The message had been bordering on the romantic - �meet in the park at midnight�.  The most important information often came from the most unlikely of sources.  There was every possibility it was a trap, then again there always was.  But you had to trust someone at sometime.

Tooling Kitt quietly in to the car park, Michael had his partner do a full scan of the area.  All clear.  Taking the side arm from the glove compartment he checked the clip and dropped the gun into the large side pocket of his long black coat.
�Just in case?�
�Just in case.�
When he�d worked for the Foundation he�d refused to carry a weapon.  But freelancing, as Nick had warned him, was a more dangerous game.  Personal enemies were a lot more dangerous than corporate ones.

There was a figure waiting in the park by the children�s playground, some five hundred yards from the car.
�Is he or she armed?�
�He, and no.�
�Thank you.�  Climbing out and closing the door, Michael started toward the stranger.  That he wasn�t armed was a little odd.  Michael found that most of the people he dealt with these days usually carried some form of self-defence.

Watching their contact, keeping tabs on the activity around the area, Kitt�s main processor was dedicated to covering his partner�s back.  Because of that, it was a background process that that registered a sudden spike in the power source for the lawn�s sprinkler system.
//Michael�.//
Before he could broadcast anything else, the sprinklers on the grass around him activated at full blast, their spray aimed into the small gravel car park.  It took less than a second for Kitt to analyse the liquid that rained onto his body.  Tarasine.
//Michael!!!//

Engaging the engine, Kitt backed up and span the car through 180 degrees, heading for the exit like a dart.  Suddenly, as suddenly as the deadly rain had come, the ground beneath him and around him exploded.  Flames burst up through the dirt and gravel, showering him, surrounding him, engulfing him.  The Tarasine fuelled the fire, rapidly taking the temperature up to unbearable heights.

He didn�t have to call out.  The first spike of surprise, fear and then pain arced through the mental bond between the partners.  Michael had stopped dead in his tracks, hearing the warning in his mind.  He had turned in time to see the sprinklers spraying something on to his car.  Alarm bells had started to ring in his head.  In his mind he heard his name called, watched his partner spin the car around to make his escape.  And then the night turned to fire and he was running, yelling Kitt�s name through the roar of the sudden blaze.

For a second the white-hot pain in his head was something he could bear.  But in the next second it became blinding agony as he reached down the link to Kitt.  He dropped to the grass, strings cut, mind overloaded.

*

Many times in the past Nicholas had experienced his partner�s pain; mind-shattering agony that looped back indefinitely when Karr failed to block his transmission.  Never before had he experienced pain originating from the other car.  It had a different quality, a mirrored feel rather than the straight arc from one to the other.
<Karr?>
Nicholas was down the stairs of the warehouse in a second, heading for the Stealth whose engine was already fired up.
�What happened?�  He dropped into the driver�s seat and took the controls - surprised that his partner relinquished them.  �Karr?�
�The link�s gone,� the low voice rasped out, �I can�t� you drive, I�ll lead.�  That basically meant Nicholas had to keep the car in a straight line on the road.  Karr would make any turns.
�Fine.�

The park was a good twenty miles from the harbour.  They covered the distance in just over ten minutes.  In the otherwise empty car park, the intense fire still burned around the charred vehicle, fuelled by the fresh rain of chemical.  Nicholas took in the scene in a moment.  For now there was no room and no time for emotion.
�Cut the power to the sprinkler system.�  His first command was instantly followed.  The system died.  �Call someone.�
Nicholas was out of the car and running, trusting his partner to find the right telephone number and get the right help.

Michael was fifty yards from the chaos, collapsed onto the grass.  His eyes were screwed shut, pulse racing, unconscious.
<Anyone about?>
<No one.  Is he alive?>
<Yes.  Kitt?>
<Nowhere>  It was a chilling answer.
<Where�s help?>
<Five minutes away>
<Get over here>

Nicholas performed a quick, brief first-aid check before picking Michael up and dumping him as gently as he could into the passenger seat of Karr�s dark cabin.
�Do a medical scan.�
There was a pause before Karr reported, �He does not need medical help.  He is uninjured.�
Nicholas nodded.  �Keep a check on him.�
Arms folded over the roof of the car, all Nicholas could do was watch the TransAm burn.  He tapped his fingers on the sleek skin of the stealth.
�Scan for Kitt�s e-signature.�
�What do you think I�ve been doing?� his partner snapped back.  �The only e-sig within a five mile radius is my own.�
Nicholas glanced down at Michael in the passenger seat.  The thoughts running through his mind didn�t need voicing.  Karr�s own fears were pulsing in the back of his head.
 

Frog�s private fire truck started spraying foam onto the flames seconds after it pulled into the car park.  Behind it, Duck pulled his truck up onto the side of the road, ready to transport whatever remained of the burning wreck back to Nicholas� warehouse.  Neither ever asked questions - neither ever wanted to know the answers.

Once the fire was out, Nicholas could only stare at the charred skeleton that remained.  He was reminded of the scene at the Foundation test track after Jennifer�s run of experiments had torn Kitt apart.  But this was worse.  Because instead of a terrified AI in the framework of a car, there was just a shell, devastated, dead.

With the heat of the fire gone, the night turned cold.

Nicholas turned to Duck.  �Let�s load it up.�
�Wait.�  Karr�s order stopped them.  There was silence for a few long seconds and then, �Nicholas, the CPU.�
He didn�t question his partner.  Rolling up his sleeves, he approached the shattered car now covered in foam.  The hood, the surrounding shell was gone.  But the CPU was tucked into the engine compartment, protected itself by the MBS chemical.  After tearing away twisted metal with some difficulty, Nicholas managed to retrieve the CPU case, carefully disconnecting it from the interfaces to the rest of the car.

Gently, he put the casing onto the driver�s seat of his own car.  �Is he still there?�
Karr was quiet for a moment.  �He�s� held between the CPU and the implant in Knight�s brain.�
Nicholas sat down on the hood, giving Duck and Frog the go-ahead to load the TransAm�s remains up on the transporter.  �You want to explain that?�
�If I could, I would.�
�But Kitt�s alive?�
�His e-signature is here, inside the car.  It�s faint, it�s split.�  There was an unusually panicky quality seeping into his voice.  �Nick�.�
�Okay.  Let�s get them home.�  He glanced at the others as Duck slammed the final lock into place.
�Usual place, Nick?�

The journey back was made in silence, with Duck following behind.  Karr, as always, was a constant in the back of Nicholas� mind, but there was a difference to his presence, an odd intensity now.  It was very rare for Karr to be at all dependant on him, �clinging� to him.  But Nicholas could easily understand the need.  For the first time in a long time, Karr didn�t have a second connection - his brother was gone from his consciousness.

*

Michael opened his eyes cautiously.  His headache hadn�t been a dream.  He couldn�t remember a hangover quite like it.  And then reality kicked in.  It wasn�t alcohol induced.  And he wasn�t alone.  Nicholas crouched down next to where Michael lay on the wide, battered couch.
�Michael?�
�Nick� what the hell happened?�  He tried lifting his head but the pain level soared and he quickly dropped it back to the couch.
�Easy� I was hoping you could tell us.  Do you have Kitt?�
Michael frowned.  �Have�?�  But even as he questioned the meaning, he mentally turned to where Kitt was usually in his mind.  It was like touching a raw injury.  Closing his eyes, he flinched.
�Michael�?�
But he was exploring the area around the implant now, prodding and probing.
//Kitt?//
The answer was an explosion in his mind.  Not a word, not a feeling but an all-encompassing presence was that almost more than he could bear.  He grasped his head, moaning quietly.  �Oh, God�.�
Nicholas touched his shoulder.  �Michael.�
�Nick� he�s here� he�s everywhere�.�  When he opened his eyes, there were tears leaking from the corners.  "What happened?� he managed.
�I have no idea.  The CPU�s been badly damaged.  The memory is intact but the main processor�s been destroyed.�  Michael was barely hearing the words.  �Karr thinks that Kitt�s existing between the remains of the CPU and the implant in your mind.�
Through the pulsing of his headache, he tried to take in what Nicholas was saying.  �I don�t know� how long I can take this for.�
�Karr wants to try and re-route Kitt into his own CPU.  He thinks it�ll work, but he needs you and Kitt�s CPU close by to be sure.  Can you walk?�
 

Bonnie had learnt recently not to ask too many questions.  When Nicholas had called her on his way back to the warehouse, she�d come straight in.  Michael wasn�t obviously injured, but there was clearly something not right.  Now she was hooking Kitt�s damaged CPU up to Karr�s CPU.  Michael was sitting close by, head in his hands.  For all intent and purposes he was �housing� Kitt.

They�d been linked for a long time.  He knew what it was like to have Kitt in his mind and could barely remember what it had been like without him there.  But at the moment the AI�s presence was overwhelming.  No longer was Kitt an entity in his mind, he was everywhere, overshadowing Michael�s own thoughts and emotions.  Only a strong personality and a fairly impressive ego was keeping him afloat.
 

�Whenever you�re ready, Karr.�  Bonnie stepped back, waiting for the unknown.

<This might not be pleasant.  I�m going to block you.>
<Karr�>
<It is for your own good>
Nicholas couldn�t help but smile.  <Okay.  Be careful.>
Sealing a block in place, Karr located the COM port where the physical link connected him to his brother.  Reaching out, he snaked a tendril of himself through to the other CPU.

There was very little left undamaged.  Circuits were fried, connections severed.  Close to where the link to Michael was located, there was a tiny part of Kitt remaining, clinging for dear life.  He couldn�t leave the CPU completely, the disks and memory housed within were as much a part of his consciousness as the intangible part Michael liked to call his soul.
<_Kitt!
There was nothing.  The majority of the other AI had moved through to Knight�s mind.  How the human was holding so much of Kitt, Karr could not imagine but he had the heart to be impressed.  Wrapping a part of himself around the tendril of Kitt still holding him to the CPU, Karr yanked on it hard.

It was crude but effective.

Outside in the warehouse, Michael screamed, helpless as the pain seared through him.  He felt Kitt grab at him, snake pieces of himself further into his mind.
//NO!//
�Dah!�  Michael dug his fingernails into his forehead.  �God�.�
<_Kitt, I know you�re scared.  But you�re hurting your partner, you�re endangering his life.  Let go
The answer that he got back was in binary only, electronic pulses that only Karr could translate.  �can�t go back  nothing left�
<_I know, Kitt.  I�m going to pull you through into my CPU.
Again the response was a string of �1�s and �0�s.  �will lose michael�
Karr hesitated.
 <_I don�t know.  But you�re killing him, he can�t cope with this

Karr felt the vibrations of a keening whimper.  Michael experienced the spike of agony.
<_Please Kitt!
There wasn�t any definite reply.  It was just that suddenly Karr sensed Kitt flooding through to the damaged CPU.  Immediately he too went, ensuring that the sentience of the other AI continued on, using the physical connection to dive into Karr�s CPU, leaving behind only that tiny part of him still holding to the ravaged processor.  Michael felt the pressure in his head ease suddenly, and then a final whisper of his partner�s presence.
//Michael, I love you//
Then he was gone, leaving nothing in Michael�s mind save for the shadow of what had been there.

Michael fell forward, caught by Nicholas.
<Karr?>
The AI dropped the block.  <Here.  I have him.>  As if to prove it, Karr backed up from his link with Nicholas and allowed his partner to see the beautiful white light that he perceived Kitt as, and to feel the sensations that the gentle AI radiated.  They were unbalanced, mixed with fear, pain, so much uncertainty and a deep exhaustion.
<Can you cope?>
He felt Karr�s smile.  <Of course>

Nicholas let go, leaving Karr and Kitt to have whatever conversation they needed to have.  Karr would be the only one able to communicate with Kitt now and they couldn�t be sure what effect this would have on Michael.  Nicholas sat up on the sofa, waiting for the other man to open his eyes.  For a while he said nothing.  But tears started to roll over his cheeks, became a cascade and when he did look up at Nicholas he said only, �He�s gone.�

The tears were an automatic reaction.  So much had been torn from him in a second, so much emotion poured into him as Kitt had realised that Karr was right and had left his driver�s mind.  �Is he okay?� he choked out.
Nicholas nodded.  �Yeah, he�s with Karr.  I�ve� seen him, he�s all right.�
�He was� so upset, so scared�.�
�Understandable.�  Nicholas gave Michael a minute before asking, �Can you feel him?�

Michael closed his eyes and initially shook his head, but then he hesitated.  �Yes� just a thread of him.  Nothing definite, just�.�  He opened his eyes again.  �I know he�s alive, but I can�t feel anything passed that.�  Biting into his bottom lip he fought to control the flood of loss and loneliness.  �Oh, God, it hurts,� he breathed.
Knowing, understanding, Nicholas nodded.  �It�s only until we fix the CPU.�  He glanced up at Bonnie who was gazing under Karr�s hood and wondering how the hell she was going to fix such terrible damage while leaving the box connected to Karr.

*

_Swan?
_Nicholas, how long has it been?
_Too long.  How�s the project?
_Why do you want to know?
_Found a lodger yet?
_�
_We need a temporary home
_Consider my place?
_I was hoping you�d say that