27 THE TOWN

CHAPTER 27 THE TOWN The ocean had risen only slightly when it flooded into this low-lying town. Humans built barriers to keep the water out, but it kept finding new ways to get in. Eventually, the humans packed up their things and left. As the ocean continued rising, the town gradually disappeared beneath the waves. Streets were buried under sand. Flower gardens were replaced with gardens of corals and sea sponges. Wooden structures were swept away, and now all that remained were structures made of steel or stone. Our robot marched through the underwater town until she came to a building that had once been a grocery store. Some of its walls had collapsed, and its flimsy roof rocked side to side with the waves, but it was still standing. Inside, the store was dark except for a few columns of daylight shining down from holes in the ceiling. Roz peered through the open doorway and said, "Hello, is anybody in there?" A voice hollered back, "Get outta here!" and a creature shot through the door and latched on to Roz's

第二十七章城镇当海水涌进这个地势低洼的城镇时，只是稍微涨了一点。 人类建造了屏障来阻止水进入，但它不断寻找新的方法进入。 最终，人类收拾好东西离开了。 随着海水继续上涨，小镇逐渐消失在海浪之下。 街道被沙子掩埋。 花园被珊瑚和海绵花园所取代。 木结构建筑被冲走了，现在剩下的都是钢结构或石结构的建筑。 我们的机器人穿过水下小镇，来到一座曾经是杂货店的建筑前。 它的一些墙壁已经倒塌，脆弱的屋顶随着海浪左右摇晃，但它仍然屹立不倒。 店内一片漆黑，只有几缕阳光从天花板上的洞里照下来。 罗兹从敞开的门口往外看了看，说：“喂，有人在里面吗？”一个声音喊道：“滚出去！”一个怪物从门里冲了进来，抓住了罗兹的门

head. Then somehow the creature began shocking the robot with powerful electric pulses. The pulses slowed and stopped, and when the creature released its grip, Roz fell to the ground. "Go on, get outta here!" said the creature. "Or do you want another shock?" "I d-d-do not w-w-want anotherrr shock!" said Roz in a garbled voice. Electricity had overwhelmed her circuits, but then her recovery program activated, and after a moment, she was fully functional again. Roz looked up from the ground and saw a large, gray fish with a flat, circular body. It was a ray. Not a stingray, not a manta ray, but an electric ray. The electric ray stared at the robot and said, "What kind of sea monster are you?" "I am not any kind of sea monster. I am a robot. My name is Roz." Just then, a hermit crab came scuttling over. Instead

头。然后不知怎么的，这个生物开始用强大的电脉冲电击机器人。 脉搏慢了下来，停止了跳动。当那个怪物松开它的手时，罗兹倒在了地上。 “走吧，离开这里！”怪物说。 “还是你想再来一次电击？”“我——我——我不想再——再——再受到惊吓了！”罗兹含混不清地说。 电流淹没了她的电路，但随后她的恢复程序启动了，过了一会儿，她又完全恢复了功能。 罗兹从地上抬起头来，看见一条灰色的大鱼，有着扁平的圆形身体。 那是一条射线。不是黄貂鱼，也不是蝠鲼，而是电鳐。 电射线盯着机器人说：“你是什么样的海怪？”“我不是什么海怪。 我是一个机器人。我叫罗兹。” 就在这时，一只寄居蟹窜了过来。 而不是

of wearing a seashell on his back, like most hermit crabs, he wore a rusty old soup can. The crab climbed up Roz's leg and onto her chest and said, "Oh, I'm so glad you're all right! You'll have to forgive my friend, Zap. She can be overly protective of our sea cave." "That is not a sea cave," said Roz. "That is a flooded grocery store." "Really?" said the crab, clicking his claws. "Interesting! In that case, Zap can be overly protective of our flooded grocery store." "What was I supposed to do?" muttered Zap. "He looked dangerous. I mean, she looked dangerous?" The ray's face scrunched up with confusion. "Tell me, Roz, are you male or female?" "Technically, robots are not male or female. However, I have been programmed to feel like a female." "Interesting!" said the crab. "Roz, there's someone I think you should meet! Follow me!" The hermit crab's name was Scoot. He scuttled into

他像大多数寄居蟹一样，背上背着贝壳，背上背着一个生锈的旧汤罐。 螃蟹爬上罗丝的腿，爬到她的胸前，说：“哦，我真高兴你没事！你得原谅我的朋友，扎普。 她可能会过度保护我们的海洞。” “那不是一个海洞，”罗兹说。 “那是一家被水淹没的杂货店。” “真的吗？”螃蟹说着，用爪子咔嗒作响。 “有趣!在这种情况下，Zap可能会过度保护我们被洪水淹没的杂货店。” “那我该怎么办？”Zap喃喃地说。 “他看起来很危险。我是说，她看起来很危险？”射线的脸因困惑而皱了起来。 “告诉我，罗兹，你是男是女？”“从技术上讲，机器人不分男女。 然而，我已经被编程为感觉自己像个女人。” “有意思！”螃蟹说。 “罗兹，我想你该见见一个人！”跟我来!”寄居蟹的名字叫史酷特。 他冲了进去

the store as Roz and Zap trailed behind him. There wasn't much to see besides junk and shadows. The flooded grocery store was a dreary, dismal place. "Pretty nice spot, isn't it?" said Scoot. "It certainly is unique," said Roz politely. Scoot crawled across the broken floor and over to a heap of shelves that were covered with sand. Then he said, "Ripple, are you up there?" Roz didn't see who Scoot was calling to. But when she took a closer look at the sandy shelves, she noticed that they were packed with small fish that blended in with their background. One of the fish floated out and said, "Yes, what is it, Scoot?" "Ah, there you are, Ripple!" said the hermit crab. "I'd like you to meet Roz, the robot! You're both, oh, how do I say this? You're both a little different! Roz isn't male or female. And Ripple is both male and female! Isn't that interesting?" "That's not quite right," said Ripple. "I was born a female, and then I changed to a male. We gobies do that from time to time." Ripple was a type of fish called a goby. Roz scrolled through her computer brain for information about

罗兹和扎普跟在他后面。 除了垃圾和阴影，没什么可看的。 被洪水淹没的杂货店是个沉闷、凄凉的地方。 “不错的地方，不是吗？”斯酷特说。 “这当然是独一无二的，”罗兹礼貌地说。 斯酷特爬过破损的地板，来到一堆堆满沙子的架子前。 然后他说：“瑞波，你在上面吗？”罗兹没看到斯酷特在给谁打电话。 但当她仔细观察沙质架子时，她注意到架子上挤满了与背景融为一体的小鱼。 其中一条鱼浮了出来，说：“是的，是什么，斯酷特？”“啊，你在这儿啊，瑞波！”寄居蟹说。 “我想让你见见机器人罗兹！”你们两个，我该怎么说呢？ 你们俩都有点不同！罗兹不分男女。 瑞波既是男性又是女性！这不是很有趣吗？”“这不太对，”瑞波说。 “我生下来是女性，然后变成了男性。 我们虾虎鱼经常这样做。” 瑞波是一种叫做虾虎鱼的鱼。 罗兹在她的电脑大脑里翻找关于

gobies and about all the other creatures who were a little different. Many other types of fish can change back and forth between male and female. Certain kinds of frogs can change in similar ways. Some species of animal are not male or female, and some species are both. And just like that, our robot felt more connected to the natural world. Roz described her life on the island, and the sea creatures smiled as they imagined her living on dry land. But their smiles vanished when she mentioned the poison tide. They'd all heard about the poison tide, but it had seemed like a distant problem, not anything that would ever concern them. After listening to Roz, though, the problem felt awfully near. "I will do everything in my power to stop the poison tide," said Roz. "But first I must find the Ancient Shark. I need her help." "I grew up hearing stories about the Ancient Shark," said Zap. "They say she has spies throughout all the oceans. Her spies could be watching us right now." Scoot glanced around nervously as Zap continued. "But the Ancient Shark lives up in the far north. What are you doing here, Roz?" "I am passing through on my way to the far north. I still have a long journey ahead." "Well, don't waste your time with us!" said Zap. "Go find the Ancient Shark! Go stop the poison tide! Go on,

虾虎鱼和所有其他有点不同的生物。 许多其他种类的鱼可以在雄性和雌性之间来回转换。 某些种类的青蛙也会以类似的方式发生变化。 有些种类的动物不分雌雄，有些种类的动物不分雌雄。 就像这样，我们的机器人感觉与自然世界的联系更加紧密。 罗兹描述了她在岛上的生活，海洋生物想象着她在陆地上的生活，露出了微笑。 但当她提到毒潮时，他们的笑容消失了。 他们都听说过毒潮，但这似乎是一个遥远的问题，与他们无关。 听了罗兹的话，我觉得问题近在咫尺。 罗兹说：“我将尽我所能阻止毒潮。 “但首先我必须找到那条远古鲨鱼。 我需要她的帮助。”“我是听着远古鲨鱼的故事长大的，”Zap说。 “他们说她在大洋各地都有间谍。 她的间谍现在可能正在监视我们。” 史酷特紧张地环顾四周，赞普继续说。 “但古鲨生活在遥远的北方。 你在这儿干什么，罗兹？”“我要到遥远的北方去，要经过这里。 我还有很长的路要走。” “好吧，别跟我们浪费时间了！”Zap说。 “去找古鲨鱼！”去阻止毒潮！继续,

Roz, get moving!" "Oh! Okay! You are right! I should be going! Good-bye, my friends. I have enjoyed our time together!" The sea creatures waved and said good-bye as Roz hurried back through the flooded grocery store and out the door.

罗兹，快走！”“哦!好吧!你说得对！我该走了！再见，我的朋友们。 我很享受我们在一起的时光！”当罗兹匆匆穿过被水淹没的杂货店走出大门时，海洋生物挥手告别。