I spun around and made a beeline straight for the blue man. My excitement bubbled up as I neared him and envisioned the stream of likes I’d get if I managed to snap a picture with him, right here, on my very own street!
我转过身来，径直奔那个蓝色的人。 当我靠近他时，我的兴奋涌上心头，想象着如果我设法和他合影，就在这里，在我自己的街道上，我会得到一流的喜欢！
I felt confident in my greeting. We all had taken basic Cave Martian in school after the livestreams. “Greh-grah,” I asserted and waved as I walked past, expecting a friendly hello and wave back, which would allow me to get closer and take the perfect shot. He shrugged his shoulders and glared at me before continuing, more quickly than before. A few feet down the road another person forced the same greeting on him. I wondered in confusion at his coldness. I had just wanted to say hello. It then struck me like the spark of a well-worn carpet rubbed by woollen socks. He’s the one! The one we all watched as a kid. The martian with the robot dog.
我对自己的问候感到自信。 直播结束后，我们都在学校学习了基本的洞穴火星人。 “Greh-grah，”当我走过时，我断言并挥了挥手，期待一个友好的问候和挥手，这将使我能够靠近并拍出完美的镜头。 他耸了耸肩，瞪了我一眼，然后继续，比以前更快。 在路上几英尺的地方，另一个人强行向他致意。 我困惑地想知道他的冷漠。 我只是想打个招呼。 然后，它像被羊毛袜擦过的破地毯的火花一样击中了我。 他就是那个！ 我们小时候都看过的那个。 火星人和机器人狗。
Or perhaps he wasn’t? I suddenly doubted myself. They all kind of looked the same anyhow.
或者也许他不是？ 我突然怀疑自己。 无论如何，他们看起来都差不多。
“If another person says hello to me I think I’m going to…I don’t know”, he said resignedly to himself knowing that whatever he did would be perceived as odd. His blue skin and tall antennae ensured that he was the centre of attention wherever he went. There were a few more of his kind in the region, but they were a very slim percentage of the population. The customs of this planet felt so strange to him, but at least they ate more than dirt, although some of the packaged stuff tasted worse. He didn’t know what to make of this world. Life here often irritated him and sometimes he missed the silence of his cave.
“如果另一个人跟我打招呼，我想我会……我不知道，”他认命地对自己说，他知道无论他做什么都会被认为是奇怪的。 他的蓝皮肤和高大的触角确保了他无论走到哪里都是人们关注的焦点。 该地区还有几个同类人，但他们只占人口的比例很小。 这个星球的习俗对他来说太奇怪了，但至少他们吃的比泥土还多，尽管一些包装的东西味道更糟。 他不知道该如何了解这个世界。 这里的生活经常惹恼他，有时他错过了洞穴的寂静。
Greetings, in particular, pissed him off. On his planet greetings were reserved for those you knew well, which were usually less people than you could count on one foot. They weren’t thrown about carelessly like dirt at a Martian birthing. He felt like every time they saw his alien face and uttered a few mangled syllables in his language that they weren’t satisfied until he gifted them by displaying his teeth.
尤其是问候，让他很生气。 在他的星球上，问候是为你熟悉的人保留的，他们通常比你一只脚就能数的人少。 他们没有像火星分娩时的泥土一样漫不经心地被扔来扔去。 他觉得，每次他们看到他的外星人脸，用他的语言说出几个乱糟糟的音节时，他们并不满意，直到他露出牙齿给他们礼物。
“They’re just trying to be hospitable,” his colleague had told him when he was in one of the rages where he started searching for tickets back to his home planet. She was a local, but one that had been to Mars and respected his customs enough to leave him in peace. She knew his kind were just like her kind, just creatures out in the universe trying to survive. But she also agreed that the absolute worst was when they recognised him.
“他们只是想好客，”他的同事告诉他，当时他正处于愤怒之中，开始寻找返回家乡星球的门票。 她是本地人，但她去過火星，尊重他的習俗，足以讓他安然離開。 她知道他的同类就像她的同类一样，只是宇宙中试图生存的生物。 但她也同意，最糟糕的是他们认出他的时候。
“It’s the boy from the cave!”, they would shout and take selfies with him without even asking.
“是洞穴里的男孩！”，他们会大喊大叫，不问青红皂白地和他自拍。
The bright lights burned his eyes terribly. “You and your dog were so cute”, a few would say before another inevitably muttered snidely, “But you know that dog belonged to NASA, it was never his to begin with”. They would all disperse after a few minutes, leaving him feeling sore and abused, like when one of his cavities had to be swabbed for an interplanetary health assessment.
明亮的灯光灼伤了他的眼睛。 “你和你的狗太可爱了，”在另一个人不可避免地冷嘲热讽地喃喃自语之前，有些人会说，“但你知道那只狗属于美国宇航局，它一开始就不是他的。” 几分钟后，它们都会散开，让他感到疼痛和受虐待，就像他的一个腔必须进行拭子进行星际健康评估一样。
25 Years Earlier
25年前
A small dog-like robot tunnelled down through the ceiling of a Martian cave and landed abruptly at the feet of a young boy. The small Martian child held up the strange creature and declared that it was the best present he’d ever gotten! If his parents had been there they would have agreed, not wanting to admit that the small mud pies they made him, on the very rare occasions that they saw him, were all that the boy should expect.
一个像狗一样的小机器人穿过火星洞穴的天花板，突然落在一个小男孩的脚下。 火星上的小孩子举起这个奇怪的生物，并宣称这是他收到过的最好的礼物！ 如果他的父母在那里，他们会同意的，不想承认，在极少数情况下，他们见到他时，他们给他做的小泥馅饼是男孩应该期待的全部。
The boy tied the small drone robot on a long string that he’d previously used as a necklace. He had begun to walk it around the cave system he lived alone in, with the occasional company of his grandfather. The two of them were shrunken, hungry and blue with giant shining eyes that were adapted to seeing in the dark. Their heads did not have hair, but rather two arm-length antennae that sensed the vibrations alerted them to cave ins. They were also not a lovely colour of blue, like that of the ocean, but rather more like the colour a human becomes when it’s been deprived of oxygen.
这个男孩把小型无人机机器人绑在他以前用作项链的长绳上。 他开始在他独自居住的洞穴系统周围散步，偶尔会有祖父的陪伴。 他们俩萎缩了，饥渴又蓝，眼睛里闪烁着巨大的光芒，适应在黑暗中的视觉。 他们的头上没有头发，而是两个手臂长度的触角，可以感知到振动，提醒他们崩溃。 它们也不是像海洋那样可爱的蓝色，而是更像人类被剥夺氧气时变成的颜色。
A coalition of Earthling scientists and programmers had watched in shock as the small boy wandered about dragging the hundred-million-dollar drone, that had taken 6 years and 48 iterations to get right, around in the dirt.
一个由地球人科学家和程序员组成的联盟震惊地看着这个小男孩拖着耗资数亿美元的无人机在泥土中徘徊，这架无人机花了6年和48次迭代才弄好。
They considered reaching out to the boy, speaking to him through the robot, but instead they brought in a famous dog whisperer and asked him to help program the robot to befriend the boy.
他们考虑向男孩伸出援手，通过机器人与他交谈，但他们却带来了一个著名的狗窃窃私语者，并请他帮助机器人编程，与男孩交朋友。
There was not much that the scientists of Earth agreed upon, but suspicion of new civilisations was one, so they decided at first that gathering intel was their best bet in this situation. So, they monitored all of the livestreams from the robot’s video cameras, until at some point the livestreams leaked and they decided to broadcast them publicly. It was after all a momentous discovery, life in the universe, but it was also a fantastic way to increase their funding.
地球科学家们同意的不多，但对新文明的怀疑是其中之一，所以他们最初决定在这种情况下收集情报是他们最好的选择。 因此，他们监控了机器人摄像机的所有直播，直到直播泄露到某个时候，他们决定公开播放。 毕竟，这是一个重大的发现，宇宙中的生命，但它也是增加他们资金的绝妙方式。
They broadcast livestreams where people could watch the boy and his robot dog at all hours. And in these livestreams, the population of Earth soon learned that Mars was a society far poorer than theirs.
他们播放直播，人们可以一直看着这个男孩和他的机器人狗。 在这些直播中，地球人口很快了解到火星是一个比他们贫穷得多的社会。
The boy’s home was a pitch black cave system that was constantly falling in around him. It reminded people of bugs they found when they dug in the earth with their bare hands or overturned a rock.
这个男孩的家是一个漆黑的洞穴系统，不断地在他周围倒下。 它让人们想起了他们在赤手空拳挖土或翻倒岩石时发现的虫子。
The boy looked remarkably human and as the whole world watched his escapades they soon discovered that Martian children were quite similar to human children. Naughty, sweet, endearing, secretive, playful, although a bit more lethargic due to the fact that they slept 15 or so hours a day and seemed to only eat dirt.
这个男孩看起来非常人性化，当全世界都在观看他的逃亡时，他们很快发现火星儿童与人类儿童非常相似。 淘气、可爱、可爱、隐秘、俏皮，尽管有点昏昏欲睡，因为他们每天睡15个小时左右，似乎只吃泥土。
The boy slept at the entrance of the cave, as he was taught to do in case of a cave in, with one antenna resting on the floor and the other on the wall. He curled his body around his robot dog. The boy would often cry out in his sleep, grasping at the air and the robot dog would nuzzle in and calm him. The boy’s arm would curl securely around the tiny metallic creature, finding comfort in the sharp edges poking into his small twig like arms.
男孩睡在洞穴的入口处，就像他被教导的那样，一个天线放在地板上，另一个放在墙上。 他蜷缩着身体围着他的机器人狗。 这个男孩经常在睡梦中尖叫，抓住空气，机器人狗会吻进来，让他平静下来。 男孩的手臂会牢牢地蜷缩在小小的金属生物上，在刺入他树枝般的小手臂的锋利边缘中寻找安慰。
Everyone’s favourite part of the livestream was when the boy played tricks on his grandfather, who didn’t quite seem to remember that the robot dog was there.
直播中每個人都最喜歡的部分是男孩捉弄他的祖父，他似乎不太記得那只機器人狗在那裡。
During the day the old man walked around in circles muttering and grunting to himself, turning up at regular intervals to offer dirt to the boy. At the time, viewers thought it was just an odd Martian behaviour; later they’d learn that the old man had a form of dementia similar to that found on Earth.
白天，老人围着圈子走来走去，喃喃自语，咕哝着，定期地来给男孩提供污垢。 当时，观众认为这只是一种奇怪的火星行为；后来他们了解到，这位老人患有类似于地球上发现的痴呆症。
The boy, who never had other children to play with, enjoyed playing with the old man’s only possession, a long cane that he leaned on as he teetered in circles. The boy would throw it down a well or hide it in a tunnel for the robot dog to retrieve, which the dog, as he was programmed, did very quickly, always laying it at the feet of the grandfather as the boy had gestured. The grandfather was usually so surprised by the reappearance of his stick and a small robot dog he’d fall over laughing. The boy erupted in giggles at the sight and went immediately to work planning an even more difficult place to hide the walking stick.
这个男孩从来没有其他孩子可以一起玩，他喜欢玩老人唯一的财产，一条长长的手杖，他绕着圈摇摇晃晃地靠着。 男孩会把它扔进井里或藏在隧道里，让机器人狗取回，狗按照编程，非常迅速地这样做，总是像男孩的手势那样把它放在祖父的脚下。 祖父通常对他的棍子和一只小机器人狗的再次出现感到非常惊讶，以至于他笑得前仰后合。 看到這一幕，男孩咯咯地笑了起來，立即去工作，计划一个更难藏拐杖的地方。
Back on Earth, the suits of NASA debated.
回到地球，美国宇航局的西装展开了辩论。
Most of the non-suit type people on Earth agreed that the boy needed this dog. That his life was terribly sad and that ethically, NASA should donate the dog to him, while they worked out a way to bring him to Earth for a proper upbringing.
地球上大多数非西装型的人都同意这个男孩需要这只狗。 他的生活非常悲惨，从道德上讲，美国宇航局应该把狗捐给他，同时他们想办法把他带到地球好好养大。
“We can’t let him keep that robot! We’re not a charity. We need the data this dog, I mean robot, has gathered from the caves. We need to learn what the atmosphere is like down there. The robot can even gather skin samples from the Martians!”, one suit argued passionately.
“我们不能让他保留那个机器人！ 我们不是慈善机构。 我们需要这只狗，我是说机器人，从洞穴中收集到的数据。 我们需要了解那里的气氛。 机器人甚至可以从火星人那里收集皮肤样本！”，一个西装热情地争论道。
“And anyhow, we shouldn’t be interfering. As scientists we need to gather data without influencing environmental factors like this”, the head suit of NASA said with finality.
「無論如何，我們不應該干涉。 作为科学家，我们需要在不影响这种环境因素的情况下收集数据，”美国宇航局的首席诉讼最后说。
A military suit chimed in, “We sure as hell can’t go about giving our most sensitive technology to alien civilisations. Can you imagine if they figured out what they’ve got their hands on!”
一件軍裝插了進來，「我們肯定不能把最敏感的技術提供給外星文明。 你能想象他们是否弄清楚了他们掌握了什么吗！”
The many suits looked around at one another and nodded in agreement. In the name of science, peace and progress, they’d take the robot dog away from that boy.
许多西装互相环顾四周，点头表示同意。 以科学、和平与进步的名义，他们会把机器人狗从那个男孩身边带走。
The day the robot’s programming updated to the program, Escape To The Surface, the boy had been planning his most elaborate adventure yet.
机器人的编程更新到程序“Escape To The Surface”的那天，这个男孩一直在计划他迄今为止最精心设计的冒险。
“Here boy,” he whistled to his little companion in his native tongue and ran his hand over it’s pokey skeleture, unaware that dogs usually felt soft and furry. The people on Earth loved to laugh about this; how the boy was like a child raising a snake and thinking it was a kitten.
“喂，孩子，”他用母语向他的小同伴吹口哨，用手划过它的骨架，不知道狗通常感觉柔软和毛茸茸的。 地球上的人喜欢嘲笑这个；这个男孩就像一个孩子在养蛇，并认为它是一只小猫。
“I’ve got gramp’s cane again”, he said conspiratorially to the dog. “I’m going to drop it into the darkest pit by the north corner. I bet you’ll fetch it in no time.”
“我又得到了奶奶的手杖，”他阴谋地对狗说。 “我要把它丢到北角最黑暗的坑里。 我打赌你会很及时拿到它。”
Usually it took the dog 20 minutes or so to retrieve the stick. The boy liked to listen with his ears and his antenna to the dog tunnelling deep into Mars. He watched in fascination as the dog’s square head transformed into a drill head that whirred around faster than anything he’d seen before, except perhaps the cave in that had taken his grandma from him.
通常狗需要20分钟左右才能拿回棍子。 这个男孩喜欢用耳朵和触角倾听狗深入火星的声音。 他着迷地看着狗的方形头变成了钻头，比他以前见过的任何东西都快，也许除了把他奶奶从他身边带走的洞穴。
He dropped the stick down and listened intently as it whooshed and then thudded a very long way below them. He imagined what was at the bottom, perhaps a cave more beautiful and with far tastier dirt than this one. He watched as the dog transformed, but this time instead of digging down with a quick jump and a scoot, the dog dug into the side of the wall, in deep and then up, up and above to where the boy couldn’t hear or sense him anymore.
他把棍子放下来，专心致志地听着它呼啸而过，然后在他们下面砰的一声。 他想象着底部是什么，也许是一个比这个更漂亮、更美味的洞穴。 他看着狗变身，但这次狗没有快速跳下去，而是钻进墙边，深入，然后向上，向上，直到男孩再也听不到或感觉到他。
He wasn’t aware that the dog’s programming had instructed him to implant the boy with a camera while he’d been sleeping. It was a move from the suits that was meant to placate the angry masses of a planet far away that wanted to watch the strange little boy grow up. They wanted to witness the day that the white-suit men would take him to the surface, after his long and desperate search for the dog that had been taken from him in the middle of his favourite game.
他不知道狗的编程指示他在男孩睡觉时植入相机。 西装的举动是为了安抚一个遥远的星球上愤怒的群众，这些群众想看着这个奇怪的小男孩长大。 他们想见证白衣人将他带到水面的那一天，在他漫长而绝望地寻找在他最喜欢的比赛中从他身上被带走的狗之后。