Could you survive the real Twilight Zone? - Philip Renaud and Kenneth Kostel

譯者: Claire Hsu 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

You're traveling deep beneath the ocean's surface,

你正遨遊於海洋的深處，

where faint lights flicker and toothy grins flash.

那裡搖曳著微弱的光線， 露齒的奸笑不時閃過眼前。

You are now entering... the Twilight Zone.

你現在進到了海洋的 「陰陽魔界」──中水層。

Your mission is to survive these depths

你的任務是在這個深度生存，

and journey to the surface after sundown to feed.

並在日落之後游到表面覓食。

You may now pick your player.

現在，你可以選擇玩家角色。

Just kidding— you don’t have a choice.

開玩笑的──你沒有選擇。

You’re a hatchetfish.

你是一隻星光魚。

And almost everything else is trying to eat you.

而幾乎所有的生物都想吃掉你。

The tools at your disposal are a uniquely shaped body,

你用來對治的工具是形狀獨特的身體、

shiny scales, and glowing spots on your belly.

閃亮的魚鱗，以及你肚子上 發亮的斑紋。

You’re going to need a lot of skill and a little luck.

你會需要很多技巧和一點運氣。

Your first challenge is to begin your upwards trek.

你的第一個挑戰是開始往上跋涉。

Your swim bladder allows you to precisely control your buoyancy.

你的浮鰾讓你得以精準地控制沉浮。

Come nightfall, you slowly fill it up,

夜晚來臨，你慢慢給浮鰾充氣，

becoming less dense and rising towards the surface.

使你的身體比重變小、往水面上升。

You can’t swim fast, but your narrow build makes you maneuverable.

你游不快，但是狹窄的體型 使你更加靈活。

This is especially important since predators could spring out of the darkness

這點尤其重要， 因為掠食者隨時會在黑暗中

at any moment.

突然出現。

In fact, a fangtooth is gliding beneath you.

事實上，有隻狼牙魚正在你底下掠過。

It has the ocean’s biggest tooth-to-body size ratio.

這種魚有海洋動物中 佔身體比例最大的牙齒。

Food is hard to come by in the Twilight Zone,

在中水層裡，食物很難取得，

so predators have fearsome adaptations to make every attack count.

所以掠食者演化出嚇人的特徵， 讓每一次出擊都不白費。

The fangtooth’s skin is ultra-black:

狼牙魚皮很黑，

it reflects less than 0.5% of the light that hits it,

顏色深到受光照時， 只反射不到 0.5% 的光，

making this fish particularly hard to spot.

讓這種魚特別難被看到。

Fortunately, the bioluminescent organs lining your belly are regulated

幸好，你可以調節肚子上 會發出生物光的器官，

to match the intensity and pattern of the faint light from the ocean’s surface.

以模擬來自海洋表層 微弱光線的強度與規律。

This counter-illumination disguises your silhouette.

這種消光機制可以隱藏你的輪廓。

So when the fangtooth gazes upwards, you’re almost invisible.

所以當狼牙魚往上注視， 你幾乎是隱形的。

A bright spot appears in the distance.

遠處出現一個亮點。

You go to check it out, but something’s looming in the darkness.

你上前查看，但有東西 自黑暗逐漸逼近。

The light is a bioluminescent lure belonging to an anglerfish.

這道光是鮟鱇魚會發光的誘餌。

You dart away before it quickly opens its jaws,

你在他迅速張開大嘴前就迅速遠離，

sucking in a hapless fish that got too close.

有隻魚游得太近，不幸被大口吞下。

Another narrow escape, but you’re nearly there.

又一次死裡逃生，但是你就快到了。

Although more than 90% of deep-sea creatures are bioluminescent,

雖然超過 90% 的深海生物會發光，

only one group produces the color red: dragonfishes.

但只有其中一種可以發出 紅色的光，即是巨口魚。

One of them is near.

不遠處就有一隻。

Because red light is quickly absorbed by seawater,

因為紅光很快就會被海水吸收，

most deep-sea inhabitants can’t see it.

許多棲息深海的動物看不見紅光。

The dragonfish emits red light from organs by its eyes,

巨口魚從眼睛周邊的器官發出紅光，

using an invisible headlight to locate unsuspecting prey

使用這道隱形的頭燈尋找 毫無防備的獵物，

that its scoops into its cavernous jaw.

並將其一口吞入寬大的虎口裡。

You can’t see your enemy,

你看不見你的敵人，

but your silvery, mirror-like scales scatter and soften direct light,

但是你銀亮如鏡的魚鱗 分散減弱直射的光線，

keeping you hidden.

把你藏的很好。

After three close calls, you reach... the Photic Zone.

三次僥倖脫險後，你抵達了透光層。

You’ve just participated in the world’s largest migration.

你剛才就參與了世界上 最盛大的洄游現象。

It takes place every night as trillions of organisms rise from the ocean’s depths

這現象每晚都會發生， 幾兆的生物從海洋深處湧升，

to enjoy the surface’s rich resources under the cover of darkness.

在黑暗的掩護之下 享受表層的豐富資源。

The payoff is huge.

旅程的回報十分豐厚。

Here, your light-sensitive eyes take in a buffet of small crustaceans

這裡，你那雙對光敏感的眼睛 看到的是充滿小型浮游生物

and gelatinous zooplankton.

和膠狀浮游生物的大餐。

During the day, phytoplankton use sunlight to turn dissolved carbon dioxide

浮游植物在白天期間利用陽光 將溶解的二氧化碳轉變為能量，

into energy and build their own cells.

並用來建造自己體內的細胞。

They become food for small grazers, forming the base of the food web,

它們成為小型刮食動物的食物來源， 形成食物網的底層，

which extends back down to the Twilight Zone— and beyond.

食物網隨著深度延伸至 中水層，甚至更遠。

Organic matter generated up here— like bits of skin, poop, and dead animals—

有機物質在這裡產生， 像是皮屑、排泄物、屍體的碎屑，

eventually sinks or is transported in the stomachs of animals

這些物質最終會下沉， 或是在動物從每晚的迴游

returning from their nightly migrations.

回來之後，被吃下肚。

These materials then feed the creatures below that don't migrate.

這些材料接著餵養底下 不會迴游的生物。

This ensures that some of the carbon from the atmosphere

這些確保大氣層中部份的碳

is locked away in the ocean for hundreds of years to come.

被鎖在海洋中數百年。

That's why this process is known as the biological carbon pump.

這就是為何這過程被稱作生物碳幫浦。

Without it, there’d be much more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,

如果沒有生物碳幫浦， 大氣層會存在非常多二氧化碳，

where it contributes to climate change.

並造成氣候變遷。

Your avatar, the hatchetfish, is part of this crucial process.

你的角色，星光魚，也是 這關鍵過程的一份子。

Your first quest is complete,

你已完成第一項任務，

but you must repeat this journey every night for the rest of your life.

但你必須在「魚生」中的每晚 都進行這趟旅程。

As the sun rises, the surface becomes dangerous,

太陽升起，表層變得危險，

and you descend back into the shadows of the Twilight Zone.

而你回歸沒入中水層的陰影之中。