Mr. Dolly's Game III

Gazing out at the glistening coastline and distant skyscrapers, a long-forgotten name came to Ardelia's mind — Siesta, a volcanic city wrapped in warm memories.

But, this was La Fantoma — the gem of Band, the gilded city of Talos-II.

As a renowned geologist, Ardelia was invited to speak at a major academic forum on "Order in the New Geological Ecology of Talos-II." She had only planned to deliver a standard presentation, but to her surprise, her speech caused quite a stir.

Corporate representatives quickly surrounded her, sharing blueprints for a new industrial park and asking for her thoughts. Senior researchers eagerly shared their latest findings, hoping to spark potential collaborations with Ardelia. Even government officials brought thick binders and invited her to join their next major project.

Just like that, a quiet field researcher had become the star of the show.

What began as simple handshakes soon turned into warm compliments — "You're an inspiration to us all." In the elevator, someone stopped Ardelia with a notebook, asking for an autograph to hang in his lab. At crosswalks, kids would shout, "I wanna be a scientist too!" Even a street vendor handed her a soda, saying, "My nephew loves geology — got any book recommendations?"

At first, Ardelia found it moving. She nodded politely to every earnest face, patiently answered each well-meaning question. But slowly, exhaustion crept in. She didn't resent these people, nor did she dislike their attention. It was just... she wasn't ready to be "known".

After a grueling three-hour roundtable, she pushed open the door and ran. She passed a giant poster of herself labeled "Young Female Scientist Role Model" and vanished into the crowd.

That's when she realized: Mr. Dolly was gone.

No one knew what it was or where it had gone. In a shopping mall, a woman screamed about "something fluffy" bumping into her. On a rooftop, a flower bed was trampled flat by "something pink." Someone even posted a blurry photo of "something round" darting over the ticket gate — carrying a bag of cotton candy.

Ardelia tracked these clues and searched half of the city. Her shoes wore thin, mud clung to her skirt, and headache crept over her.

Nearly out of breath, she stumbled out of a side alley and stopped.

It was a patch of untouched wilderness at the city's edge — untamed, bursting with wildflowers. The sea breeze carried their fragrance in gentle waves. And there, lay Mr. Dolly, sprawled at the heart of it all, motionless as the earth itself.

"What are you even doing here?" Ardelia asked, half-frustrated, half-amused. Mr. Dolly didn't answer. He just rolled over lazily.

Ardelia walked over and sat beside him. Then, she switched off her handyterm. The meetings, the obligations — all of it could wait.

After all, nothing suits a geologist better than the open wild.

Chinese Version:

【多利先生的遊戲·三】

眺望著遠處閃光的海岸和高樓，艾爾黛拉忽然想起了一個遙遠的名字：汐斯塔。那座帶著熱情回憶的火山城市。

不過，這裡是菈梵朵瑪——環帶的明珠，塔衛二的鍍金之城。

作為表現傑出的地質學者，艾爾黛拉被邀請參加一場隆重的學術論壇——主題是「新地質生態中的塔衛二秩序」。她一開始只是答應做個普通的報告，沒料到這場演講引起了轟動。

企業代表熱情介紹新工業園的規劃，希望她「多提寶貴意見」；學界宿耆興奮地與她分享最新的研究成果，提議共同展開科研攻關；行政部門送上厚厚的資料冊，誠意十足地邀請她加入下一個協作項目。

一個專注於觀測和研究大自然的學者，卻一夜之間成為了這座城市的焦點。

原本只是打個照面的握手，最後都會被附帶一句「你是大家的榜樣」；有人在電梯裡攥著筆記本請她簽名，說是要貼在實驗室門口鼓勵同事；在十字路口，孩子們追著她喊「姐姐我也想當科學家」；街邊的攤主不容拒絕地把汽水塞到她手裡，然後話題轉向了「我的侄子也喜歡地質學，你能不能推薦幾本書」……

艾爾黛拉一開始覺得溫暖。她對每一張真誠的臉點頭致意，對每一個好意的提問耐心回應。但漸漸地，疲憊開始爬了上來。她並不反感這些人，也不討厭這些事。只是她……還沒有準備好成為「名人」。

終於，一場持續三個小時的圓桌對談結束後，她轉身推開門，跑過印著自己「年輕女性科學家代表」面孔的巨幅海報，像脫逃一樣鑽進人群。

就是那個時候——多利先生不見了。

沒人知道它是什麼，自然也沒人知道它去了哪兒。摩登女郎在商場裡尖叫「什麼東西撞我」，寫字樓後巷的花壇被「粉色不明物」踩得稀爛，還有人在車站拍到一團模糊的影子從閘機上躥了過去，帶走了一袋棉花糖。

艾爾黛拉追著這些蹤跡，跑遍了大半個城區。裙角沾上泥點，鞋跟磨破，太陽穴隱隱作痛。

直到她氣喘吁吁地從一條偏僻小巷跑出，眼前豁然開朗。

那是城市邊緣一塊未被建築覆蓋的荒地，開滿了鮮花，海風一吹，飄來陣陣花草的味道。多利先生正悠閒地臥在中央，一動不動。

「你跑來這兒幹什麼？」艾爾黛拉有點氣惱，又有點好笑。多利先生沒有回答，只翻了個身，打了個滾。

艾爾黛拉走過去，靠著它坐下。她關掉了通信器，讓那些不忍失禮、不想拒絕的日程，統統錯過了時間。

畢竟，還是野外更適合一個地質學者。