On the ship's bridge, Auto¹ stood at attention, awaiting the arrival of the Captain. With a whir from his hover² 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 maneuver³ his large body, he adjusted his chair and was almost able to reach the coffee cup. "Protocol⁴, Auto. First things first," he said, finally grabbing the cup and taking a sip⁵. The Captain was in no hurry. There was no need for anyone to navigate⁶ the huge star liner. The Axiom had been in a holding pattern around Earth's galaxy⁷ 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.

 

"Reactor⁸ core temperature? Passenger count? Regenerative foodstuffs⁹? Jacuzzi temperature? Waste flow? Laundry-service volume? Buffet¹⁰ 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 joyfully¹¹. 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!

 

在飞船的舰桥上，傲特立正等待船长来临。伴着悬浮椅发出的“呼呼”声，船长终于进入舰桥。在瓦力疾走到别人看不到他的地方时，一个咖啡机器人从操纵台上飞了起来。

 

“长官。”傲特说道，眼睛一眨不眨。

 

“咖啡。”船长一边下令一边驶向巨大的操纵台。傲特又试了一次。“长官，年度——”船长向着傲特的方向举起手来。他调整他的椅子来移动自己庞大的身躯，差一点就能够到咖啡杯了。“注意礼节，傲特。要事先办。”他说道。他终于抓住咖啡杯，喝了一口。船长不赶时间，因为这艘巨型星际飞船不需要任何人驾驶。七百年来“功理”号一直保持着绕地球星系飞行的状态。在这个状况下，傲特控制飞船的时间远比船长多。

 

船长的椅子缓慢地沿着一条红线围着操纵台行驶。当他经过时面板都亮了起来。“机械系统？”感觉乏味的船长问飞船的电脑道。

 

“没有变化。”电脑答道。

 

“反应器中心温度？乘客人数？再生食物？按摩浴缸温度？垃圾排放？洗衣服务量？自助餐菜单？”

 

“没有变化，没有变化，没有变化。”电脑答道。船长一天的工作完成了。他正要下令开始自助餐，这时他瞄了一眼时间。他飞快地看了傲特一眼。已经过了正午！

 

“长官，年度侦察——”傲特开口道，他想跟船长说伊芙的事。

 

“12点30分？傲特，你又让我睡过头了！”船长抱怨道。

 

“长官——”傲特刚开了个头，船长就像个弹弓一样，“啪”的一声飞快穿过舰桥，冲向靠近泳池甲板的一侧。他低沉的声音在乘客们头上回响。

 

“早间播报。”船长说道。他转动操纵台上的日晷，将太阳从正午转回日出时分。他自鸣得意地笑着。这下他没有睡过头了。傲特的大眼睛翻了一下白眼。

 

在泳池甲板上，乘客们的午餐饮料都被自动换成了早餐饮料，但是似乎没有人在意。

 

现在船长出现在每个人的屏幕上，人造天空的一部分变成大型显示器来播放他的影像。

 

“女士们，先生们，早上好。”他说道，声音让人觉得他是兼有能力和经验的驾驶员。“欢迎进入‘功理’号五年之旅的第255 600天。”这天是“功理”号启航飞向太空七百周年纪念日！船长兴高采烈地宣布向每位乘客免费赠送一个纸杯蛋糕以示 庆祝。

 

船长注意到操纵台上有一个按钮在闪烁，便停顿了下来。“嗨？嗨，傲特，那个在闪的是什么键？傲特？”他问道。他的话筒仍然开着。“到底在——”幸运的是，话筒终于关掉了。

 

在舰桥上，船长终于注意到了伊芙。傲特正准备使她重启。

 

瓦力在操纵台下看到伊芙恢复了活力！她白色的蛋形外壳再次发出光芒，她温和的蓝色眼睛慢慢睁开了。

 

“伊——娃！”他欢乐地说道。瓦力终于追上了伊芙，而且她又重新醒了过来——活了过来！当然，他还不确定接下去该做什么。但是至少他和他真心爱恋的人在一起！

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