, and a mammoth shimmering gold dome, the building looked like it belonged next door to the triumphant memorials in Washington, D.C.—not on this small Ohio town's quaint streets. Dr. Zinchenko paused to stare up at the library's most stunning visual effect: the Wonder Dome. Ten wedge-shaped, high-definition video screens —as brilliant as those in Times Square—lined the underbelly of the dome like so many orange slices. Each screen could operate independently or as part of a spectacular whole. The Wonder Dome could become the constellations of the night sky; a flight through the clouds that made viewers below sense that the whole building had somehow lifted off the ground; or, in Dewey decimal mode, ten sections depicting vibrant and constantly changing images associated with each category in the library cataloging system.

图书馆三层楼高的圆形大厅下面有一个令人惊叹的大型圆形阅览室。 为新图书馆提供外壳的银行大楼建于1931年。 高耸的科林斯式圆柱，拱形的入口，许多华丽的装饰和巨大的闪闪发光的金色圆顶，这座建筑看起来像是属于华盛顿特区胜利纪念馆的隔壁，而不是在这个俄亥俄州小镇古雅的街道上。 津琴科博士停下来，凝视着图书馆最令人惊叹的视觉效果:奇迹穹顶(Wonder Dome)。 十块楔形的高清视频屏幕——像时代广场上的那些一样明亮——像许多橙子片一样排列在穹顶的下腹部。 每个屏幕可以独立运行，也可以作为一个壮观整体的一部分。 “奇迹穹顶”可以变成夜空中的星座;穿过云层的飞行让下面的观众感觉到整座建筑不知怎么地离开了地面;或者，在杜威十进制模式下，描绘与图书馆编目系统中的每个类别相关的充满活力和不断变化的图像的十个部分。

"I have the final numbers for the fourth sector of the Wonder Dome in Dewey mode," Dr. Zinchenko said into her Bluetooth earpiece. "364 point 1092." She carefully over-enunciated each word to make certain the video artist knew what specific numbers should occasionally drift across the fourth wedge amid the swirling social-sciences montage featuring a floating judge's gavel, a tumbling teacher's apple, and a gentle snowfall of holiday icons. "The numbers, however, should not appear until eleven a.m. Sunday. Is that clear?" "Yes, Dr. Zinchenko," replied the tinny voice in her ear. Next Dr. Zinchenko studied the holographic statues projected into black crepe-lined recesses cut into the massive stone piers that supported the arched windows from which the Wonder Dome rose. "Why are Shakespeare and Dickens still here? They're not on the list for opening night." "Sorry," replied the library's director of holographic imagery, who was also on the conference call. "I'll fix it." "Thank you."

“我得到了杜威模式下神奇巨蛋第四部分的最终数据，”他说。 津琴科对着蓝牙耳机说。 “364分1092。”她小心翼翼地把每个词都念得很清楚，以确保视频艺术家知道在纷飞的社会科学蒙太奇中，哪些特定的数字偶尔会出现在第四个楔子上，其中包括一个漂浮的法官的木槌，一个翻滚的教师的苹果，以及一堆轻柔的节日图标。 然而，这些数字应该要到上午11点才会出现。 星期天。明白了吗?”“是的,博士。 津琴科。”在她耳边传来一个细小的声音。 接下来，津琴科博士研究了投影在巨大的石墩上的黑色绉纹凹处的全息雕像，这些石墩支撑着拱形的窗户，神奇穹顶就是从这些窗户升起的。 “为什么莎士比亚和狄更斯还在这里?” 他们不在首演当晚的名单上。” “对不起，”图书馆全息图像主管回答说，他也参加了电话会议。 “我来修。”“谢谢你。”

Exiting the rotunda, the librarian entered the Children's Room. It was dim, with only a few work lights glowing, but Dr. Zinchenko had memorized the layout of the miniature tables and was able to march, without bumping her shins, to the Story Corner for a final check on her recently installed geese. The flock of six audio-animatronic goslings— fluffy robots with ping-pongish eyeballs (created for the new library by imagineers who used to work at Disney World)—stood perched atop an angled bookcase in the corner. Mother Goose, in her bonnet and granny glasses, was frozen in the center. "This is librarian One," said Dr. Zinchenko, loud enough for the microphones hidden in the ceiling to pick up her voice. "Initiate story-time sequence." The geese sprang to mechanical life. "Nursery rhyme." The geese honked out "Baa-Baa Black Sheep" in six-part harmony. "Treasure Island?"

走出圆形大厅，图书管理员走进了儿童室。 房间里很昏暗，只有几盏工作灯在亮着。 津琴科已经记住了小桌子的布局，可以在不撞到小腿的情况下，大步走向“故事角”，最后检查一下她最近安装的鹅。 六只视听电子小鹅——长着乒乓球般眼睛的毛茸茸的机器人(由曾经在迪士尼世界工作过的想象力工程师为新图书馆设计的)——栖息在角落里一个倾斜的书架上。 鹅妈妈戴着无边帽，戴着奶奶戴的眼镜，在中间僵住了。 “这是一号图书管理员。” 津琴科，声音大到藏在天花板上的麦克风都能听到她的声音。 “启动故事时间序列。” 这些鹅突然变成了机械动物。 “童谣”。鹅们以六声部的和声“咩咩黑羊”地叫着。 “金银岛?”

The birds yo-ho-ho'ed their way through "Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest." Dr. Zinchenko clapped her hands. The rollicking geese stopped singing and swaying. "One more," she said. Squinting, she saw a book sitting on a nearby table. "Walter the Farting Dog." The six geese spun around and farted, their tail feathers flipping up in sync with the noisy blasts. "Excellent. End story time." The geese slumped back into their sleep mode. Dr. Zinchenko made one more tick on her computer tablet. Her final punch list was growing shorter and shorter, which was a very good thing. The library's grand opening was set for Friday night. Dr. Z and her army of associates had only a few days left to smooth out any kinks in the library's complex operating system. Suddenly, Dr. Zinchenko heard a low, rumbling growl. Turning around, she was eyeball to icy-blue eyeball with a very rare white tiger. Dr. Zinchenko sighed and touched her Bluetooth earpiece.

鸟儿们在“十五个人上死人的箱子”中一路狂奔。 津琴科医生拍了拍手。 欢快的鹅停止了歌唱和摇摆。 “再来一个，”她说。她眯起眼睛，看见旁边的桌子上放着一本书。 “放屁的狗沃尔特。”六只鹅旋转着，放着屁，它们的尾羽随着嘈杂的爆炸声同步地竖起来。 “太好了。故事结束。” 鹅们又回到了它们的睡眠状态。 津琴科博士在她的平板电脑上又打了一个勾。 她的最后一击越来越短，这是件好事。 图书馆的盛大开幕定于周五晚上举行。 Z博士和她的同事们只剩下几天的时间来解决图书馆复杂的操作系统中的任何问题。 突然，津琴科听到一声低沉的咆哮声。 转过身来，她的眼球对着一只非常罕见的白虎的冰蓝色眼球。 津琴科叹了口气，摸了摸自己的蓝牙耳机。