Summary:
Auto had to learn how to live on Earth. He learnt thinning out, pruning, weeding and watering from Mr. Grande(The Mayor). A 11-year-old girl named Alexis lived with the Mayor and was startled at first by Auto's appearance. She was on wheel because of an accident on her very young age. But soon Alexis accepted Auto and began to teach him how to doing housework.
Auto learnt his course very quickly. At night he would do the further learning out of farming at the control room behind the mayor's house; sometime he would listen to the people chatting as well as fixing some small machines. Mr. Grande began trust him and afford him more and more tasks.
The android didn't bother the robot couple Wall-E and Eve. They even didn't meet each other for a long time because where they were working was far away. Auto seemed forget about everything happened before, tried himself to fit him into the society.
Auto also constantly instructed Han, the 14-year-old boy some basic knowledge, preparing for the further learning of the Axiom. Couples of months later, the boy found this previous Autopilot seemed had changed a lot.
One day, the mayor decided to have a talk with this droid, wanting to know more about Auto.
Piece 1:
"Is that what you called teaching? ... Those teaching bots are not as stuffy as you are ... " Han couldn't help complaining.
"Feeling bored?" Auto said. "Same here."
Han was stunned to hear that. He turned him around to face the silvery robot. "You've changed a lot in the two months." Said Han.
" I do? "
"Look." Han got excited, like a drown person caught the straw. "When you were on the ship, you would only say a few words every day, now I have not heard you talk about them for a long time."
"Which words?"
"Like 'affirmative', 'negative', 'correct', 'not possible'. My ears were full of these words." Han said earnestly, "Now you are speaking much more native. "
"Haven't changed the speaking pattern. "
" Don't deny it, you've really changed." Han was unable to control the smile climbing to the face, "and you now got an accent. "
The droid stared at Han for a long time, and finally said a few words.
"Does not compute." A cold, metallic, and mono tone.
Since he changed the body, Auto had never used flat tone to speak. These words made Han stunned for a second, and then he burst into laughter. At first he was a little restrained as the robot watching, burying his head on the table to laugh. But soon he couldn't help laugh out loud.
It was only when he finally gasped that he spoke reluctantly and intermittently.
"Ha ha ha haha ... The more you simulate, the more funny it is ... Hahaha haha haha ... "
Auto didn't say anything, he just waited very quietly for the boy to finish laughing. By the time Han finally found the reddish spot that had been quietly set on himself in that dark room, he could not laugh any longer.
"Ready for your text?" The droid forked his hands and resumed his tone.
After hearing the words, Han actually felt relieved. As he turned back to the calculation, he said, "Auto, it's a pity that you can't laugh. I don't even know if you're teasing me."
"The highest realm of teasing is: I am teasing you while you cannot notice it."
Han was stunned again. But he reacted quickly. "Oh, nonsense." He responded, "How dare you brag with just little experience of teasing humans. "
Auto did not respond, but silently turned back to the articles he was reading. He has been trying to connect himself directly to the computer for two months, but was unsuccessful. Every time he tried to access, in the supposed interface was only blank.
Previously Auto only focused on the boy. But as Alexis came in and listened more and more, one afternoon, when Alexis once again pushed her wheelchair into the control room, Auto launched an invitation to her.
"Want to come over and learn?"
"Of course." The girl's pale face suddenly brightened. She put a broken book on her lap and was about to move the wheel to the holo-screen before Auto noticed the name of the book,The Foundation.
"I like to read stories." Alexis saw the red spot standing on the title of the book and explained it. "But I can't find any more stories. I found it. Grandy won't let me watch too much screens. "
After hearing Alexis's words, Auto stood in silence. After a long time, as if he had been making a very hard decision, he bent down and spoke solemnly to Alexis. "Do you ... Want to hear about real things happened in space? "
the wheelchair girl nodded.
The droid sat down, facing the girl. He began to tell the long history.
In the narrative, they did not notice a impact blunt, which was the pen had fallen on the table not far away.
Han would never forget this day. He could never think of such an archaic metallic guy would actually had a milder side. He did not dare to turn back, afraid of his movements would disturb the dreamlike fantasy scene. The eloquent cold metal voice that came from behind that day echoed in his mind for a long time.
Piece 2:
One night, when Auto had just sorted out the cupboard and was about to go in the control room, he was called by the mayor.
"Auto, come here. " The old man stood at the door of the house and beckoned.
"Aye." The droid hesitated a little, but soon replied. "Wait a second." Then he trotted out the back door.
Auto soon returned to the living room. The mayor motioned the droid to go out of the door, and then sat on the porch bench.
"Sit down, Auto." "The old man made a greeting gesture to let the droid sit beside him. Then he picked up a glass bottle next to him.
In front of them was large corn fields. Shrouded in the night sky, there were only vague black silhouettes, and the whole cornfield seemed to fall asleep under the dark bedding. Summer night were no longer as hot as the day. There were lovely breeze came from the sea, by the time it sent away the rest temperature of the day, it also did not forget to send the fragrance of corn fields over.
"Was that better living now?" Said the old man, looking at the sleeping cornfield.
"Not bad." "The droid replied. "What's the matter?"
"Oh. Not." The old man opened the cap and sipped from the glass bottle. "Just want to chat with you for a while."
The night sky was clear. Without the moon, all the stars shone their brightest brilliance to the ground. Such scenes had long time didn't reappear since they polluted Earth. People who watched more carefully may find that there were always a few brighter stars in the sky that seem to be moving slowly relative to other stars. That's the other planets.
"Not very talkative, huh?" After a moment's silence, the mayor opened his mouth. "Captains must have suffered." He said, half earnest and half quipped.
"Not good at chatting." The droid answered.
The old man laughed. "I'm not gonna obstruct you either. To tell you the truth, I just want to know something about you. "
"Go on."
The old man turned his head, looking at the droid's mono-optic which was glowing in red, said, "You seem to have changed a lot." "
The droid was rarely silent for a long time. Then he answered.
"I do want to change myself. "
"why?"
"I want to join you." Replied Auto. "Rather than always being treated as a daunting Autopilot. "
"Unfortunately, everyone seems to think so. "
"Am I that frightening?"
"Maybe it's because your cold tone."
"Possible." Auto immediately answered, "there were no other causes."
The old man did not reply immediately after listening. He looked at the dark cornfield and said quietly.
"Auto, do you know Captain McCrea told our predecessors that you had attacked him many times?"
"Attack?"
"Don't you know?" The old man stared at the mono-optic. "If I took it right, he said you didn't just locked him up, but tried to taze him like how you treated Wall-E."
The air seemed to solidify for a moment.
"Sir." Auto finally spoke, tone became serious. "Although it is not appropriate to talk about humans, he was unreasonable at the time. I put him in lockdown because he was determined to be 'dysfunction'. And my voltage wouldn't do any harm. It didn't violate the Starship Governing Treaty. "
"So far you've thought you were right?"
"I had no other choice at the time. "The droid replied, " Even it seems a little inappropriate now. "
" Humans are sensitive and fragile creatures. "The old man lamented. "I'm glad you're aware of that. "
The red light swept over the mayor's face, but the droid said nothing after all.
"Over the past few months, your behavior had relived me. " The mayor said. "There were a lot of people who thought you were going to keep executing the A113 directive, which means you're going to do whatever it would take to get humans back on the Axiom. You've been keeping down for nearly a century implied the concerns that people carried out of this situation. "
"After these months, you've done far more than I expected. It's almost the best in the best situation. " The mayor said, "I actually had a question since I notice your attitude at the first day you've been activated, but I thought that was too hasty then. Now that you've been out of the Axiom, and you're working so hard, I think it's time to ask you this question. "
"What's the question?"
"Why did the directive A113 disappear?"
"Sir, the directive A113 hasn't been removed, it's still existing." The red light flashed through the old man's face. Auto lifted one hand and pointed to his own storage unit, "but it is conditional for this directive to take effect." "
"What's the condition?" Seeing the droid stop, the old man continued to encourage him to say.
"Survival indicators." Auto explained. "The A113 directive will not officially expire when and only if all indicators have meet the human survival standards. "
"Although oxygen level was up to standard on year 2815, other environmental factors were not conducive to the human survival. The source of that plant was also out of list." Auto continued, "So my judgment was to continue executing the directive A113."
"So now directive A113 has been terminated?"
"Yes."
"Well." The old man hummed with a meaningful tune. "Perhaps Captain McCrea's warning was reasonable. "
The red light again flashed through the old man's face.
"Short after we landed, the environment was exactly the same as in that classic video." Said the mayor slowly, "and we did have an very hard time."
"Every inch of the land was glorying white, and everyone behind the sun couldn't open their eyes. One little breeze could blow the dust into their eyes and noses. Not to mention the pathetic freshwater resources. The dead land left all the people disillusioned in just half a day." The mayor said. "The impulse to transform our home didn't last long. In the first few months, the ship's robot crews made incalculable contributions in reclaiming the Earth Village..."
"... There was hardly any harvest in the first few years. Captain McCrea was under great pressure. In one hand, e continued persuading people to eat the food retained on the Axiom to sustain their lives, on the other hand he finally began to formally learn the techniques of farming ... "
Auto listened silently to the old man. Although he had learned about some history from the robot crew, he now had plenty of time. As long as the mayor was willing to go on, he would not interrupt the old man.
"...Gradually There was water under the Axiom, which had previously been resisted by our raising ridge. But in the year 2843 , a flood made all the farmland of the Axiom's south slope cannot be farmed any more. Actually the anti-wind and anti-sand conditions of the South slope were the best, but this flooded year had let the south slope, the main cultivated land permanently abandoned. There was no doubt that we had suffered a severe poor harvest that year. The farming land had to be all moved to the North Slope, however, the next year came the drought. Two consecutive harvests had let everyone into a difficult period again ... "
"... After Captain McCrea's death, relatively stable arable lands were finally gradually settled down. But occasional sandstorms will always initiate great threats to all of us. "
After telling the long story, the mayor picked up the glass bottle from the ground and calmly opened the cap and drank it. The night had stepped into calm. Cool breeze came from unknown direction, carrying the fragrance of the planting rod from the corn field and the distant sea.
"Auto." The mayor suddenly asked. "If Captain McCrea had rebooted you while he's still alive, would you continue to execute the A113 directive?"
It's definitely a good question. The red spot hung low on the ground and stopped for a long time. The mayor waited quietly for the droid beside him.
"Maybe I would." "Replied Auto in a low voice.
He could only say this three words. He couldn't answer more.
If he had been rebooted then, who knew if the shocking and tragic sight of the environment was going to stir up his most tight nerves, after he had seen the desolate land and the waving humanity? Auto believed he will. And the rest was undoubtedly urging the large number of humans rushing back to the spaceship while the stubborn captain still alive. What kind of massive conflict would he face again? What should he do with it?
He dared not press on any longer. The uncertainty of this incredibly complex thing almost made Auto down.
Fortunately, all was over. He was already faced with such a relatively stable situation. Freshwater sources have been clean, windbreaks have also been built in this century, to ensure the stability of the cultivated land in North slope. Looking down from the Bridge, the waters of the bay twinkled with sparkling waves, and glass-like blue marked an improvement in water quality.
"Maybe you're lucky, or we're all lucky." The mayor said. "I want to thank you for your sincere work over the past few months. You have learned fast and helped a lot. "
"Too kind, mayor." Auto replied, "It's my duty."
"At first, me, included, was deeply skeptical of it." Replied the mayor, "Almost everyone thought you're bent on piloting the Axiom. "
"It's prejudice." Replied the droid, helplessly.
"Ha ha, obviously." The air eased a lot. "It was true that you were slowly integrating into our society." said the mayor, in his old and hoarse voice.
When Auto heard this, the red light jerked on the old man, and then turned to the cornfield in front of him.
"I've been, thinking about one thing." Auto's red eye looked straight ahead, and a small piece of corn seedlings slightly stained with a little red.
The mayor looked at the droid with an expression of inquiry.
"... About life . " Auto said.
A fleeting surprising look flashed through the old man's eyes.
"Is it Captain McCrea —"
"Yes. " Auto said.
"So do you have any understanding?"
"I probably understood why Captain McCrea was trying to live instead of survive. " The droid said, "It's interesting living here."
A faint light shone in the man's eyes under the unprecedented starlight. "Interesting?"
"More interesting than staying on the Bridge." Auto said, "Even if there was an emergency, the treatment was in procedure. Busy, but dull."
" How do you think the ground was interesting? " The old man encouraged Auto to go on.
"There's always new stuff every day." Said Auto, who turned his single optic over. "And the jokes."
" I don't believe the former captains couldn't tell jokes. I don't believe you can't understand jokes, either. " Said the old man with a slight smile.
Auto looked as if he were a little embarrassed. "I did haven't thought about that then. "
"Now you has enlightened?" The mayor asked, "Why?"
"This body has upgraded many of my functions. Verbal ability, mobility, and ways of thinking, all have improved." Auto said.
"Secondly, it should also be related to the reduced pressure that not dealing with the ship's affairs too much." Auto changed in a slightly sarcastic tone and said, "I'm retired."
The mayor was amused.
The old man looked at the horizon and continued to open his mouth. "Life wasn't just interesting. More importantly, it provides a stage for people to challenge. Why did captain McCrea always mention life? It was because the environment odf the Axiom was too comfortable. Human nature was to head on the challenge, huh. "
" That's right. " Auto said. "But I can't understand it. "
"You can't understand it yet?" The mayor said with some surprise, "I thought you have understood."
" I don't know why you won't stay still when the conditions were good, instead going to take a risk." Auto said, "It doesn't make any sense. "
" It seems that you have not yet appreciated the true meaning of life, young man." Said the mayor, laughing.
"Maybe." Said the droid. But he didn't seem to be joking.
He suddenly wished he could have even a little expression. But he only had a face that looked like being welded tightly. He can only express his feelings by changing his intonation and doing a little body language. Yet every change was a huge challenge to him. It was not surprising, because it meant that there was huge data have to be accumulated previously to ensure that all changes were normal. And it was necessary to adjust the entire thinking architecture to thoroughly convince himself.
Beneath his cold exterior, a fiery soul began to thaw.
It was almost the midnight. The blurry chirping began to clear up. The chirping in the corn fields chased each other in the cornfield. The ground, which had completely cooled down, began to slowly pile up moisture, and it slowly drilled out of the crevices of the land and spread over the entire Earth Village. And the cool winds began to gradually and continuously blow from the distant dry land towards the sea.
"Listen, Auto." The mayor was intoxicated with the starry sky and the fresh botanical air with its intoxicating aroma. "Did you hear that?"
"Chirping?" Auto tried to speculate.
"Well." The mayor closed his eyes. "Do you know which kind of insect it is?"
"Cricket ." " Cricket." To Auto's surprise, they spoke at the same time.
"Not bad." "The old man said with a smile, " You know cricket. "
" Han told me. " Replied Auto. "He showed me one, too."
The old man continued to close his eyes. By this time the clouds had completely dispersed, and the light of the Milky Way had poured down its bright light, projecting the stars to the ground, which had just been wrapped in darkness. There seemed to be thousands of cricket agitating their stereos, playing the staggered and harmonious symphony of the night .
"This is life, Auto." The old man said, "This is life ... "
That's the end of translating the Chapter 6.
