据中国互联网络信息中心发布的第43次《中国互联网络发展状况统计报告》显示，截至2018年12月，中国网络游戏用户规模达4.84亿。研究表明，游戏成瘾的患病率约为27.5%，其中，青少年为网瘾人群的“重灾区”。网瘾是危害青少年身心健康的重要杀手。

　　下面讲述的是网瘾少年库珀及其父母的故事。库珀和很多同龄孩子一样特别喜欢打游戏，对其他事情漠不关心，直到一天他发现了一件诡异的事……

　　库珀像往常一样放学回家，一进家门，却被父母的行为惊呆了。

　　妈妈正沉浸在《我的世界》里难以自拔，而爸爸也很投入地玩着《糖果粉碎传奇》。

　　库珀想，从什么时候开始父母也喜欢玩游戏了？这中间到底发生了什么？

　　他在家里寻找线索，终于发现了厨房冰箱门上的黄色传单，上面写着：

　　“感觉和孩子越来越疏远？担心他们被电子游戏夺走？别担心，Cyber-Parents为您排忧解难。还在等什么？今天就下单购买我们的产品。”

　　库珀好像明白了些什么。他回到客厅，发现父母的手腕上都戴着一个黄色的手环。

　　他迅速来到电脑前，在键盘上敲下Cyber-Parents并点击搜索。

　　来到Cyber-Parents网站上，库珀了解到，原来这个公司以帮助父母走进孩子的内心世界为由，试图通过手环控制父母。

　　果然，问题就出在这个手环上，可是怎么把它取下来呢？

　　再往下读，库珀还发现了一条温馨提示：千万不要让手环沾到水。他似乎知道自己接下来该做什么了。

　　突然间，他听到妹妹的一声尖叫。库珀连忙跑过去，发现妹妹不小心划破了自己的腿。但是妈妈却一点反应也没有。

　　“安珀，你不是应该去上表演课吗？”库珀一边给她贴创口贴，一边问道。

　　“妈妈说今天不去。”妹妹抹着眼泪回答。

　　库珀意识到事情的严重。事不宜迟，必须马上解决这个问题。

　　然而，他该如何将父母从Cyber-Parents公司的阴谋中解救出来呢？

CYBER-PARENTS

被控制的爸妈

By Jo Mularczyk

音频图文授权：Highlights

COOPER FELT GOOSEBUMPS break out all over his arms. He looked at his mom in disbelief. She was wearing his video game headset and staring at the TV screen. There was a vein in the side of her neck that he had never noticed before. It was pulsing. But none of that was the most terrifying. The cause of the goosebumps was what he heard coming from his mother’s mouth. 

“Yesss!” she hissed triumphantly. “I got the emerald sword! I’m coming for you, Dunder Dragon!”

“Mom? What are you doing?” he asked. 

“Oh wassup, honey? NO! Look out! The creeper is right behind you.” 

Cooper’s mom covered the mouthpiece and spoke to him out of the side of her mouth without tearing her eyes away from the screen. “He’s such a noob.” 

“A noob? Mom, since when do you know what a noob is, or a creeper? And who are you talking to?” Now that the shock was wearing off, his brain was full of questions. 

In an even more insane development, his mother just ignored him. She kept playing as if he hadn’t even spoken. 

Cooper backed away from the disturbing scene in the living room. “Daaaad!” he called, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. He walked into the kitchen and stopped dead. The screen of his dad’s phone showed Candy Crunch, and he could hear the unmistakable tune. 

“What are you doing, Dad?” Cooper whispered. 

“I don’t know how to tell you this dude, but your old man is pretty OP at this game.” 

Dude? OP? Cooper leaned back against the wall, afraid that he might sink to the ground without its support. His phone vibrated, and he raised it to his ear absently. 

“Hello?” 

“Cooper, I’m freakin’ out. My parents are acting really weird. They’re playing ForthRite. And dude . . . I saw them doing the floss!” Cooper heard the same panic in his friend’s voice that he was feeling. 

“Mine are playing Mineshaft and Candy Crunch. I don’t understand what’s going on.” Cooper looked around the room desperately. His eyes landed on a bright yellow leaflet stuck on the fridge door. He walked toward it and read:

Feeling disconnected from your kids? Sick of losing them to screens? Cyber-Parent has the answer. Order your solution on our website today. 

“Jay, I think I found something. I’ll call you back.” He tore down the leaflet and poked his head back into the living room. His mom was working the controls furiously while raving about slaying the Dunder Dragon. As her thumbs flicked the buttons, he noticed a bright yellow band on her wrist. His dad, who had now joined his mother in the world of Mineshaft, also wore one. 

Cooper raced to his bedroom and sat in front of his computer. He typed in the Cyber-Parent website from the leaflet. An unsettling beat began playing. A balding man with an unnaturally huge grin appeared on the screen and started speaking in a recorded voice. “Feeling disconnected from your kids? Sick of losing them to screens? Wish you could enter their world? Cyber-Parent has the answer. Just fill in our online order form, and we’ll send your wristband the very next day. Cyber-Parent—bringing you and your child together.”

So now he knew why his parents and Jay’s parents were acting so strangely, but he didn’t know how to fix it. Would removing the wristbands be enough? Maybe they needed to be deactivated. And what if his parents didn’t want to take them off? They sure seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

He returned to the homepage and saw a tab Taking care of your wristband. He clicked it and scrolled down until he read Never expose your wristband to water. 

“OK,” Cooper muttered to himself, “I need to wet the wristbands.”

His sister’s cries could suddenly be heard from her bedroom. “Mo-o-mm, I scratched my leg!” He felt his goosebumps return as the silence grew. His mother wasn’t answering. 

Cooper grabbed a bandage from the cupboard and went to tend to his sister. “Amber, shouldn’t you be at drama class?” he asked as he smoothed the bandage onto her leg. 

“Mommy said not today,” she murmured, wiping her tears. 

Cooper’s fears spiked further. He had to fix this now! 

“Amber, do you still have that water pistol you got for Christmas?” 

“Yes!” 

“Can I please borrow it?” 

“If you let me play, too!” she chirped, her tears forgotten as she ran to find her toy. 

While he waited, Cooper grabbed his phone and typed a text to Jay. Check if your parents are wearing yellow wristbands. They’re from some freaky company, and I think they’re messing with their minds. Wet the wristbands.

“Here it is, Cooper!” Amber cried as she ran back into the room. “Let’s play!” 

“Let’s spray Mom and Dad first,” he whispered as he grabbed the water pistol. 

“Mommy says we can’t play with water in the house,” Amber warned. 

“Don’t worry. You wait here. I’ll do it, so you won’t get in trouble. Then we’ll go outside and play.” 

Cooper filled the pistol at the kitchen sink and walked into the living room. Both his parents now wore headsets. 

“Watch out for the mobs!” his mom shrieked. 

Cooper crept closer, although he was confident he could make as much noise as he liked and not disturb his parents. 

He aimed at his mother’s wrist and squeezed the trigger. Water soaked his mom’s arm and started dripping onto the carpet. He kept squeezing. His mom squealed and looked toward Cooper with glassy eyes that didn’t seem to recognize him. As the pistol emptied and the wristband got wetter, her eyes slowly cleared. She shook her head and spoke in a drowsy voice as if she’d just woken up. 

“Cooper honey, what’s going on?” Then she collapsed onto the couch. 

Cooper stepped forward in alarm, but his mother started snoring and he realized she’d fallen asleep. His dad hadn’t turned his attention from the screen. Cooper refilled the pistol and wet his dad’s wristband. His dad’s reaction was the same, and he fell asleep beside his wife. Cooper quickly removed the wristbands and threw them in the kitchen trash bin. 

His phone vibrated with a message from Jay. All good, dude. Thanks!

He heard voices from the living room. 

“What happened?” his dad asked. 

“Why am I wet? What are these headphones doing on my head?” his mom asked. 

Cooper peered into the living room. His parents stood, controllers and headsets in their hands, looking slightly confused. Cooper wondered if he should tell them what had happened or if that might make everything worse. 

“Hey guys,” he said as he entered the room. He casually walked over and grabbed the controllers and headsets from his parents. 

“Are you going to play for a bit before dinner?” his dad asked. 

“Nah,” Cooper said as he put the controllers and headsets away. “I promised Amber I’d play water pistols with her.” 

As he left the room he heard his dad say, “That’s a nice surprise.” 

His mom answered, “I’ll never understand why he loves those video games so much anyway. . . . ” 

本文刊登在《英语沙龙》（原版阅读）2022年8月刊

责任编辑：Zan