时不我留 Out of Time

作者：Michael Yichao

追击

PURSUIT

双管能量光束枪在我头顶爆炸，火花倾泻而下。我在路上继续全力奔跑。在我身后，时空执法官的脚步声在两边墙壁的狭缝间回响。快速。永不停息。我咬紧了牙关。我虽不想承认，但这家伙肯定比我快……

Twin energy blasts explode above me, sparks cascading down. I sprint further up the road. Behind me, the chrono-enforcer’s footsteps echo off the narrow walls. Fast. Relentless. Hate to admit it, but this guy’s definitely faster than me…

幸好我还留了后手。

Good thing I have a few tricks up my sleeves.

来到岔路口，我佯装往右拐，跑进巷子两步立刻向后跃迁，闪烁一小段距离并穿过了刚才的路口，向反方向奔跑。经典的声东击西——我在许多次逃跑的过程中不断完善的动作，谢谢他们全家。给战斗服加装扭曲空间组件实现短距离空间折叠实在是太太太太合手了。

At a crossway, I feint right, running two steps down the alley before I shift back, blinking the short distance across the road and sprinting the opposite direction. Classic fake out—a maneuver I’ve perfected over many a chase, thankyouverymuch. Having a Pulsefire suit that bends space over short distances comes in pret-ty handy.

可惜被这家伙看穿了。不应该啊。

Too bad this guy saw it coming. Somehow.

他一个瞬步来到我面前，双枪齐发。这是经过时轴强化才能做出的动作。没别的可能。我举起了双臂——永远都要护住脸。第一发能量弹擦过我的手炮，但第二发正好打在我的前胸，我踉跄着后退，倒在地上，好重。在我耳边，警报声急促聒噪。我盲射一发，但他滑步躲开，好轻松。两把枪现在都对准了我。枪口几乎擦着我的鼻子，他离我好近。我举起双手，吹开眼前一缕凌乱的金发（说来可笑，时间旅行太忙，没时间打理）。我尽量拖延时间，战斗服正在尝试修复武器系统。

In a blink, he’s in front of me, both guns blasting. Chrono-enhanced movement. Has to be. I throw my arms up—always protect the face—and the first blast glances off my arm cannon, but the second strikes me square in the chest, sending me reeling. I stumble and fall, hard. In my ear, I can hear alarms blare. I fire a wild shot, but he dashes out of the way, easy. Guns trained on me now. Almost tickling my nose, he’s so close. I put my hands up and blow a stray strand of shaggy blond hair out of my eyes (funny how time traveling leaves little time for haircuts), trying to buy time as the suit attempts to bring my weapon systems to bear.

执法官透过目镜对我怒目而视。“这回你再也不能跑掉了。”他说道。我哀怨一声。看来他遇到过未来的我——所以他才看破了我的标志性动作。

The enforcer glares down through his visor. “You’re not getting away again,” he says. I groan. So he’s encountered future-me already—which explains why he knew my signature move.

提醒自己：想出别的标志性动作。

Note to self: think of more signature moves.

“时间到了，伊泽瑞尔。你制造的异常节点已经够你偿还一辈子了。”

“Time’s up, Ezreal. You’ve created enough anomalies for a lifetime.”

我嗤笑道，“你是认真的吗？你可是纵横时空的铭记者执法官啊，就不会说更狠的话了吗？”

I scoff. “Are you serious? You’re a time-traveling enforcer of the Remembrancers, and that’s the best pun you got?”

没想到，他的眉头还能皱得更深。

Somehow, his frown gets even frownier.

“你知道，你还将捉拿更多时间逃犯和恶人，你还有漫长的职业生涯去谋划，可你出场的第一句话却是……‘时间到了’？”

“You know you’re gonna be apprehending a bunch of time fugitives and criminals, you have your whole career to prepare, and you lead with… ‘time’s up’?”

他愁眉散开，怒目圆睁，他向前压得太近，我甚至能感受到枪管的余热。“你这一次再靠花言巧语是别想脱身了，乳臭未干——”

His frown breaks into a scowl, and he leans in so close, I can feel the heat from the barrel of his guns. “You’re not talking your way out of this one, you snot-nosed punk—”

“奥术跃迁充能完毕。”来了！珠儿的声音如此悦耳，我可没空等这位严肃脸老先生想出更好的说辞，立刻闪烁到他身后。

“Arcane shift recharged.” Finally! Pearl’s voice pings in my ear, and I don’t wait for Mister Bad Puns to finish his thought as I blink behind him.

或者说，本来应该是闪烁到他身后。

Or at least, I should’ve blinked behind him.

一切都被白光覆盖，这是正常现象——但我的胸前正中的战斗服核心冒出火星发出嘶嘶声，正是执法官刚刚走了运恰好命中的地方。一阵颤动，我又落回了起点的位置。

Everything flashes to white, as always—but the core of my suit sparks and sizzles from the center of my chest, where the enforcer’s lucky shot caught me. With a jolt I land exactly where I started.

啊哦。

Uh oh.

咔嚓！不等我反应过来，我就听到了自己鼻子折断的声音。我眼冒金星——别打脸！这样不好！我听到他耍枪的嗖嗖声。……这样超级不好。

Crack! I hear my nose break before I feel it. My vision starbursts—Not the face! Not cool! I hear the whirring of his weaponry. …Super not cool.

该用上新的标志性动作了。

Time for one of those new signature moves.

我把手炮过载，射出一道巨大的能量波。执法官立刻躲开（不开玩笑，这家伙到底有多快？！），但能量波撕开了马路和墙壁和霓虹灯希望没误伤路人，碎石和废渣向各个方向崩散。

I overload my cannon and fire off a massive wave of energy. The enforcer dodges out of the way (seriously, how fast is this guy?!), but the wave tears through the road and walls and neon signs and hopefully no innocent passersby, blowing rubble and shrapnel in all directions.

我已经很久没有落到过如此棘手的境地了，让我想起自己笨手笨脚的小时候。但我从那时起就学会了什么时候要来硬的，什么时候要找退路。

I haven’t been in a jam this bad since I was a dumb kid. But I’ve learned since then when to shoot your way out, and when to just make an exit.

“帮我逃出去，珠儿。”我一边说，一边手脚并用快速逃开。“能量还够跳跃的吗？”有水滴在我嘴唇上。我顾不上摘手套，直接抹了把脸。肯定是在流血。肯定是鼻子断了。好棒。

“Get me out of here, Pearl,” I say, scrambling away as fast as I can. “We got juice to jump?” Something wet drips over my lips, and I run a gloved hand across my face. Definitely bleeding. Definitely a broken nose. Lovely.

“时轴跳跃不稳定，”珠儿的声音永远都那么冷静。“核心受损。”

“Chrono-jump unstable,” Pearl’s eternally calm voice says. “Pulsefire core damaged.”

“既然没说不能，那我就当是能咯！”我一巴掌拍在手炮上，扭动开关。熟悉的震动开始轰鸣，时轴跳跃驱动器激活了。我的手指凭肌肉记忆输入了一个坐标，但我拦住了自己。不行。不能总是找他给我解决所有问题。而且现在也不想看到他那张自鸣得意的脸……

“It’s not a no, so I’ll take it as a yes!” I slam my hand into my arm cannon and twist. The familiar rumble of the Chrono-jump Drive revs through it. My fingers on reflex start inputting a destination, but I stop myself. No. Can’t keep running back to him to fix all my problems. Also can’t bear the thought of seeing his smug face right now…

一声怒嚎。我回过头。执法者爬出碎石和尘土，双枪喷火，一轮能量弹幕正向我袭来。

A furious yell. I peek over my shoulder. The enforcer climbs out of the rubble and dust, guns blazing, a constant barrage of energy shots arcing my way.

得，我肯定是在初次见他的时候彻底把他惹毛了。未来的初次见面。未来的我与过去的他初次见面。

Man, I must have seriously pissed him off when I met him. Will meet him. Will have met him meeting me.

……时间旅行解释起来真是够绕的。

…Time travel’s confusing.

但能量光束可不会和你废话太多。我把自己的目的坐标交给了命运（其实是珠儿）决定，向面前开火，打开了一道传送门。但我看到的并不是清晰的景象，模糊的表面只有蓝白相间的静电弧光。

Energy blasts are straightforward, though. I let fate (well, Pearl) decide where I’m headed, firing the portal in front of me. But instead of a clear view of a destination, an opaque blue-white static crackles across the surface.

没时间犹豫了。我一头扎进未知——任何未知都好过已知的死透了的伊泽瑞尔。

No time to hesitate. I dive head first into the unknown. Better anywhere else than a smoking pile of Deadzreal.

穿过门扉的同时，我感觉到胸前的核心发出异样的抖动，然后熄火。里面发出一道能量的电弧，我只能自由落体到不知道哪个时间流里。

I feel the core on my chest shudder and lurch as I pass through the threshold. An arc of electricity surges out from it, and I plummet into whatever timestream awaits.

嗯。这下出问题了。

Yeah. This is gonna be a problem.

斗盾

AEGIS

他没有注意到我。只是还没有。

He hasn’t noticed me. Yet.

通常来说，潜行并非我的强项。我更像是那种先开枪再说，绝不提问的人。但考虑我的核心的状态……好吧，非常时期得用非常手段。

Stealth isn’t usually my strong suit. I’m much more of a shoot-first, ask-questions-never kind of guy. But considering the current state of my Pulsefire core… well, unusual times call for unusual tactics.

他就……在那儿站着。盾牌放在一旁。长枪插在地上。坚定。深沉。无——聊。

He’s just… standing there. Shield at his side. Spear stuck in the nearby ground. Staunch. Reflective. Booooring.

刚刚我掉进了某个非常不愉快的次元（吸血的大蚊子不应该那么大），珠儿设法从我损坏的核心中勉强调用了足够的能量，贴上了距离最近（相对最近）的脉冲焰信号所在的时轴标记。对我来说是好消息——对我目的坐标的执法官可是坏消息。因为我是冲着那位的的核心去的。

After dropping into an incredibly unpleasant dimension (blood-sucking gnats should never be that big), Pearl managed to pull enough power out of my damaged core to latch on to a chrono-signature of a nearby (well, relativity-speaking nearby) Pulsefire signal. Good news for me—bad news for the enforcer I’m about to jump for their Pulsefire core.

既然能偷——不对，是能借来新的，为什么要费力修好旧的呢？

Why fix something when you can steal—er, borrow—a new one?

如同是命运的安排，我认识这个执法官。潘森。一个大呆子。火药桶。一点就着。可能有着什么凄惨的过去，无聊无聊无聊。

As fate would have it, I knew this enforcer. Pantheon. A real lunk of a man. Grouchy type: chip on his shoulder, probably a real tragic backstory, blah blah blah.

现在，他就杵在某个我不认识的乱石废墟里。老实讲，这个次元我都不认识——看起来就是一个大垃圾堆。崩塌的建筑。枯黄的植物。到处都是机械战与化学战的迹象。好没劲。

Currently, he’s standing in the rubble of some building I don’t recognize. To be honest, this whole dimension is one I don’t recognize—it looks like a real dump. Crumbling structures. Decimated vegetation. Evidence of mechanical and chemical conflict everywhere. Major bummer.

我跃迁上前，刚好来到他背后，手炮紧贴住他的后脑。“不许动。”我挤出了最狠毒的低沉声调。

I shift in, nice and snug right behind him, arm cannon pressed lightly against the back of his head. “Don’t move,” I growl in my most threatening voice.

他一动不动。我站在他背后的有利位置，只听见他目镜发出轻微的机械转动声，但很难看到正面，估计他在猜我是谁。

He freezes. From my vantage point behind him, I can barely see his visor chirp and whir, likely trying to figure out who I am.

“伊泽瑞尔。”他低吼一声。

“Ezreal,” he rumbles.

“怎么样啊，老潘？”我笑了，然后突然想起来我应该装的是蛮不讲理的样子。

“How’s it goin’, Panth?” I say, grinning, before I remember that I’m supposed to be doing the angry growly thing.

“我就在此，一直搜索着你的踪迹，而你却自己来了。”他平静的语调里藏着紧绷的弦。他的头皮略微动了一下，一定是他在愤怒地咬牙。虽然嘴上谈笑风生，但他肯定知道只要我哪怕打一个喷嚏，他俊朗硬气的脸庞就会化为飞灰。

“Here I was, spending all this time searching for you, and you just come to me.” His calm words are undercut by the tension in his voice, and the slight twitch in his scalp as he clenches his teeth in anger. Banter aside, he definitely knows I’m one sneeze away from obliterating his very chiseled, very handsome face.

“听我说，老潘，我知道我们上次见面的时候就已经演过这么一出了，”我边说着边俯下身子，“但现在的情况是，我真的没时间跟你，还有这片废土耗下去——”

“Listen, Panth, I know we had this whole thing going last time we met,” I say, leaning in. “But, thing is, I really don’t have time for you or for this wasteland today—”

“这里会变成废土，是因为你。”他的语气让我心里一惊。平铺直叙，不容置疑。他说的是实话。

“You are responsible for this wasteland.” The way he says it stops me cold. Flat, undeniable, matter of fact.

“呃，我看未必。”我知道他在拖时间，我也知道我不该逞口舌之快。而且我已经跟刚才遇到的那个执法官耍过嘴了。

“Uhh, I don’t think so.” I know he’s stalling. I know I shouldn’t engage. I literally just did this to the last enforcer I talked to.

可我忍不住。

I can’t help myself.

“大多数打破次元的恶作剧，我自己都有印象的，谢谢。”

“I generally remember my dimension-shattering escapades, thank you very much.”

“多亏了你这样的鲁莽贼人，才有了这样的世界。”潘森的目光扫过面前的凋敝景象，我也忍不住随着望去。“粗心大意的跳跃引发悖论。悖论在时空中撕开了异常节点。然后……禁卫就来了。”

“Reckless renegades like you are responsible for all of this.” Pantheon’s gaze casts across the devastated landscape before us, and I can’t help but look as well. “Careless jumps instigating paradoxes. Paradoxes tearing anomalies in space-time. Then… the Praetorians come.”

我感到脊背发凉。禁卫……来这……

A chill runs down my spine. Praetorians… here…

潘森站了起来，我也举高手炮以示警告，武器的运行噪音愈发高亢。他眼都没眨一下。“这里曾是我的家。然后他们夺走了我的一切。”

Pantheon moves to stand, and I raise my arm cannon in warning, the weapon humming into high gear. He doesn’t bat an eye. “This used to be my home. Then they took everything from me.”

好吧，我的确爱冒险。有的时候是很大风险。但我从来都不粗心。当然我也不敢说自己从没制造过一两个异常节点……

Sure, I take risks. Sometimes big ones. I’m never careless. But I can’t say I haven’t caused a paradox or two before…

“潘森。”我开口说话的同时，手炮放下了一瞬间。

“Pantheon,” I say, dropping my arm cannon by a fraction.

重大失误。

Big mistake.

潘森跳向我，他的盾牌生成能量屏障吃下了我的炮火——我只慢了几毫秒。他撞到我身上，我感觉鼻梁又断了，头晕目眩。他伸出左手，召唤他的长枪。我恢复意识，勉强跃迁躲开了他的戳刺。

Pantheon leaps at me, an energy barrier blossoming from his shield as my shot fires, a fraction of a second too late. He smashes into me, and I feel my nose break a second time, leaving me dazed. His left hand reaches out, calling his spear to him. I barely regain my senses in time to shift out of the way of his piercing jab.

“你将在铭记者面前认罪受罚！”他吼道。

“You will answer for your crimes before the Remembrancers!” he roars.

完了。出岔子了，大岔子。我可不想以现在的状态和他交手。潘森掷出长枪，我将战斗服发挥到极限，跃迁到尽量远的高坡顶端。

Welp. This went sideways, fast. Not a fight I want to pick in my current state. Pantheon throws his spear, and I push my suit to the limit, shifting as far away as I can manage up a hillside.

我调整手炮，准备进行时轴跳跃。我的战斗服发出异常的抖动，珠儿正在努力从受损的核心中调取能量。“跳跃稳定性严重受损，安全协议建议——”

I rev up my arm cannon for a chrono-jump, and my entire suit shudders as Pearl tries to coax power through the damaged core. “Jump stability is severely compromised, safety protocols recommend—”

潘森的长枪向我飞来，我险些没躲过去。长枪扎进我身后的一座巨大石像的残骸中，将石块打成尘埃。

Pantheon’s spear flies at me, and I barely duck in time. It crashes into the remnants of a large stone statue behind me, shattering it into dust.

“珠儿！覆写安全协议！快！”我没有等待确认，直接端起手炮开火。穿过传送门的瞬间，我彻底松了口气——随后是突如其来的疼痛。这是次元之间奔涌无常的以太介质在撕扯我的身体。我向上坠落，向着未知的命运自由落体……

“Pearl! Override safeties! Now!” I don’t wait for confirmation before I aim my arm cannon and fire, relief flooding through me as I cross the portal’s threshold—cut short by a shock of pain as the untamed aether between dimensions lashes at me. I fall up, plummeting to an unknown fate…

心眼刀

RIPOSTE

我喘着气醒来。

I wake with a gasp.

全身都疼。就像我被扔到了洗衣机里甩干过了一样。

Everything hurts. Like I’ve been thrown in the wash and tumbled dry.

有人抱着我的头。一个女人的面孔映入眼帘。她表情严肃，带着苛责，但在这一瞬间，却因担忧而温和。

Someone is cradling my head. A woman’s face hovers into view. Severe and stern, but in the moment, softened with concern.

“谢天谢地，”她说，“我们还以为上次跳跃就失去你了。”

“Thank goodness,” she says. “We thought we lost you in zat last jump.”

“这里……”我想要坐起来，但我胸前的核心里冒出电弧，打得我整个左半边身子一阵痉挛，疼得直不起腰。

“Where…” I try to sit up, but an arc of electricity from the core on my chest spasms the muscles on my left side and I clench in pain.

“情况不妙，”那个女子说，“我们没多少时间了。他就在我们身后。还有禁卫大军……”她摇了摇头。“卢锡安和潘森先走了，凯特琳正在寻找制高点——”

“Zis is not good,” the woman says. “We don’t ’ave much time. He was right behind us. And ze Praetorian swarm… ” She shakes her head. “Lucian and Pantheon went on ahead, and Caitlyn is climbing for a good vantage point—”

我忍着痛爬了起来。她刚刚说的名字里我认识两个。作为刚刚从无意识中苏醒来到未知时空的我，这两个名字我一个都不想听到。

I push through the pain and scramble to my feet. I know two out of three names she just said, and neither were ones you wanted to hear from the lips of a stranger immediately upon regaining consciousness after tumbling through unknown time and space.

那个女子也站了起来，伸出双手，试图安抚我。

The woman also stands, holding her hands out, trying to calm me.

“我在什么时候？”我捂着胸前问道，“你是谁？”

“When am I?” I ask, clutching my chest. “Who are you?”

我仔细看了看她，更加疑惑了。她身侧配着时轴剑刃，毫无疑问是一名执法官。她战斗服上的核心更加精致，从形状来看，是未来的型号。她制服上的单片肩甲看上去很蠢。太蠢了。一看就是铭记者的人。

As I get a good look at her, my confusion mounts. She is, without a doubt, an enforcer. The chrono-blade at her side. That Pulsefire core on her suit—some sleeker, future model, from the shape of it. The dumb single pauldron on her uniform. So dumb. Very Remembrancers.

女子脸上掠过一丝困惑——然后她警觉地瞪圆了双眼。“你不是我们的伊泽瑞尔。”她说。

Confusion flits across the woman’s face—then her eyes widen in alarm. “You are not our Ezreal,” she says.

“请听好，女士，我不是任何人的伊泽瑞尔，我是伊泽瑞尔的伊泽瑞尔。”我环顾四周。我正身处在一个陌生的回廊中。转角平滑、整齐洁白，如同有生命的金属装饰着铬合金。有灯，蓝色，每隔一段距离就吊着一盏。感觉就像身处于战斗服的内部。

“Listen, lady, I’m nobody’s Ezreal but Ezreal’s Ezreal.” I look around me. I’m in a strange hallway of smooth, white, living metal, accented with chrome. Lamps, glowing blue, hang at regular intervals. It almost feels like we’re standing inside a Pulsefire suit.

一阵恐惧的战栗从头传到脚。不会吧。“这里……这里难道是……？”

A shiver of dread ripples down my spine. It couldn’t be. “This… Is this…?”

“铭记者的主堡。但你并不该出现在这里。我不知道你从什么时间来，但你必须离开，不然你就会来。呃，另外一个你。”女子的目光变得锐利。“你最好会来。如果你死了，我一定要杀了你。”

“Remembrancer’s Citadel. But you are not supposed to be here. I do not know when you’re from, but you must leave, before you arrive. Er, ze other you.” The woman’s eyes narrow. “You better still arrive. If you’re dead, I’m going to kill you.”

我摇了摇头。“我不知道这是哪儿，是什么时间，”我将手炮对准了她的胸膛。“……但我现在要拿走你的核心。”我拿出所有的狠劲威胁道。

I shake my head. “I have no idea what or when this is,” I point my arm cannon at her chest. “…but I’ll be taking your Pulsefire core now,” I say with all the threat I can muster.

就在当下，我的手炮一顿，冒出了火花。“武器系统功率百分之十。”珠儿在耳边对我说，声音出奇地大。

Right then, my arm cannon stutters and sparks. “Weapon systems at ten percent power,” Pearl says in my ear, exceptionally loudly.

从女子的表情看来，她肯定也听到了。

From the look on the woman’s face, I swear she heard it too.

“啊。你肯定是从过去来的。”女子捏了捏鼻梁，看上去很头疼。“我都忘了你有多烦人。”

“Ah. You’re definitely from ze past.” The woman pinches the bridge of her nose, as if staving off a headache. “I forgot ’ow insufferable you were.”

我摆出一副惹人怜爱的愁容。“我哪里烦人。我是万人迷啊。”

I frown adorably. “I’m not insufferable. I’m charming.”

她突然停住不动。眼睛微眯了一下，然后再向我径直走来。我后退一步，但她已经来到我跟前，一根手指戳到我胸口。

She stops dead in her tracks. Her eyes narrow, then she marches straight at me. I take a step back, but she’s already closed the distance and is jabbing a finger into my chest.

“这么说来，这就是你昨晚对我讲的故事，”她洞察一切似地看着我，“你说我已经救了你两次。还说我会在一切结束之前再救你一次。”

“So zis is why you told me that story last night.” She narrows her eyes at me. “About ’ow I had already saved your life twice. And ’ow I’d likely do it one more time before zis was all over.”

“听我说，我真的不知道你在说什么——”

“Listen, I sincerely do not know what you’re talking—”

她没有等我说完，一把抓住我的胸甲，一只手伸进我的领口。我哑然失声——但她触发了某种装置，我胸前的核心转了几圈打开了，展露出内部的机械结构。

She doesn’t wait for my response but grasps me by my chestpiece and reaches a hand down my collar. I yelp—but she’s triggered some mechanism in there, and the core on my chest spins and opens, revealing the machinations within.

好吧。她肯定是个老手了。

Okay. She’s definitely done this before.

还没等我拒绝，维修针和微处理工具已经从她的手套上伸出来，她已经开工了。

Before I can protest, diagnostic nodes and microtools emerge from her gloves as she sets to work.

“你……是要把它修好吗？”我难以置信地问。

“Are… are you fixing it?” I ask, incredulous.

“你可真是够蠢的。坏成这样。你是跟卢锡安打架了么？你跟卢锡安打架了。真不敢信他没杀了你。他可不会失手。”她甚至都不是在对我说话，只是在一边干活一边喃喃自语。我努力站稳——即使是我也知道，在时轴偏折能量核心被打开并彻底暴露的时候千万不要乱动。

“You were such an idiot. Goodness. Zis damage. Did you pick a fight with Lucian? You picked a fight with Lucian. Incredible he did not kill you. Always was a much better shot.” She isn’t even talking to me, but muttering half under her breath as she works. I try to stand still—even I know you don’t jostle when a chrono-bending energy core is open and exposed.

嘈杂声从回廊尽头传来，然后是一声不可能听错的爆能枪开火声。我皱起眉，扭过头去看，但那个女子用力拽住了我的战斗服。

A noise comes from down the hall, and the unmistakable sound of blaster fire follows. I frown, craning my neck to look, but the woman gives a sharp tug on my suit.

“停。别动。”她发出警告。

“Hold. Still,” she warns.

蓝色火花飞溅，一小股青烟腾起，然后她放开了我。核心扭转复位锁定。我低头看去。发出的光似乎比平时暗了，但已不再每隔几秒就射出电弧。

Blue sparks fly and a tiny smoke trail plumes, then she’s let me go and the core spins and locks back into place. I look down. The glow looks dimmer than usual, but it no longer arcs electricity every few seconds.

“修好了……”我惊讶地说。

“It works…,” I marvel.

“只能再跳跃一次就会彻底损坏。应该是。”她说，“快走！”

“For one more jump before it breaks completely. Maybe,” she says. “Now go!”

她转身离开，然后突然停住。一只手迅速伸进衣兜，然后冲我甩过来一样东西。我伸手接住。

She turns to leave, then stops short. A hand dashes into a pocket, and she flips something at me through the air. I catch it.

“当你见到我的时候，我不会对你手下留情，”她说，“务必把这个亮出来。不然，我真的会杀了你。”

“When you meet me, I will show you no mercy,” she says. “Make sure to show me zat. Otherwise, I will kill you.”

我看着手里，一枚硬币，上面刻着一个徽记——抽象的玫瑰花上刻着纤薄的剑刃。太多个问题闪过我的脑海。但叫喊声——随后是枪声，回荡在回廊尽头。

I gaze down and see a coin bearing an insignia—thin blade etched over a stylized rose. So many questions flash through my mind. But voices—followed by blaster fire—echo from further up the hall.

“第二枪了，”她喃喃地说，估计还是自言自语。“没时间等第三枪。两枪就够了。”

“That’s twice,” she mutters, largely to herself. “No time to figure out the third. Two will have to be enough.”

“这可没法让我放心离开！”我对她喊，但她已经跑了起来。她没有理睬我，转过拐角，消失了。

“That’s not very reassuring!” I call after her, but she is already running. She ignores me, turns the corner, and is gone.

我轻轻碰了碰胸前的核心。最后一次跳跃，呵。帮不上大忙。我能想到的只剩一人有可能帮到我。看来我到底还是要看那张自鸣得意的脸。

I tap the core on my chest. One last time jump, huh. There’s no helping it. Only one person left I can think of that might be able to help me. Looks like I’m gonna have to see his smug face after all.

我真是不想求他帮忙。现在不想，以后也不会想。

I really didn’t want to have to ask him for a favor. Again. Yet. Whichever.

我叹了口气。“珠儿，”我开口说道，“启动。”我举起手炮开火。又一次，传送门打开了。“是时候探望一下艾克了。”

I sigh. “Pearl,” I say, “boot her up.” I aim my arm cannon and fire, and once again, a portal opens. “Time to pay a visit to Ekko.”

时间卷曲

TIMEWINDER

你有没有遇到过和你很像，像到让你有点讨厌的人，因为也许对方会让你清楚地看到所有你讨厌自己的地方，哪怕只是一点点？

You ever meet someone who was just enough like you that it made you kinda hate them, because maaaybe it made you see clearly all the little things you hated about yourself, just a little?

不过对艾克来说，其实并不是这样。

Well, that’s not at all what’s happening here with Ekko.

是因为他的莫西干头。

It’s the mohawk.

“你不是说，‘永别’了嘛。”他甚至都不回头看我一眼。

“You said, ‘goodbye forever,’” he says, not looking back at me.

“我知道。”我说。

“I know,” I say.

“‘玩得很开心，但我们永远都不能再见面了，这恐怕也是最好的结果，考虑到种种情况来说。’”依然没回头。

“‘It’s been fun, but now we’ll never see each other again, which is probably for the best, given everything.’” Still not turning around.

我咬紧牙。“是，是我说的。”

I clench my teeth. “Yeah. I remember.”

“这才刚过去四秒钟。”他放下那个插满电线的立方体，终于转过身来，双臂交叉。真行，为了拿到那个玩意我们可是大费周章。

“It’s been four seconds.” He sets down the weird cube he’s fiddling with and finally turns around, his arms crossing. Man, the trouble we went through to get that thing.

“我可不是。都过了好几年了。”我能听到自己声音中的哀怨。可恨。“我只是……我需要到一个确定有你的地点和时间。”

“Not for me. It’s been ages for me.” I can hear how whiny I sound, and I hate it. “I just… I needed to find you in a where and when I knew for sure you’d be.”

“这么容易就示弱，”他开始了，我现在真想找东西把他那张得意洋洋的笑脸给铲平。“这次你又惹上什么麻烦了？”

“So much for your cool guy exit,” he says, and I want nothing more than to wipe the smirk off his face. “What kind of trouble you find yourself in this time?”

“没什么大不了，”我一边说，一边走下楼梯，对秘密小屋里的操作台和小零件戳戳捅捅。“我，呃，我遇到了一个执法官，出了点小事……”

“Oh, nothing major,” I say, walking down the steps and poking at the various panels and gadgets in his little hideout. “I, uh, I may have run into a little trouble with an enforcer…”

“我一点也不意外。”

“Nothing new so far.”

“我可能有点，呃，不小心……”

“And maybe might’ve gotten, uh, roughed up a bit…”

“别碰那个。”我的手指立刻停下，差点碰到一株悬在孤立时间场中的盆栽。我看到它从花朵缩成花蕾再缩成新芽，然后又正常衰老，沿着同一个时间线循环往复，居然让所有时间分支都发生坍缩却没有产生新的异常节点。时轴断裂，这是艾克起的名。我不得不自叹不如。我甚至从来没想过核心技术还有这样的应用方式——估计执法官也从来没想到过。真的是天才头脑。

“Don’t touch that.” My fingertips stop, hovering just above a potted plant suspended in an isolated temporal field. I watch as it shrinks from blossom to bud to new sprout, then age back again all within the same timeline, somehow collapsing all eventualities without generating new anomalies. Chronobreak, Ekko called it. I can’t help but shake my head. I didn’t even think Pulsefire tech could do that—and neither, probably, did the enforcers. It’s pure genius.

真可恨。

“我的核心烧了，我要换个新的。”刚刚的“真诚”似乎打动了那个执法官女士，或许也可以在艾克这试试。“你这有多余的吗？”

艾克哈哈大笑。我皱起眉。不是在笑我吧——我跟这个吐槽鬼混了这么久，还是听得出区别的——但依然听上去很刺耳。

“行，好，笑就笑吧。那你能修好吗？”

他走过来弯下腰，仔细看我的胸甲。“我——坏成这样？你在玩儿我吗？咋了，你这是贴着枪口挨了一枪吗？”

“……可能吧。”

他看看我，一时间哑口无言。“永远都要护住核心！”

“永远都要护住脸！”我反驳到。

“那看起来你也并没有护住呢，”他总是占上风。他戳了一下我（伤势严重）的鼻子，我痛苦地叫出来。

我缩了缩脖子。“那你能给我做个新的吗？”我开始绝望了……艾克摇摇头。“为什么不行？你的战斗服不就是自己拿零件拼的吗！”

他耸耸肩，“是啊，用来拼的‘零件’之一就是从执法官那顺来的水晶核心。跟你一样。”

不是吧。就连艾克也有他的极限吗。

那我……我没别的法子了。

我蹒跚着坐到一把椅子上，感觉浑身麻木。“我来到这里用掉了最后一次跳跃。”我双手扶额。“如果你修不好……那……就完了。我……从现在开始就住在这了。”

“住你个鬼啊。”艾克从桌上抓起他的面具和刚才那个立方体。“没想到你能说出这么恶毒的话。你别想留在我的时间流中。我帮你。”

我甚至无法直视他。“我还能有什么办法？”我问道。

“偷一个核心。”

我气馁地咂嘴。“试过了。没那么容易。”

我听到他在四处翻找。他把时轴断裂背包固定在后背的时候发出了卡扣的声音。“我们只需要找到一个真正的蠢货。一个毫无防备的小迷糊。”他说。

他走到我面前推了推我的肩膀。我抬起头。他已经整装待发。为了帮我。我知道他刚刚在外面闹完回来……他还没怎么休息呢。但他却对我露出那个可恨的傻笑，对我说，“走吧，小迷糊。”

我也想回以微笑——但我的脸僵住了。

噢。噢对。是的！我就是小迷糊！

“我可恨死你了。”我对他说着，把他用力抱紧。

“哎！停下！你撒手！”他大喊道。

他用力挣扎，但我依然不松手。“我来这有多久了？”

“大概一分钟吧。已经很久了。”他依然嘴上不饶人。

他用手推开我的脸，但我抓住他的手腕。“把我倒退到我来之前。”

他眨眨眼。“为什么——”

我对他莞尔一笑。“帮我换回最后一次时轴跳跃。然后我就真的永远离开你的椅子，永别，再也别见，那一套。”我用另一只手弄乱他的莫西干头，这次他抓住了我的手腕。

“别。摸。头发。”他的声音冰冷。

我抽回手。“艾克。拜托了。最后一次。最后倒退一次。就像上次那样。”

他轻蔑地答道，“上次就是最后一次。你也知道——时轴断裂的设计荷载是一个人。”

我深呼吸一次。“我知道。而且……总有一天……我会报答你的。为了所有的最后一次。”

“你说过我们永远都不会再见的。”他叹了口气。

我对他挤了挤眼。“永远之后，再过四秒。”

艾克翻了个白眼，手伸到背后。“你太折磨人了。”他说着，启动了他的时轴断裂装置。

“谢了，艾克。”我最后微笑着说，“欠你一次。”

“已经四次了，”他纠正我，拉开绳索的同时把我拉到身边。我们周围的世界慢了下来，停了下来——然后加速倒流。

我爱死这个家伙了。

跃动

倾盆大雨。街头，微弱的灯火努力刺破黑暗，在雨中映出光晕。我几乎只能看清眼前（依然伤势严重）的鼻子。我体内的每个粒子都在剧痛。雷声滚滚，震得我耳鸣。我感觉糟透了。但无关紧要。

我对这个时刻和这个地方了如指掌，几乎可以闭着眼睛走一遍。

前方，两扇门被冲破，一个冒冒失失的男孩从类似店铺的一间屋子里磕绊着走出来。他双肩背着一个大包，面孔被厚实的斗篷罩帽遮住。他看看身后，浪费了珍贵的几秒钟，然后飞奔着转过街角。

我深呼吸。“珠儿，开始计时。”在我视野上方，计时器开始跳字。

一个数。两个数

刚才那扇门里又冲出一个魁梧的人影。那个人拿在手中的武器散发着醒目的蓝光，白色的盔甲反射着昏暗的街灯，即便在雨中也还是明晃晃的。

十一个数。十二个数。

我立刻跟上去，抄上那条近路，这景象恍如隔世，但却又如耳边的珠儿一样熟悉。我只有非常短暂的窗口期。如果我搞砸了……我摇摇头。这件事容不得搞砸。

很快，我到达了目的地——一幢如同黑色独石般的建筑。我找到了消防通道，梯子在很高的地方。我助跑起跳，勉强够到。我的双臂发出强烈抗议，我拖着全身的重量爬了上去。接下来，只需要再登十一层楼梯就可以了。

这次脱身以后我一定要好好睡一觉。

三十二个数。三十三个数。

我爬上屋顶，躲到通往顶层的唯一一扇门后。我压低身子迅速穿过去，找好位置，就在门打开后的死角，然后查看计时器。

还有三十秒的富余，或多或少。

只有一次机会。

三十五个数。三十六个数。

门突然崩开，刚才那个男孩跑了出来。但执法官就在后面。那个人抓住了男孩的手。挣扎。打斗。男孩的背包被摘了下来，向后扔得老远。向我的位置。

我向前冲刺抓住背包，伸手进去寻找我的大奖。

一记爆能枪声在雨中回响。

五十五个数。五十六个数。

又是两枪，连续响起。只剩下雨水的哗啦啦声。然后是身体重重倒在楼下的地面。

我不应该回头看的……但我看了。

那个小孩站着，双手颤抖，拿着一把光束枪。他慢慢地走向建筑物的边缘，把兜帽掀到后面，才好看见下方的尸体。他露出一头杂乱的金发。

真是个混球。真是个小迷糊。

我附身躲回去，紧紧捧着背包。远处钟塔传来报时声——午夜十二响。

我打开背包，顺着十字武装带掏出上面固定着的核心，还有已经完成同步的手炮。它们现在看上去好小，后来我对他们进行了多次升级改造——但无论是现在还是当初我第一次碰到，它们都代表同样的意义：

自由。

我把核心装到胸前。检查珠儿的倒计时。过去的我马上就要从天台走过来。寻找书包掉落的地方。书包没在那里。他会慌张，但随后会发现书包挂在了旁边的消防通道上，滑落和下坠的角度非常匪夷所思——我会那样以为。

我用书包里新的旧手炮手动输入坐标，瞄准，开火。清晰的传送门打开了。我笑了。

我又上道了。

的确，现在我真的是从自己身上借来——不对，是偷来时间进行了二重跳跃。如果我不及时把核心还回去，那——我甚至都不敢想象会撕开什么样的异常节点，毁灭多少个平行宇宙。我抬起头看到自己已经开始向这边走来。再过几秒钟我就会发现背包不见——根本没时间。

但当你身为时间旅行者的时候，没时间……就是足够的时间。希望如此。

真可恨。

I hate it.

“我的核心烧了，我要换个新的。”刚刚的“真诚”似乎打动了那个执法官女士，或许也可以在艾克这试试。“你这有多余的吗？”

“My Pulsefire core is toast and I need a new one.” That “truth” thing worked so well with the lady enforcer, I figure I’d try it out on Ekko. “Got one lying around?”

艾克哈哈大笑。我皱起眉。不是在笑我吧——我跟这个吐槽鬼混了这么久，还是听得出区别的——但依然听上去很刺耳。

Ekko laughs. I frown. It’s not at me—I’ve been through enough with this joker to know the difference—but it still stings all the same.

“行，好，笑就笑吧。那你能修好吗？”

“Okay, sure, fine. Can you fix mine then?”

他走过来弯下腰，仔细看我的胸甲。“我——坏成这样？你在玩儿我吗？咋了，你这是贴着枪口挨了一枪吗？”

He walks up and leans in, peering at my chestpiece. “Oh man, this wreck? Are you kidding me? What, d’you take a point-blank blaster shot or something?”

“……可能吧。”

“…Maybe.”

他看看我，一时间哑口无言。“永远都要护住核心！”

He looks at me, mouth agape. “Always protect the core!”

“永远都要护住脸！”我反驳到。

“Always protect the face!” I retort.

“那看起来你也并没有护住呢，”他总是占上风。他戳了一下我（伤势严重）的鼻子，我痛苦地叫出来。

“Doesn’t look like you succeeded at that either,” he fires back, all judgement. He pokes my (very broken) nose, and I yelp in pain.

我缩了缩脖子。“那你能给我做个新的吗？”我开始绝望了……艾克摇摇头。“为什么不行？你的战斗服不就是自己拿零件拼的吗！”

I wince. “Well then can you build me a new one?” Desperation is creeping in… and Ekko’s already shaking his head. “Why not? You built your suit from scratch!”

他耸耸肩，“是啊，用来拼的‘零件’之一就是从执法官那顺来的水晶核心。跟你一样。”

He shrugs, “Yeah, and part of that ‘scratch’ was the crystal core I snatched from an enforcer. Same as you.”

不是吧。就连艾克也有他的极限吗。

No way. Even Ekko has his limits.

那我……我没别的法子了。

I… I’m out of options.

我蹒跚着坐到一把椅子上，感觉浑身麻木。“我来到这里用掉了最后一次跳跃。”我双手扶额。“如果你修不好……那……就完了。我……从现在开始就住在这了。”

I stumble into a chair, numb. “I burned my last jump getting here.” My head falls in my hands. “If you can’t fix this… then… this is it. I… live here now.”

“住你个鬼啊。”艾克从桌上抓起他的面具和刚才那个立方体。“没想到你能说出这么恶毒的话。你别想留在我的时间流中。我帮你。”

“Like hell you do.” Ekko grabs his mask from the table with the cube. “That’s the worst thing you’ve ever said. You ain’t stayin’ here in my timestream. I’ll help you.”

我甚至无法直视他。“我还能有什么办法？”我问道。

I can’t even look at him. “What options do I have left?” I ask.

“偷一个核心。”

“Steal a core.”

我气馁地咂嘴。“试过了。没那么容易。”

I click my tongue in frustration. “Tried that. Harder than you’d think.”

我听到他在四处翻找。他把时轴断裂背包固定在后背的时候发出了卡扣的声音。“我们只需要找到一个真正的蠢货。一个毫无防备的小迷糊。”他说。

I can hear him clattering around. There’s a click as he straps his Chronobreak pack to his back. “We’ll just need to find a real sucker. Some dummy who’s totally unprepared,” he explains.

他走到我面前推了推我的肩膀。我抬起头。他已经整装待发。为了帮我。我知道他刚刚在外面闹完回来……他还没怎么休息呢。但他却对我露出那个可恨的傻笑，对我说，“走吧，小迷糊。”

He walks up to me and shoves my shoulder. I look up. He’s fully geared up and ready to go. To help me. And knowing the escapade he just got back from… he has to still be exhausted. But he gives me that stupid grin I hate and says, “Let’s go, dummy.”

我也想回以微笑——但我的脸僵住了。

I start to smile—but my face freezes mid thought.

噢。噢对。是的！我就是小迷糊！

Oh. Oh damn. That’s it! I am a dummy!

“我可恨死你了。”我对他说着，把他用力抱紧。

“I hate you so much,” I tell him, bull rushing him into a hug.

“哎！停下！你撒手！”他大喊道。

“Whoa! Hey! Get off me!,” he shouts.

他用力挣扎，但我依然不松手。“我来这有多久了？”

He struggles, but I cling on. “How long have I been here?”

“大概一分钟吧。已经很久了。”他依然嘴上不饶人。

“About a minute. So, way too long,” he fires back.

他用手推开我的脸，但我抓住他的手腕。“把我倒退到我来之前。”

His hand is in my face, but I grab his wrist. “Rewind me back to just before I showed up.”

他眨眨眼。“为什么——”

He blinks. “Why—”

我对他莞尔一笑。“帮我换回最后一次时轴跳跃。然后我就真的永远离开你的椅子，永别，再也别见，那一套。”我用另一只手弄乱他的莫西干头，这次他抓住了我的手腕。

I grin. “Buy me back my one last chrono-jump. Then I’ll actually be out of your hair forever, goodbye, never see each other again, blah blah blah.” I reach my free hand to pat his mohawk, but he grabs my wrist this time.

“别。摸。头发。”他的声音冰冷。

“Don’t. Touch. The. Hair,” he says, icy.

我抽回手。“艾克。拜托了。最后一次。最后倒退一次。就像上次那样。”

I pull my hand back. “Ekko. Please. Last favor. One more rewind. Like last time.”

他轻蔑地答道，“上次就是最后一次。你也知道——时轴断裂的设计荷载是一个人。”

With a scoff he replies, “Last time was the last time. And you already know—Chronobreak isn’t meant to carry more than one person.”

我深呼吸一次。“我知道。而且……总有一天……我会报答你的。为了所有的最后一次。”

I take a deep breath. “I know. And… one of these days… I’ll pay you back. For all the last times.”

“你说过我们永远都不会再见的。”他叹了口气。

“You said we’ll never see each other again,” he sighs.

我对他挤了挤眼。“永远之后，再过四秒。”

I wink at him. “Give it four seconds.”

艾克翻了个白眼，手伸到背后。“你太折磨人了。”他说着，启动了他的时轴断裂装置。

Ekko rolls his eyes, reaching behind his back. “You’re exhausting,” he says as he activates his Chronobreak device.

“谢了，艾克。”我最后微笑着说，“欠你一次。”

“Thanks, Ekko.” And I add with a smile, “Owe you one.”

“已经四次了，”他纠正我，拉开绳索的同时把我拉到身边。我们周围的世界慢了下来，停了下来——然后加速倒流。

“It’s up to four now,” he corrects, pulling me close as he pulls the cord. The world around us slows, stops—then rewinds at accelerating pace.

我爱死这个家伙了。

Man, I love this guy.

跃动

FLUX

倾盆大雨。街头，微弱的灯火努力刺破黑暗，在雨中映出光晕。我几乎只能看清眼前（依然伤势严重）的鼻子。我体内的每个粒子都在剧痛。雷声滚滚，震得我耳鸣。我感觉糟透了。但无关紧要。

Rain pours down in cascading sheets. Down the street, the faint glow of lamps struggle to pierce the gloomy dark, diffused in the downpour. I can barely see in front of my (still very much broken) nose. Every particle in my being hurts. A boom of thunder peals out, and my ears ring in the aftermath. I’m a mess. But it doesn’t matter.

我对这个时刻和这个地方了如指掌，几乎可以闭着眼睛走一遍。

I know this moment and this place so well, I can almost walk it with my eyes closed.

前方，两扇门被冲破，一个冒冒失失的男孩从类似店铺的一间屋子里磕绊着走出来。他双肩背着一个大包，面孔被厚实的斗篷罩帽遮住。他看看身后，浪费了珍贵的几秒钟，然后飞奔着转过街角。

Up ahead, a pair of double doors burst open, and a scrappy boy stumbles out of some sort of shop, a large satchel slung across his shoulders, face obscured by the hood of a heavy cloak. He looks behind him, wasting precious seconds, before sprinting around the block.

我深呼吸。“珠儿，开始计时。”在我视野上方，计时器开始跳字。

I take a deep breath. “Pearl, start the timer.” In my upper periphery, the tracker begins ticking.

一个数。两个数

One one-thousand. Two one-thousand.

刚才那扇门里又冲出一个魁梧的人影。那个人拿在手中的武器散发着醒目的蓝光，白色的盔甲反射着昏暗的街灯，即便在雨中也还是明晃晃的。

A bulky figure races out of the same door after him. A telltale blue glow emanates from their drawn weapon, white armor catching the dim street lamps, even in the rain.

十一个数。十二个数。

Eleven one-thousand. Twelve one-thousand.

我立刻跟上去，抄上那条近路，这景象恍如隔世，但却又如耳边的珠儿一样熟悉。我只有非常短暂的窗口期。如果我搞砸了……我摇摇头。这件事容不得搞砸。

I hurry along, cutting across shortcuts I haven’t taken in a lifetime, yet still as familiar as Pearl’s voice in my ear. I have one narrow window of time to do this. And if I mess it up… I shake my head. I don’t get to mess this up.

很快，我到达了目的地——一幢如同黑色独石般的建筑。我找到了消防通道，梯子在很高的地方。我助跑起跳，勉强够到。我的双臂发出强烈抗议，我拖着全身的重量爬了上去。接下来，只需要再登十一层楼梯就可以了。

Soon, I reach my destination—a looming dark monolith of a building. I find the fire escape, the ladder hanging a good distance above me. I take a running jump and barely reach, my arms screaming in protest as I hoist myself up. Now, just eleven flights of stairs to climb.

这次脱身以后我一定要好好睡一觉。

I’m going to take a real long nap once I make it out of this one.

三十二个数。三十三个数。

Thirty-two one-thousand. Thirty-three one-thousand.

我爬上屋顶，躲到通往顶层的唯一一扇门后。我压低身子迅速穿过去，找好位置，就在门打开后的死角，然后查看计时器。

I make it to the roof and duck behind the single door that is the access from inside the building. I crouch low and hurry across, take my position behind where the door would open, and check my timer.

还有三十秒的富余，或多或少。

Thirty seconds to spare, give or take.

只有一次机会。

One chance to get this right.

三十五个数。三十六个数。

Forty-five one-thousand. Forty-six one-thousand.

门突然崩开，刚才那个男孩跑了出来。但执法官就在后面。那个人抓住了男孩的手。挣扎。打斗。男孩的背包被摘了下来，向后扔得老远。向我的位置。

The door bursts open, and the boy from earlier runs through. But the enforcer is right behind. They reach for him and grab him by the arm. A scuffle. A fight. The boy’s satchel is torn from him, thrown backward. In my direction.

我向前冲刺抓住背包，伸手进去寻找我的大奖。

I dart forward and grab the satchel, reaching inside for my prize.

一记爆能枪声在雨中回响。

The sound of a blaster shot rings out over the rain.

五十五个数。五十六个数。

Fifty-five one-thousand. Fifty-six one-thousand.

又是两枪，连续响起。只剩下雨水的哗啦啦声。然后是身体重重倒在楼下的地面。

Two more blasts, in rapid succession. Nothing but the shah shah shah of the rain. Then the dull thud of a body hitting the ground below.

我不应该回头看的……但我看了。

I shouldn’t look back… but I do.

那个小孩站着，双手颤抖，拿着一把光束枪。他慢慢地走向建筑物的边缘，把兜帽掀到后面，才好看见下方的尸体。他露出一头杂乱的金发。

The kid stands, hands shaking, holding a blaster. He slowly walks toward the edge of the building and pushes his hood back to better peer at the body below, revealing shaggy blond hair.

真是个混球。真是个小迷糊。

What a sucker. A real dummy.

我附身躲回去，紧紧捧着背包。远处钟塔传来报时声——午夜十二响。

I duck back behind my hiding spot, jostling with the satchel. The chime of a distant clock tower rings out—twelve chimes of midnight.

我打开背包，顺着十字武装带掏出上面固定着的核心，还有已经完成同步的手炮。它们现在看上去好小，后来我对他们进行了多次升级改造——但无论是现在还是当初我第一次碰到，它们都代表同样的意义：

I open the satchel and pull out the Pulsefire core attached to crossing bandoliers, and the synchronized arm cannon. They look so small and simple now compared to the suit I had built and modified since then—but they represent the same thing to me now as they did when I first got my hands on them:

自由。

Freedom.

我把核心装到胸前。检查珠儿的倒计时。过去的我马上就要从天台走过来。寻找书包掉落的地方。书包没在那里。他会慌张，但随后会发现书包挂在了旁边的消防通道上，滑落和下坠的角度非常匪夷所思——我会那样以为。

I strap the Pulsefire core across my chest. Check Pearl’s countdown. Past-me is about to walk away from the edge. Come looking for the satchel back where it fell. It won’t be there. He would panic—only to find it dangling from the nearby fire escape, where it had improbably slid and landed—or so I’d thought.

我用书包里新的旧手炮手动输入坐标，瞄准，开火。清晰的传送门打开了。我笑了。

I manually punch in a destination on the old-new arm cannon from the satchel, aim, and fire. A crystal-clear portal opens. I smile.

我又上道了。

Back in business.

的确，现在我真的是从自己身上借来——不对，是偷来时间进行了二重跳跃。如果我不及时把核心还回去，那——我甚至都不敢想象会撕开什么样的异常节点，毁灭多少个平行宇宙。我抬起头看到自己已经开始向这边走来。再过几秒钟我就会发现背包不见——根本没时间。

Sure, I’m now doubly traveling on literal borrowed time—stolen from myself. And if I don’t return the core back to the satchel in time, well—I don’t even want to think about the multiverse-ending anomaly it would tear open. I look up and see me start wandering back this way. Only seconds until I’d see the satchel was missing—no time at all.

但当你身为时间旅行者的时候，没时间……就是足够的时间。希望如此。

But when you’re a time traveler, no time… is all the time you need. I hope.

斗盾

AEGIS

他没有注意到我。只是还没有。

He hasn’t noticed me. Yet.

通常来说，潜行并非我的强项。我更像是那种先开枪再说，绝不提问的人。但考虑我的核心的状态……好吧，非常时期得用非常手段。

Stealth isn’t usually my strong suit. I’m much more of a shoot-first, ask-questions-never kind of guy. But considering the current state of my Pulsefire core… well, unusual times call for unusual tactics.

他就……在那儿站着。盾牌放在一旁。长枪插在地上。坚定。深沉。无——聊。

He’s just… standing there. Shield at his side. Spear stuck in the nearby ground. Staunch. Reflective. Booooring.

刚刚我掉进了某个非常不愉快的次元（吸血的大蚊子不应该那么大），珠儿设法从我损坏的核心中勉强调用了足够的能量，贴上了距离最近（相对最近）的脉冲焰信号所在的时轴标记。对我来说是好消息——对我目的坐标的执法官可是坏消息。因为我是冲着那位的的核心去的。

After dropping into an incredibly unpleasant dimension (blood-sucking gnats should never be that big), Pearl managed to pull enough power out of my damaged core to latch on to a chrono-signature of a nearby (well, relativity-speaking nearby) Pulsefire signal. Good news for me—bad news for the enforcer I’m about to jump for their Pulsefire core.

既然能偷——不对，是能借来新的，为什么要费力修好旧的呢？

Why fix something when you can steal—er, borrow—a new one?

如同是命运的安排，我认识这个执法官。潘森。一个大呆子。火药桶。一点就着。可能有着什么凄惨的过去，无聊无聊无聊。

As fate would have it, I knew this enforcer. Pantheon. A real lunk of a man. Grouchy type: chip on his shoulder, probably a real tragic backstory, blah blah blah.

现在，他就杵在某个我不认识的乱石废墟里。老实讲，这个次元我都不认识——看起来就是一个大垃圾堆。崩塌的建筑。枯黄的植物。到处都是机械战与化学战的迹象。好没劲。

Currently, he’s standing in the rubble of some building I don’t recognize. To be honest, this whole dimension is one I don’t recognize—it looks like a real dump. Crumbling structures. Decimated vegetation. Evidence of mechanical and chemical conflict everywhere. Major bummer.

我跃迁上前，刚好来到他背后，手炮紧贴住他的后脑。“不许动。”我挤出了最狠毒的低沉声调。

I shift in, nice and snug right behind him, arm cannon pressed lightly against the back of his head. “Don’t move,” I growl in my most threatening voice.

他一动不动。我站在他背后的有利位置，只听见他目镜发出轻微的机械转动声，但很难看到正面，估计他在猜我是谁。

He freezes. From my vantage point behind him, I can barely see his visor chirp and whir, likely trying to figure out who I am.

“伊泽瑞尔。”他低吼一声。

“Ezreal,” he rumbles.

“怎么样啊，老潘？”我笑了，然后突然想起来我应该装的是蛮不讲理的样子。

“How’s it goin’, Panth?” I say, grinning, before I remember that I’m supposed to be doing the angry growly thing.

“我就在此，一直搜索着你的踪迹，而你却自己来了。”他平静的语调里藏着紧绷的弦。他的头皮略微动了一下，一定是他在愤怒地咬牙。虽然嘴上谈笑风生，但他肯定知道只要我哪怕打一个喷嚏，他俊朗硬气的脸庞就会化为飞灰。

“Here I was, spending all this time searching for you, and you just come to me.” His calm words are undercut by the tension in his voice, and the slight twitch in his scalp as he clenches his teeth in anger. Banter aside, he definitely knows I’m one sneeze away from obliterating his very chiseled, very handsome face.

“听我说，老潘，我知道我们上次见面的时候就已经演过这么一出了，”我边说着边俯下身子，“但现在的情况是，我真的没时间跟你，还有这片废土耗下去——”

“Listen, Panth, I know we had this whole thing going last time we met,” I say, leaning in. “But, thing is, I really don’t have time for you or for this wasteland today—”

“这里会变成废土，是因为你。”他的语气让我心里一惊。平铺直叙，不容置疑。他说的是实话。

“You are responsible for this wasteland.” The way he says it stops me cold. Flat, undeniable, matter of fact.

“呃，我看未必。”我知道他在拖时间，我也知道我不该逞口舌之快。而且我已经跟刚才遇到的那个执法官耍过嘴了。

“Uhh, I don’t think so.” I know he’s stalling. I know I shouldn’t engage. I literally just did this to the last enforcer I talked to.

可我忍不住。

I can’t help myself.

“大多数打破次元的恶作剧，我自己都有印象的，谢谢。”

“I generally remember my dimension-shattering escapades, thank you very much.”

“多亏了你这样的鲁莽贼人，才有了这样的世界。”潘森的目光扫过面前的凋敝景象，我也忍不住随着望去。“粗心大意的跳跃引发悖论。悖论在时空中撕开了异常节点。然后……禁卫就来了。”

“Reckless renegades like you are responsible for all of this.” Pantheon’s gaze casts across the devastated landscape before us, and I can’t help but look as well. “Careless jumps instigating paradoxes. Paradoxes tearing anomalies in space-time. Then… the Praetorians come.”

我感到脊背发凉。禁卫……来这……

A chill runs down my spine. Praetorians… here…

潘森站了起来，我也举高手炮以示警告，武器的运行噪音愈发高亢。他眼都没眨一下。“这里曾是我的家。然后他们夺走了我的一切。”

Pantheon moves to stand, and I raise my arm cannon in warning, the weapon humming into high gear. He doesn’t bat an eye. “This used to be my home. Then they took everything from me.”

好吧，我的确爱冒险。有的时候是很大风险。但我从来都不粗心。当然我也不敢说自己从没制造过一两个异常节点……

Sure, I take risks. Sometimes big ones. I’m never careless. But I can’t say I haven’t caused a paradox or two before…

“潘森。”我开口说话的同时，手炮放下了一瞬间。

“Pantheon,” I say, dropping my arm cannon by a fraction.

重大失误。

Big mistake.

潘森跳向我，他的盾牌生成能量屏障吃下了我的炮火——我只慢了几毫秒。他撞到我身上，我感觉鼻梁又断了，头晕目眩。他伸出左手，召唤他的长枪。我恢复意识，勉强跃迁躲开了他的戳刺。

Pantheon leaps at me, an energy barrier blossoming from his shield as my shot fires, a fraction of a second too late. He smashes into me, and I feel my nose break a second time, leaving me dazed. His left hand reaches out, calling his spear to him. I barely regain my senses in time to shift out of the way of his piercing jab.

“你将在铭记者面前认罪受罚！”他吼道。

“You will answer for your crimes before the Remembrancers!” he roars.

完了。出岔子了，大岔子。我可不想以现在的状态和他交手。潘森掷出长枪，我将战斗服发挥到极限，跃迁到尽量远的高坡顶端。

Welp. This went sideways, fast. Not a fight I want to pick in my current state. Pantheon throws his spear, and I push my suit to the limit, shifting as far away as I can manage up a hillside.

我调整手炮，准备进行时轴跳跃。我的战斗服发出异常的抖动，珠儿正在努力从受损的核心中调取能量。“跳跃稳定性严重受损，安全协议建议——”

I rev up my arm cannon for a chrono-jump, and my entire suit shudders as Pearl tries to coax power through the damaged core. “Jump stability is severely compromised, safety protocols recommend—”

潘森的长枪向我飞来，我险些没躲过去。长枪扎进我身后的一座巨大石像的残骸中，将石块打成尘埃。

Pantheon’s spear flies at me, and I barely duck in time. It crashes into the remnants of a large stone statue behind me, shattering it into dust.

“珠儿！覆写安全协议！快！”我没有等待确认，直接端起手炮开火。穿过传送门的瞬间，我彻底松了口气——随后是突如其来的疼痛。这是次元之间奔涌无常的以太介质在撕扯我的身体。我向上坠落，向着未知的命运自由落体……

“Pearl! Override safeties! Now!” I don’t wait for confirmation before I aim my arm cannon and fire, relief flooding through me as I cross the portal’s threshold—cut short by a shock of pain as the untamed aether between dimensions lashes at me. I fall up, plummeting to an unknown fate…

心眼刀

RIPOSTE

我喘着气醒来。

I wake with a gasp.

全身都疼。就像我被扔到了洗衣机里甩干过了一样。

Everything hurts. Like I’ve been thrown in the wash and tumbled dry.

有人抱着我的头。一个女人的面孔映入眼帘。她表情严肃，带着苛责，但在这一瞬间，却因担忧而温和。

Someone is cradling my head. A woman’s face hovers into view. Severe and stern, but in the moment, softened with concern.

“谢天谢地，”她说，“我们还以为上次跳跃就失去你了。”

“Thank goodness,” she says. “We thought we lost you in that last jump.”

“这里……”我想要坐起来，但我胸前的核心里冒出电弧，打得我整个左半边身子一阵痉挛，疼得直不起腰。

“Where…” I try to sit up, but an arc of electricity from the core on my chest spasms the muscles on my left side and I clench in pain.

“情况不妙，”那个女子说，“我们没多少时间了。他就在我们身后。还有禁卫大军……”她摇了摇头。“卢锡安和潘森先走了，凯特琳正在寻找制高点——”

“This is not good,” the woman says. “We don’t have much time. He was right behind us. And the Praetorian swarm… ” She shakes her head. “Lucian and Pantheon went on ahead, and Caitlyn is climbing for a good vantage point—”

我忍着痛爬了起来。她刚刚说的名字里我认识两个。作为刚刚从无意识中苏醒来到未知时空的我，这两个名字我一个都不想听到。

I push through the pain and scramble to my feet. I know two out of three names she just said, and neither were ones you wanted to hear from the lips of a stranger immediately upon regaining consciousness after tumbling through unknown time and space.

那个女子也站了起来，伸出双手，试图安抚我。

The woman also stands, holding her hands out, trying to calm me.

“我在什么时候？”我捂着胸前问道，“你是谁？”

“When am I?” I ask, clutching my chest. “Who are you?”

我仔细看了看她，更加疑惑了。她身侧配着时轴剑刃，毫无疑问是一名执法官。她战斗服上的核心更加精致，从形状来看，是未来的型号。她制服上的单片肩甲看上去很蠢。太蠢了。一看就是铭记者的人。

As I get a good look at her, my confusion mounts. She is, without a doubt, an enforcer. The chrono-blade at her side. That Pulsefire core on her suit—some sleeker, future model, from the shape of it. The dumb single pauldron on her uniform. So dumb. Very Remembrancers.

女子脸上掠过一丝困惑——然后她警觉地瞪圆了双眼。“你不是我们的伊泽瑞尔。”她说。

Confusion flits across the woman’s face—then her eyes widen in alarm. “You are not our Ezreal,” she says.

“请听好，女士，我不是任何人的伊泽瑞尔，我是伊泽瑞尔的伊泽瑞尔。”我环顾四周。我正身处在一个陌生的回廊中。转角平滑、整齐洁白，如同有生命的金属装饰着铬合金。有灯，蓝色，每隔一段距离就吊着一盏。感觉就像身处于战斗服的内部。

“Listen, lady, I’m nobody’s Ezreal but Ezreal’s Ezreal.” I look around me. I’m in a strange hallway of smooth, white, living metal, accented with chrome. Lamps, glowing blue, hang at regular intervals. It almost feels like we’re standing inside a Pulsefire suit.

一阵恐惧的战栗从头传到脚。不会吧。“这里……这里难道是……？”

A shiver of dread ripples down my spine. It couldn’t be. “This… Is this…?”

“铭记者的主堡。但你并不该出现在这里。我不知道你从什么时间来，但你必须离开，不然你就会来。呃，另外一个你。”女子的目光变得锐利。“你最好会来。如果你死了，我一定要杀了你。”

“Remembrancer’s Citadel. But you are not supposed to be here. I do not know when you’re from, but you must leave, before you arrive. Er, the other you.” The woman’s eyes narrow. “You better still arrive. If you’re dead, I’m going to kill you.”

我摇了摇头。“我不知道这是哪儿，是什么时间，”我将手炮对准了她的胸膛。“……但我现在要拿走你的核心。”我拿出所有的狠劲威胁道。

I shake my head. “I have no idea what or when this is,” I point my arm cannon at her chest. “…but I’ll be taking your Pulsefire core now,” I say with all the threat I can muster.

就在当下，我的手炮一顿，冒出了火花。“武器系统功率百分之十。”珠儿在耳边对我说，声音出奇地大。

Right then, my arm cannon stutters and sparks. “Weapon systems at ten percent power,” Pearl says in my ear, exceptionally loudly.

从女子的表情看来，她肯定也听到了。

From the look on the woman’s face, I swear she heard it too.

“啊。你肯定是从过去来的。”女子捏了捏鼻梁，看上去很头疼。“我都忘了你有多烦人。”

“Ah. You’re definitely from the past.” The woman pinches the bridge of her nose, as if staving off a headache. “I forgot how insufferable you were.”

我摆出一副惹人怜爱的愁容。“我哪里烦人。我是万人迷啊。”

I frown adorably. “I’m not insufferable. I’m charming.”

她突然停住不动。眼睛微眯了一下，然后再向我径直走来。我后退一步，但她已经来到我跟前，一根手指戳到我胸口。

She stops dead in her tracks. Her eyes narrow, then she marches straight at me. I take a step back, but she’s already closed the distance and is jabbing a finger into my chest.

“这么说来，这就是你昨晚对我讲的故事，”她洞察一切似地看着我，“你说我已经救了你两次。还说我会在一切结束之前再救你一次。”

“So this is why you told me that story last night.” She narrows her eyes at me. “About how I had already saved your life twice. And how I’d likely do it one more time before this was all over.”

“听我说，我真的不知道你在说什么——”

“Listen, I sincerely do not know what you’re talking—”

她没有等我说完，一把抓住我的胸甲，一只手伸进我的领口。我哑然失声——但她触发了某种装置，我胸前的核心转了几圈打开了，展露出内部的机械结构。

She doesn’t wait for my response but grasps me by my chestpiece and reaches a hand down my collar. I yelp—but she’s triggered some mechanism in there, and the core on my chest spins and opens, revealing the machinations within.

好吧。她肯定是个老手了。

Okay. She’s definitely done this before.

还没等我拒绝，维修针和微处理工具已经从她的手套上伸出来，她已经开工了。

Before I can protest, diagnostic nodes and microtools emerge from her gloves as she sets to work.

“你……是要把它修好吗？”我难以置信地问。

“Are… are you fixing it?” I ask, incredulous.

“你可真是够蠢的。坏成这样。你是跟卢锡安打架了么？你跟卢锡安打架了。真不敢信他没杀了你。他可不会失手。”她甚至都不是在对我说话，只是在一边干活一边喃喃自语。我努力站稳——即使是我也知道，在时轴偏折能量核心被打开并彻底暴露的时候千万不要乱动。

“You were such an idiot. Goodness. This damage. Did you pick a fight with Lucian? You picked a fight with Lucian. Incredible he did not kill you. Always was a much better shot.” She isn’t even talking to me, but muttering half under her breath as she works. I try to stand still—even I know you don’t jostle when a chrono-bending energy core is open and exposed.

嘈杂声从回廊尽头传来，然后是一声不可能听错的爆能枪开火声。我皱起眉，扭过头去看，但那个女子用力拽住了我的战斗服。

A noise comes from down the hall, and the unmistakable sound of blaster fire follows. I frown, craning my neck to look, but the woman gives a sharp tug on my suit.

“停。别动。”她发出警告。

“Hold. Still,” she warns.

蓝色火花飞溅，一小股青烟腾起，然后她放开了我。核心扭转复位锁定。我低头看去。发出的光似乎比平时暗了，但已不再每隔几秒就射出电弧。

Blue sparks fly and a tiny smoke trail plumes, then she’s let me go and the core spins and locks back into place. I look down. The glow looks dimmer than usual, but it no longer arcs electricity every few seconds.

“修好了……”我惊讶地说。

“It works…,” I marvel.

“只能再跳跃一次就会彻底损坏。应该是。”她说，“快走！”

“For one more jump before it breaks completely. Maybe,” she says. “Now go!”

她转身离开，然后突然停住。一只手迅速伸进衣兜，然后冲我甩过来一样东西。我伸手接住。

She turns to leave, then stops short. A hand dashes into a pocket, and she flips something at me through the air. I catch it.

“当你见到我的时候，我不会对你手下留情，”她说，“务必把这个亮出来。不然，我真的会杀了你。”

“When you meet me, I will show you no mercy,” she says. “Make sure to show me that. Otherwise, I will kill you.”

我看着手里，一枚硬币，上面刻着一个徽记——抽象的玫瑰花上刻着纤薄的剑刃。太多个问题闪过我的脑海。但叫喊声——随后是枪声，回荡在回廊尽头。

I gaze down and see a coin bearing an insignia—thin blade etched over a stylized rose. So many questions flash through my mind. But voices—followed by blaster fire—echo from further up the hall.

“第二枪了，”她喃喃地说，估计还是自言自语。“没时间等第三枪。两枪就够了。”

“That’s twice,” she mutters, largely to herself. “No time to figure out the third. Two will have to be enough.”

“这可没法让我放心离开！”我对她喊，但她已经跑了起来。她没有理睬我，转过拐角，消失了。

“That’s not very reassuring!” I call after her, but she is already running. She ignores me, turns the corner, and is gone.

我轻轻碰了碰胸前的核心。最后一次跳跃，呵。帮不上大忙。我能想到的只剩一人有可能帮到我。看来我到底还是要看那张自鸣得意的脸。

I tap the core on my chest. One last time jump, huh. There’s no helping it. Only one person left I can think of that might be able to help me. Looks like I’m gonna have to see his smug face after all.

我真是不想求他帮忙。现在不想，以后也不会想。

I really didn’t want to have to ask him for a favor. Again. Yet. Whichever.

我叹了口气。“珠儿，”我开口说道，“启动。”我举起手炮开火。又一次，传送门打开了。“是时候探望一下艾克了。”

I sigh. “Pearl,” I say, “boot her up.” I aim my arm cannon and fire, and once again, a portal opens. “Time to pay a visit to Ekko.”

时间卷曲

TIMEWINDER

你有没有遇到过和你很像，像到让你有点讨厌的人，因为也许对方会让你清楚地看到所有你讨厌自己的地方，哪怕只是一点点？

You ever meet someone who was just enough like you that it made you kinda hate them, because maaaybe it made you see clearly all the little things you hated about yourself, just a little?

不过对艾克来说，其实并不是这样。

Well, that’s not at all what’s happening here with Ekko.

是因为他的莫西干头。

It’s the mohawk.

“你不是说，‘永别’了嘛。”他甚至都不回头看我一眼。

“You said, ‘goodbye forever,’” he says, not looking back at me.

“我知道。”我说。

“I know,” I say.

“‘玩得很开心，但我们永远都不能再见面了，这恐怕也是最好的结果，考虑到种种情况来说。’”依然没回头。

“‘It’s been fun, but now we’ll never see each other again, which is probably for the best, given everything.’” Still not turning around.

我咬紧牙。“是，是我说的。”

I clench my teeth. “Yeah. I remember.”

“这才刚过去四秒钟。”他放下那个插满电线的立方体，终于转过身来，双臂交叉。真行，为了拿到那个玩意我们可是大费周章。

“It’s been four seconds.” He sets down the weird cube he’s fiddling with and finally turns around, his arms crossing. Man, the trouble we went through to get that thing.

“我可不是。都过了好几年了。”我能听到自己声音中的哀怨。可恨。“我只是……我需要到一个确定有你的地点和时间。”

“Not for me. It’s been ages for me.” I can hear how whiny I sound, and I hate it. “I just… I needed to find you in a where and when I knew for sure you’d be.”

“这么容易就示弱，”他开始了，我现在真想找东西把他那张得意洋洋的笑脸给铲平。“这次你又惹上什么麻烦了？”

“So much for your cool guy exit,” he says, and I want nothing more than to wipe the smirk off his face. “What kind of trouble you find yourself in this time?”

“没什么大不了，”我一边说，一边走下楼梯，对秘密小屋里的操作台和小零件戳戳捅捅。“我，呃，我遇到了一个执法官，出了点小事……”

“Oh, nothing major,” I say, walking down the steps and poking at the various panels and gadgets in his little hideout. “I, uh, I may have run into a little trouble with an enforcer…”

“我一点也不意外。”

“Nothing new so far.”

“我可能有点，呃，不小心……”

“And maybe might’ve gotten, uh, roughed up a bit…”

“别碰那个。”我的手指立刻停下，差点碰到一株悬在孤立时间场中的盆栽。我看到它从花朵缩成花蕾再缩成新芽，然后又正常衰老，沿着同一个时间线循环往复，居然让所有时间分支都发生坍缩却没有产生新的异常节点。时轴断裂，这是艾克起的名。我不得不自叹不如。我甚至从来没想过核心技术还有这样的应用方式——估计执法官也从来没想到过。真的是天才头脑。

“Don’t touch that.” My fingertips stop, hovering just above a potted plant suspended in an isolated temporal field. I watch as it shrinks from blossom to bud to new sprout, then age back again all within the same timeline, somehow collapsing all eventualities without generating new anomalies. Chronobreak, Ekko called it. I can’t help but shake my head. I didn’t even think Pulsefire tech could do that—and neither, probably, did the enforcers. It’s pure genius.

真可恨。

I hate it.

“我的核心烧了，我要换个新的。”刚刚的“真诚”似乎打动了那个执法官女士，或许也可以在艾克这试试。“你这有多余的吗？”

“My Pulsefire core is toast and I need a new one.” That “truth” thing worked so well with the lady enforcer, I figure I’d try it out on Ekko. “Got one lying around?”

艾克哈哈大笑。我皱起眉。不是在笑我吧——我跟这个吐槽鬼混了这么久，还是听得出区别的——但依然听上去很刺耳。

Ekko laughs. I frown. It’s not at me—I’ve been through enough with this joker to know the difference—but it still stings all the same.

“行，好，笑就笑吧。那你能修好吗？”

“Okay, sure, fine. Can you fix mine then?”

他走过来弯下腰，仔细看我的胸甲。“我——坏成这样？你在玩儿我吗？咋了，你这是贴着枪口挨了一枪吗？”

He walks up and leans in, peering at my chestpiece. “Oh man, this wreck? Are you kidding me? What, d’you take a point-blank blaster shot or something?”

“……可能吧。”

“…Maybe.”

他看看我，一时间哑口无言。“永远都要护住核心！”

He looks at me, mouth agape. “Always protect the core!”

“永远都要护住脸！”我反驳到。

“Always protect the face!” I retort.

“那看起来你也并没有护住呢，”他总是占上风。他戳了一下我（伤势严重）的鼻子，我痛苦地叫出来。

“Doesn’t look like you succeeded at that either,” he fires back, all judgement. He pokes my (very broken) nose, and I yelp in pain.

我缩了缩脖子。“那你能给我做个新的吗？”我开始绝望了……艾克摇摇头。“为什么不行？你的战斗服不就是自己拿零件拼的吗！”

I wince. “Well then can you build me a new one?” Desperation is creeping in… and Ekko’s already shaking his head. “Why not? You built your suit from scratch!”

他耸耸肩，“是啊，用来拼的‘零件’之一就是从执法官那顺来的水晶核心。跟你一样。”

He shrugs, “Yeah, and part of that ‘scratch’ was the crystal core I snatched from an enforcer. Same as you.”

不是吧。就连艾克也有他的极限吗。

No way. Even Ekko has his limits.

那我……我没别的法子了。

I… I’m out of options.

我蹒跚着坐到一把椅子上，感觉浑身麻木。“我来到这里用掉了最后一次跳跃。”我双手扶额。“如果你修不好……那……就完了。我……从现在开始就住在这了。”

I stumble into a chair, numb. “I burned my last jump getting here.” My head falls in my hands. “If you can’t fix this… then… this is it. I… live here now.”

“住你个鬼啊。”艾克从桌上抓起他的面具和刚才那个立方体。“没想到你能说出这么恶毒的话。你别想留在我的时间流中。我帮你。”

“Like hell you do.” Ekko grabs his mask from the table with the cube. “That’s the worst thing you’ve ever said. You ain’t stayin’ here in my timestream. I’ll help you.”

我甚至无法直视他。“我还能有什么办法？”我问道。

I can’t even look at him. “What options do I have left?” I ask.

“偷一个核心。”

“Steal a core.”

我气馁地咂嘴。“试过了。没那么容易。”

I click my tongue in frustration. “Tried that. Harder than you’d think.”

我听到他在四处翻找。他把时轴断裂背包固定在后背的时候发出了卡扣的声音。“我们只需要找到一个真正的蠢货。一个毫无防备的小迷糊。”他说。

I can hear him clattering around. There’s a click as he straps his Chronobreak pack to his back. “We’ll just need to find a real sucker. Some dummy who’s totally unprepared,” he explains.

他走到我面前推了推我的肩膀。我抬起头。他已经整装待发。为了帮我。我知道他刚刚在外面闹完回来……他还没怎么休息呢。但他却对我露出那个可恨的傻笑，对我说，“走吧，小迷糊。”

He walks up to me and shoves my shoulder. I look up. He’s fully geared up and ready to go. To help me. And knowing the escapade he just got back from… he has to still be exhausted. But he gives me that stupid grin I hate and says, “Let’s go, dummy.”

我也想回以微笑——但我的脸僵住了。

I start to smile—but my face freezes mid thought.

噢。噢对。是的！我就是小迷糊！

Oh. Oh damn. That’s it! I am a dummy!

“我可恨死你了。”我对他说着，把他用力抱紧。

“I hate you so much,” I tell him, bull rushing him into a hug.

“哎！停下！你撒手！”他大喊道。

“Whoa! Hey! Get off me!,” he shouts.

他用力挣扎，但我依然不松手。“我来这有多久了？”

He struggles, but I cling on. “How long have I been here?”

“大概一分钟吧。已经很久了。”他依然嘴上不饶人。

“About a minute. So, way too long,” he fires back.

他用手推开我的脸，但我抓住他的手腕。“把我倒退到我来之前。”

His hand is in my face, but I grab his wrist. “Rewind me back to just before I showed up.”

他眨眨眼。“为什么——”

He blinks. “Why—”

我对他莞尔一笑。“帮我换回最后一次时轴跳跃。然后我就真的永远离开你的椅子，永别，再也别见，那一套。”我用另一只手弄乱他的莫西干头，这次他抓住了我的手腕。

I grin. “Buy me back my one last chrono-jump. Then I’ll actually be out of your hair forever, goodbye, never see each other again, blah blah blah.” I reach my free hand to pat his mohawk, but he grabs my wrist this time.

“别。摸。头发。”他的声音冰冷。

“Don’t. Touch. The. Hair,” he says, icy.

我抽回手。“艾克。拜托了。最后一次。最后倒退一次。就像上次那样。”

I pull my hand back. “Ekko. Please. Last favor. One more rewind. Like last time.”

他轻蔑地答道，“上次就是最后一次。你也知道——时轴断裂的设计荷载是一个人。”

With a scoff he replies, “Last time was the last time. And you already know—Chronobreak isn’t meant to carry more than one person.”

我深呼吸一次。“我知道。而且……总有一天……我会报答你的。为了所有的最后一次。”

I take a deep breath. “I know. And… one of these days… I’ll pay you back. For all the last times.”

“你说过我们永远都不会再见的。”他叹了口气。

“You said we’ll never see each other again,” he sighs.

我对他挤了挤眼。“永远之后，再过四秒。”

I wink at him. “Give it four seconds.”

艾克翻了个白眼，手伸到背后。“你太折磨人了。”他说着，启动了他的时轴断裂装置。

Ekko rolls his eyes, reaching behind his back. “You’re exhausting,” he says as he activates his Chronobreak device.

“谢了，艾克。”我最后微笑着说，“欠你一次。”

“Thanks, Ekko.” And I add with a smile, “Owe you one.”

“已经四次了，”他纠正我，拉开绳索的同时把我拉到身边。我们周围的世界慢了下来，停了下来——然后加速倒流。

“It’s up to four now,” he corrects, pulling me close as he pulls the cord. The world around us slows, stops—then rewinds at accelerating pace.

我爱死这个家伙了。

Man, I love this guy.