51 Hello, Alan

51 "Hello, Alan" Once the last of the Exocetia had funnelled out of the Spire and joined the thousands surrounding Peanut and Jonathan Higginbottom, a phalanx of twelve gleaming, golden RAZERs emerged and arranged themselves in a V-formation around the doorway. A few seconds later, a tall figure with a neck as thick as his head appeared. "Well, well, well," he said. "Long time no see, little girl."

51 “你好呀，艾伦” 最后一批艾克索西亚人从尖塔涌出，加入包围花生和乔纳森·希金博顿的大部队后，十二架金光闪闪的“剃刀”战机现身，在门口排成了V字阵形。 几秒钟后，一个高个子走了出来，他的脖子粗得和脑袋一样。 “哟呵，哟呵，”他开口说。 “好久不见呀，小姑娘。”

"Hello, Alan," said Peanut. "Hope you enjoyed your extended mini-break in New York. Have you come back to show us your holiday photos, or just to offer your surrender?" The man laughed. "On the contrary. It looks like the game is finally up for you and your little Resistance friends. Look." Peanut looked back through the hole in the crayon fence just in time to see the siege tower brought crashing to the ground by the Big X. The archers were retreating in panic and many of the vehicles in the convoy were wheel-spinning away from the front line. She hoped upon hope that Little-Bit and Rockwell were OK. She steeled herself and turned back to face Mr White's henchman. "Let me tell you something," she said, "There is no way that I am going to be beaten by a man who is as annoying as you are, and whose suit is at least two sizes too small for him." "Actually," said Alan, "I'm afraid you don't really have any choice in the matter, so you can quit monkeying about." "Speaking of monkeys, where's the organ-grinder?" said Peanut, removing her helmet and shaking out her topknot. "The what?" said Alan, dumbfounded.

“你好，艾伦，”花生说。 “希望你在纽约的超长小长假过得舒服。 你回来是给我们看度假照片，还是来投降的呀？” 艾伦笑了起来。 “恰恰相反。 “现在轮到你和你的抵抗军小伙伴玩完了。 你看。” 花生透过蜡笔栅栏的缺口向后看，刚好看到攻城塔被X巨人轰然撞倒在地。 弓箭手们慌慌张张地撤退，车队里很多车都打着转逃离了前线。 她在心里一遍遍祈祷，希望小不点和罗克韦尔平安无事。 她鼓起勇气，转回身面对怀特先生的这名手下。 “我跟你说，”她说，“我才不可能被你这种讨厌鬼打败，你那套西装至少比你小两个码呢。” “说真的，”艾伦说，“这件事你没得选，别再瞎胡闹了。” “说到猴子，耍猴的琴师在哪儿呢？”花生一边说，一边摘下头盔，散开了发髻。 “什么？”艾伦一脸茫然地问道。

"Oh, sorry I forgot that I needed-to spell things out for you," said Peanut. "I'm enquiring as to the whereabouts of your boss. You know, Mr White. The guy who makes all the important decisions. I could do with talking to someone with real influence right now." Alan's pale face flushed, and his freckles turned scarlet. "Mr White is... otherwise engaged at present. But don't worry, because I can assure you that I am fully authorised to take charge in his absence." Peanut and Jonathan Higginbottom exchanged glances. Something about this didn't feel right. Why on earth would Mr White not be here to celebrate his moment of victory? After all, Alan did have a point. The battle did appear to be all but over. "Face it, Jones," continued Alan. "Whatever it was that you and the Resistance were trying to achieve, it hasn't worked. You've failed." As if on cue, a cloud drifted in front of the moon and the city got a little bit darker. "Now, be a good kid and give me the pencil." Peanut looked down at her hand. She was holding Little Tail, Strangely, she had no memory of removing it from her bandolier.

“哦，抱歉，我忘了得把话给你讲明白，”花生说。 “我问你，你的老板去哪儿了。 你知道的，就是怀特先生。 就是那个决定所有大事的人。 我现在正想找个说话真正管用的人聊聊呢。” 艾伦苍白的脸一下子涨红了，连雀斑都变成了深红色。 “怀特先生他……现在有别的事要忙。 不过你别担心，我向你保证，他不在的时候由我全权负责。” 花生和乔纳森·希金博顿对视了一眼。 他们都觉得这事有点不对劲。 怀特凭什么不来这里庆祝自己的胜利时刻呢？ 毕竟，艾伦说的也没错。 这场仗看起来确实差不多结束了。 “认了吧，琼斯，”艾伦继续说道。 “不管你和抵抗军原本想做成什么事，都没能成功。 你们输了。” 仿佛应和他的话一样，一朵云飘到月亮前面，整座城市变得更暗了一点。 “乖一点，把铅笔给我。” 花生低头看向自己的手。 她手里握着“小尾巴”，奇怪的是，她完全不记得自己什么时候把它从弹带上取出来了。

"Come on. Any hope that stealing it gave you has now gone." Peanut looked at Alan. Then back down at the pencil. Then at Alan again. "You're wrong," she said coolly. "Firstly, I didn't steal it. You can't steal something that is already yours. Secondly, there is always hope. I've learned that no matter how bleak things appear to be, any situation can be turned around." She looked up at the moon as it emerged from behind the cloud and recast its silvery light across Chroma. She thought she saw a silhouette of something fly across its face. "In fact," she continued, "they say that the darkest hour is often the one just before dawn." Then, from above, an American-accented voice that Peanut instantly recognised spoke. "I couldn't have said it better myself, citizen!"

“拜托。 你偷了它抱有的那点希望，现在早就没了。” 花生看着艾伦。 接着低头看向铅笔。 接着又看向艾伦。 “你错了，”她冷静地说。 “第一，我没偷它。 本来就是我的东西，怎么能叫偷呢。 第二，永远都有希望。 我明白了，不管事情看起来多糟糕，任何处境都能逆转。” 她抬头看向从云后钻出来的月亮，银色月光再次洒遍了克罗玛。 她好像看到有什么东西的剪影飞过了月面。 “其实，”她接着说，“人们都说最暗的时刻往往就在黎明之前。” 就在这时，头顶传来一道带美国口音的声音，花生一下子就认出了它。 “说得再好不过了，公民！”