29 The Real Enemy

29 The Real Enemy "Follow me!" shouted Dad as he started running across the now-empty lake towards the far side where Mrs Markmaker had made her speech moments ago. Panic and chaos were everywhere. Soaking-wet citizens, dazed and upset, stumbled around in confusion and fear. No one could understand what was going on. Banners lay discarded, their inky proclamations of hope and jubilation now blurry and smeared. Just a few minutes earlier, they'd been celebrating the rebirth of the Illustrated City, but now they found themselves imprisoned at its very heart. The Jones family, Woodhouse and Nerys arrived at the lake's southern bank to find a drenched Mr and Mrs M standing with an equally wet Doodle, Jonathan Higginbottom and

29 《真正的敌人》“跟我来！” 爸爸一边大喊，一边跑过此刻空无一物的湖面，冲向对岸——几分钟前，马克梅克夫人刚在那里做完演讲。 到处都是恐慌与混乱。 浑身湿透的市民们头晕心烦，在困惑和恐惧中跌跌撞撞。 没人明白到底发生了什么事。 横幅被随处丢弃，上面写满希望与喜悦的墨字已经变得模糊晕开。 就在几分钟前，他们还在庆祝画本之城重生，可现在却发现自己被困在了城市的正中心。 琼斯一家、伍德豪斯和奈瑞斯来到湖的南岸，看到浑身湿透的M夫妇，正和同样湿透的杜德尔、乔纳森·希金博顿以及

Table Guy. On the floor next to the superhero sat a confused- looking Mr Stone, his wrists still tied. "Is everybody OK?" asked Dad. "Yes, I think so," replied Mr M. "Well, nobody's hurt, anyway. I don't understand what's happened." "The robots must have malfunctioned!" said Table Guy. "There is no other explanation! Mr White here certainly had nothing to do with it! He was pushed into the water along with the rest of us!" "Maybe the RAZERs" circuitry went awry when 67 overrode their protocol," suggested Jonathan Higginbottom. "That would go some way towards explaining things." "Maybe," said Dad. "But what about the exocetia? That looked planned to me. Where is 67 anyway?" With perfect timing, the same microphone that Mrs M had just been using crackled to life once again. Everyone in the lake looked up towards the platform. The long line of red- eyed RAZERs parted in the centre, and 67 appeared with Alan at their side. "GREETINGS, CITIZENS," said the robot, their tinny voice booming from the speakers on the tower. "WHAT A LOVELY DAY FOR A DIP. HOW ARE YOU ALL ENJOYING THE CELEBRATIONS SO FAR? OH, I SHOULD PROBABLY TELL YOU THAT

桌子哥。 在这位超级英雄身边的地板上，坐着一脸茫然的斯通先生，他的手腕还被绑着。 “大家都没事吧？”爸爸问道。 “没错，我想大家都没事，”M先生回答，“总之，没人受伤。 我搞不懂这到底发生了什么。” “肯定是机器人出故障了！”桌子哥说。 不可能有别的解释！ 这件事绝对和怀特先生没关系！ 他和我们其他人一起被推下水了！” “说不定67改写雷泽机器人的指令时弄坏了它们的电路，”乔纳森·希金博顿猜测道。 “这样一来，很多事就说得通了。” “有可能，”爸爸说。 可那飞弹是怎么回事？ 我看那根本就是提前计划好的。 再说了，67现在到底在哪儿？” 说巧不巧，M夫人刚才用过的麦克风突然又刺啦一声响了起来。 湖里所有人都抬起头看向讲台。 那排长着红眼睛的雷泽机器人从中间分开，67走了出来，艾伦就站在它身边。 “市民们，你们好啊，”机器人开口，塔顶的扬声器传出它刺耳洪亮的声音。 “今天可真是泡凉水澡的好日子。 到现在为止，你们庆祝得还开心吗？ 哦，对了，我得告诉你们

THERE'S BEEN A SLIGHT CHANGE OF PLAN: I AM IN CHARGE NOW, NOT THOSE PATHETIC MARKMAKERS AND THEIR SO-CALLED RESISTANCE!" Peanut's face went white. She turned to Little-Bit. "Rockwell was right," she whispered. "67 has betrayed us. We're in big trouble." Instinctively, she reached up to her bandolier. To her relief, her fingers found Little Tail still nestling safely in its slot. "THIS IS, INDEED, A MARVELLOUS CELEBRATION OF CREATIVITY," continued 67, revelling in the spotlight. "BUT THE THING IS, CREATIVITY CAN TAKE MANY FORMS." The robot's red eyes scanned the crowd. "ISN'T THAT RIGHT, MR WHITE, WHEREVER YOU ARE?" Everybody turned to look at Mr Stone, including Peanut. She fully expected him to stand up, smile that slimy smile of his, and reveal that this had been his plan all along. But he didn't. In fact, he didn't even look up from his position at Table Guy's feet. "I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE ALL LOOKING AT HIM," said 67. "He DOESN'T KNOW A THING ABOUT THIS LITTLE... SURPRISE. HE WAS AS CLUELESS AS THE REST OF YOU. BLISSFULLY IGNORANT. I HAVE TO SAY THAT I UNDERSTOOD THE FACT THAT MOST

计划稍微改了一下：现在掌权的是我，不是那群可怜的马克梅克一家和他们所谓的反抗军！” 皮纳特的脸一下子变得惨白。 她转过身看向小不点。 “洛克威尔是对的，”她低声说。 “67背叛了我们。 我们惹上大麻烦了。” 她本能地伸手去摸自己的子弹带。 让她安心的是，手指一摸就碰到了小尾巴，它还好好地待在插槽里。 “这确实是一场庆祝创造力的精彩庆典，”67继续说道，它正享受着万众瞩目的快感。 “但问题在于，创造力有很多种形式。” 机器人的红眼睛扫过整个人群。 “我说的对不对呀，怀特先生，不管你躲在哪里？” 所有人都转过头看向斯通先生，皮纳特也不例外。 她本来满心以为斯通会站起来，露出他那假惺惺的笑容，然后承认这一切本来就是他的计划。 可他没有。 实际上，他一直待在桌子哥脚边，连头都没抬一下。 “我真不懂你们为什么都看着他，”67说。 “他对这个小小的……惊喜，一无所知。 他和你们其他人一样，什么都不知道。 开开心心地什么都不用懂。 我得说，我早就发现，大多数

HUMANS KNOW NOTHING, BUT IT HAS BEEN EASIER TO FOOL YOU THAN I EVER COULD HAVE IMAGINED!" It sounded to Peanut like every person trapped in the lake gasped at the same time. Could it be true? Had Mr White also been blindsided by this evil robot? "YOU SEE," continued 67, "SOMETHING THAT ALL OF YOU SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN IS THAT CREATIVITY IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD. IT CUTS BOTH WAYS. IT CAN BE GOOD AND IT CAN BE BAD. A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF IMAGINATION IS ESSENTIAL WHEN MAKING PLANS, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THOSE PLANS ARE. AND LET'S JUST SAY THAT WE HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY IMAGINATIVE WHEN MAKING OURS." The robot turned to Alan. A small mechanical arm holding a knife shot out from a panel on their torso and cut through the shackles around the huge man's wrists. Alan smiled as he stretched his arms skywards. Peanut grabbed Little-Bit by the hand and pulled her down into a crouching position, so that they were hidden below the crowd. "This is worse than I thought," she said quietly. "I need to think fast." "So, do you think 67 now wants to take control of the city themselves?" whispered Little-Bit. "It's certainly looking that way," replied Peanut. "And considering they have total control of the entire RAZER

人类什么都不懂，可骗你们比我想象的要容易太多了！” 在皮纳特听来，湖里所有被困的人好像同时倒吸了一口凉气。 这会是真的吗？ 难道怀特先生也被这个邪恶机器人摆了一道？ “你看，”67继续说，“你们所有人好像都忘了一件事：创造力是一把双刃剑。 刀刃两边都能伤人。 它可以是好的，也可以是坏的。 不管是什么样的计划，制定计划都少不了想象力，对不对？ 我只能说，我们制定自己计划的时候，想象力可是丰富得不得了。” 机器人转向了艾伦。 它躯干的面板里弹出一把握着小刀的小型机械臂，一下子割断了这个大块男人手腕上的镣铐。 艾伦笑了笑，把胳膊伸向天空伸了个懒腰。 皮纳特拉住小不点的手，把她拽着蹲下来，好让她们藏在人群后面。 “情况比我想的还要糟，”她轻声说。 “我得快点想出办法。 “所以，你觉得67现在想要自己掌控这座城市对不对？”小不点小声问道。 “现在看起来确实是这样，”皮纳特回答。 而且现在它已经完全掌控了所有雷泽

and exocetia armies, they've got a pretty good chance of succeeding." At least we still have Little Tail," said Little-Bit, hopefully. "Yes," said Peanut. "But... 67 knows I have it. And they also know that Dad is Conté's heir. Oh my god, LB! They're going to try to take the pencil from me! And it's going to happen right now! We need to give it to Dad. Or at least hide it! Whatever happens, we can't let 67 get hold of it, otherwise it's definitely game over. "Maybe I can help," said a crouching Nerys, who had been listening to the girls" hushed conversation. "Why don't you give it to me?" "To you?" asked Peanut and Little-Bit together. "Or I could look after it," said Woodhouse, who had suddenly appeared and was also listening in. "I have a lot of experience in taking care of secret things. Remember the Post-it notes?" Nerys looked annoyed and slightly repulsed by the sight of the wet rodent. "I'm not being funny, and I don't mean to be rude, Mr Woodhouse, she said. "But I think I'm probably a safer bet than... a rat." Now it was Woodhouse's turn to look annoyed. "Think about it," continued Nerys.

何况艾克索希亚大军，他们的胜算可是很高的。" 至少我们还有小尾巴呀。”小不点满怀希望地说。 "没错。”花生说道。 "可是……67知道我拿着它。 他们也知道爸爸是孔特的继承人。 我的天呐，小不点！ 他们打算抢走我手里的铅笔！ 而且他们马上就要动手了！ 我们得把铅笔交给爸爸。 至少也要先把它藏起来！ 不管发生什么，都不能让67拿到铅笔，不然我们就彻底完蛋了。 "或许我能帮上忙。”一直蹲在一旁偷听两个女孩小声谈话的内瑞斯开口说。 "为什么不把它交给我呢？" "交给你？”花生和小不点异口同声问道。 "要不交给我保管也行。”突然冒出来、同样在偷听的伍德豪斯说道。 "我保管秘密东西可有很多经验了。 还记得那些便利贴吗？" 看到这只湿乎乎的啮齿动物，内瑞斯一脸气恼，还有些反感。 "我不是在开玩笑，也不是有意无礼，伍德豪斯先生。”她说道。 "不过我觉得我保管肯定比……一只老鼠更靠谱。" 这回轮到伍德豪斯不高兴了。 "你好好想想。”内瑞斯接着说道。