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 smoothly¹ turned into the traffic as WALL · E tried—and failed—to merge². He put one tread into the traffic and yanked it back, causing a pileup of mangled³ robots. Whoops⁴! 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 decided⁵ 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 spotted⁶ EVE on her transport up ahead. It was gliding⁷ 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 hovered⁸ 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 tilted¹⁰ 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-tech¹¹ 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 Buddy¹², 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 isolated¹³ 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 hover⁹ chairs. For a moment, the screens connecting the humans flickered¹⁴. 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 glided¹⁵ 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 suites¹⁶.

 

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 massages¹⁷ 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.

 

在运输器内，戈法耐心地坐在方向盘后面等着，瓦力能够感觉电梯正在上行。一小会儿之后，电梯门打开了。瓦力第一次看见了飞船的机器人通道，它位于停靠站上方。机器人们正以闪电的速度快速移动。

 

戈法平稳地将运输器驶入机器人人流中，而瓦力试图融入人流中，但失败了。他踏出一步想跟着人流走，又猛地收回来，使得机器人们连环相撞，乱作一团。哎呀！他听到忙碌的机器人们发出好几声嘟嘟声以表抗议。

 

瓦力吓得不敢动，但是载着伊芙的运输器越开越远。他勇敢地决定团成盒状再试一次。瓦力不顾机器人交通规则，无视预定的线路，向伊芙驶去。

 

他在机器人人流中来回穿梭时看见伊芙乘坐的运输器就在前面。它正滑向一个出口匝道。瓦力追着运输器，突然来到了上一层船舱。他眨眨眼睛，看见了“功理”号经济舱中庭的明亮灯火。

 

瓦力注意到几百间客房围绕着中庭。巨大的中庭里满是乘客，他们斜倚在紧靠地面悬浮的椅子上。瓦力看着他们的脸。几个世纪以来人类已经发生了变化。他们看上去和被乱丢在地球表面的旧杂志和报纸上的照片不像。这些人类体型高大，曲线柔和。由于缺乏运动，他们双腿肌肉松弛，脖子几乎都看不见了。

 

尽管没有人回应他，瓦力还是开心地向他们挥手。向前行驶时，瓦力歪了歪脑袋，看见每个斜倚着的人类面前都放置着全息影像屏幕。他发现虽然人类的腿部没有力量，但是他们用强大的高科技装置进行了弥补，它们能提供信息、给他们喂食、甚至移动他们。这些人类看来百无聊赖，漫无目的。他们的世界完全数字化了。没有人有动力去做任何事情。机器人满足了人类所有的需求。

 

瓦力继续朝着他们挥手。几百年来他一个人类都没有看 到过！

 

两名乘客——约翰和巴迪——飘了过去，他们团在椅子里，头的两侧是扬声器，面前是全息影像屏。他们本可以轻易地直接面对面说话……如果他们有动力和能力转过他们的脑袋，推开包围着他们的电子设备的话。然而，他们在拥挤的人群中远离他人，既不在意也不知道他们相互紧邻。瓦力试图跟着他们弄懂他们在说什么。“那么，你想做什么呢？”“我不知道。你想做什么？”

 

瓦力看见巴迪的屏幕上闪现出一个虚拟的游乐园。“我们再去坐一次过山车吧。”巴迪说道。

 

“不要，”约翰回应道，“我都坐过上千次了。”

 

“嗯，那你想做什么呢？”巴迪问道。

 

“我不知道。”

 

瓦力将正在争论的两人甩在身后，追着运输器进了一条隧道，里面挤满了机器人和更多坐在悬浮椅里的人。联结人群的屏幕闪烁了一会儿，人们开始恐慌。他们停止谈话，打出类似于“哦不，你的信号没了”和“我听不见你的话！我在隧道里”的话。

 

对于人类乘客而言，脱离电子设备令他们非常恐惧。但是当他们从隧道进入这艘星际飞船的中央广场时，他们很快就镇定下来了。“信号恢复了！我能听到你的声音了！”松了一大口气的乘客们叫道。他们的漂浮椅滑过了中央广场。

 

中央广场是一个足有城市大小的购物中心。瓦力看见围绕着购物中心的上面一层有无数排乘客套房。

 

他抬起头来，认真地打量着他的新环境。这里什么都有，能满足所有乘客的需求和欲望——有奶昔状的方便食品，有机器人提供按摩和理发——但是没有什么能确实将人类的注意力从他们面前的全息影像屏上转移开。

 

一名播音员的声音突然响起，瓦力被吓了一跳。“‘功理’号日快乐！”那道快活的声音在这一层到处回响。“您的一天过得如何对于我们非常重要！如果您不快乐，您就没有真正享受我们消费者的待遇！”

 

瓦力听不明白。他只想找到伊芙。

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