The trophy sits on the gatepost at the start of the Kestrel Ridge trail, and it hums.
奖杯就放在红隼岭山道起点的门柱上，嗡嗡作响。
Orson hears it first. He is checking the tyre pressure on his bike, and the sound makes him look up. The Compass Cup is a silver cup the size of a watering can. It has a thin screen on its front. A dent as big as a fist spoils its left side.
奥森最先听到。他正在检查自行车的轮胎气压，那声音让他抬起头来。罗盘杯是一只银杯，大小像一个洒水壶。杯身正面有一块薄薄的屏幕。左侧有一处拳头大的凹痕，破坏了它的外观。
"It never hummed before," he says.
“它以前从来不嗡嗡响的，”他说。
"Last year it never had a dent before," says Bela. She is tying a number card to her handlebars. "A drone dropped it on the finish line. Remember?"
“去年它也没有凹痕，”贝拉说。她正在把号码牌系到车把上。“无人机把它掉在终点线上了。还记得吗？”
"I remember. I was holding the drone controls."
“我记得。当时是我在握遥控器。”
Bela grins and does not argue.
贝拉咧嘴一笑，没有争辩。
The Compass Cup is not an ordinary prize. Hundreds of small sensors stand along the Kestrel trails, in posts and rocks and trees. They measure the surface, the speed of the riders, and the position of every bike. Every few seconds the cup collects the numbers. Then it draws the best line down the mountain. The winner of the race takes it home. Everyone else just wants to see it light up.
罗盘杯不是一般的奖品。红隼岭的山道沿途，立着数百个小传感器，藏在桩子、岩石和树上。它们测量路面、车手的速度和每辆车的位置。每隔几秒钟，奖杯就会收集这些数字，然后画出下山的最佳路线。比赛的优胜者把它带回家。其他人只想看它亮起来。
Today Orson and Bela have a different job. The race starts at noon. The cup must be at the finish hut before the prizes begin. The van that normally carries it has a flat tyre. The only people free to go are two volunteers on mountain bikes.
今天奥森和贝拉有一项不同的任务。比赛正午开始。颁奖开始前，奖杯必须送到终点小屋。平时运它的货车爆了胎。唯一有空的人，就是两个骑山地车的志愿者。
"Forty minutes," says Bela. "Then the crowd is waiting."
“四十分钟，”贝拉说，“然后观众就要等着了。”
"Then we leave now."
“那就现在出发。”
Bela lifts the cup from the gatepost and puts it in her backpack. The screen glows a pale blue. A map appears, with two lines crossing a green mountain, and under each line is a small label.
贝拉把奖杯从门柱上拿下来，放进背包里。屏幕泛起淡淡的蓝光。出现了一张地图，两条线穿过一座绿色的山，每条线下面都有一个小标签。
CLIFF LINE. NINE MINUTES. SAFETY 96.
悬崖线。九分钟。安全 96。
MEADOW LINE. FIFTEEN MINUTES. SAFETY 96.
草甸线。十五分钟。安全 96。
"Two good options," says Orson. "I like the Cliff Line."
“两个好选择，”奥森说，“我喜欢悬崖线。”
"Of course you do. It has the big jumps."
“你当然喜欢。它有大跳台。”
"It is six minutes faster. We can practise the ceremony."
“它快六分钟。我们还能排练一下颁奖仪式。”
"We do not need to practise a ceremony. We need to carry a dented trophy without breaking it."
“我们不需要排练仪式。我们需要带着一个凹了的奖杯走完，不要把它弄坏。”
They look at the map. The two lines glow with the same safety number, as if the cup cannot decide. A tiny message appears under the labels: DECIDE, PLEASE.
他们看着地图。两条线亮着同样的安全数字，好像奖杯自己也无法决定。标签下方出现了一行小字：请做决定。
Orson laughs. "It is asking us."
奥森笑了。“它在问我们。”
"It is not asking. It is broken." Bela frowns and turns the cup in her hands. "The dent has damaged something inside. Before the drone, it always picked one line."
“它不是在问。它是坏了。”贝拉皱着眉，把奖杯在手里转了转。“那个凹痕损坏了里面的东西。无人机出事之前，它总是只选一条线。”
"So we choose. Fast, or slow."
“那我们来选。快的，还是慢的。”
"Fast is a risk," says Bela.
“快的有风险，”贝拉说。
"Slow is boring."
“慢的太无聊。”
Neither of them moves. Behind them, the first racers arrive at the gate. A woman with a clipboard waves them back. Orson has wanted to ride the Cliff Line all summer, and he knows that Bela knows it.
两个人谁也没有动。他们身后，第一批车手到了门口。一位拿着写字夹板的女士挥手让他们退后。奥森整个夏天都想骑悬崖线，他知道贝拉也知道这一点。
Bela takes a breath. "Give me ten seconds," she says. "I want to show you something."
贝拉深吸一口气。“给我十秒钟，”她说，“我想给你看样东西。”
She sets the cup on the ground and lifts the front wheel of her bike. Then she lets it drop onto the gravel. The cup shivers a little, and the blue light on its screen flickers. The map disappears for a second and comes back with the lines in the wrong places.
她把奖杯放在地上，提起自行车的前轮，然后让它落在碎石上。奖杯微微颤抖，屏幕上的蓝光闪烁起来。地图消失了一秒钟，回来时，线条的位置全错了。
"That is a tiny bump," she says. "The Cliff Line has fourteen jumps. If the cup shakes like this fourteen times, the map will be gone. So will the chip inside it."
“这只是一个小小的颠簸，”她说，“悬崖线有十四个跳台。如果奖杯这样晃十四次，地图就没了。里面的芯片也没了。”
Orson stares at the screen. For a moment he says nothing. Then he nods slowly.
奥森盯着屏幕。他一时没有说话。然后他缓缓点头。
"If we lose the map, the winner receives an empty cup," he says.
“要是丢了地图，优胜者拿到的就是一只空杯子，”他说。
"And the dent becomes a crack."
“而且凹痕会变成裂缝。”
"Fine. Meadow Line." He tightens his helmet strap. "But I am leading, and I am setting the speed."
“好吧。草甸线。”他扣紧头盔带。“不过我领头，速度我来定。”
"You can set it. Just do not set it above a gentle roll."
“你可以定。只要别超过缓缓滑行就行。”
Orson smiles. They roll through the gate, and the cup hums in Bela's backpack.
奥森笑了。他们骑过大门，奖杯在贝拉的背包里嗡嗡作响。
The Meadow Line begins with a wide path through tall grass. The ground is soft and smooth, and the bikes make a quiet, even sound. A line of small grey posts stands beside the path. Each post blinks once when the riders pass, and the hum in the backpack changes its note.
草甸线从穿过高草的一条宽路开始。地面柔软平坦，自行车发出安静而均匀的声音。路边立着一排灰色的小桩。车手经过时，每根桩都会闪一下，背包里的嗡嗡声便改变一次音调。
"It is talking to the sensors," says Bela.
“它在跟传感器说话，”贝拉说。
"What is it saying?"
“它在说什么？”
"I do not know. It sounds like a cat."
“我不知道。听起来像只猫。”
After ten minutes the path enters the forest. The trees grow close, and the light turns green and gold. Orson slows down at a wooden bridge over a narrow stream. The wood is old, but the sensor post beside it is new.
十分钟后，小路进入了森林。树木长得很密，光线变成了绿与金。奥森在一座跨过窄溪的木桥前放慢了速度。木头很旧，桥边的传感器桩却是新的。
Halfway across, the cup speaks. It does not use the screen. A small, thin voice comes out of the dent.
骑到桥中间，奖杯说话了。它没有用屏幕。一个细细的小声音从凹痕里传出来。
"Post eleven," it says. "Weak signal."
“十一号桩，”它说，“信号微弱。”
Orson stops so fast that Bela almost hits his back wheel. "Did it just talk?"
奥森猛地一刹车，贝拉差点撞上他的后轮。“它刚才说话了？”
"I think the dent is a crack in the speaker." Bela climbs off her bike and takes the cup out. "Post eleven. Which one is that?"
“我想凹痕是扬声器上的一道裂缝，”贝拉下了车，把奖杯拿出来。“十一号桩。是哪个？”
They look around. The sensor post beside the bridge has a number painted on it in white. It is a seven.
他们环顾四周。桥边的传感器桩上用白漆写着一个数字，是七。
"That is post seven," says Orson.
“那是七号桩，”奥森说。
"Then eleven is somewhere else."
“那十一号就在别的地方。”
The voice speaks again. "Post eleven. Weak signal. Please help."
那个声音又说话了。“十一号桩。信号微弱。请帮忙。”
Bela turns the cup slowly in a circle, the way someone turns a compass. On the screen, an arrow wakes up. It points away from the bridge and away from the trail, into the trees on the right.
贝拉捧着奖杯慢慢转了一圈，像人转罗盘那样。屏幕上，一个箭头醒了过来。它指向离开桥、离开山道的方向，指进右边的树林。
"There is no path there," says Orson.
“那边没有路，”奥森说。
"There is a gap in the ferns."
“蕨草里有一道缝。”
There is. Between two big trunks, a thin line of flattened leaves leads uphill. A bike could squeeze through it, but only just.
确实有。两棵大树干之间，一条被踩平的叶子细线通向山上。一辆自行车可以挤过去，但勉强而已。
Orson looks at his watch. They have twenty minutes left. "The post is probably just broken," he says. "Somebody can fix it after the race."
奥森看了看表。他们还剩二十分钟。“那根桩多半只是坏了，”他说，“比赛后有人会去修的。”
"Probably." Bela does not look away from the arrow. "But the cup has never asked for anything before."
“多半是。”贝拉的目光没有离开箭头。“但是这个奖杯以前从来没有向我们要求过什么。”
"It asked us to decide."
“它要求我们做决定。”
"That was different. That was about the line. This is about the mountain."
“那不一样。那是关于路线的。这是关于这座山的。”
Orson thinks about it. He thinks about the jumps he did not ride and the minutes they have already spent. Then he looks at the small arrow, which trembles as if it is afraid.
奥森想了想。他想到那些没骑成的跳台，想到已经花掉的时间。然后他看着那个小小的箭头，它在发抖，仿佛在害怕。
"Five minutes," he says. "We follow the arrow for five minutes. After that, we turn back, no matter what."
“五分钟，”他说，“我们跟着箭头走五分钟。过了五分钟，无论如何都掉头。”
"Agreed."
“同意。”
They push their bikes into the gap. The ferns brush their knees, and the ground tilts upward. After three minutes they find an old stone marker half hidden by moss. Beside it stands a post that nobody has painted. The post is cracked, and its small green light is dying.
他们把车推进缝隙里。蕨草擦过他们的膝盖，地面向上倾斜。三分钟后，他们发现了一块被苔藓遮住一半的旧石碑。旁边立着一根没有人刷过漆的桩。桩子裂了，上面小小的绿灯正在熄灭。
Bela presses the cup against the post. The light flickers, goes bright, and holds firm. On the cup's screen, a number appears.
贝拉把奖杯按在桩上。灯闪了闪，亮了起来，然后稳稳地亮着。奖杯的屏幕上出现了一个数字。
ELEVEN. SIGNAL RESTORED.
十一。信号已恢复。
"We did it," says Orson, and he feels very proud.
“我们做到了，”奥森说，心里非常自豪。
They hurry back to the bridge and ride the last kilometre faster than they intended. The crowd at the finish hut cheers as they roll in. The woman with the clipboard looks at her watch and shakes her head in amazement. They are two minutes early.
他们匆匆赶回桥边，骑完最后一公里，比原本打算的快多了。终点小屋前的人群在他们骑进来时欢呼起来。拿夹板的女士看了看表，惊讶地摇着头。他们提前了两分钟。
Bela lifts the cup from her backpack and sets it on the table. The screen shows the trail map one last time. Both the Cliff Line and the Meadow Line have gone dark.
贝拉从背包里捧出奖杯，放到桌子上。屏幕最后一次显示了山道地图。悬崖线和草甸线都暗了下去。
In their place, a new line glows white. It starts at the finish hut and passes the stone marker in the ferns. Then it climbs above the top of the trail, where Orson has never seen a path.
取而代之的是一条新的白线亮了起来。它从终点小屋出发，经过蕨草中的石碑，然后爬到山道的尽头之上，那里是奥森从未见过有路的地方。
Bela looks at him. He looks at her.
贝拉看着他。他看着她。
Neither of them says a word, and the cup begins to hum again.
他们谁也没有说一句话，奖杯又开始嗡嗡地响了起来。
