【R&G】射杀和更多章首故事 p.106

[妖猫]

这不是第一次，当然也绝非最后一次有子弹扎进了Vespa的躯体中。但这次绝对是在他处*讲的故事里最特别的一个，只要他不得不找的街头医生不往他的中心静脉导管力添点料，为了身体部件而出卖他。
故事可能乍一看很让人难以相信。他肯定不会信这种故事，哪怕是从他最亲近的朋友嘴里说出来。见鬼，谁会信？他一定得没喝酒的时候讲，免得人说这是他喝合成酒说出来的醉话。他还得早点讲这个故事，但也别太早。他不想让人觉得他迫不及待想把故事抖出来，但他也不想看上去就是想讲个比上个狂奔者的暗影故事更厉害的故事。可这样一个故事又该怎么开始讲起？
*译注：他处，The Other Place，一家西雅图的高档餐厅

劇透 -   :

It was neither the first, nor likely the last, time a bullet had found its way into Vespa’s torso. But it was most certainly going to be the most unique of tales to tell down at The Other Place. That was, as long as the chop doc he’d had to resort to didn’t just slip a little something into the IV line and sell him off for parts.
The story might even come off as unbelievable. He certainly wouldn’t believe a tale like his, even if it came from one of his closest chummers. Hell, who would? He’d definitely have to tell it sober, so no one could say it was the synthbooze talking. And he’d need to tell it early in the night, but not too early. He didn’t want to seem like he was just rattling off stories, but he also didn’t want to look like the guy out to one-up the last runner’s amazing tale of the shadows. But how do you start off a story like that?

也许他得要Chino帮他一把，让他朋友问自己上次狂奔怎么样。问题是，Chino很聪明，他看到话头就肯定不会错过。而且虽然他把南加利福尼亚的本地狂奔者当朋友，街头的忠诚可不是两头平衡的。关系有点糟。
医生擦去了他身旁的另一条血迹，准备用那个看上去像是长嘴钳的吓人东西再扎进去。他先试着用自己的脑子重新梳理这个故事。这基本上就是两个不可能的故事塞进一个故事里。街头传奇就这么闯进生活，直来到他的面前。

劇透 -   :

Maybe he’d ask Chino to help him out, maybe get his pal to ask him about his last run. Problem was, Chino was smart and he’d know a lead-in when he saw one. And though he thought of the SoCal native runner as a pal, loyalties didn’t always run both ways on the streets. It was a rough spot to be in.
As the doc wiped another rivulet of blood from his side and prepped to dive back in with the creepy longnosed-plier-looking things, he tried to recount the tale in his own head first. It was basically two unbelievable stories in one. Street legends come to life right before his eyes.

他在那，顺着他信任的猎人的目光向下看，准备好放倒这个满嘴垃圾话的兽人，这个活能让他从联络那里赚到一根让人满意的认证信用棒，而这个兽人胆敢——居然敢！——动手。智能链运作清晰，在他额头上留下一个完美的洞，他弹仓里的是亚音速弹，不过他还没拧上消音器。他几乎忍不住要在嘴臭的兽人头上开一枪。事实上，他只忍了10秒，直到兽人说了有关他妈妈和巨魔的什么事情，还有吃花的*可能是素食者，但很喜欢巨魔的肉。这只会让信用棒里的钱减少-10%，所以他想着“就这样吧”。为了妈妈的名誉，值了。
他拉动扳机的时候，他感觉到了一股令人惊喜的满足感。这股满足感很快被惊讶冲刷殆尽，因为那兽人做了不可能之事。两次。第一次，这个有着朝天鼻和突出眉骨的泛人类大块头猛兽，居然动得像是一条闪烁的蛇……等等……在空中夹住了那该死的子弹。用他的食指和拇指夹住了子弹，就像抓住一只萤火虫一样。
*译注：dandy-eater即dandelion eater，是对精灵的鄙语

劇透 -   :

There he was, looking down the sights of his trusty Manhunter, getting ready to drop the trash-talking ork whose capture would net him a healthy certified stick from Renraku, when the ork dared—dared!— him to take the shot. Smartlink was running clean and had a perfect bead on the guy’s forehead, and he was loaded with subsonic rounds, though he had yet to screw on the silencer. The itch to pop the mouthy ork in the forehead was nigh irresistible. In fact, he only managed to resist it for about ten seconds, until the ork said something about his mother and a troll and how dandy-eaters may be vegetarians but they love the trollmeat. It would only drop the stick value by ten percent, so he figured “what the heck.” Mom’s honor is worth it.
When he squeezed the trigger, he felt this amazing rush of satisfaction. The rush was quickly crushed in a wave of utter astonishment as the ork did the impossible. Twice. First, the big meaty beast of a metahuman, with his upturned piggy nose and protruding brow, moved like a flashing serpent and … wait for it … snagged the fucking bullet out of the air. Caught it between his index finger and thumb like he was snatching a lightning bug from the air.

然后他森森地笑了，露出满嘴的完美兽人牙，把子弹轻轻弹了回来。只是用中指和拇指夹住，食指快速一弹，子弹就已经快到在空中呼啸。它射回来的力道足有.45 ACP*那么大，而Vespa快速转身想要躲过它。他的方向完全错了——他没有躲开子弹，而是让它击中了他夹克侧面的薄装甲。子弹自如地穿过这更薄的这部分装甲，就像是牙齿咬过刚出炉的甜甜圈。
也许这是巧合。也许子弹恰巧被他没看到的兽人的朋友射出的一枚子弹击歪，而那发子弹才是伤到了Vespa的。但他想了一次，又想了一次，确定他没改自己的故事，否则天打雷劈。他亲眼见证了活的街头传奇，而且学到了重要一课：如果奖金高到你丢掉10%也觉得无所谓，那它一定有它该死的原因。
*译注：.45英寸口径柯尔特自动手枪弹，一种低初速高杀伤的手枪弹。

劇透 -   :

Then he smiled, an eerie smile, full of perfect ork teeth, and flicked the bullet right back. Just a quick one-finger flick from his middle finger and thumb, but enough to make the bullet scream. It shot back with the force of a full 15 gram load, and Vespa spun quickly to try to avoid it. His move was exactly wrong—instead of dodging the bullet, he let it hit the thin armoring on the side of his jacket. The bullet punched past the thinner armor like teeth slipping through a warm donut.
Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe the bullet had hit right when some unseen chummer of the ork’s fired a round of his own, and that was what had done the damage to Vespa. But he thought it over, and thought it over again, and decided he’d be fragged if he was changing his story. He had witnessed a street legend in action, and learned an important lesson as well: If the bounty is so high you can drop ten percent and not really care, it was that high for a damn good reason.