All Cats Are Grey 凡猫皆灰

西蒙·克里斯蒂安森 孙加

An uncertain outcome.

一個不确定的结果。

Test failure： Not- （A AND Not-A）.

Expected value： True.

Result： Indeterminate.

I stared at the screen for several minutes， sighed， and cancelled my appointments for the rest of the day. I would have to see Nicodemus. It had been too long since my last visit to the Copenhagen Centre for Experimental Logic. I cursed myself for not being more vigilant in my duties， grabbed my coat， and went out.

A light rain fell from the grey sky， but the drops slid off the surface of the coat， leaving no moisture behind.

My feet still remembered the way. Less than an hour later， I reached the end of the winding path leading to the entrance of the centre， at the top of the hill just outside the city.

The guard at the gatehouse did not recognize me. I had been lax. He was wearing a blue uniform with the logo of the centre， a large stylized ‘P， embroidered in silver on the front.

“Halt，” he said， patting the tranquillizer gun at his side. In the shadows behind the guardhouse， an Omni-dog patrolled the titanium gates. I made a mental note about the security precautions.

“I am here to see Nicodemus.”

“Do you have an appointment？”

“No.”

The guard waited， apparently expecting more information. When none was forthcoming， he picked up his communicator and had a short， whispered conversation with whoever was on the other end.

“You may pass， sir.” He pushed a button， and the gate slowly opened. The Omni-dog retreated into the shadows.

I made my way through the labyrinthine corridors of the C-CEL complex. Logicians in lab coats stopped and stared as I passed. It was good to see that some people still remembered.

When I reached the door to Nicodemus office， I entered without knocking.

Nicodemus sat behind his desk. He had lost weight， but not much. His ginger hair was still unruly. Grey streaks1 had appeared in his beard.

“I have been expecting you，” he said.

“I should hope so. One of my fundamental tests failed earlier today. What the hell is going on？ Your isolation is supposed to be state-of-the-art.”

Nicodemus licked his lips. “I know. We are just having some… minor issues. Nothing to be concerned about. Coffee？”

I retrieved a soy cigarette from my coat pocket， lit it， and inhaled the invigorating smoke. “Look， Nico， level with me here， will you？ Were both on the same side. We both want to keep the public safe from your bullshit.” The smoke drifted from my mouth as I spoke.

He nodded. “First of all， I would like to remind you of the importance of the work we do here. There is certainly no need to shut us down， like you did with the Institute of Esoteric Analysis. Why， just last month， we managed to completely extricate the set of all sets not a member of themselves from itself. This development is expected to have wide applications in the field of experimental philosophy， and …”

I yawned.

“Sorry，” said Nicodemus. “Anyway， lately we have been doing experiments into paradox， using Schr?dingers cat as a basis， in collaboration with the Department of Arcane Physics. We procured a cat from a local shelter， placed it in an isolated titanium box in a properly isolated test chamber， and went to work.

“At first， the experiment seemed to be a complete success. We managed to keep the cat in a superposition of dead and alive indefinitely， providing a fantastic test ensemble.

“We all went out to celebrate， giddy with the possibilities， trusting in the automated security protocols. When we came back， the lab was in disarray. The isolated titanium box had shattered， leaving mangled pieces all over the room. Even the walls were dented. There was no sign of the cat.

“We thought the wave function must have collapsed， overloading the containment protocols but not leaving anything behind.”

He placed his face in his hands and shuddered. “Then Sonya turned up dead. There were scratches all over her body. But also， simultaneously， there were no scratches. She remained dead， but the cause was indeterminate. It took hours for the state of the body to stabilize！”

He sobbed into his hands.

I took another drag2 of my cigarette. “So， thats why my test failed. Your outer containment protocols are insufficient to handle such a pure paradox. The indeterminacy is leaking into the surrounding area.”

“Yes. We believe that the cat is still loose in the centre， unobserved， possibly driven mad by its paradoxical state. We have been trying to observe it， to collapse the state， but with no luck so far.”

“I understand，” I said. “This is more serious than I thought.”

The fluorescent lights above flickered and went out， leaving the office in pitch darkness. I blinked. Nicodemus swore. The lights came back.

I frowned. “I thought this place was supposed to have multiple redundant back-up generators？”

“It has，” said Nicodemus. “Its a side effect. The lights are working， but they are also not working， if you understand.”

I understood all too well.

“Now， where is that flashlight，” said Nicodemus， opening and closing several desk drawers.

I heard something by the door， scratching， and turned around. Another sound followed， simultaneously a high-pitched shrill meowing and no sound at all.

I steadied myself against the desk and fought back the nausea.

“Doesnt hearing count as an observation？” I asked.

“By God， I wish it did，” said Nicodemus.

The lights flickered again and went out.

The door creaked open.

I prayed for the lights to come back on， to collapse the options， but the room remained dark; indeterminate.

测试失败：非—（A且非A）

期待值：真

结果：不确定

我瞪着屏幕，几分钟后叹了口气，取消了当天所有的预约。非得去见尼科迪默斯不可了。我已经太久没去哥本哈根实验逻辑中心（C-CEL）。我骂了几句，责备自己对工作不够上心，抓起外套，出了门。

天色灰蒙蒙的，飘着小雨。雨滴从外套表面滑下，没留一点湿痕。

我的脚还记得去中心的路。不到一小时，我就到了城外不远处的小山，沿着蜿蜒的山路走到尽头，来到山顶的中心大门前。

门卫室的保安不认识我。我太懈怠，来得太少了。保安身穿蓝色制服，胸前用银线绣着中心的标志：一个大大的花体字母“P”。

“站住。”他开口道，拍拍身侧的麻醉枪。门卫室后头的阴影中，一只威风大狗在两扇钛质大门后巡逻。我心中暗暗记下这些安保措施。

“我来见尼科迪默斯。”

“有预约吗？”

“没有。”

保安没动，显然在等我进一步说明。见我不开口，他便拿起对讲机，跟那一头的不知什么人轻声低语几句。

“您可以进去了，先生。”他按下按钮，大门缓缓开启。大狗退入阴影中。

我在C-CEL大楼迷宫似的走廊中穿行。见我经过，身穿实验室白大褂的逻辑学家们停下手头的工作，盯着我看。还有人记得我，很好。

我来到尼科迪默斯的办公室门口，直接推门而入。

尼科迪默斯坐在办公桌后头。他比从前稍微瘦了些，姜黄色头发依旧乱蓬蓬，胡子有了花白的迹象。

“我一直在等您。”他说。

“你有准备就好。今天早些时候，我有个极为重要的测试失败了。这到底是怎么回事？你这儿的隔离措施本该是最尖端的哟。”

尼科迪默斯舔舔嘴唇。“我知道。只是出了点……小问题，没什么可担心的。来杯咖啡？”

我从外套口袋里掏出根大豆烟卷点上，深深吸了口提神的烟雾。“行了，尼科，坦白说了吧，行吗？我是站在你这边的，我们都想保护公众不受你那套胡扯的伤害。”我说着，嘴里飘出烟雾来。

他点点头。“首先，我想重申一下我们工作的重要性。您关闭了秘传分析研究所，但您绝对不用把我们这儿也关了。上个月，我们还彻底解决了‘一个包含所有集合的集合，自身却不属于这些集合这一悖论。这一成果会在实验哲学中得到广泛应用，而且……”

我打了個呵欠。

“抱歉。”尼科迪默斯说，“总之，我们最近一直在跟秘传物理部合作，以‘薛定谔的猫为基础，进行悖论实验。我们从本地动物救护站弄了只猫，放进隔离的钛盒子里，再把盒子放进隔离良好的测试室，随即开始工作。

“起先，实验似乎非常成功。我们让猫无限保持在既死又生的叠加态，提供了妙不可言的测试系综。

“我们想到这一成果将会带来的种种可能，高兴得忘乎所以，加上信任这里的自动化安全协议，于是全体出门庆贺。等我们回来，实验室一片狼藉。隔离的钛盒子碎了，金属碎片在房间里撒了一地，连墙壁上都有凹痕。盒子里的猫不见踪影。

“我们猜测是波函数坍缩了，导致遏制协议过载，却什么都没留下。”

他把脸埋在双手中，打着哆嗦。“接着，索妮娅忽然死了，身上全是抓痕，同时却一条抓痕都没有。她保持着死亡状态，死因却不确定。过了好几个小时，尸体的状态才稳定下来！”

他蒙着脸抽泣。

我又深吸了一口烟。“看来，这就是我的测试失败的原因。你的外层遏制协议没法处理如此纯粹的悖论。不确定性正在向周围渗漏。”

“对。我们认为，那只猫还在实验中心到处乱窜，没被观察到，可能已经被自身的悖论状态逼疯了。我们一直在想法子观察它，好让叠加态坍缩，却徒劳无功。”

“明白了。”我说，“情况比我想的还要严重。”

头顶的日光灯闪了闪，灭了。办公室顿时一片漆黑。我眨了眨眼睛，尼科迪默斯骂了一句。灯又亮了。

我皱了皱眉头。“这地方不是有好几个备用发电机吗？”

“确实有。”尼科迪默斯说，“这是事故的副作用。这些灯亮着，同时也没亮——不知这么说你明不明白。”

我再明白不过了。

“哎，手电筒在哪儿？”尼科迪默斯一边说，一边拉开好几个抽屉又关上。

我听到办公室门口响起抓挠声，于是转过身。紧接着又有某个声响，既是尖锐的高音喵喵叫，同时却什么声响都没有。

我背靠办公桌，稳住身体，尽力克制腹中的恶心感。

“听到声音难道不算观察？”我问。

“上帝作证，我真希望算。”尼科迪默斯回答。

日光灯又闪了闪，灭了。

门吱呀一声开了。

我祈祷灯能再亮，让多种可能性坍缩。但房间却仍然漆黑一片;仍然不确定。           □

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）