The World Machine | Think Like A Coder, Ep 10

翻译人员: Zizhuo Liang 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

As Ethic falls, she remembers.

当艾斯克（Ethic）跌落时，

She remembers the world before they unearthed the crystal.

她想起了这块水晶出世前的世界，

She remembers the glee she felt when she built her first robot.

也想起了当她打造出 第一个机器人时那种油然而生的喜悦。

But mostly she remembers the friends she’s made

但更多的是

她这些天所结交的那些朋友：

these last few days:

courageous Adila and her resistance movement.

勇敢的阿迪拉（Adila） 和她不畏强权的抵抗运动。

Octavia’s sacrifice to keep the guards distracted.

奥克塔维亚（Octavia） 牺牲了自己，好让卫兵们分心。

Lemma and her idealistic drive to cure everyone.

莱玛（Lemma）的理想主义 不断激励她去治愈每一个人。

And Hedge.

还有赫奇（Hedge）——

Her creation, her responsibility, her failure… her betrayer.

她的作品、她的担当、 她的失败... 她的背叛者。

Hedge, who convinced her to collect the three nodes

赫奇说服了她去一起收集

that she never actually needed.

她根本不需要的三个节点。

For Ethic remembers how to operate the World Machine.

若要让艾斯克 记起如何操纵世界机器，

If only she could get a second chance at it.

她需要第二次机会。

Adila has been in radio contact with Octavia,

阿迪拉一直在用无线电联络

whom the robots captured and imprisoned in the same jail that held Ethic.

被机器人抓获，曾与艾斯克 被囚禁在一起的奥克塔维亚。

Ethic explains that Hedge has manipulated them all,

艾斯克解释说， 赫奇操纵了所有人，

and will now try to break down the Bradbarrier

并准备尝试打破布拉德屏障，

and cover the entire world in a giant maze,

还要用一个巨大的迷宫 来覆盖整个世界，

unless they can stop him.

除非她们能够阻止他。

But she has a plan:

但是她有一个计划：

Ethic herself will go to the crystal at the center of the maze

艾斯克将只身前往 迷宫中心的水晶，

and use its powers to stop Hedge.

然后用她自己的力量阻止赫奇。

Meanwhile, Adila and Lemma will do whatever they can to slow Hedge down.

与此同时，阿迪拉和莱玛 会尽她们所能拖住赫奇。

As Ethic weaves her way towards the innermost maze,

当艾斯克向迷宫深处飞驰时，

her radio picks up a transmission.

她的收音机接收到一个信号。

Octavia has freed hundreds of members of the resistance from stasis.

奥克塔维亚已经解放了 数以百计的抵抗军成员。

Together, they’ve staged a jailbreak and overwhelmed the guards.

他们一起策划了一场 压垮卫兵的越狱。

The resistance has access to the World Machine,

抵抗军可以进入世界机器，

but they don’t know how to use it; they’ll need Ethic for that.

但他们并不知道如何使用它； 他们需要艾斯克的帮助。

All they have at their disposal are nearly limitless spools of wire.

他们拥有的仅仅是 用之不尽的线轴。

The strands are durable, but prisoners can break them deliberately

这些线非常结实耐用， 但囚犯们也可以在必要的时候

if they need to.

切断它们。

Ethic reaches the entrance to the inner most maze… and it’s sealed from within.

艾斯克到达了最里面迷宫的入口 ...这迷宫是从内部封死的。

She remembers a few things from when she flew over the maze days earlier.

她记起了几天前 飞跃迷宫时的一些事情。

It centers on the crystal.

迷宫以水晶为中心。

There are many dead ends, but no paths that loop back on themselves.

那里有许多条死胡同， 但没有一条会绕回到起点。

Ethic has one opportunity to radio the members of the resistance

艾斯克仅有一次机会，

可以在抵抗军成员 跳入迷宫寻找出口前，

a simple set of instructions

before they plunge into the labyrinth in search of the exit.

用无线电向他们 发出一条简单的指令。

What directions can she give them so they can quickly navigate the maze,

什么样的指令 能让他们快速穿过迷宫，

open the door, and guide Ethic straight back to the crystal?

打开门，然后引领 艾斯克走向水晶呢？

Pause now to figure it out for yourself.

[ 请在此暂停，并自行解题 ]

Hint in 3

[ 答案揭晓：3 ]

Hint in 2

[ 答案揭晓：2 ]

Hint in 1

Here’s a hint:

[ 答案揭晓：1 ]

这里有一个提示：

One of the challenges here is to find a way to indicate where dead ends are,

这里的挑战之一是找到一种 可以指明死胡同位置的方法，

so that the resistance members don’t keep going down them.

这样抵抗军成员 就不会一直走下去。

Try simplifying the maze to something like this.

试着把迷宫简化成这样。

Let’s say you’ve just hit this dead end, then came back to this intersection.

假设你刚撞到这个死胡同， 然后又回到这个十字路口。

What could you do to show the next person who gets here

你如何让下一个来这里的人知道

that they don’t need to explore that path?

他们不需要探索这条路径？

Pause now to figure it out yourself.

[ 请在此暂停，并自行解题 ]

Solution in 3

[ 答案揭晓：3 ]

Solution in 2

[ 答案揭晓：2 ]

Solution in 1

[ 答案揭晓：1 ]

Most programming puzzles involve giving instructions to a single actor

大多数编程难题都涉及到 向单个参与者发出指令，

so that they can accomplish a goal.

以使他们能够完成一个目标。

Instead, here we have a swarm of individuals,

与之不同的是，这里有一群人，

each of whom can follow basic instructions.

每个人都可以遵循基本的指令。

That’s unusual in programming, but not unheard of;

这在编程中并不常见， 但却并非闻所未闻；

researchers are currently experimenting with swarms of small robots

研究人员目前正在用 成群的小型机器人进行实验，

to do things like conduct search and rescue missions.

让它们来完成 像搜索救援这样的任务。

The prisoners aren’t robots, but for Ethic’s purposes they’ll act like them.

囚犯们并不是机器人，但对艾斯克来说， 他们会表现得像机器人一样。

And by working together they can achieve their goal much more efficiently.

然后通过合作，他们便可以 更有效的实现他们的目标。

Because you have a lot of prisoners, you’ll want them to cover a lot of ground.

因为你有很多囚犯， 所以你需要他们能覆盖很多地方。

This matches up well to a maze-mapping technique called a depth-first search.

这与一种叫深度优先搜索的 迷宫测绘技术非常相似。

It’s called that because it involves going as deeply down a path as possible

之所以这样叫， 是因为它要你在回去之前

before going back.

尽可能深的探索每一条路。

In other words, if you had a maze like this,

换句话说，如果你有一个 像这样的迷宫，

you’d want to explore all the way down one of these branches

你会沿着其中的 一个支路探索到底，

before returning to this intersection and trying another.

然后再回到这个十字路口 尝试下一条路。

Everyone needs a clear set of instructions for what they should do.

每个人都需要一套明确的指示， 来说明他们应该做什么。

Like — first, tie down the loose end of your wire by the crystal,

比如，首先将电线的 松动段绑在水晶附近，

so it leads back there.

这样的话 它会引领你回到那里。

If you find the door, open it and hand your spool to Ethic.

如果你找到门，打开它， 然后将线轴交给艾斯克。

If you’re in a passageway, keep going until you hit a dead end

如果你在一个通道里， 你要一直走，

or an intersection.

直到你碰到死胡同或十字路口。

But what happens at either of those places?

但是在十字路口 或是死胡同又该做什么呢？

If someone encounters a dead end,

如果有人遇到死胡同， 他们应该原路返回到

they should backtrack to the last intersection.

碰到死胡同之前的一个十字路口。

But they also need to mark it, so no one wastes time and goes back there.

但他们应该做好标记， 这样后来的人就不会重蹈覆辙了。

The best tool for that is the wire—

最好的工具是电线 —— 一个办法是

one option is to break both sections that lead down the dead end path,

将导向死胡同的电线从两头砍断，

and tie the spool to the wire that leads back to the crystal.

然后将线轴绑到 通向水晶的电线上。

The broken wires tell everyone else who gets to this intersection

断掉的电线告诉 其他路过这个路口的人

“Don’t go this way.”

“别走这条路。”

They’ll also guarantee the final path will lead straight to the crystal,

这些断掉的电线还将保证 最终的路将通往水晶，

rather than visiting dead ends.

而不是死胡同。

Ok, so let’s say someone’s at an intersection.

好，让我们假设 有人站在十字路口。

Now which way should they go?

现在他应该走哪条路呢？

The first priority is to have everyone cover fresh ground

第一要务应是尽可能让每个人 都去探索没有走过的路，

to minimize doubling up.

以此减少重复探索 相同路径的几率。

So if there’s no wire down a direction, go that way.

所以如果有一条路上没有电线， 那就朝那个方向走。

If there are multiple choices, choose one at random.

如果有多个选择， 那就随机选一个。

What if they’re in a sub-section like this, with 3 marked dead ends?

如果他们在一个十字路口 碰到了三个标记过的死胡同呢？

The only thing to do is to go back where they came from.

唯一能做的只有回到 他们原来的地方。

We now know that this whole section is one big dead end,

我们现在知道这一整个路段 就是一个大的死胡同，

so they should break and retie the wire when they get to the next intersection.

所以当他们到达下一个十字路口时， 他们应该断开并重新固定电线。

But let’s say they get there, and find two options where someone’s exploring,

但是假设他们到了那里后发现 有两个人正在探索，

but no one’s hit a dead end yet.

但还没有人走到死胡同呢？

They may as well choose at random and go help explore that path further,

这样的话，他们可以选择 去帮助探索任意一条路，

in case it’s the right direction for the exit.

以防这正是通向出口的路。

This isn’t the only way to solve this challenge, but in any correct method,

这并不是解决这一挑战的唯一方法，

但使用任何正确的方法， 最终都会有人找到出口。

someone will eventually find the way out.

The moment of truth will be when Ethic takes their wire and follows it back,

决定性时刻将是 艾斯克顺着电线，

inward towards her goal.

跟随它走向她的目标。

The great thing about this method is that Ethic’s path is straight and true.

这种办法的好处是，艾斯克的道路 会是直接而且准确的。

The maze doesn’t have loops, so there's only one path from door to crystal.

迷宫没有环路， 所以从门到水晶只有一条路。

And because everyone has been breaking and retying their wires,

而且因为每个人都在剪断 或是重新调整电线，

Ethic won’t go down any dead-end paths.

所以理论上艾莉克 不会走入任何死胡同。

Face to face with her creation, Ethic has a choice:

面对她的作品， 艾斯克需要做出选择：

she can destroy Hedge, or set things right.

摧毁赫奇， 或者重新对它进行设置。

All of this destruction was her fault, not Hedge’s;

这所有的破坏都是她的错， 而不是赫奇的；

it was her oversight that instructed him to build an infinitely large maze.

是她的疏忽，才导致赫奇 建造了一个无限大的迷宫。

His decisions were misguided, but everything he did,

他的决定是被误导的，

但他所做的一切， 都是按照他的程序来做的。

he did to follow his programming.

Ethic accesses his core and fixes her error with a single number:

艾斯克进入到他的核心， 并用一个数字修正了她的错误：

the size the maze was supposed to reach.

迷宫本应达到的大小。

Ethic has prevented catastrophe

艾斯克阻止了这场灾难，

and regained possession of the World Machine.

并重新获得了世界机器的所有权。

Her work with Adila, Octavia, and Lemma has already started to help people

她和阿迪拉、奥克塔维亚， 还有莱玛的研究，

and heal the world’s turmoil, but there’s much work to be done.

已经开始帮助恢复 这个混乱世界的秩序，

但她们的工作还远不止于此。

With the forgetting food out of their systems,

随着遗忘果实在体内消耗殆尽， 人们将重新成为他们自己，

the people will become themselves again.

They’ll regain their will to create and progress.

重新获得创新和进取的意志，

They’ll be free to break down the walls they’ve built between each other.

并可以自由的拆毁 在彼此之间筑起的墙。

And they may come to approach their future with a little less greed

对他们来说，通往未来的道路 也许会少一点贪欲，

and a little more... Ethic

多一点道德（Ethic）的陪伴。 （此处为一语双关）