58 The Rainbow Lake

58 The Rainbow Lake The wooden bridge led straight on to a wide expanse of featureless white concrete which surrounded the most extraordinary thing that the children had ever seen in their lives: a perfectly circular body of multicoloured water, about a mile in diameter. The Rainbow Lake. "Whoa!" said all three children as they approached the edge. It was a breathtaking sight, so beautiful that it almost didn't seem real. The lake was made up of seven concentric circles of colour, each clearly defined and not blending with the one next to it. The outside ring was red, the next orange, then yellow, then green, then blue, then indigo and finally violet. It looked like a multicoloured running track made of water.

58 彩虹湖 木桥一路向前延伸，尽头是一大片光秃秃的白色水泥地，水泥地中央围着孩子们这辈子见过最离奇的奇景：一汪直径约一英里的正圆形五彩水域。 这就是彩虹湖。 “哇哦！”三个孩子走到岸边时齐声说道。 这景色美得惊心动魄，美丽到几乎让人觉得不真实。 湖水分成七个清晰的同心色环，每种颜色界限分明，不会和相邻的颜色相融。 最外圈是红色，往里依次是橙色、黄色、绿色、蓝色、靛蓝，最中心是紫色。 它看起来就像一条用水做成的五彩跑道。

"Incredible," purred Peanut. In the middle of the lake was a small island, ringed by a tall fence made out of giant crayons. The majority of the fence was painted white, but there were large sections where the crayons" colour was still visible. Peanut assumed it was in the process of being whitewashed. Dotted all around the fence were more watchtowers, similar to those on the bridge, each with a window containing the glowing green eyes of a RAZER. Directly opposite where the children were standing, on

“太不可思议了。”花生轻声赞叹。 湖中央有一座小岛，四周围着巨型蜡笔搭成的高栅栏。 栅栏大部分都刷成了白色，但仍有大片区域露着蜡笔原本的颜色。 花生猜测这栅栏还没刷完白漆。 栅栏四周还分布着更多瞭望塔，和桥上的那些一模一样，每个瞭望塔的窗子里，都藏着锐泽机器人发光的绿眼睛。 就在孩子们所站位置的正对面，

the other side of the water, reaching high into the air, was what looked like a vertical section of the bridge they'd just walked across. At its base was a huge wheel connected by a series of cogs to a handle. "Look at all those drawbridges," said Rockwell. Sure enough, there were several that ran around the perimeter of the crayon fence. "One for each district, I bet." Just beyond the crayon fence, however, was the main event. The soaring, white tower that was the Spire. It was studded with a spiral of small black windows that followed the taper of the massive spike to a perfect point 500 metres above their heads. From this close, it seemed even bigger than Peanut had imagined. And the task of finding Mr M seemed more daunting than ever. "So, what's the problem?" whispered Peanut. 72 made a strange clicking noise. "We might have to revise our plan to walk into the Spire," it said quietly. "It is impossible. Security has been tightened and the drawbridges have been raised, therefore we are unable to make our way across the Rainbow Lake via the drawbridges." "So, what do we do?" said Rockwell, a note of panic in his voice. "We must revert to Plan B," said 72 softly "Peanut Jones. Listen very carefully. When I say "go" I want you to push me

在湖的对岸，高高耸入云天的，是一段看起来和他们刚走过的桥同段的垂直桥面。 它的底部有一个巨大轮子，通过一连串齿轮和一根把手相连。 “你看这么多吊桥。”罗克韦尔说。 果然，蜡笔栅栏的四周确实分布着好几座吊桥。 “我打赌每个区一座。” 不过蜡笔栅栏再往里，才是最核心的目标。 那座直冲云霄的白塔，就是尖塔。 塔身上螺旋排列着密密麻麻的黑色小窗，顺着巨型尖塔的坡度一直延伸到五百米高的顶端。 离得这么近，它比花生想象的还要庞大。 找到M先生的任务，也比从前显得更加艰巨了。 “那现在怎么办？”花生低声问。 72号发出了一声奇怪的咔哒声。 “我们可能得修改直接走进尖塔的计划了。”它轻声说。 “这不可能。 安保已经升级，吊桥也全都升起来了，我们没办法走吊桥穿过彩虹湖。” “那我们该怎么办？”罗克韦尔问道，声音里带着恐慌。 “我们得改用B计划。”72轻声说，“花生·琼斯。 仔细听好。 我数‘走’之后，你就把我推

into the Rainbow Lake and then all of you must dive in after me. "Dive in?" spluttered Rockwell, clearly alarmed. "But I hate swimming!" "Sssshhhhh!" said both Peanut and Little-Bit. "B-but the thing is, I can't actually swim," he said quietly. Doodle looked up at Rockwell, wagged his tail and barked. Don't worry. I think he's saying that he'll help you," said Peanut. "Just hold on to Doodle once you've jumped in. "Oh, well that's all right then," said Rockwell, still not looking convinced. "I'll just cling on to the drawing of the dog and everything will be fine." 72 spoke quickly and precisely. "Once you are in the lake, you will need to swim underwater directly across to the island. On the concrete wall, approximately two metres below the surface, you will see an opening. It is an access point for a colour- correction filter. It has not been used for a long time but the infrastructure is still intact. Swim through the opening and it will lead to a disused facility room. From there you will be able to use the computer terminal to locate the right cell and access the main part of the building via the elevator. To find which cell you require you will need to unscramble the code I have given you. "Can't you help us do that?" asked Peanut. I'm afraid not. My programming doesn't cover code work. Does that all make sense, Peanut Jones?"

进彩虹湖，然后你们全都跟着我跳下去。 “跳下去？”罗克韦尔结结巴巴地说，显然吓坏了。 “可是我讨厌游泳！” “嘘——！”花生和小比特一起制止他。 “还、还有啊，我其实根本不会游泳。”他小声说。 杜德尔抬头看向罗克韦尔，摇着尾巴叫了一声。 别担心。 “我觉得它是说它会帮你的。”花生说。 “你跳下去之后抓紧杜德尔就好。” “哦，那行吧。”罗克韦尔说，神情依旧不太放心。 “我只要抓着这只画出来的狗，一切就都会没事的。” 72号语速飞快，说得清清楚楚。 “你们进湖之后，要直接潜水游到小岛那边。 在水泥墙大约水下两米的位置，你们会看到一个洞口。 那是校色滤镜的入口通道。 它已经很久没用了，但设施还保持完好。 游进洞口，它会连通到一个废弃的设备间。 从那儿你们可以用电脑终端找到对应的囚室，再坐电梯进到建筑的核心区域。 要找到正确的囚室，你们得解开我给你们的密码。 “你不能帮我们解吗？”花生问。 恐怕不行。 我的程序不包含解码工作。 都听明白了吗，花生·琼斯？

"Er, yes. I-I think so," she replied. "And what will happen to you?" A RAZER is not designed to be submerged in water. My circuits will be flooded and I will cease to function. "You'll... you'll die?" "Affirmative." "What?" said Little-Bit. "But I don't want you to die!" "There must be another way," said Peanut. "There is no other way," said the robot. "The other RAZERs will be distracted by my falling into the Rainbow Lake and it will give you the time to make it to the filter opening. It must be done. "But it's so unfair!" sobbed Little-Bit. "Little girl. You must remember that I have lived my whole life for this moment. For me, it is an honour. If my final act can help to save the city of Chroma, then I will die a happy robot." Its eyes flashed to green as it looked at her. "Now. Are you all ready?" "Can you shield me from view for one minute?" said Peanut. She reached inside her farmer's shirt and pulled out the pencil. She sketched four diving-masks and plucked them out of the air. She handed one each to Rockwell and Little-Bit, and pulled a mask over Doodle's eyes. Rockwell looked terrified. "So we're actually doing this?" "Yes," said Peanut. "Little-Bit, when we jump in the water, put your arms around my shoulders. OK?"

“呃，好吧。 我、我觉得听明白了。”她回答。 “那你怎么办呢？” 我们锐泽机器人本来就不是设计来泡在水里的。 我的电路会进水，之后我就会停止运作。 “你会… 你会死吗？” “没错。” “什么？”小比特说。 “可是我不想你死！” “肯定还有别的办法。”花生说。 “没有别的办法了。”机器人说。 “我掉进彩虹湖会把其他锐泽机器人引开，给你们争取时间赶到滤镜洞口。 必须这么做。 “可是这太不公平了！” 小比特哭着说。 “小姑娘。 你一定要记住，我活这一辈子就是为了这一刻。 对我来说，这是我的荣幸。 如果我最后这一举能帮忙拯救柯罗玛城，那我作为机器人死也无憾了。” 它看向小比特，眼睛闪起了绿光。 “好了。 你们都准备好了吗？” “能帮我挡一分钟别被发现吗？”花生说。 她把手伸进农夫衬衫，掏出了那支铅笔。 她画了四个潜水镜，接着把它们从空中摘了下来。 她给罗克韦尔和小比特各递了一个，又给杜德尔戴上了一个。 罗克韦尔看起来害怕极了。 “所以我们真的要这么做？” “没错。”花生说。 “小比特，我们跳下水之后，你抱住我的肩膀， 好吗？”