On the ship’s bridge, Auto stood at attention, awaiting the arrival of the Captain. With a whir from his hover chair, the Captain finally entered the bridge. A coffee-bot rose from the console as WALL · E scooted out of sight.
“Sir,” Auto said, unblinking.
“Coffee,” the Captain demanded, heading for the large console. Auto tried again. “Sir, the annual—” The Captain held his hand up in Auto’s direction. Trying to maneuver his large body, he adjusted his chair and was almost able to reach the coffee cup. “Protocol, Auto. First things first,” he said, finally grabbing the cup and taking a sip. The Captain was in no hurry. There was no need for anyone to navigate the huge star liner. The Axiom had been in a holding pattern around Earth’s galaxy for seven hundred years. At this stage, Auto controlled the ship far more than the Captain did.
The Captain’s chair slowly followed a red line around the console. Panels lit up as he passed. “Mechanical systems?” the bored Captain asked the ship’s computer.
“Unchanged,” the computer answered.
“Reactor core temperature? Passenger count? Regenerative foodstuffs? Jacuzzi temperature? Waste flow? Laundry-service volume? Buffet menu?”
“Unchanged, unchanged, unchanged,” the computer responded. The Captain’s workday was over. He was about to order up the buffet when he glanced at the time. He flashed Auto a look. It was past noon!
“Sir, the annual recon—” Auto started. Auto wanted to tell the Captain about EVE.
“Twelve-thirty? Auto, you let me sleep in again!” the Captain complained.
“Sir—” Auto began. But the Captain snapped like a slingshot across to the bridge’s lido deck side, his voice booming out over the passengers.
“The morning announcements,” the Captain said. He turned a dial on the console and cranked the sun from midday back to sunrise. He smiled smugly. Now he hadn’t overslept. Auto rolled his huge eye.
On the lido deck, passengers’ lunch drinks were automatically switched to breakfast drinks, but no one seemed to care.
The Captain now appeared on every passenger’s screen. A section of the fake sky became a large video display broadcasting his image.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” he said in the competent voice of an experienced pilot. “Welcome to day 255,600 of the Axiom’s five-year cruise.” It was the seven hundredth anniversary of the Axiom’s launch into space! The Captain cheerfully announced that each passenger would receive a free cupcake to celebrate the occasion.
The Captain paused, noticing a flashing button on the console. “Hey? Hey, Auto, what is that flashing button? Auto?” he said, his microphone still on. “What the—?” Luckily, the microphone finally turned off.
Inside the bridge, the Captain had finally noticed EVE. Auto was reactivating her.
From under the console, WALL · E saw EVE return to life! Her white egg-like shell was glowing again, and her soft blue eyes slowly opened.
“Eee-vah!” he said joyfully. WALL · E had caught up with EVE at last, and she was awake— alive!—again. Of course, he wasn’t sure what he would do next. But at least he was with his true love!
在飛船的艦橋上,傲特立正等待船長來臨。伴著懸浮椅發(fā)出的“呼呼”聲,船長終于進入艦橋。在瓦力疾走到別人看不到他的地方時,一個咖啡機器人從操縱臺上飛了起來。
“長官?!卑撂卣f道,眼睛一眨不眨。
“咖啡?!贝L一邊下令一邊駛向巨大的操縱臺。傲特又試了一次?!伴L官,年度——”船長向著傲特的方向舉起手來。他調整他的椅子來移動自己龐大的身軀,差一點就能夠到咖啡杯了?!白⒁舛Y節(jié),傲特。要事先辦?!彼f道。他終于抓住咖啡杯,喝了一口。船長不趕時間,因為這艘巨型星際飛船不需要任何人駕駛。七百年來“功理”號一直保持著繞地球星系飛行的狀態(tài)。在這個狀況下,傲特控制飛船的時間遠比船長多。
船長的椅子緩慢地沿著一條紅線圍著操縱臺行駛。當他經過時面板都亮了起來。“機械系統(tǒng)?”感覺乏味的船長問飛船的電腦道。
“沒有變化?!彪娔X答道。
“反應器中心溫度?乘客人數?再生食物?按摩浴缸溫度?垃圾排放?洗衣服務量?自助餐菜單?”
“沒有變化,沒有變化,沒有變化?!彪娔X答道。船長一天的工作完成了。他正要下令開始自助餐,這時他瞄了一眼時間。他飛快地看了傲特一眼。已經過了正午!
“長官,年度偵察——”傲特開口道,他想跟船長說伊芙的事。
“12點30分?傲特,你又讓我睡過頭了!”船長抱怨道。
“長官——”傲特剛開了個頭,船長就像個彈弓一樣,“啪”的一聲飛快穿過艦橋,沖向靠近泳池甲板的一側。他低沉的聲音在乘客們頭上回響。
“早間播報?!贝L說道。他轉動操縱臺上的日晷,將太陽從正午轉回日出時分。他自鳴得意地笑著。這下他沒有睡過頭了。傲特的大眼睛翻了一下白眼。
在泳池甲板上,乘客們的午餐飲料都被自動換成了早餐飲料,但是似乎沒有人在意。
現在船長出現在每個人的屏幕上,人造天空的一部分變成大型顯示器來播放他的影像。
“女士們,先生們,早上好?!彼f道,聲音讓人覺得他是兼有能力和經驗的駕駛員。“歡迎進入‘功理’號五年之旅的第255 600天。”這天是“功理”號啟航飛向太空七百周年紀念日!船長興高采烈地宣布向每位乘客免費贈送一個紙杯蛋糕以示 慶祝。
船長注意到操縱臺上有一個按鈕在閃爍,便停頓了下來。“嗨?嗨,傲特,那個在閃的是什么鍵?傲特?”他問道。他的話筒仍然開著?!暗降自凇毙疫\的是,話筒終于關掉了。
在艦橋上,船長終于注意到了伊芙。傲特正準備使她重啟。
瓦力在操縱臺下看到伊芙恢復了活力!她白色的蛋形外殼再次發(fā)出光芒,她溫和的藍色眼睛慢慢睜開了。
“伊——娃!”他歡樂地說道。瓦力終于追上了伊芙,而且她又重新醒了過來——活了過來!當然,他還不確定接下去該做什么。但是至少他和他真心愛戀的人在一起!