11 The Map Room

Chapter 11 The Map Room Peanut, Rockwell, Little-Bit, Mr Markmaker, Mrs Markmaker and Doodle walked out into the lobby and through the door marked "Map Room'. It led to a small antechamber which resembled an airport security checkpoint. It was being marshalled by three cartoon gorillas wearing blue uniforms and peaked caps. Unsmiling, they guided the group through the full-body scanners, baggage screening Peanut had to remove her bandolier) and the biometric identification tests, before opening another door at the far end and grumpily waving them through. It led to a dimly lit, perfectly circular chamber the size of a small circus tent. Despite being considerably smaller than the hangars they'd already visited, it was no less impressive. It was

第11章 地图室 花生、罗克韦尔、小不点、马克梅克先生、马克梅克夫人和嘟嘟走出房间，来到大厅，穿过了标着"地图室"的门。 门后是一间小小的前厅，模样就像机场的安检口。 三只穿着蓝色制服、戴着鸭舌帽的卡通大猩猩在这儿维持秩序。 它们板着脸，带一行人做完了全身扫描、行李安检（花生不得不取下了她的子弹带）和生物识别检测，之后打开了尽头的另一扇门，气鼓鼓地挥手让他们进去。 再往里是一间光线昏暗的完美圆形房间，大小差不多和小型马戏帐篷相当。 它虽然比他们之前去过的机库小很多，却一样让人惊叹。 房间的

dominated by a huge table, about five metres in diameter, on which was printed a massive version of the map of Chroma that Mrs M had given Peanut during her first visit—the one that was safely folded up in the pocket of Peanut's dungarees. Dotted around the various city districts were lots of miniature pink and blue models of the vehicles that they'd seen in the Transport Room. There were also several tiny model RAZER platoons, five long sticks with felt blocks on the end, and, right in the centre, a two metre-tall, white, needle- shaped tower, dotted with a spiral of tiny black windows. The infamous Spire. This was surrounded by seven concentric

正中央摆着一张直径约五米的大桌子，桌面上印着一张超大号的克罗玛地图——就是M夫人第一次见花生时送给她的那一张，此刻正好好叠在花生的背带裤口袋里。 各个城区周边散落着许多粉蓝相间的迷你载具模型，就是他们之前在运输室见过的那种。 这儿还有好几个微型的剃刀军团模型、五根顶端绑着毛毡块的长棍，而正中央立着一座两米高的白色尖塔，塔身上螺旋分布着许多黑色小窗户。 这就是那座臭名昭著的尖塔。 尖塔的周围环绕着七圈同心

circles, painted red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, to represent the Rainbow Lake, the magical body of water at the heart of the city. It was said that a single swim in the lake had the power to boost a person's creativity to ten times its normal level. Peanut and the gang had swum through it on their last adventure, and she had definitely noticed an improvement in her drawing skills ever since. "It's a war room!" said Rockwell. "Just like the ones they had in those old films about World War Two! COOL!"

圆环，分别涂成红、橙、黄、绿、蓝、靛、紫，代表彩虹湖——这片坐落在城市中心的神奇水域。 据说只要在这湖里游一次，就能把人的创造力提升到原本的十倍。 花生和伙伴们在上次冒险里游过彩虹湖，从那之后，花生确实发现自己的画画进步了好多。 "这是作战室呀！"罗克韦尔说。 "就和那些老电影里二战的作战室一模一样！ 太酷啦！"

"We call it the Map Room," said Mrs M, "but yes, it does serve a very similar purpose. It's where we plan our Resistance activity against Mr White." She flicked a switch on the wall, and a raft of spotlights in the ceiling lit the map up like a theatre stage, and large illuminated letters indicated north, south, east and west on the circular wall. Rockwell nodded appreciatively. "Right, teas all round then," said Mr M, before disappearing through a triangular door to their left. And biscuits?" said Little-Bit hopefully. "I think I might have some chocolate ones hidden away somewhere," said Mr M, giving the little girl a wink. "So," said Peanut. "What can we do to help? We've worked out, or rather LB's worked out, that Mr White must be stealing masterpieces from all over the world." "My goodness. That does sound like him," said Mrs M. She sat down on one of the chairs at the table. "We both have so much news to share. First, let me tell you what's been happening in Chroma since you were last here." The three children took a seat as Mr M emerged through the triangular doorway with a tray full of steaming mugs and a plate of chocolate biscuits. He handed them out and sat down next to Little-Bit. "So, while we have been working on ours, White has bolstered his own arsenal with a speed that we couldn't have

"我们叫它地图室，"M夫人说，"不过没错，它的作用确实差不多。 我们就是在这里策划对抗怀特先生的抵抗行动的。" 她按了墙上的开关，天花板上的一排聚光灯瞬间把地图照得像舞台一样亮，圆形墙面也亮起了大大的字母，标出了东南西北。 罗克韦尔赞赏地点了点头。 "好啦，大家来喝茶吧，"M先生说完，就从他们左手边的三角形门走了进去，不见了身影。 那还有饼干吗？"小不点满怀期待地问。 "我好像在什么地方藏了几块巧克力味的哦，"M先生边说边冲小女孩眨了眨眼。 "那个，"花生开口道。 "我们能帮上什么忙吗？ 我们已经弄清楚了，不对，是小不点弄清楚的，怀特先生肯定在偷全世界的大师杰作。" "天哪。 这事确实像是他会干的，"M夫人说。 她在桌边的一把椅子上坐了下来。 "我们俩有好多消息要分享呢。 首先，我给你们讲讲，自从你们上次离开后，克罗玛都发生了什么。" 三个孩子刚坐下，M先生就端着一个放满热茶杯和一整盘巧克力饼干的托盘，从三角形门走了出来。 他把茶和饼干分给大家，接着在小不点身边坐下。 "所以，我们还在积蓄力量的时候，怀特已经扩充了他的装备，速度快得我们根本没法

imagined," continued Mrs M. "The first thing, or things, to tell you about are these." She reached under the table and pulled out a model of a vehicle, about thirty centimetres wide, and drawn in blue pencil. "I recognise that," said Peanut. "It's the Big X," said Little-Bit. "It certainly is," said Mrs M. She placed it on the map and used one of the sticks with the felt blocks to push it towards the centre, carefully positioning it in the narrowest area of Modernia. She then spun it around until it faced south. The Big X was the huge, monstrous machine that had been built by Mr White to "mono" the city—to rid it of all its

想象到，"M夫人接着说道。 "我首先要给你们看的，就是这个东西。" 她伸手到桌子底下，拿出了一个载具模型，模型宽约三十厘米，是用蓝铅笔画出来的。 "我认得这个，"花生说。 "这是大X，"小不点说。 "它确实就是，"M夫人 说。她把模型放到地图上，还用一根带毛毡块的长棍把它推到中心，小心翼翼地停在了现代区最狭窄的位置。 接着她转了转模型，让它朝向南方。 大X是怀特造的巨型恐怖机器，用来给城市"单色化"——把城里所有的

colour. It had the capacity to move relentlessly forward on its giant tracks and chew up everything in its path, leaving a black, white and grey wasteland in its wake. The children had come face to face with it once before, and it wasn't an experience any of them would particularly like to repeat. Mrs M reached under the table again and pulled out another model, exactly the same as the first. This time she placed it in the Grid, again facing outwards. Then she pulled out another, which she placed in Cubeside. Another in Warholia. Then Dali Point West. Then the Green Valleys. In fact, she kept producing them, like a magician pulling rabbit after rabbit from a hat, until twelve Big Xs sat in a circle at the centre of the map, all of them facing menacingly outwards and pointing towards each of Chroma's districts. Doodle whimpered, and jumped on to Little-Bit's lap. "Twelve Big Xs! One was terrifying enough," Gop Peanut. "He's going to mono the entire city, isn't he?"

色彩。 它靠着巨大的履带不停向前推进，把沿途一切都嚼得粉碎，身后只留下一片黑白灰的荒原。 孩子们之前已经和它正面相遇过一次，没人愿意再体验一回这种经历。 M夫人再次把手伸到桌子底下，拿出另一个和第一个一模一样的模型。 这次她把模型放在网格区，依旧让它面朝外侧。 接着她又拿出一个，放在方块区。 另一个放在沃霍尔区。 再一个放在达利西角。 接下来放在绿河谷。 实际上，她不停拿出模型，就像魔术师从帽子里接二连三变出兔子，直到十二个大X在地图中央围成一圈，全都凶巴巴地面朝外，分别对准克罗玛的每一个区。 杜都呜咽着，跳到了小不点的腿上。 “十二个大X！ 一个就够吓人了，”戈普·皮纳特说道。 “他要把整座城都变成单色，对不对？”