After about a quarter of an hour, they started to lose height, and eventually landed on top of a tall building. Only then, did they discover that they had, in fact, been travelling extremely fast. "How fast is this Bubble?" inquired Eliza.
經過了約莫十五分鐘後，她們開始下降，最終停在一棟很高的建築物頂端。直到這時，她們才注意到原來飛行的速度這麼快。「泡泡的時速是多少呀？」Eliza 好奇地問道。
"Well, grandma, it's hard to say, but to give you an idea, we've roughly just travelled from London to Paris, as the names on the old maps," responded Annie.
「嗯～這很難說耶，阿嬤。我們剛剛飛行的距離大概是從倫敦到巴黎吧！如果按照舊地圖的名稱的話。」安妮答道。
"Wow! That's super fast!" Claire exclaimed, "How come I didn't see the English Channel?"
「哇！那好快喔！」Claire 驚叫道。「只是怎麼都沒看見英吉利海俠呢？」
"That has been gotten rid of a long time ago, grandma!" Cathy chuckled, "Now, many seas between countries have been covered up by artificial land to make more living space, only the ocean surrounding the big continents exist. Besides, most of the small islands that used to exist don't exist anymore, due to the rapid rise of sea levels caused by global warming. All the more reasons for artificial land."
「阿嬤，那很早就不存在了！」凱西偷笑道。「現在，為了製造更多的居住空間，很多國家之間的海域都已被人工製地給填平了；只剩下各大洲之間的海域沒被填平而已。況且，現在很多以前的小島早已不存在了。因為全球暖化的關係，海水位不停地上漲，很多小島早已被淹沒了。又是另一個使用人工造地的原因。」
The four girls talked whilst strolling over to a large panel situated on the floor, which Annie bent down to touch with her hand. Without warning, the panel lifted and revealed an entrance, leading to a lift. "Sorry, grandma, I almost forgot to explain," said Annie apologetically, "This is the door to our building, our apartment's on the fifty-fifth floor counting downwards. In 2084, as all our transports are air-borne, naturally, our entrances are situated on the top of buildings. This door is hand-print sensitive, and also serves as a solar panel that provides for the entire electricity of the building, which has 100 storeys." Claire and Eliza only stared in awe and couldn't think of anything to reply.
四個女孩們邊聊天邊走到一塊崁在地上的大板子，安妮彎下腰，用手摸著板子。突然間，板子緩緩地掀開了，露出了一個通往電梯的入口。「抱歉，阿嬤！剛剛忘了解釋！」安妮說。「這是通往大樓的門，我們的公寓是在從頂樓數下去第55樓。在2084年，因為所有的交通工具都是在空中的，所以，很顯然地，建築物的入口也得設在頂樓。這扇門是靠手紋識別住戶的；不僅如此，它還是一塊太陽能板，足以成為擁有100層樓的整棟大樓能量來源。」Claire 和 Eliza 只是站在那兒發愣，驚訝到不知道要回答什麼了。
After they entered the apartment room, through another handprint-detecting door, Claire and Eliza, who were expecting her room to be filled with some more fancy gadgets of the future, were utterly horrified to discover that her room was completely bare- no carpets, no furniture, nothing, consisting of only four walls, without even a window. "OMG! What happened? Is this a burglary? Did burglars rob you? OMG! Call the police!" The easily-excited Eliza shouted.
她們又通過了另一扇手紋識別的門後，進入了公寓。本以為房間裏又會充滿未來新穎設施的 Claire 和 Eliza 赫然發現房間裏面竟然空空盪盪的～沒有地毯、傢俱，簡直可說是家徒四壁，連個窗都户没有。「噢買尬！發生什麼事了？遭小偷了嗎？趕快報警啊！」神經質的 Eliza 驚叫道。
"Calm down, grandma! No, it's not a burglary! It's just the way my room is!" responded Annie.
「沒有啦，阿嬤！沒有遭小偷啦！本來就這樣啊！」安妮答道。
"OMG! Poor girl! You must be too poor to buy anything! OMG how can you live in such a bare room?" Claire lamented.
「噢！可憐的女孩！你一定是窮到買不起傢俱！你是怎麼在這種地方生活的呀？」Claire 說。
"I'm fine, grandma! I'm not that poor!" Annie replied as she walked towards a wall, placed her hand on it, and, to Claire and Eliza's astonishment, a screen full of virtual buttons appeared on it. Annie touched a random one, and, as if by magic, the hitherto bare room was instantly transformed into a modern, cozy living room, with a comfortable sofa, a television set, a tea-table and, last but not least, a bay window looking out to a picturesque view of a lake. "What kind of sorcery is this!?" the girls from 2016 screamed in amazement.
「不是啦，阿嬤！我沒有很窮啦！」安妮說著說著走到一面牆旁邊，將手貼在牆上。頓時，牆上出現了一整排的虛擬按鈕。安妮隨便按了一個。結果，彷彿是魔法般，原本空無一物的房間搖身一變成了一間溫馨的客廳，有著電視機、舒適的沙發椅、茶几、還有一面望著美麗湖景的落地窗。「這是什麼妖術啊？！」從2016年來的女孩們尖叫道。
"In 2084, everything is virtual, so all one needs is a simple room, and just do some simple installments, then you can furnish it and change the interior design however you like by just pressing a button," elucidated Cathy as she walked over to press a button, instantly, the view outside the window changed to outlooking a glamorous city. "OMG! That's Taipei! My favourite city!" blurted Eliza as she remembered her happy memories last time she visited Taiwan.
「在2084年，所有東西都是虛擬的。所以，我們只需要一間簡單的房間，再安裝一些設施。如此一來，只要按下按鈕，就可以愛怎麼佈置就怎麼佈置。」凱西一邊解釋一邊走向那面牆，又按了另一個按鈕。轉眼間，落地窗外的風景頓時變成了繁華的都市。「噢買尬！是臺北市耶！我最喜歡的城市！」Eliza 想起了上次去臺灣旅行時的美好時光，興奮地說。
"Yes! But, remember, grandma, all this is virtual! As the buildings are too closely packed for anyone to have a real window. And even if they do, the scenery will not be pleasant; most have a virtual window installed," continued Cathy, "You can choose any picture you like that is in the gallery, from any year. Furthermore, the pictures are in 4D, so if you open the window, you can actually feel the breeze coming. This picture is Taipei taken in 2016, you can change it, for instance, to London in the 1930s if you wish. Also, you can move the window anywhere you wish, change it to any size you want, which is actually more convenient than having a real window!"
「對呀！只是，阿嬤，要記得，這些都是虛擬的。因為現在建築物都太靠近了，根本沒有人能擁有真正的窗户，所以大部份的人都選擇使用虛擬窗戶。」凱西繼續說。「如此一來，你就可以從圖庫內選擇任何一張圖片作為窗外風景。再說，這些圖片都是4D的，所以只要打開窗户，甚至還可以感受到微風輕輕吹來。比方說，現在我們所使用的風景是2016年時拍的臺北。你也可以將其換成1930年的倫敦。還有，窗户的位置以及款式、大小也皆是任君挑選。老實說，這比擁有真實的窗户更便利呢！」
Suddenly, Annie held Eliza's hand, walked over to the wall, and used Eliza's hand to press another button. In the blink of an eye, the room's appearance had changed again. This time, it has changed to the kitchen of Claire and Eliza's apartment back home! "OMG! This is exactly our flat!" Claire and Eliza screamed in one voice.
突然，安妮牽著 Eliza 的手，走向牆壁，並用她的手按了個按鈕。瞬間，房間的內裝又換了。這次，換成了 Claire 和 Eliza 所居住的公寓的樣子！「噢買尬！這不是我們家嗎？」Claire 和 Eliza 異口同聲地說。
"Grandma, I believe it's your usual tea-time; and we can't miss that, can we?" Annie winked to Cathy as they sat down to the table already laid with afternoon tea accessories. Abruptly, they heard the barking of a dog, and they stared in stupefaction as they saw their pet dog Lucky running towards them, wagging its tail. "Lucky! It's you!" they screeched, hugging the cute puppy.
「阿嬤，現在到了你們平時喝下午茶的時間。這麼重要的事兒怎麼能忘了呢？」安妮對著凱西眨了眨眼，並坐在已經擺好下午茶用具的餐桌前。突然，她們聽到了狗叫聲，兩人目瞪口呆地看著她們的寵物狗～Lucky正往她們的方向撲過來，還猛力地搖著尾巴。「Lucky！是你啊！」她們興高采烈地叫著，並緊緊地抱著狗兒。
"Another one of the options to furnish your room according to a certain piece of memory you have, it will recreate the room to level of detail of your memory. But, of course, if your memory is fuzzy in the first place, nothing can be done," smiled Annie.
「另一個內裝的選項就是可以按照你對某個地方的記憶而創造出來。當然，如果本身記憶就不是很清楚，當然也就很難創造嘍！」安妮笑著說。
~To be Continued~
～待續～
No comments:
Post a Comment