46 The Threefold Mission

Chapter 46 The Threefold Mission Seconds later, the group arrived at the opening of the chute that Josephine and Rockwell had crawled through earlier. One by one, everybody clambered inside. "I will meet you in the service lift, at ground-floor level, said 72 as they slowly retracted the ladder back through the hatch in their base. "You will be able to access it via the Facility Room in the basement. Fortunately, this lift runs directly from the ground floor all the way to the top of the Spire." The group began to make their way up the narrow chute,

第46章 三重任务 没过多久，一行人就来到了约瑟芬和罗克韦尔之前爬过的斜道口。 大家一个接一个爬进了斜道。 “我们在底层的货梯见，”72边说边把梯子从基地的舱口收了回去。 你们可以通过地下室的设备间进到那里。 幸运的是，这部电梯从底层直达尖塔的最顶端。” 一行人开始沿着狭窄的斜道向上爬去，

crawling nose-to-bottom like a procession of soldier ants advancing up a drainpipe. It's so strange, isn't it?" said Rockwell to Peanut as they shuffled along. "What is?" she replied. "Us crawling along an illustrated chute inside an illustrated tower at the centre of an illustrated city?" "Well, yes, that is quite strange, I suppose. But I was thinking more about the whole Mr White thing. All this time, we thought that he was this all-powerful, terrifying enemy. "Well, to be fair, that's exactly what he was, er, is," she replied. "Yes, he is. But don't you think it's strange to see him looking so pathetic and, well, harmless now? It makes you wonder why we were ever worried about him in the first place." "I know what you mean, but I'm not sure I can feel sorry for him just yet!" Oh no, I'm not about to become bestfriends with him or anything. It's just that, well, I guess seeing him like this makes me realise that he's a human being, just like the rest of us. And that we can all make mistakes. Peanut smiled. Trust Rockwell to be so open-hearted. "Speaking of best friends," Peanut said, spotting an opening to get something off her chest. "There's something I've been

一个贴着一个往前爬，就像一队行军蚁顺着排水管往上挪动。 “这感觉好奇怪，对不对？”罗克韦尔一边慢慢往前挪一边对花生说。 “什么东西奇怪呀？”花生回答。 “我们居然在一座插画城市中心的插画塔里，沿着一条插画斜道往前爬，这不奇怪吗？” “唔，是啊，我想这点确实挺奇怪的。 不过我刚才想的更多是怀特先生的事。 这么久以来，我们一直觉得他是个无所不能、可怕的敌人。 “呃，说句公道话，他本来就是，嗯，现在也还是呀，”她回答道。 “对，他确实是。 可是你不觉得，看到他现在这么可怜，说实话，一点杀伤力都没有，很奇怪吗？ 都让人忍不住纳闷，我们当初干嘛要怕他。” “我懂你的意思，但我现在还没法可怜他！” 哦，我才不是要和他当什么好朋友呢。 只是，看到他这副样子，我才意识到他也是个普通人，和我们没两样。 我们所有人都会犯错呀。 花生笑了笑。 也就罗克韦尔这么心善了。 “说到好朋友，”花生说，她看准机会想说出藏在心里的话， “有件事我一直

meaning to say. I know I was a bit standoffish when we first met, and reluctant to allow us to become anything more than study buddies. But when you left yesterday, it made me realise just how important our friendship is. I just want you to know that the reason I was so happy to see you this morning wasn't because you'd come to rescue us. It was because I'd really missed my best friend. Rockwell blushed. "Thanks, Peanut. That means a lot. I've never had a best friend before." Despite the grim situation they were in at that very moment, Rockwell was sure that he'd never felt happier. Ten minutes later, Dad, who was bringing up the rear, hauled himself up through the chute's opening in the bottom of the pool and into the Facility Room. "Well, that was fun," he said to the others, shaking the wet plaster from his shoes. "So, where's this service lift, then? And after we take it to the top of the Spire, what's the plan?" OK, everyone. Listen very carefully," said Josephine, who had effortlessly slipped into the role of leader. "Our mission is threefold. First, we must capture RAZER 67 and Alan. Second, we need to recover Pencil Number One and get it to Gary, Conte's heir. And third, we need to stop the Giant X from filling the lake with plaster."

想对你说。 我知道我们刚认识的时候我有点冷淡，也不想让我们的关系超出学习伙伴的范围。 可昨天你走了之后，我才明白我们的友谊有多重要。 我就是想让你知道，今天早上见到你我那么开心，不是因为你来救我们了。 是因为我真的很想我的好朋友了。 罗克韦尔脸红了。 “谢谢你，花生。 对我来说这太重要了。 我长这么大还从来没有过好朋友呢。” 尽管他们此刻身陷险境，罗克韦尔却清楚地知道，自己从来没有这么开心过。 十分钟后，走在队伍最后的爸爸，从斜道口爬出来，落到设备间的泳池底部。 “唔，刚才爬得可真有意思，”他对其他人说，抖掉鞋子上沾的湿灰泥。 “所以，这部货梯到底在哪儿呀？ 我们坐它到尖塔顶之后，接下来是什么计划呀？” 好了，各位。 仔细听我说，”约瑟芬说道，她自然而然地担起了领队的角色。 “我们的任务一共有三项。 第一，我们要抓住雷泽67和艾伦。 第二，我们要找回一号铅笔，把它交给康特的继承人加里。 第三，我们要阻止巨人X往湖里灌满灰泥。”

"Er, don't forget Nerys," said Peanut. "We need to rescue her as well. "Indeed, let's not forget Nerys," agreed Josephine. She walked over to a panel on the wall and tapped a keypad next to it. A little door slid open. She reached inside and pulled out a small, brass object with a flip-top lid and handed it to Rockwell. "Rockwell, use this when you get up to the control room. "What is it?" he asked. It's a device I built just after we developed the second-generation RAZER model. A contingency, if you will. I knew that giving the robots a degree of autonomy would carry some risk, so I needed something that would enable me to immobilise any RAZER that became problematic. It was something I used to keep with me at all times. But when I realised that I might be imprisoned by White, I decided to hide the device down here. I suppose I was subconsciously anticipating this precise moment.

“哦，别忘了内里斯，”花生说。 “我们也要把她救出来。 “没错，我们可不能忘了内里斯，”约瑟芬赞同道。 她走到墙边的一块面板旁，按了按旁边的键盘。 一扇小门滑了开来。 她伸手进去拿出一个带翻盖的小铜件，递给了罗克韦尔。 “罗克韦尔，你到控制室之后就用这个。 “这是什么呀？”他问道。 这是我研发出第二代雷泽之后，专门做的一个装置。 算是一个应急预案吧。 我知道给机器人一定程度的自主权会有风险，所以需要一样东西，能让出问题的雷泽失去行动能力。 以前我一直把它带在身上。 但当我料到自己可能会被怀特囚禁，就提前把这个装置藏在了这里。 我猜，我潜意识里早就预料到会有当下这一刻了。

"So, let me get this straight. Rockwell opened the device's flip-top lid. "If I press this button, any RAZER in the vicinity will immediately be paralysed?" Exactly," said Josephine. "And they will remain so until you press the button again. "Amazing!" he said. "Awww, how come Rocky gets all the cool devices?" said a miffed Little-Bit. "He got to blow up those exocetia in the North Draw that time, too. Not fair!" "I guess some of us are just better at pressing buttons than others," said Rockwell with a smile. Actually, Little-Bit," said Josephine, "you've just given me an idea. I think I know how we can stop the Giant X." She walked over to a computer terminal and sat down. "If you don't mind, I'll stay here and work on that. We need to take it down before the plaster levels get too high. Can you guys handle 67 and Alan without me?" Definitely!" said Peanut, Rockwell, Little-Bit, Leo, Dad and Woodhouse in unison. Doodle barked his affirmation too. "Er, yes," said Mum a second or two later, with rather more uncertainty in her voice. "We can. "Well, in that case," said Josephine, "you'd better get yourselves into that lift."

“好了，我先把话说清楚。 罗克韦尔打开了仪器的翻盖。 “我按下这个按钮，这附近所有的剃刀机器人都会立马动弹不得对不对？” “一点没错，”约瑟芬说。 “它们会一直动不了，直到你再按一次按钮。 “太酷啦！” 他说道。 “唉，为什么所有好玩的仪器都让罗基拿到了呀？”有点生气的小不点说道。 “上次北洼地的那些飞弹虫也是他去炸的。 太不公平啦！” “我猜呀，有些人就是比别人更会按按钮呗，”罗克韦尔笑着说。 其实呀，小不点，”约瑟芬说，“你刚才给了我一个好点子。 我知道该怎么对付X巨人了。”她走到电脑终端前坐了下来。 “如果你们不介意，我就留在这儿搞定这件事。 我们得在灰泥涨得太高之前拿下它。 我不去的话，你们能搞定67号和艾伦吗？” “没问题！”花生、罗克韦尔、小不点、利奥、爸爸和伍德豪斯异口同声说道。 嘟嘟也叫了一声，表明它也没问题。 “呃，嗯，我们可以，”过了一两秒妈妈才开口，声音里带着几分犹豫。 “我们能搞定。 “那既然这样，”约瑟芬说，“你们最好赶紧进电梯吧。”