21 Chapter 21

Chapter 21 "Ouch! I'm stuck! Help!" Haley Daley's cries sailed up the staircase as Kyle led the charge down the steps into the Stacks. "So, what exactly are the Stacks?" asked Akimi, three steps behind Kyle. "It's where the library stores its collection of research material," said Sierra, who was two stairs behind Akimi. The three of them reached the basement. It was filled with tidy rows of floor-to-ceiling shelving

第二十一章“哎哟!我困了!救命!”哈利·戴利的喊声响彻楼梯，凯尔带队走下台阶，进入斯塔克斯。 “那么，斯塔克斯到底是什么?”站在凯尔身后三步远的阿基米问道。 “这是图书馆储存研究资料的地方，”在Akimi后面两层楼的Sierra说。 他们三个人来到地下室。 里面摆满了一排排整齐的从地板到天花板的架子

units. "Help!" Haley sounded like she was on the far side of the room, behind the walls of metal storage racks crowded with boxes, books, and bins. "What is all this stuff?" said Kyle, looking for a passageway, trying to figure out how to get to wherever Haley was. "Mostly rare books and documents you can't check out," said Sierra. "But if you fill out a call slip, you can use this material up in the reading room." With a whir and whoosh of its electric motor, a shiny robot the color of the storm troopers in Star Wars scooted across an intersection between bookshelves. It moved on tank treads and had what looked like a shopping cart attached to its front. "Let's follow that robot!" said Kyle. "It might know the fastest way to reach Haley." The trio dashed up a narrow pathway to where they saw the robot extending its quadruple-jointed mechanical arm to pluck a flat metal box out of a slide-in compartment. The box had been stored in

单位。“救命!”哈利的声音听起来像是在房间的另一边，在摆满了盒子、书和箱子的金属储物架的墙后面。 “这是什么东西?”凯尔问，一边寻找通道，想知道怎么去哈利所在的地方。 “大部分是你不能借阅的稀有书籍和文件，”塞拉说。 “但是如果你填一张借阅单，你就可以在阅览室里使用这些材料。” 随着电动马达的嗖嗖声，一个闪亮的机器人从书架之间的十字路口疾驰而过，它的颜色就像《星球大战》(Star Wars)里的冲锋队。 它在坦克履带上移动，前面有一个看起来像购物车的东西。 “我们跟着那个机器人吧!”凯尔说。 “它可能知道找到哈利最快的方法。” 三人冲向一条狭窄的小路，在那里他们看到机器人伸出它的四关节机械臂，从一个滑入式隔间里拿出一个扁平的金属盒子。 盒子被存放在

a section of shelving with a flashing LCD that read "Magazines & Periodicals. 1930s." "Somebody upstairs wants an old magazine?" said Akimi. "They're probably researching the Gold Leaf Bank building," said Sierra. "I think it was built in the 1930s." "Help!" screamed Haley. "I'm stuck." "Hang on!" shouted Kyle. "We're coming." "Well, hurry up already!" "This way," said Kyle. They scampered up another aisle, turned right, and saw Haley, her hand jammed through a horizontal slot near the top of the basement wall. To reach it, she'd had to stand on an elevated treadmill maybe thirty feet long. Since the thing was rolling, Haley was jogging in place so she wouldn't fall on her face. The high-tech conveyor belt was actually a series of rollers. Ten robot carts —staggered so no two were directly across from each other—were lined up on either side. "I think it's an automatic book sorter," said Sierra. "That laser beam near Haley's ankles probably scans a book's tag and tells the conveyor

架子上有一个闪烁的液晶显示屏，上面写着“杂志和期刊”。 1930年代。”“楼上有人想要一本旧杂志吗?”明美说。 “他们可能在研究金叶银行大楼，”塞拉说。 “我想它建于20世纪30年代。” “救命!”哈利尖叫道。“我困了。” “坚持住!”凯尔喊道。“我们来了。” “好吧，快点!”“这边走，”凯尔说。 他们跑到另一条过道上，向右拐，看见了哈利，她的手卡在地下室墙头附近的一个水平狭缝里。 为了到达那里，她必须站在一个大约30英尺长的高架跑步机上。 因为那东西在滚动，海莉在原地慢跑，以免脸朝下摔倒。 这种高科技传送带实际上是由一系列滚筒组成的。 十辆机器人推车——它们错开了，所以没有两辆是直接在对面的——在两边排成一排。 塞拉说:“我认为这是一台自动图书分拣机。” 哈利脚踝附近的激光束可能会扫描一本书的标签，然后告诉传送带

belt which of the ten sorting trays to shove it into." "You guys?" screamed Haley. "Hurry up and rescue me!" Kyle stepped back. Tried to assess the situation. "What is that slot you're hanging on to?" "The bottom of the stupid book drop," said Haley, trotting on the treadmill. "I saw it on the floor plan. People can walk up to it on the sidewalk and return their books. I figured it had to lead down here." "Smart move," said Kyle. "You could crawl through the slot and escape." "If you were the size of a book," Akimi said sarcastically. "I never got that far," said Haley. "The minute I stepped onto this belt thing, it started moving." Kyle nodded. "Probably a weight-activated switch." "A book falls in," said Akimi. "The sorter starts up." "Clever," said Kyle. "Plus, it gives our game its first booby trap."

用皮带把它塞进十个分拣托盘中的哪一个。” “你们?”哈利尖叫道。 “快来救我!”凯尔往后退了一步。 试着评估形势。 “你抓住的那个插槽是什么?”“那该死的书架底下。”哈利说着，在跑步机上小跑着。 “我在平面图上看到了。 人们可以在人行道上走过去还书。 我想它一定是通向这里的。” “聪明的举动，”凯尔说。“你可以从洞口爬过去逃跑。” “如果你有一本书那么大，”明美讽刺地说。 “我从来没走到那一步，”哈利说。 “我一踩到这个皮带，它就开始动了。” 凯尔点点头。“可能是一个重量激活开关。” “一本书掉进去了，”明美说。 “分拣机启动了。”“聪明，”凯尔说。 此外，这也为我们的游戏设置了第一个诡雷。”

"Well, the game is no fun if you're the booby stuck in the trap!" said Haley. Kyle turned to Sierra. "We need to stop the belt so Haley can yank her hand out of that slot without falling on her butt or cracking open her skull. Have you ever read a book where the hero outwits an escalator or a rolling checkout belt in the grocery store or something?" "No," said Sierra. "Not really." "How about one where the hero just flips an emergency shutoff switch?" asked Akimi. "Because that's what I'd do if, you know, I found one." Akimi was standing next to a wall-mounted switch box. She flicked it down. The conveyor belt slowed to a stop. "Ta-da! Another chapter for my amazingly awesome autobiography—if I ever write one." Haley yanked her hand out of the book return slot. It sort of popped when it finally sprang free. She collapsed to her knees on the frozen treadmill. "My hand feels flatter than a pancake," she moaned.

“好吧，如果你是陷在陷阱里的那只鲣鸟，游戏就没有乐趣了!”哈利说。 凯尔转向塞拉。“我们得让皮带停下来，这样海莉才能把手从那个缝里抽出来，而不会摔到屁股上，也不会撞破头骨。 你有没有读过这样一本书，书中主人公在杂货店里战胜了自动扶梯或滚动的结账带之类的东西?”“不，”西拉说。 “不是真的。”明美问:“一个男主角只要按下紧急关闭开关的故事怎么样?” “因为如果我找到了，我就会这么做。” 秋美站在一个壁挂式开关箱旁边。 她把它弹了下去。传送带慢下来停了下来。 “哈哈!这是我精彩绝伦的自传的又一章——如果我要写的话。” 哈利把手从还书槽里抽出来。 当它终于挣脱出来的时候，它发出了响声。 她跪倒在冰冻的跑步机上。 “我的手摸起来比煎饼还平，”她呻吟道。

"Are you hurt?" asked Kyle. "Maybe we should tell the security guys that …" "What? That I have a boo-boo and need to go home? Forget it, Kyle Keeley. You're not going to beat me that easily." "I'm not trying to—" Haley showed him the palm of her hand. "Save it, Keeley." She crawled off the conveyor belt. "One way or another, I'm going to win this game. I just hope starring in Mr. Lemoncello's commercials earns me some decent money." She hobbled around the bookshelves toward the staircase up to the reading room. When she was gone, Akimi raised her hand. "Question?" "Yeah?" said Kyle. "How come the guys inside the control room didn't flip a switch to shut down the book sorter when they saw Haley doing her cardio cha-chacha on it?" Kyle shrugged. "Maybe they weren't watching." "Actually," said Sierra, pointing to a square tile on the floor near the book sorter, "I think they

“你受伤了吗?”凯尔问。 “也许我们应该告诉保安……”“什么?” 说我受伤了，需要回家吗? 算了吧，凯尔·基利。你不会那么容易打败我的。” “我不是想——”哈利给他看了看自己的手掌。 “省省吧，基利。”她从传送带上爬下来。 “不管怎样，我都会赢得这场比赛。 我只希望在莱蒙塞罗先生的广告里当主角能赚到一笔不错的钱。” 她一瘸一拐地绕过书架，走向通往阅览室的楼梯。 她走后，明美举起了手。 “有问题?”“是吗?”凯尔说。 “控制室里的人看见哈利在分拣书的机器上跳恰恰舞，怎么没有按下开关把它关掉呢?”凯尔耸耸肩。 “也许他们没在看。” “实际上，”西拉指着分拣机旁边地板上的一块方形瓷砖说，“我想他们