Pacing back and forth¹ outside the trash chute, WALL · E suffered through several changes of mind on how to take EVE's hand: upside down, sideways, from the left, or from the right.

 

WALL · E became more and more impatient. At last, he looked around for a disguise and spotted² the towel cart. Covering himself in towels, he made his way to the trash chute's opening. Climbing inside, he began to crawl up the chute, using slow, crablike³ movements.

 

Meanwhile, in the Captain's quarters, EVE continued to watch images of WALL · E from her video recordings⁵ of Earth. She saw him etch their names in a heart. "WALL · E," she sighed.

 

The Captain was there, too. He turned to Auto⁶, holding the prized plant. "Auto," he said, "Probe One found the plant! Fire up the holo-detector!"

 

"Not necessary, Captain," Auto replied calmly. "You may give it to me."

 

The Captain held up a chubby⁷ finger. "You know what? I should do it myself!"

 

Auto shot over and blocked the Captain.

 

"Sir," Auto said sternly. "I insist that you give me the plant."

 

The Captain was shocked—and starting to get angry. Auto reported to him!

 

"Get out of my way," the Captain said firmly, trying to move past Auto.

 

"Sir, we cannot go home."

 

"What are you talking about, Auto? Why not?"

 

"That is classified," Auto said, leaning over the Captain. "Give me the plant!"

 

The Captain waved the plant around, out of Auto's reach. "What do you mean, ‘classified'? You don't keep secrets from the Captain!"

 

"Give me the plant," Auto demanded.

 

"Tell me what's classified," the Captain snapped. "Tell me, Auto. That's an order!"

 

Auto finally punched a series of buttons with his robotic tentacle⁸. A BnL message appeared on screen. It was labeled TOP SECRET: FOR AUTOPILOT EYE ONLY.

 

The Captain watched as the face of BnL's leader appeared. Via the fuzzy old recording⁴, the leader told the autopilots of all BnL star liners to take control of the ships and never return to Earth, as life there was "unsustainable."

 

"‘Unsustainable'?" The Captain scoffed⁹. He turned his gaze from the screen to the plant in his lap. For the first time, he had seen the truth: There was no great plan to return to Earth. His company and his leader had given up on him, his ship, and his passengers. The Captain's face grew red. He was holding living proof—the plant—that life was indeed sustainable on Earth. Now he was downright angry.

 

瓦力在垃圾滑槽外来回踱步，对于如何去握伊芙的手不断改变主意：上下颠倒，从一侧往另一侧，从左侧，还是从右侧。

 

瓦力越来越不耐烦。最后，他四处张望寻找伪装物，然后看见了运毛巾的推车。他藏身在毛巾下，朝着垃圾滑槽的出口走去。他爬进滑槽，用螃蟹一样的动作慢慢沿着滑槽往上爬。

 

与此同时，在船长的舱房里，伊芙继续看着她拍的地球录像中瓦力的形象。她看见他将他们的名字蚀刻在一个心形中。“瓦力。”她叹息道。

 

船长也在那里。他转身面向傲特，手里捧着那株宝贵的植物。“傲特，”他说道，“探测器一号找到了那株植物！启动全息探测器！”

 

“没有必要，船长。”傲特冷静地答道，“您可以把它交给我。”

 

船长举起一根胖胖的手指说道：“知道吗？我该亲自做这件事！”

 

傲特一个箭步冲了过去，拦住船长的路。

 

“长官，”傲特厉声说道，“我坚决要求您把那株植物给我。”

 

船长感到震惊——而且开始动怒。傲特应该向他汇报！

 

“别挡我的路。”船长一边试图绕过傲特，一边坚决地说道。

 

“长官，我们不能回家。”

 

“傲特，你在说什么？为什么不能？”

 

“那是机密。”他俯身对着船长说道，“把那株植物给我！”

 

船长挥舞着那株植物，不让傲特够到。“你说的‘机密’是什么意思？对于船长你不能隐瞒任何事！”

 

“把那株植物给我。”傲特命令道。

 

“告诉我机密是什么。”船长怒气冲冲地说道，“傲特，告诉我。这是命令！”

 

最后，傲特用他的机械触手按了一连串的按键。一条大卖场的信息出现在屏幕上。它被标记为：“最高机密：仅供自动驾驶仪观看。”

 

船长看着大卖场领袖的脸浮现了出来。在这段模糊的老旧录影中，这位领袖告诉所有大卖场星际飞船的自动驾驶仪们接管飞船，永远不要回地球，因为那里“无法维持生命”。

 

“‘无法维持生命’？”船长嗤之以鼻。他的视线从屏幕上又落到了膝上的那株植物上。他第一次知道了真相：根本没有返回地球的伟大计划。他的公司和领袖早就放弃了他、他的飞船和他的乘客们。船长的脸涨得通红。他捧着活生生的证据——那株植物——可以证明事实上地球是可以维持生命的。现在他出离愤怒了。

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