Inside the transport, as Gopher patiently waited at the wheel, WALL · E could feel the elevator rising. An instant later, the elevator doors opened. WALL · E got his first look at the ship’s robot passageway, which was located above the docking bay. Robots were zipping by at lightning speed.
Gopher smoothly turned into the traffic as WALL · E tried—and failed—to merge. He put one tread into the traffic and yanked it back, causing a pileup of mangled robots. Whoops! He heard multiple beeps of objection from the busy bots.
WALL · E was too frightened to move, but the transport carrying EVE was getting farther and farther away. Bravely, he decided to box up and try again. Disregarding all robot traffic rules and every designated line, WALL · E rolled toward EVE.
Weaving in and out of traffic, he spotted EVE on her transport up ahead. It was gliding toward an off-ramp. WALL · E chased the transport and suddenly emerged onto the deck above. Blinking, he saw the bright lights of the Axiom’s economy-class courtyard.
WALL · E noticed that the courtyard was surrounded by hundreds of guest rooms. Passengers filled the giant courtyard, reclining in chairs that hovered just above the floor. WALL · E looked at their faces. Humans had changed over the centuries. They didn’t look like the photos in the old magazines and newspapers that littered Earth’s surface. These humans were very large and very soft. Their legs had turned flabby from lack of exercise, and their necks didn’t seem to exist at all.
WALL · E waved happily even though no one waved back. Moving forward, WALL · E tilted his head and saw the holo-graphic screens that all the reclining humans had in front of their faces. He noticed that what the humans lacked in leg strength, they more than made up for in powerful high-tech devices that provided them with information, fed them, and even moved them. The humans seemed bored and without purpose. Their world was completely digital. No one had any motivation to do anything. Bots served the humans’ every need.
Still, WALL · E kept waving at them. He had not seen a human being in centuries!
Two passengers, John and Buddy, drifted by, boxed into their chairs with speakers on either side of their heads and holo-graphic screens in front of their faces. They could easily have spoken to each other directly ... if they had had the motivation and ability to turn their heads and push aside the electronics surrounding them. Instead, they were isolated in the midst of a crowd of humanity, not even caring or knowing that they were right next to each other. WALL · E tried to follow and understand what they were saying. “So what do you wanna do?” “I don’t know. What do you wanna do?”
WALL · E saw Buddy’s screen flash a virtual amusement park. “Let’s ride the roller coaster again,” Buddy said.
“Nah,” John responded. “I’ve already ridden that a thousand times.”
“Well, then what do you want to do?” Buddy asked.
“I don’t know.”
WALL · E left the arguing humans behind as he pursued the transport into a tunnel crowded with robots and more humans in hover chairs. For a moment, the screens connecting the humans flickered. The humans began to panic. They stopped talking and typed words like “Oh no, you’re breaking up!” and “I can’t hear you! I’m in a tunnel.”
When the human passengers were disengaged from their electronics, it was frightening for them. But they quickly calmed down when the tunnel emptied into the star liner’s main concourse. “You’re back! I can hear you now!” the relieved passengers shouted. Their hover chairs glided across the main concourse.
The concourse was a city-sized mall. On the upper level surrounding the mall, WALL · E saw endless rows of guest suites.
He looked up, trying to take in his new surroundings. Everything was available to meet all the passengers’ needs and desires—instant foods in the form of shakes, robots to give them massages and haircuts—but there was nothing that really drew the humans away from the holo-screens in front of them.
An announcer’s voice suddenly filled the air. WALL · E jumped. “Happy Axiom Day!” the voice said, cheerfully booming across the deck. “Your day is very important to us! If you’re not happy, you’re not consuming!”
WALL · E didn’t understand. He just wanted to find EVE.
在運輸器內,戈法耐心地坐在方向盤后面等著,瓦力能夠感覺電梯正在上行。一小會兒之后,電梯門打開了。瓦力第一次看見了飛船的機器人通道,它位于??空旧戏?。機器人們正以閃電的速度快速移動。
戈法平穩(wěn)地將運輸器駛入機器人人流中,而瓦力試圖融入人流中,但失敗了。他踏出一步想跟著人流走,又猛地收回來,使得機器人們連環(huán)相撞,亂作一團。哎呀!他聽到忙碌的機器人們發(fā)出好幾聲嘟嘟聲以表抗議。
瓦力嚇得不敢動,但是載著伊芙的運輸器越開越遠。他勇敢地決定團成盒狀再試一次。瓦力不顧機器人交通規(guī)則,無視預定的線路,向伊芙駛去。
他在機器人人流中來回穿梭時看見伊芙乘坐的運輸器就在前面。它正滑向一個出口匝道。瓦力追著運輸器,突然來到了上一層船艙。他眨眨眼睛,看見了“功理”號經濟艙中庭的明亮燈火。
瓦力注意到幾百間客房圍繞著中庭。巨大的中庭里滿是乘客,他們斜倚在緊靠地面懸浮的椅子上。瓦力看著他們的臉。幾個世紀以來人類已經發(fā)生了變化。他們看上去和被亂丟在地球表面的舊雜志和報紙上的照片不像。這些人類體型高大,曲線柔和。由于缺乏運動,他們雙腿肌肉松弛,脖子幾乎都看不見了。
盡管沒有人回應他,瓦力還是開心地向他們揮手。向前行駛時,瓦力歪了歪腦袋,看見每個斜倚著的人類面前都放置著全息影像屏幕。他發(fā)現(xiàn)雖然人類的腿部沒有力量,但是他們用強大的高科技裝置進行了彌補,它們能提供信息、給他們喂食、甚至移動他們。這些人類看來百無聊賴,漫無目的。他們的世界完全數(shù)字化了。沒有人有動力去做任何事情。機器人滿足了人類所有的需求。
瓦力繼續(xù)朝著他們揮手。幾百年來他一個人類都沒有看 到過!
兩名乘客——約翰和巴迪——飄了過去,他們團在椅子里,頭的兩側是揚聲器,面前是全息影像屏。他們本可以輕易地直接面對面說話……如果他們有動力和能力轉過他們的腦袋,推開包圍著他們的電子設備的話。然而,他們在擁擠的人群中遠離他人,既不在意也不知道他們相互緊鄰。瓦力試圖跟著他們弄懂他們在說什么。“那么,你想做什么呢?”“我不知道。你想做什么?”
瓦力看見巴迪的屏幕上閃現(xiàn)出一個虛擬的游樂園。“我們再去坐一次過山車吧?!卑偷险f道。
“不要,”約翰回應道,“我都坐過上千次了?!?
“嗯,那你想做什么呢?”巴迪問道。
“我不知道?!?
瓦力將正在爭論的兩人甩在身后,追著運輸器進了一條隧道,里面擠滿了機器人和更多坐在懸浮椅里的人。聯(lián)結人群的屏幕閃爍了一會兒,人們開始恐慌。他們停止談話,打出類似于“哦不,你的信號沒了”和“我聽不見你的話!我在隧道里”的話。
對于人類乘客而言,脫離電子設備令他們非??謶?。但是當他們從隧道進入這艘星際飛船的中央廣場時,他們很快就鎮(zhèn)定下來了?!靶盘柣謴土耍∥夷苈牭侥愕穆曇袅?!”松了一大口氣的乘客們叫道。他們的漂浮椅滑過了中央廣場。
中央廣場是一個足有城市大小的購物中心。瓦力看見圍繞著購物中心的上面一層有無數(shù)排乘客套房。
他抬起頭來,認真地打量著他的新環(huán)境。這里什么都有,能滿足所有乘客的需求和欲望——有奶昔狀的方便食品,有機器人提供按摩和理發(fā)——但是沒有什么能確實將人類的注意力從他們面前的全息影像屏上轉移開。
一名播音員的聲音突然響起,瓦力被嚇了一跳?!啊怼柸湛鞓?!”那道快活的聲音在這一層到處回響?!澳囊惶爝^得如何對于我們非常重要!如果您不快樂,您就沒有真正享受我們消費者的待遇!”
瓦力聽不明白。他只想找到伊芙。