經典科幻文學:《生命 宇宙及一切》第32章3

And now there materiAlized in front of them something new. It was the dim hazy image of a couch a psychiatrist’s couch. The leather with which it was upholstered was shiny and sumptuous, but again, it was only a trick of the light.
The couch looked normal size for a psychiatrist’s couch about five or six feet long.
The computer looked normal size for a black space-borne computer satellite about a thousand miles across.
The illusion that the one was sitting on top of the other was the thing which made the eyes twist.
All right, said Trillian firmly. She stood up off the sofa. She felt that she was being asked to feel too comfortable and to accept too many illusions.
Very good, she said. Can you construct real things too? I mean solid objects?
Again there was a pause before the answer, as if the pulverized mind of Hactar had to collect its thoughts from the millions and millions of miles over which it was scattered.
Ah, he sighed. You are thinking of the spaceship.
Thoughts seemed to drift by them and through them, like waves through the ether.
Yes, he acknowledge, I can. But it takes enormous effort and time. All I can do in my… particle state, you see, is encourage and suggest. Encourage and suggest. And suggest…
The image of Hactar on the couch seemed to billow and waver, as if finding it hard to maintain itself.
It gathered new strength.
I can encourage and suggest, it said, tiny pieces of space debris the odd minute meteor, a few molecules here, a few hydrogen atoms there to move together. I encourage them together. I can tease them into shape, but it takes many aeons.
So, did you make, asked Trillian again, the model of the wrecked spacecraft?
Er… yes, murmured Hactar. I have made… a few things. I can move them about. I made the spacecraft. It seemed best to do.
Something then made Arthur pick up his hold-all from where he had left it on the sofa and grasp it tightly.
The mist of Hactar’s ancient shattered mind swirled about them as if uneasy dreams were moving through it.
I repented, you see, he murmured dolefully. I repented of sabotaging my own design for the Silastic Armorfiends. It was not my place to make such decisions. I was created to fulfill a function and I failed in it. I negated my own existence.
Hactar sighed, and they waited in silence for him to continue his story.
You were right, he said at length. I deliberately nurtured the planet of Krikkit till they would arrive at the same state of mind as the Silastic Armorfiends, and require of me the design of the bomb I failed to make the first time. I wrapped myself around the planet and coddled it. Under the influence of events I was able to generate, they learned to hate like maniacs. I had to make them live in the sky. On the ground my influences were too weak.
Without me, of course, when they were locked away from me in the envelope of Slo-Time, their responses became very confused and they were unable to manage.
Ah well, ah well, he added, I was only trying to fulfill my function.
And very gradually, very, very slowly, the images in the cloud began to fade, gently to melt away.
And then, suddenly, they stopped fading.

於是，他們面前的東西又換了。出現了一張模糊不清的長椅——用於精神治療的長椅。長椅上包着光鮮華麗的皮革。不過，依然只是光線魔術。與之配套的，四周換成了鑲木的牆壁。
長椅是正常的精神治療長椅大小——大約五到六尺長。
電腦是正常的黑色太空媒介電腦的大小——大約幾千里長。
後者坐在前者的上面，所以令人腦袋發暈。
“好吧。”崔莉安乾脆地說。她站了起來。她覺得自己舒適得過分了，看的魔術也夠多了。
“很好，”她說，“你能製造真實的東西嗎？真實存在的東西？”
對方沉默片刻。黑克特似乎要從它那已成薤粉的、綿延成千上萬裏的大腦裏，搜尋一下思路。
“啊。”他嘆道，“你是指那艘飛船。”
他倆似乎感覺到思維在身邊穿梭，如同以太波一般。
“是的，”他承認了，“我能。但需要大量時間和精力。你瞧，作爲粒子態，我所能做的，就是建議和鼓動。鼓動，建議，建議，鼓動……”
坐在長椅上的黑克特開始波動起伏，彷彿難以自持一般。
它又有了一點力氣了。
“我可以鼓動、建議，”它說，“鼓動一些太空殘渣、流星碎片、微細分子、氫原子……讓它們聚在一起。我鼓動它們到一起。我說服他們成形。但這要花上億萬年之久。”
“那麼，那個飛船模型，”崔莉安又問道，“是你做的嗎？”
“嗯，是的，”黑克特囁嚅道，“我是……做了點東西。我可以移動它們。飛船是我做的。這是最好的辦法了。”
阿瑟不自覺地抓住了他的包，緊緊地抓着。
黑克特那來自遠古的智能之霧，縈繞在他們身邊，打着旋兒，像是在做噩夢一般。
“你們瞧，我很後悔……，”他悲傷地喃喃道，“我後悔擅自破壞撕拉鎧甲魔的東西。做那樣的事決非我份內之事。我生來就是爲了完成任務，可我失敗了。我否定了自己的存在啊。”
黑克特長嘆一聲。兩人沉默着，等它繼續講述。
“你是對的。”良久，它開口道，“我故意培育了版求星，讓那些人達到與撕拉鎧甲魔一樣的心理狀態。這樣，我就能再爲它們做一次炸彈。我用自己的身體包着他們，照料他們。經過我的一系列設計，他們終於能像瘋子一樣暴躁了。我又讓他們住到天上去。在地上的話，我的影響會弱一些。
“當然，沒有我的時候，也就是鎖在緩時封皮的時候，他們就變得很迷茫，不知該怎麼辦了。
“啊，是啊……”他說，“我只是爲了完成任務。”
慢慢地，慢慢地，黑克特的影象開始淡化，開始消退。
突然，它又停止了消退。